The Fork, The Pan and the The Raddy, in a Weekend

This is a mostly true story about two guys, a dog, a few fly rods, and a weekend to burn. Get your mind out of the gutter, we did nothing weird with the fly rods.

Day 1 - the Roaring Fork River - Friday, March 25, 2011....a day to remember.

I worked a half a day, got out of there at 12:15, hit home, grabbed the dog, and headed for the Morrison park-n-ride at I70. Made it around 1:15pm, and Steffan was waiting, he packed his gear in my truck and we were on our way. A quick stop at Subway in Idaho Springs and we were again on our way up the hill. We rolled into Glenwood around 3:45 and pulled into the Roaring Fork access right across from the Days Inn in Carbondale at around 4:15pm.

We got out, stretched a little, tinkled, and chatted up a couple guys who were just leaving. One was a guide from Taylor Creek Anglers who said he had been guiding this river for over 10 years. He said he had caught a 22 incher just up river on a size 22 purple baetis. He had caught a few others as well, including an 18 incher. They said good luck, jumped into their pick-up and were gone.

We looked at each other and debate the story - did he say he caught an 18 incher on a size 22 baetis, or a 22 incher on a size 18 baetis? We couldn't agree on what he had said, but we knew that the Fork didn't have any 22 inch fish, so the guy was fibbing a little bit - and he didn't even have a camera or a pic to prove it, so he was definitely bullshitting us.

We suited up, walked across the cement halfwall and then were ankle deep in the Fork. We made the gentleman's pack that the first fish caught the other guy bought beer for the weekend - of course Steffan's only comment before agreeing was "what kind of beer?".

We tied on our size 20 and 22 inch midges, and a purple crystal midge and hit the water. Within minutes Steffan hooked a fattie out of the first hole and had him right up to him when he popped off. That was when we realized, he didn't have a net. It's ok, I had two - I had the big boat aluminum ghost net in the truck - did we get it? Hell no - why would we need it on the Fork?

We moved up river, Steffan was ahead and Cabo and I following. The next 2 hours were a blur, filled with many obscenities. The river was pretty clear (surprisingly) and low. My first stretch was a deep hole about 10 feet out in the river where you could lean you knee on a rock and drift a fly through a 4 foot deep hole - it was maybe 15 feet long so you needed to get the fly down - so add some weight. I did that and on my second cast into the hole the line ripped forward 15 feet, where it got skinny and then shot straight to the middle of the river. I was first shocked, then laughed, then said "oh shit" as the fish tore out 30 feet of line. I gained line on him and he sat there, as I muscled him to me (on a size 22 midge and 4X) I saw him and he saw me...and I froze and then he took off. I started chasing, problem is, the Roaring Fork is one of the most slippery frickin rivers out there and nothing happens fast in felts.



I had to get the fish out of the current, although now he was 40 feet down from me in skinny shallow water and I could see him going all dead man's float on me like a sideways 2X4 not interested in fighting. I splashed near him and he took off. I turn him back into the slack water, this fish was in 6 inches of water and half of it's body was OUT of the water! The fish has to wiggle to move on the gravel. And them it happens. I can't say it, but you know what happens when you are within 5 feet of your all time best fish, rod pointing completely the other way with a net so frickin small you don't know whether to scoop at the fishes head or just beat it in the head with it - or throw it at it. Yes, well it happened. The sad part is the fish just sat there, clueless it was free, and the thought crossed my mind to throw myself on it like it was a hot grenade. But I just fell to my knees and said some things I promised I would never say again. That fish was easily 22 inches long and was the fatest fish I would see all day (not the longest). I would guess 5 lbs - but only a guess.



I made my way back to the hole - the fish of a lifelime gone, I looked at my flies, no bent hooks and threw another cast in. To make the story short, I'd hook two more fish, both I would get within 10 feet of, both over 20 inches, both popped off. The last fish I had in the skinny water laying sideways (none of the fish had much in them after the second run, they point their noses into the water and just make it impossible to muscle the fish), I get right to the fish with my aquarium net and POP.......and I swear on my kids this is what I did.....I dove on top of the fish with the net, pinning it's hand sized tail under the net, and for a brief half second I could see into it's eye and it looked scared, and then in another half second it shook itself free and was gone. This fish was the biggest fish I saw the whole weekend - easily 24 inches long, but not as heavy as the first fish - all three rainbows were silver muted in color.

