LEON LINKS

Choice of equipment Rods, reels, fly lines, fly floatants, clothes, glasses and other useful items

When I started fly fishing in the late 1970s I had money to buy an ugly and heavy #5 black glass rod. I always fished with it, for whitefish, pike, trout…everything. Proud of it though.

Yet, I always dreamed of the awesome grey Orvis graphite rods, but they were far out of reach for a poor student. I loved the looks of these rods, the dark red windings, the grey thin unsanded blanks, the smooth and simple, well-formed cork handles.
Later on I was able to obtain quite some of these rods and happily fished with them for decades. 
Two of them are in my possession still and are favorite for my fishing, both are #3 Western series rods. The 8,3 ft is a fantastic all-round rod that I fish with a # 4 line of Cortland, the 9ft is favorite for nymph fishing, mostly for white fish. I fish it with a #3 or #4 line depending on the distance. The action and length of this rod helps fishing long leaders. 

Besides these two part Orvis rods I have a good collection of four part Winston rods up to #8, and one five part Winston, an LT #4, 8,3ft. I can put it in my rucksack easily, when I go wandering.

I am happy to have a few Splitcane rods as well, three Walther Brunner rods and one built by Ids Schukken, a Dutch rod builder from Friesland. The Brunner Salza is a beautiful, delicate rod that I love to fish with. I fish it with an Italian silk line but only in perfect circumstances. It is a valuable rod and I am aware of that.

I like Hardy reels a lot because of their classic looks. Favorite are two golden Sovereigns and a Golden Prince that I got from Marjan Fratnik as a gift. I also use an old System Two 5/6 that I don’t need to be careful with… It is old, lost most of its finish but it still works beautifully…

Leader material, build up, length and knots

I like the simple but efficient leader systems of Roman Moser. Some time ago Roman gave me two wallets, one containing all sorts of braided leaders for dry fly fishing, the other leaders for nymph fishing. All leaders can be connected to the fly line with a soft sleeve that works really fine. Sometimes I put a bit of super glue and extra thread windings for more strength when I expect bigger fish. All leaders have a little loop for attaching tippets. Length and diameter of my tippets always depends on the circumstances like current and the fish I expect to catch…

Approach and stealth

Most Dutch fly fishers are used to fishing still water in the polders for white fish. These still waters are shallow ditches and the land all around is flat, open and contains muddy, soft peatland. So, there is not much for you to hide, and walking soon becomes stomping on the ground which will easily cause vibrations disturbing and chasing away all fish. Constant wind, quite often strong wind, makes fly fishing even more difficult.

I do a lot of fishing with dry flies for rudd in the polders and therefore I am aware of the importance of a very careful approach. Especially bigger rudd are extremely shy. Light clothing, shiny equipment, fast movement and stomping reduce the likelihood of catching anything….

This experience I take everywhere I go…

Reading the water
When I arrive at the river, I always stay on the bank and keep enough distance to the water. Unless I know the river well, I always  take at least 10 minutes to observe and study the water that I am to fish. It makes sense to look for a place with overview. That can be a bridge, a bank that is a bit higher, sometimes there is a nice stone to climb and sit on. Questions I ask myself are: do I see any signs of fish that rise, do I see any insects around or is there maybe a hatch going on…?  Then I look for the current and places that could hold fish. I estimate how deep the water is, look where I can wade, think what fly I will tie on... Then I make a plan where and how to start fishing. 

Casting ability which casts are essential

I am an autodidact caster and don’t know anything about the official techniques and names of the various casts, sorry... All of my casting skill comes from years and years of trial and error.. Although I may be a horrible caster, I know how I must get my fly exactly where I want it, most of the times… Bushes and trees are my enemies.

Here too I benefit from the lessons I learned at home in the polders where I had to deal with casting light lines and a lot of wind. Inaccurate casting and presenting flies to cautious fish didn’t work… so I learned the hard way and trained myself to focus on this aspect of dry fly fishing.

Casting is important but picking up the line and fly in a proper way for a next cast is very important too, especially when you fish CDC flies. Dragging the fly through the surface will disturb the fish and spoil the fly.

Entomology, what should we know

It is important to have some basic knowledge about insect groups, and when and where they occur. Since I am a passionate fly tier too, I always have enough flies to choose from with me and in case my flies are too big or small, have the wrong silhouette or colour I can easily tie what I need… no problem. I always find it a challenge to fish with adequate imitations.

Rise forms

One thing is sure. When fish rise to insects you don’t need to search for them…. But it is not always easy to choose the right fly or presenting technique to be successful. Rise forms often have to do with the stage of insect or a special species. When fish don’t take your fly but rise all the time you are doing something wrong. 

I love these situations. It then is a challenge to find out what is the key to success. I always first try to figure out what food items fish take when they are choosy. If I don’t see anything in the surface or in the air over the water I try different flies and sizes. I was once trying to catch a rising fish  alongside a big rock in the Soča, but it refused everything. Because I didn’t see any flies I tried smaller and smaller may fly imitations. Alas, nothing worked. Then, from a sort of despair I tied on a big CDC Caddis on a hook size 10 that was token immediately on my first attempt.
When you are not successful choosing the right fly, then try to present your fly in or just below the surface…. Sometimes it works to present a drowned fly downstream and pull it up slowly in front of the fish’s nose…

Also it sometimes helps to present the same fly time and again what is called hatching the fish. 

Fly Selection

The best flies are the flies you trust. I have a nice collection of flies I designed myself, most of them are CDC flies. Over time I developed a nice collection of my own CDC patterns. I prefer CDC flies in difficult situations. Clear weather, clean and flat slow floating water with suspicious fish…

In less challenging situations I like various types of parachute flies (Klinkhåmer Special is favorite) and when it gets really rough I always choose deer hair flies, like Compara Duns and Deer Hair Caddis.

Presentation

One of the most critical parts of fly fishing is fly presentation. For that reason, in my opinion, CDC flies are the best. CDC is the lightest fly material and therefore the key to success, sometimes. A delicate, soft presentation far enough, but not too far, in front  of the fish (depending on the depth of the water), followed by a drift without drag are necessary to make a chance. 

Upstream or downstream

This is no real question to me. I present dry flies in all directions if necessary. When I am fishing without success for a fish that is rising upstream and another fish is starting to rise downstream, I turn around and try to catch that fish.
Personally I prefer to fish a dry fly across and a little bit upstream when possible. The fish will see less of the leader and tippet and is easier to hook. I find catching a fish downstream more difficult. It sometimes unhooks itself right away due to the pressure on the line.

Fighting fish

I don’t like to fight a fish long and try to unhook it as quickly as possible. A good net can be of valuable help. #3 and #4 rods are the lightest rods I fish with, but when I expect 35 cm plus fish I immediately take a #5 rod…