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• 1861 FLIES

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Long Tail

Full of excitement, I stared at the salmon of 26lbs and a half on the bank. Deep-black Aquamarine of 15cm length, my trial fly, was hidden so deep in its mouth that I could not get a glimpse of it from outside. I forced its large mouth open and removed the hook carefully so that I did not have my hand cut by its teeth. Soaking and washing the fly in the current, I gazed steadily at it once more. What a large fly it is!

My strategy was to cast a large fly to the salmon that was not so alert in high water. I chose the large fly because salmon could easily find it even in muddy water. Actually, the salmon swallowed the whole fly, so I can say I guessed right. A 15cm-long fly sounded too large but proved just right.

While the fly was drifting on the current in front of me, I noticed one thing. That Aquamarine could drift keeping its graceful proportion in the fast current, whereas it became distorted with its hook sliding down when the current became troubled or suddenly slow. I had anticipated this point and now felt the necessity of improvement.

Thus, Stingray Long-tailed was reborn from that fly in the next year.

After I examined the fly carefully, I extended the line and restarted fishing. For I had not cast the fly enough times. Although it was a small point, it was quite possible to catch more salmon. I fished down from the starting point, casting the fly ten times or so. When I cast it near the end of the slow current, I felt a slight bite twice successively. I succeeded in hooking at the second bite, feeling a slight tug from the line. Immediately a fish appeared, splitting the water downstream. That was a grilse. It struggled violently but had not so much power as that salmon I had just landed. I felt as if I were fighting with a trout. I could land the poor grilse too easily. Anyway, it was very new to me that even small grilse bit such a giant fly in muddy water.

Too Late

I put two salmon side by side on the bank. After a short pause I cast the fly along the bank again. About two hours had passed since Mary Anne and I arrived at Bridge Pool and the flow began to change. The water became less muddy and started falling. It is quite common but how quickly the River Gaula changes! Probably fish did not feel necessity of staying near the bank any more. I could get no response although the fly was drifting properly.

Then a familiar car stopped on the road along the opposite bank. Sepp Prager had arrived from Austria. We met at that beat every year. As we were in the same group, I anticipated that we would fish together sooner or later. But who could imagine we met in such a condition?

Finding two white things at my feet, he came down to us with his companion angler, showing his surprise at my salmon. He knelt and stared at my salmon. Then raising his hands, he spoke aloud to his friend.

According to him, he gave up fishing at the first glance of high water. There must be no chance of fishing, so he thought. Watching the river for a while, however, he wanted to look at Bridge Pool and to think again whether he could fish or not. There is no need to haste. There must be no angler in the river. So he talked to his friend. When he drove near to the bridge, he added to his friend, "If there should be an angler in the river, he will be no one but Ken Sawada." No sooner had he mentioned my name than he noticed Mary Anne and me. Imagine how he was struck dumb!

Since we had fully enjoyed fishing in muddy water, we did not hesitate to stop fishing so that he and his friend could fish freely. The flow seemed to become much better, but I felt that a bonanza of high water was over. I was sure that we could not expect much until the water became low enough for fish to come here from downstream.

Dry Weather

We were lucky to fish extraordinary high water in very good timing. As it has rained much this year, we will be hit by, or, to be exact, have a chance of muddy water again. I expected so secretly. Since then, however, there was not a drop of rain any more. Alas, the weather here looks more capricious than any other place.

We had a perfectly clear blue sky from morning till night and the water became lower day by day. The water became so transparent that we could see through the river bed pebbles of Bridge Pool from on the bridge. I could not believe we had had muddy water a few days before.

I realized that easy fishing had lasted only a few days and that we had to face low water. Very soon salmon became nervous. It was like a dream that salmon had not hesitated to bite a large fly a few days before.