I won't tell you how I felt, I won't tell you what was going through my mind, and I won't tell you that I felt really good about the weekend so far. We are talking about being on the river 45 minutes and I have had the worst fly fishing luck of my life. I didn't swear after this fish, didn't say anything, looked at my flies (which were still intact and not bent) and put the bottom one in the loop of the rod and started walking up to see what Steffan was doing. Steffan was now 100 yards away from me, so it took a while for Cabo and I to cross the waterfall and get to him. Having just explained what happened to me, all Steffan could say was "me too". Wow - we sucked.

Luckily our luck would turn. The channel side of the river inside the jetty was narrow but deep and Steffan was having luck with the fish in these holes. We kept fishing, I think we caught a couple small ones, but nothing fancy. About 6:30 or so I hooked a tank, and this fish was big. He wasn't much interested in coming to the net either - I waved Steffan down and he came to help. This fish twice tried to go under the boulder we were standing on and dislodge the fly, then he started running - down the channel (which looks like a skinny drainage ditch when you get further down river). He'd stop in a hole, and try to run under the far bank, rubbing on anything he could. Steffan takes the dip net and heads down the channel, the fish thinks it is me, so the fish keeps going down channel ahead of him. Finally Steffan gets past the fish and gets into the water up to his knees - now the fish starts running up river at me - but when he gets within 7 feet he turns back around and flops in 6 inch water next to the bank - his tail actually hits the dry bank. The fish tries to bury it's head straight into the bank, three times! Finally he starts going belly up and Steffan fumbles three times and nets it's head.





We were all exhausted. I sat on a rock and popped out the midge hook. The fish was not fat, but it was long, or colorful. 23 inches to be exact. After reviving her, we were pretty pumped. We fished some more in the hole, picking up a couple more fish, Steffan got a nice 17 incher that was pretty fat. Then I hooked another monster - this one took off down the channel again and popped of. I wasn't too upset, but bummed that I missed another. In total between the 2 of us, we had 8 pigs on and only landed 1. It was almost dark now - about 7:30 or so and we were a 1/4 mile away from the truck - the dog was freezing and we were beat. We stumbled, literally, back to the truck. Threw our shit in, drove up the road, over the bridge into the parking lot of Days Inn. We undressed out of waders and boots as the snow started falling hard, big flakes. We needed to check in, get our room, then empty the truck. Cabo was soaked, shivering. We still needed to eat dinner.

average sized bow

We got the room, moved the truck, grabbed a bunch of shit threw it in the room, grabbed the dog and went to a steak place that was highly recommended.Got some beer, hit dinner and then were back in the room at 9:30 or so. Tomorrow would be fun too.

Day 2 - the Frying Pan River and the Roaring Fork River - Saturday, March 26, 2011
How do you top a day like we just day? Sleep in and get a nice greasy breakfast, that's how. The morning was very cold and icy and a fresh 3 inches or so of snow coated everything. The road was sheer ice, and we weren't in any hurry to get our asses out of bed. So we hit the Breakfast in America place in El Jebel on the way to the Pan just before 8am.

We made our way to the Toilet Bowl at 8:45, 1 car in the lot, but three guys holed up (only one fishing) with a propane space heater and like 9 rigged rods in the Toilet Bowl. Steffan and I took a look at the pigs spinning around in the pool after the bowl and then rigged up. We had our first beer of the morning - and damn were they good.



We then jumped in the riffle just after the Toilet Bowl stretch. This time of year there is so much green algae and weeds in the river it is impossible to keep your flies clean. I did manage to ass hook on pretty rainbow - he was maybe 16 inches long - nothing special for that hole, but still nice to get the skunk off.



We moved down - to the stretch above the Bend Pool where it is very flat, very wide and very shallow water. Moving down we hit some slow water just before the Bend Pool and the fish were stacked in the slack water - I mean about 30 fish. 1 fish, that you can see in this pic at center but just behind the fish in the fish in the very center, looked like it was an alligator, it's mouth looked like a a clown wearing white lipstick - it was easily 30 inches long - I know because I threw everything at it, and 1 time it was within 8 feet of me - you could see it very clearly. I didn't hook it, or any other fish that were laughing at the both of us in this stretch. So, we decided to move down river.



Cabo enjoyed the snow - but we couldn't find any tennis balls in the truck, so she was a bit pissed off at me.



You might recognize this rock, it is one of my favorite places to fish, lots of small fish and the occasional 20 incher if lucky.



