How to seduce Atlantic salmon to strike – a theory…

By: Thomas Samuelsen

My theory is not a new or unique one to catch salmon on the fly, but could be useful for the beginner or person that just likes to read about this rather mysterious way of fishing. I cannot imagine how many books there are written about salmon fishing, it is countless.

I have read some of those books and composed my own way to practice how to get a salmon to strike, by taking a little bit from a certain book and a little bit of another one.

The best learning I guess is “that was not the way to do it”. It took 6 seasons before I got my first salmon. I didn’t get a single strike before that first salmon that took my fly finally... It’s up quite frustrating, especially when others just haul in one salmon after another. What did I do wrong, or what didn’t I do? Since then I have been reading some books about salmon fishing and made some adjustments to my fishing. In hindsight of the unbearable clear light, I should had read more books long time ago…

Let’s start with a basic situation. The river is clear, it’s daylight with a clear blue sky and sunshine. That means the salmon has perfect vision and can see what is happening in the water and in the surface. The fundamental detail of my fishing is, I want that the salmon to see the fly in a short time and as late as possible in his field of vision so the fly appears as suddenly and as fast as possible. I don’t believe you could fish the fly to fast for the salmon in clear water.

Now let’s talk about the pattern, its colors, shape and size. Imagine you are the salmon… Pick up a random fly from the box and hold it high over your head and look up. What do you see? Well, if the background is the blue sky and you had picked a black colored fly, you will clearly see the black fly. Now take a white or light blue and do the same. It’s now more unclear and diffuse.

Always observate circumstances accurately.

If the bank of the river is filled with green trees, I would pick a green/white fly, because when the fly is fished across the river, it will start it’s run with a background of green colors and the fly is almost invisible. Then the fly comes closer to the salmon and suddenly it appears as a green diffuse fly, when the background is turning into the blue sky.

The fundamental thing here is the element of surprise and if you have a high speed fished fly that looks like it tries to escape from the salmon, my believe is that this triggers the natural strike reaction of the salmon. The salmon is used to hunt food that quickly escapes. On the other hand a big hot orange fly could easily be seen from a longer distance and that gives the salmon enough time to take a look at the fly… Then it is not like a surprise and the salmon doesn’t really seem to care about anymore.

A “rule” in my theory is: The faster the current in the river, the faster you can fish the fly and the more clear the fly you should choose. That also means if the current is slower, you must choose more invisible and diffuse shape and color of the fly.

I always take notice of the colors of the banks and the sky before I choose a fly to fish. The fly has to come as one with the background. In high sunshine and blue sky the colors of my fly could be like these patterns.

These four flies are all about 4-6 cm in length.

And it is also important to dress and shape the fly as transparent as possible. That gives the fly a diffuse look.

If the light is poor and heavy clouds are in the sky, but the water is still clear, I like to fish bigger flies (6-10 cm) and with a little darker colors such as dark-green, brown and burnt colors. The flies are still very transparent and diffuse in order to keep the surprising factor.

In another scenario, imagine a huge cold river with muddy high water, the salmon will hardly see the fly in the surface. Even with a heavy conehead and sinktip, the fly will not go any deeper than like half a meter. It’s time for the sinking line and a big hot orange or black very heavy brass- or copper-tube fy. I find these conditions hard for a salmon fisherman, but the hook has to be in the water to catch the salmon!

My theory here is to get the fly the whole way down towards the lies of the salmon and put the fly almost in their nose. With bigger flies in clear colors the salmon has a better opportunity to see our flies and will be possible takers. My experience in these hard conditions is poor and therefore you just have to try out your own way. But remember: you won’t catch salmon on the sofa.

Beneath you’ll see some of the flies I prefer in the hard conditions.

For harder conditions.

The fishing does not stop when it’s getting dark. If we have normal conditions with clear water and normal level, I find fishing for salmon in the darkest hours quite exiting. Often there is no wind, it’s easier to cast and you will be able to present the fly perfectly. And again I think that the fly cannot be fished fast enough. For these conditions I choose a bigger black or purple fly, simply because it’s more visible in the sparsely light. Here you find some preferred night flies:

Some night flies.

A salmon in the darkest time of the day, 1 o’clock AM:

There are no rules without exceptions, especially not when it comes to salmon fishing. Below I’ve caught my biggest salmon until now, 11,7 kg and it took a small “Uskgrub” on a copper tube on a sinktip line in low and clear water and blue sky and a few clouds.

Change behavior, use methods that are unlike the ordinary “rules” for salmon fishing. But remember to fish the fly fast.

Tight lines and good luck on the rivers...

Thomas

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