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SALMON FLIES FOR
THE UPPER TENO RIVER
AND THE RIVER INARI

Pasi Kettunen has been fly fishing for salmon on the upper Teno river and the river Inari for almost a dozen of summers. This area of the river Teno water system has been gradually selected as the repeated destination of Pasi´s salmon excursions because he generally fishes only from the banks of the river. I asked Pasi for some advice and for some fly tying instructions with which a beginning salmon angler might succeed in this, the most difficult, field of fly fishing.

In this article I present to you six different flies. Pasi tells me, though, that if he were forced to choose, he could make do with three dependable flies: Rautanaula (The Iron Nail), Oliivi Sarvijaakko (The Olive Timberman) and an orange-hackled bomber. During the summer 1999 Pasi rarely soaked any other flies, and in spite of this his summer was very succesful. The size of the flies is decided according to the situation. As you can see from the tying instructions it is worthwhile to tie at least three different sizes of each fly.

The colour of the Timberman-flies is toned according to the surrounding nature. You have to observe the colours of the water, the streambed and the fields by the river. The fly has to blend into its surroundings. The Iron Nail is different. It´s like an ornament, bright and sparkling. It certainly stands out from the prevailing colours of the environment. The salmon have nevertheless approved of both of these flies. Scarcely three years ago Pasi and the guys were fishing according to the rule that when it rained it was the Timberman and when the sun was shining it was the Iron Nail. A couple of summers ago the guy´s theories went haywire. The Timberman produced in the sunshine and the Iron Nail was doing efficient catching in the rain. How can you know anything about the inner life of a salmon. Can one ever be a perfect salmon fisher.

The Iron Nail was born a few years ago. Pasi Holopainen tied the first version and they say he had a kind of a fit (at least his friends thought so at the moment). Well, the fly found its way to the river Inari and was fastened to the end of the line in a desperate situation when no other fly worked. With the Iron Nail he immediately caught plenty of fish. By the fire the fraternity of Mr. P. Holopainen pondered about the desperation of life. Pasi came there with his catch and presented the fly that works. After a tight inspection one of his friends said suspiciously: Pasi, you would catch fish even if you had an Iron Nail at the end of your line! This is how the fly that later on proved to be a real fish catching machine got its name.

The spiritual life of a guy from Joensuu, Finland by the name of Esa Hurri produced the Olive Timberman. It is a specimen of puritanic and minimalistic fly tying. All the tinsels have been taken off. The silhouette of the fly is obviously one reason for the good fishing results ( Pasi Kettunen: Or then not! ) The long-tailed Timberman has beaten all the flies of the same colour tied by normal proportions by a mile. In fishing the olive shade has been far more effective than brown so maybe the colour does matter. Pasi and his friends have changed their traditional colour considerations into observing the natural colours. The colour of the fly tied to the swivel is chosen after first looking and checking the harmony of the shades of the fjelds and the water. The colour scale of the nature does affect the choice of the fly more than just the weather conditions do.

It´s a must to fish the Blue Charm when the twilight hour arrives in the evening. A dark green bodied fly is the trusted fly of seasoned anglers for cloudy weather. This fly has not had a name yet but now Pasi has the courage to name it ‘Aslak´s Fly’. If the prerequisite of giving a name to a fly is considered to be catching fifty fish, the Iron Nail would have earned its name in record time, in less than a month.

Pasi fishes quite a lot with the surface-bomber. It is offered in places where you have seen fish or where you think they lie. Pasi doesn´t cast blind at all. According to Pasi there´s something mystical about bomber fishing. When the circumstances are right there´s something happening all the time. On the other hand there have been summers when nothing will do even though the conditions ( temperature of the water, the weather and the air pressure ) are ideal. You achieve no results no matter how often you change the type and size of the fly. Pasi has two trusted bombers; one of them is red-belted, the other orange-hackled. The reason for his trust is very simple; these two have caught the most salmon. Even if the conditions are right for bombers, Pasi and his friends also spend a lot of time soaking other flies. The greatest part of the events occur with the bombers if there are any events at all. It is best to tie bombers in three different sizes, namely 4, 6 and 8. The salmon often react to a change in size of the fished fly.

Finally, here are some pieces of advice worth their weight in gold. Pasi has analyzed the basic factors of all the successful salmon fishing trips he and his fishing mates have made:

1. Fish on a familiar river and on familiar fishing sites.

2. Salmon fishing should not be like the whipping for trout. You have to wait for the right moment and not rush it. Sit down by the fire drinking coffee and have trust in that the fish will rise up the river all the way to your fishing site.

3. Choice of the fly and above all your confidence in the one you choose are vitally important. Year by year the contents of Pasi´s box of flies is growing scarcer and all the more seldom he changes the fly when fishing.

4. When the fly is in the water you have to concentrate on the fishing you do 110 percent. Time for watching the scenery is when you sit down by the fire drinking coffee.

HOW TO TIE THEM

Hook: Salmon Dry Fly or Single Wilson 4-8
Tail: White Calf
Horn: White Calf
Hackle: Orange Cock
Body: White Polypropylene, greased with floatant, while tying

Picture Pasi and a four kilos salmon in the mouth of Mustajoki in the beginning of July summer 1999 (the picture from Pasi´s files).