Just your average rainbow out of this hole. The fish here are not huge, but the browns are super colorful. They aren't easy to catch either. I think I got 3 fish out of this hole, Steffan landed about 8 or so - a nice stop over. Steffan even managed a few out of the rock pool on a dry fly. The fish never seem to come easy - they were still super picky and only hitting size 22 midges.



Cabo perched on a rock for an hour or so - I think she liked this spot.



We moved down river again, a couple good spots were taken, but we did find a nice corner riffle on a nice bend. We drank some more beers and watched a few large fish play in the riffles below us. Steffan tried fishing to them, but we couldn't figure out what the hell they were eating - dry flies didn't even bring them up. I waded to the middle of the riffle and casted to the far side in the soft stuff - a size 22 killer midge brought a few dinks to hand, but nothing too exciting.

We decided that we were done with the Pan. The Fork had been good to us and we wanted to explore some more. It was already mid-afternoon and we knew where the big fish were. We headed to Basalt, and followed the road that follows the Fork. We tracked the private and public water on the fishing map and stopped at the Tree Farm access site just up river from Catherine's Store access. Although it was beautiful, we had no luck in this spot - so we moved on again. We stopped at Catherine's Store access, but decided we wanted to hit the river by the Days Inn again - and it was already 5:30 or so.

We pulled into our spot by the bridge, and headed for our spot. The water was up higher than the previous day (flows showed an additional 75 cfs or so) and much more off color - but still good visibility. I stopped at the first hole I hooked the tanks and tied on a Pat's Rubberlegs, a charisse pigsticker and a chartreuse egg. The second cast into the hole and my reel was singing!! I landed a fat 17 inch rainbow shortly after - no dramatics on a size 8 rubberlegs - that was firmly in this fishes jaw. It was a great start.

I could see Steffan fighting fish further down at the end in the first hole. I picked up another rainbow at the start of the channel and found a huge hog sitting in a pool about half way up. I managed to spook him though. I moved up to just before the pool Steffan was in and started slaying them, two dinks on the egg, two 17 or 18 inchers on the pigsticker wire worm, and one nice rainbow to end it on the rubber legs. The wind was howling, the dog was shaking, and we were about out of daylight - so we called it a day. We didn't have to stumble back to the truck, we could see where we were walking tonight.

I hooked this rainbow sometime during the day - here is Cabo getting a look.



Back at the hotel we both got hot showers, Cabo got a nice blow dry so she wouldn't be soaked all night and we headed to the diner across the street. We ate everything in site, soup, 2 salads, bread, fried seafood plate, chicken fried chicken, pork chops, 3 servings of mashed potatoes, three servings of broccoli and a few beers, and then we headed back across the street to the hotel. We were lights out by 10pm.

Day 3 - the Colorado River @ Pumphouse - Sunday, March 27, 2011....the journey home.

Sunday started much like the rest of the weekend – slow, cold and wet. We were slow to get out of bed, it was cold again, and it had snowed about an inch on the ground. This time it wasn’t cold enough to freeze on the ground and the roads were wet, but not slick. We headed back over to the Diner for breakfast, then back to the hotel. We saw a couple of drift boats in the parking lot and chatted with a few guys who were on their way home – they had floated the lower Roaring Fork below Carbondale for four days straight and had decent success – but hadn’t caught any huge fish.

With that knowledge we decided to get the hell out of Carbondale and hit some new water to Steffan, I suggested Pumphouse for it’s desolation away from the crowds, and the chance to catch decent amounts of fish – and if that didn’t work we could hit the Blue on the way home. We left Carbondale around 9:30, the ride was relatively uneventful, but the back way from Wolcott to State Bridge to Pumphouse is pretty nice – the Colorado looked really nice too. We hit the Pumphouse parking lot at 11:15 or so and the sun was starting to pop out behind clouds. The snow kept falling and blowing sideways from all the wind. The temp was just under 40 degrees and the wind was a pain in the ass. We suited up, chatted with a couple of rafters who were already in the water – one guy said that the fish were slamming Pat’s Rubberlegs in size 4 and 6’s – way bigger than what we had. But we were excited to hear the fish were slamming the bigger flies – so we tied on an egg/worm/rubberlegs rig and started fishing.

grey as hell outside

Cabo bored as hell

The water had about 12 inches of visibility, and it was higher than what I had seen in the past. There were huge ice chunks about 5 feet up on the bank that looked like they had been pushed up there by high water – but the water would have to have been astronomically higher than the current flows of 650 CFS – I’d say probably 2,000 or 3,000 more flows to get the water that high up on the bank – not even sure if that is possible there.