I used to become nervous together with salmon in that condition. But now I was a changed man. For in the previous year I had practiced a lot how to hook nervous fish in the River Umba in Russia. Therefore, I did not panic at any response of salmon. Because the number of salmon and that of bites I felt at the rod tip were much smaller in Norway than in Russia, missing a fish depressed me more here. But I was not irritated any more because I understood well why I failed in proper hooking.

The Head of the Pool in Stadion

It was already in the latter half of the fourth week of July. The river took a typical appearance of low water in mid-summer. The water temperature rose to 17 degs C during daytime and I felt in the evening like soaking my feet in lukewarm water. The water became lower and more transparent, both of which gave us bad fishing condition. In addition, the bright sunshine directly poured down on the water surface during daytime. Then any sign of fish disappeared from the whole river.

One evening we were heading for a pool down the Bridge Pool. It was called Stadion because there was a soccer stadium on the bank. Fishing scene in that pool is shown in the opening part of Ken Sawada Fly Fishing Video Show No. 7. In the video the water is extraordinarily high, so I am fishing lower reaches of the pool. But that area is changed into a pond when the water falls. Now we fished the head of the pool and the upper reaches of that pool. That day's fishing is shown in the Video Show No. 0.

I started fishing from the head of the fast current. The sun was still high in the sky even in the evening and it was almost as light as in the daytime. Considering that condition, I put Rose Mary 1-1/4 inches to the leader. I fished down in the fast current but nothing happened. Then I came near the head of the large pool. It was where I had seen the salmon jump many times but never got bite.

The fast current bent towards us just up the head of the pool. My fly drifted across the stream and stopped below the line tip when the line extended straight downstream. No sooner had I retrieved the line for the next casting than shock was sent through my rod and the reel made a short scream. A fish bit the fly just below me. It was the worst hooking condition. I moved downstream immediately. I rather jumped instinctively than stepped. Then I slowly turned the rod downstream together with the line drifting downstream. Well done! As the line tension became stronger, the fish turned to the heart of the stream little by little. I turned the rod towards the bank side at the good timing and tightened the line.

I did it! I landed it and found that my small hook was held on to the right jaw of over 23lb salmon.

A New Hooking Method

My new method was to walk downstream when we got a bite, as I tried in Stadion. The previous year's experience in the River Umba taught me this method. Walking downstream stopped us from tightening the line too strongly. In the River Umba we often fished on the boat, so it was impossible to walk. We had to wait for fish to draw out the line or we had to draw it out by ourselves. That was the most common method and successful as far as the fish had a good appetite. But I had so many bitter experiences when fish had only a poor appetite. On the other hand, my new method worked quite well. Usually, when we feel a bite at the rod tip we turn the rod to the bank side downstream to make the line tension loose. From now on, even when we have no time to turn the rod, we only have to walk downstream, considering the line tension. If we have enough time, we will be able to draw out the line more quickly and smoothly by walking downstream. Then the line will pull the hook from downstream, which will enable the hooking at an ideal angle. Thus I knew the sure way of having the good hooking condition. The faster the current flows, the faster we need to walk. If the current flows slowly, we will walk slowly at the pace that the line does not loose. Successful hooking experience in Stadion gave me a firm belief in my new method. Owing to this method, the probability that I succeeded in hooking was much higher than before.

For several days in early September, we were due to fish the River Em in Sweden. As we wanted to make full use of our tour chance, we planned to go fishing in Norway again before Sweden. That means we went fishing to the River Gaula three times in one summer. The River Gaula opens on June 1st and ends on August 31st. We spent the last several days there. In August 1996, the River Gaula and other rivers around had the lowest water they had had in 1919. Bridge pool had gone beyond a pond and turned into a puddle. In such severe condition I used extra tiny flies of size 10 and size 12. Fortunately, I could get a bite twice and land two salmon. When I felt a faint bite I walked slowly 5m downstream along the bank and succeeded in hooking.

Thus I had confidence in my new method that removed all my worry about hooking. But, alas, things did not go well in my next week's fishing in the River Em and I had to start all over again.


-- To be continued --

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