The eccentric Atlantic salmon part 2
The Vullturine Blue Elver is one of the featured flies in the article. Photo by Heimir Óskarsson.
We recently ran a piece on the eccentricities of the Atlantic salmon, how it sometimes comes to prefer one fly and not another, for no apparent reason. There are more tales were that one came from, more than will ever be counted. But here are a few other outstanding tales of the eccentric salmon.
We were going through some old interviews we did several years ago and came accross one we did with Hörður Óskarsson, an excellent fly fisherman of the old guard in Iceland, now sadly passed away. Hörður was one of the original group that leased and started the work on the Selá, making it what it is today, one of the worlds best salmon rivers. One of the stories Hörður told us dated to his early years on the Selá. He was fishing in Bjarnarhylur, one of the rivers best pools....and he recalls: „The pool was full of fish as ever but they were not in the taking mood. I tried many flies but once I tied on a Green Highlander, somehow everthing changed.
Suddenly there were fish showing all over the pool and the first pull wasn‘t long coming. Over the little time that I had left I hooked and landed four big salmon. Ever since the Green Highlander has been one of my two favorite flies.
Which fly to pick? Photo Einar Falur.
The other one is an original Jock Scott. Let me tell you, I was once fishing a good pool on the river Laxá in Dölum, and just like on Bjarnarhylur, I tried a lot of flies but none gave any results. Until I tried the Jock Scott that is, I had a fish on the first cast and to make a long story short I landed one after another. A friend turned up and I stopped to allow him into the pool. He had a Black Doctor on his leader, but nothing happened. I asked him if he had a Jock Scott and he dug up a gnarled old specimen. The fly may have been in bad shape, but it worked wonders for my friend. He instantly started hooking and landing fish and soon we were sharing the pool. When our time on the pool was up, we had landed 19 salmon.“
And there were further tales from Hörður. This one concerning yet another fly seldom used these days but used to be a big name. Hörður again: „Then there was another day on the Laxa in Leirarsveit. A friend and me were sharing a rod and landed 19 salmon in a single day. Five of them came early in the morning on various flies but then the fish stopped taking. We tried all sorts of flies but when we put on a Vulturine Blue Elver the salmon responded again. We landed 14 salmon and lost quite a few as well. The Vulturine had a knack of producing fantastic catches in those days but then it faded. Gradually I stopped altogether using it.“
Hörður‘s describtion of fading flies is a well known one and in recent years, as far as Iceland is concerned, it stems from the fact that other flies become popular thus former greats are kept dry in the fly boxes instead of getting their turn in the pool. This accounts for many of the old classics not getting their names in the catch books any longer. Most recently the Blue Charm and Hairy Mary fell from grace. Yet no one actually thinks that they have somehow lost their charm. The thing is everybody is flinging out a Snaelda, a Sunray, a Krafla or a Frances these days and will do so until someone produces a new favorite. It is however difficult to see any fly in the future knock the current favorites off their pedestal. So it is up to the anglers themselves to keep some of the old guard shining on.