We had no luck at all early on, so we moved up river to the bend pool. The water was still off color and high, but there were plenty of spots where there should have been fish - still nothing. So we walked back to the parking lot, and headed down river. We stopped just after the lower boat ramp and threw our rigs for a while - we both broke off everything - mine on the bottom and Steffan's on a fish - so finally we saw life in the water. We still didn't catch anything and moved down river again. Steffan hooked up a nice fish, but he popped off after a short fight. He was pretty bummed, but hell, I hadn't even seen a fish yet!

Down a little more (is this vague enough for you??)I waded to the middle to fish the far side and hooked a small 14 inch brown - Cabo helped me get the fly out of the fish.





We moved down and pitched some more eggs/worms/rubberlegs - I managed a tank of a white fish (below), a small rainbow and another average sized whitie. Nothing special.



We fished our way back to the truck, hitting a couple of holes - I managed a couple small whities, Steffan didn't get a hit. So we decided to head home. It was 4:30 and we had a 2 hour ride ahead of us. The ride home was uneventful without any traffic - nice ride home. I was home by 6:30 pm.

That was our trip in a nutshell. I'd like to thank Steffan for putting up with me and helping me net the biggest river fish of my life. It was a great time and we did it to the max.

Fisher Poets Share Tall Tales, Drink for Good Cause

AUTHOR BILL CARTER TO SPEAK AT CLEMENTE'S RESTAURANT DURING ASTORIA’S ANNUAL FISHER POETS GATHERINGSustainable Salmon Activist Reads from His Acclaimed Memoir, Shines Spotlight on the Proposed Pebble Mine

Astoria, Ore. (Jan. 26, 2011) – For fourteen years, salty sea dogs have descended upon the tiny town of Astoria, Oregon for the annual Fisher Poets Gathering, set in a town most commonly known as the backdrop for Steven Spielberg’s film, “The Goonies”.

The Fisher Poets Gathering is an Astoria tradition, bringing men and women tied to the fishing industry together in celebration of the lifestyle and its people. Participants and visitors come from faraway places including Bristol Bay, Alaska, Nova Scotia, Canada and even Tampa Bay, Florida for their chance to celebrate the world’s oldest profession through poetry, stories and sea shanties.

This year, the author and award-winning director of “Miss Sarajevo”, Bill Carter will appear as an honored guest at Clemente’s Restaurant to read from his acclaimed memoir Red Summer, which describes his four seasons spent as a commercial fisherman in Alaska's Bristol Bay.

The evening will shine the spotlight on a proposed mining development of national concern – Pebble Mine.

If built, Pebble Mine will become one of the largest open-pit mines in the world. Its location, near the spawning grounds for two major rivers, and possible impact on both the food supply and 11,000 jobs, is causing major concern and uniting fishermen, conservationists, jewelers, grocery stores and various other groups in opposition.

“I’m not against mining at all,” says Carter. “There are just some places that make more sense to build mines than others. Because of the potentially negative impact on Bristol Bay’s sustainable $120 million per year fishing industry, Pebble Mine makes absolutely no sense.”

The Clemente's event occurs in Astoria, Oregon on Friday, February 25th from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at Clemente’s Restaurant (1198 Commercial Street). Owner Lisa Clement, hailing from a fourth generation Astoria salmon fishing family, has created two themed cocktails, with proceeds benefiting Trout Unlimited’s efforts to fight Pebble Mine. For more information about Trout Unlimited visit: www.savebristolbay.org

Also speaking is Steve Schoonmaker from Kasilof, Alaska - an Alaskan fisherman, dynamite poet and articulate opponent of the mine.

Specialty Cocktails.
Red Summer: Dry Fly Washington Dry Gin, Clemente's Oregon Bing cherry liqueur, St. Germaine, splash of tonic served on the rocks, cherry garnish - $10

Madame X: Dry Fly Washington Wheat Vodka, fresh lime juice, dry vermouth, fresh thyme and rosemary, cucumber garnish - $10

To interview Bill Carter or to learn more information about Red Summer, please contact Michael Phillips at: michael@watershedcom.com
** Dry Fly Distilling is a craft distillery in Spokane, Washington making craft-distilled vodka, gin and whiskey using only locally grown grains and botanicals. Their still is a Christian Carl pot still with multiple rectification columns. It has a 450-liter capacity and an annual output of approximately 3,500 cases of 12/750 mL bottles.

