GF Flipper Flies

On the following pictures you will find some flies which I have beein using approximately for the last 12 years. The pike on the right from the Gmundner Traun was one of my first pikes on a flipper fly. The idea behind the attaching of a feather stem with some fin-alike tip to my flies was to create an additional attractive spot on the streamer.

Besides the large eyes which I always use on my streamers, the blood-red or orange fins(flippers, as I used to call them) do really work well for pike. The patterns that are shown here are patterns mainly designed for our clear lakes or lake-like old arms of our rivers, but also in clearwater rivers these patterns work really well. In darker water it is of course better to use more orange and yellow.

The idea of creating these flies was born after a long night with the Angling Club Lax-á camp manager Skúli Kristinsson in Chatsworth in 2005. He gave me some of his flies he uses in Island. I combined this idea with some of my Mörrum patterns which are also some sort of a combination of well known patterns for that river which were designed by local masters. The reason I like these Mörrum patterns is the wonderful materials. I just love to tie flies with these soft materials like templedog, finn raccoon and polar fox.

Although I usually tie only fishing flies, which means that all unneccessary details and eye(fly fisherman)-catching things are left away according to the needs of the river or stream these flies are different. They do not only look good, but also catch good fish. If you add some flippers in the way shown in the pictures, these flies work even better. Especially in fast water they still show action and when the fly enters slow water parts the flippers open like a flower. No doubt that salmon and seatrout notice this extra movement. Have a look at the creations - maybe you will try one of them the other day.