Fly Fishing Russia

This Mink Fur Mouse works great for trout in Kamchatka same as for other surface predators (taimen, pike, lenok)

I was making the poppers out of foam sole of the beach slippers. The best type was black-and-red. Here are two examples - with the rubber legs, and with the hackle and synthetic tail. I was catching trout, char, and lenok with them.

An easy way to a popper is to prepare foam cylinders with a plastic straw glued in. Thread your tippet through such a cylinder before tying on any streamer, and you have a "composite" popper. The cylinders can be painted into desired colors, but I am mostly using the sticky "metallic" tape sold for the lures. In this case there is no need to use the extra-long hooks which cause lots of lost fish.

Remember a mouse swimming - its body is underwater, and only the top of the head and snout are out. I am trying to imitate this by tying this Drowning Mouse with a buoyant head out of the moose fur, and rabbit tail. The head and the hook are connected with a loop of a pike tippet material (plastic covered steel cable). I was catching fish up to 30 pounds with this fly.

There are too many big fish out there which I have not caught, for me to worry much about catching the baitfish. We are still trying to catch the biggest, but.. Compare the size of my offers with the fish.. poor greedy bustards..

Thank you for posting the info, it is really a good source. Pleasant reading, good info on the flies..

The tippet rings are the best solution. First of all this connection is stronger than any knot (give it a try)! Use the Improved Clinch or Double Clinch knots, moisturize the line before tying the knots. I have the tippet rings on all of my floating and sinking leaders. On the sinking ones I don't tie them in, but glue them in with a thread. Best luck!

The valley of the Lower Amur River is a flat grass-country. In spring and fall the tall dry grass is burning a lot. To succeed make bigger holes, and shorten your rod a little (don't you own an ax)? :-)

Thank you for the excellent idea with the shrimp! The lipped flies with the lip directed up are just great. I love fishing with them. Most of the flyfishemen have even no idea that this design is existing - it is an underestimated idea.

It is because the chunks of the dynamite you had tied to the net rope were way too big The image = ice-fishing extremes (November, no snow, a bush fire) :-))

This is extremely interesting! Have you any idea how these fish do now? I love ice-fishing - sometime by the "old style" with skies and pulling sleds, sometimes by snowmobile.

I wouldnt fish on the ice either,its cold its windy...its cold, but man I can just smell them under that ice when I drive by a lake. they must be mine!! muhahaha! When it is cold I prefer to fish from a heated tent which is not always possible.. Some Russian fishermen are innovative. Here you can see an old car with a wood stove and chimney.. at the ice of the Amur River. Probably you should try to do the same with your vehicle..

I am using the common board design found in the Net - with 6 pegs. Material - 0,1 mm mono fishing line, or clear, mono sawing thread sold on the craft stores in large spools. The number of the threads on pegs before the furling depends on the weight of the leader you want to make. 3 wt weights about 0.4 gram, and 9 wt - 1.4 g.

I tie 90+ % of my flies with the 0,1 mm mono fishing line - it is transparent and very durable. It is especially handy to use on streamers and on any big flies.

Thank you, lots of useful info! I am fishing for the different cats, but they all are quite similar.. and strong!

I am trying to buy the lines with a ready loop, or make one with thread & Aquasure glue. The furled leaders I use all have a loop to attach to the line.

Interesting blog! I love Brazil and the Amazon fishing. It is a pity I was not able to see these areas for long..

One of the best casters I know is not catching the fish too often. I have seen him come to the river, wade out, and make a beautiful cast right to the opposite bank... At that pool I would stop 10' from the water and cast exactly to the point where he was standing...

I use the snaps only together with a steel tippet when fishing for pike.

The same fish had punched some holes in my thumb at the Rio Negro.

I am surprised to see an ice-fishing topic at this site.. In our region (Russian Far East) everything is frozen. I tie flies, dream on the summer, and do some ice-fishing. We catch mostly the Amur pike Esox reicherti. This pike looks like a trout..

Visit the http://anglerstown.com/index_e.htm lots of info!

I had started to make the tapered furled leaders 2 years ago. Now I am fishing only with these - same as my friends. I have even started to furl some commercially. If you try one, you will never shift back to the mono stuff. The furled leaders are soft, turn over easily, make vary narrow loop, and have no memory. I make them in different weights (from 0,40 grams for 3 wt to 1,45 grams for 9 wt). They have a loop to connect with the line, and a tippet ring - at the light end. Material - 0,1 mm or 0,11 mm mono line; length - about 7'.

I love non-classic flies! Where can I see your Spoon Lure? Thank you!

People are thinking similar way: I am working with these lip-up flies for quite a long time.. I am calling such one "Antiwobbler" - see attachment. Hard to make correct, but when properly fine-tuned, it works great for any pelagic fish. I am using the Antiwobblers with sinking line or fast-sinking sink-tips. They move higher than the fly line, and do not snag too often. See more on these flies in my blog at the bottom of the post. Tight lines!