Antero Ice Fishing - Jan 19, 2011

I'm pretty sure I can't hotspot ice fishing at Antero - so I will actually mention the name of the stillwater I fished this time.

Darren and I decided to try our hand at ice fishing. We left D's house around 5am and headed for Antero. The ride was pretty uneventful for me, but Darren got pretty excited about breakfast pizza at the store in Fairplay, so we had to stop. After waiting 10 minutes for the pizza we left and were at Antero a little after 7am.

The weather really wasn't that bad, some slight wind, but it wasn't that cold - maybe 30 degrees. We (over) dressed, grabbed the sled, loaded it up and started hiking out onto the water from just east of the North Boat Ramp. We walked out a couple hundred yards and started drilling holes. My new ice auger worked surprisingly well - slicing through the ice like butter. The ice was approximately 12 inches thick and was about 60 percent covered by a small layer of snow.



We set up shop and got our gear in the water and were treated to a nice sunrise.



We rigged two rods each - one with flies and the other with mealworms. Since we were both ice fishing rookies, we wanted to try as many things as possible. Darren actaully tipped some tube jigs with the wax worms and I tipped a pigsticker hook with mealworms. Something was bound to work. And it did - within a few minutes Darren had a couple hits, both times yanking the hooks out of the fishes mouths.



It wasn't long before Darren was hooked up again, dropping his flies down the hole after switching to an all mealworm rig he had a fish slam his flies and it was fish on. About 1 second later his other rod, only a couple of feet away, went under as well - he had a double! He quickly landed the first fish - a nice 16 inch rainbow, and then I handed him his second rod - and he landed a sweet dark colored 18 inch cuttbow that had a sweet gash under it's throat.





I'd love to tell you that we were hooking fish all day, but we really weren't. We literally went an hour between fish. I did manage to hook a fish around 11 or so - a dink 15 inch rainbow. I caught it on my daughters pink Rainbow Shakespeare rod - and I'm proud of it.



This is a pic of Darren enjoying one of my nice cold beers - I only had 6, we split them and they were gone by 11am. Note to self, bring more beer.



Darren and I traded fish the rest of the day - but again, one every hour. I landed a fish around 1:30 - a 16 inch dink rainbow again, then at about 2:30 I had another slightly larger rainbow right up to the hole but he popped off before I could get him on the ice. Darren hooked a nice rainbow as well.

You can see the bad weather creeping in from the west, it looked like that all day. Then eventually it hit us, but only for about an hour or so, then it blew over.





We decided to pack up our gear and head home around 3pm. After a stop at Subway, and some bad weather starting at Conifer, we were home by about 5:45. The weather was actually nice and dry all the way until Conifer, then it all of a sudden got really ugly - white out conditions and blowing snow. Kind of a crappy ride home.

Thanks again for going with me today D - it was a good time and a great learning experience.

Introducing Petter Gustavson

Seems like the only way to get noticed in fly fishing or fly tying these days is to be an old, grizzled veteran, who only fishes dry flies and writes books about it - or you need to be one of those Xtreme Fly Fishermen who go to Mongolia to catch teimen, have long dirty hair, a beard and film it all for the big screen to help pay for your fly fishing "habit". Being a young clean guy, living on the other side of the world, and enjoying fishing in your home country will hardly get you noticed.

That is of course unless you tie some beautiful flies, take some amazing photographs and live in Norway! Meet Petter Gustavson, who happens to be all of those and a great fisherman to boot - and yes, I dare any of you to point out Norway on a map. You may have recognized some of Petter's work from the Fly Tying Forum, where he has been posting his ties for a while. He has given me the opportunity to take a peek into his life and let you all share in his story as well. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Petter, thanks for answering a few questions about yourself, I appreciate you taking the time sharing your fly tying, photography and fly fishing passion/obsessions with us.

So you are in Norway - where the hell is that? Us Americans can barely pick out Europe on a map - but we can tell you where New Zealand, Christmas Island and Kamchatka are - how big is Norway?
You should know about Norway, there was a Norwegian who discovered America – Leif Erickson is believed to have discovered America around 960 AD, and there are remains of Viking settlements in America dated to this period. Norway is situated up north in Europe, and is facing the Atlantic to the west and Sweden on the east. It shares border with Sweden, Finland and Russia. Norway is a small country about the size of the State of New Mexico and is one of the most sparsely populated countries in Europe with only 4.8 million inhabitants. The Norwegian capital Oslo is on the same longitude as Anchorage, but the gulf stream makes the climate to be pretty warm. The summers are hot and the winters are cold, making the fly fishing season relatively short stretching from May to October.

Are you a fly fisherman? What do you fish for?
I am absolutely a fly fisherman, fly fishing is my passion and I do it as much as I can. I mainly fish for Trout with dry flies to match the hatch. There is something special about a rising trout fooled by a self made imitation. When not pursuing trout with my dry fly I also fish for the trout’s cousin the Arctic Char. The Arctic Char is a beautiful fish that also like to rise for dry flies. Fishing for Grayling is also great in Norway as well.



A new trend in Norway is fly fishing in the sea for Halibut. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks awesome to fight a 100lbs halibut on a fly rod.

Are there trout in Norway? Are there any fish species in Norway not in the US?
There are absolutely trout in Norway; we have Lake Trout, Sea Trout, Brown Trout, and Brook Trout. The Brown trout is the most popular one. I don’t believe we have species not found in the US.

Where is the coolest place you have ever been and fished?
The coolest place I have ever fished is in the Northern part of Norway – it is a place almost like the surface of the moon with almost no vegetation, and the area we fished looked untouched. Not a trace of other people being there. There where lakes and rivers everywhere and the average brown trout where 2lbs!





What type of gear do you use? Typical gear in the US is a 5wt, 9 ft rod - is it similar?
My gear is usually a 5wt 9ft rod. This set up and a 4wt is the typical trout gear here in Norway as well. Guess it’s the global idea of a Trout rod.



Who is your favorite fishing partner? Or would you rather fish alone?
I really enjoy fishing with friends and alone, both have their good sides. My favorite fishing partner is one who is as passionate and eager to be out in the wild fishing for rising trout. My main man is a guy who drops everything in his hands when I say that the mayflies are hatching in the home pool, or will go on a three week expedition away from the civilization just to catch untouched, wild brown trout.

Any pets? Take them fishing with you?
Well, I don’t have any pets yet, as I am living in Oslo in a small apartment. I will defiantly get a dog when I move out of the city. I’m a real dog person and enjoy the company of dogs.

Being from the Rocky Mountain region we are spoiled with amazing scenery, mountains, canyons, bald eagles, elk, bears and sometimes lots of people - can you explain what your favorite fishing spot looks like?
My favorite fishing spot is probably just like the Rocky Mountains, but there are rarely people around in the fishing season. There are as many lakes and small rivers in this area as there are stars on the sky, and the fish have probably never seen an artificial fly. In the summer the sun never goes down and you can fish as much as you can handle without getting interrupted by the sun going down. The nature up north in Norway is amazing and the wildlife is amazing.





Have you ever fished in the United States? How does it compare to Norway?
I have yet to fish in the US, and I’m planning to go as soon as my wallet approves. I have always had a dream to go fishing in the United States, and there are numerous places I would like to go! I’d like to fish the Henry’s Fork in Idaho and of course Blackfoot and Gallatin in Montana. I think I’ll need a month or more if I get the opportunity to fish in the United States. I’d have to finish it off with a grand slam at the Florida Key’s – that question really got me dreaming!

Do you use size 22 midges in Norway?
Well sometimes, but I personally don’t fish flies sized 20 or smaller.

Obviously you are a great fly tier, but what else do you like to do in your free time?
As you might know, the winters are long in Norway, so fly tying is a big part of the fly fishing passion of mine. I have a big passion for basketball, and beer as well. Quite a mix. Actually American lagers are my favorite beers.

How long have you been tying?
I’ve been tying since I was 10, so I have been fly tying for about 18 years now. The reason why I’m tying is to use them to fish with. It’s like a hobby within the hobby if you understand what I mean.





Do you sell your flies? Do you do demos? Are you sponsored by any fly shops?
I don’t sell my flies, but my fly fishing pals usually get loads as I tend to tie more than I can use. I’m not sponsored by any fly shops. Norway is a small country and there are not that many fly shops around. I would love to be sponsored and do demos ;)

I’ve sold some flies, but I don’t appreciate fly tying if it’s a task. I never plan what to tie until I’m at my fly tying bench.

Do you or have you ever worked for a fly shop or gear manufacturer?
I have never worked for anyone in the fly fishing industry, I would love to get a job within the industry, but there are few opportunities to get in the industry here in Norway as the people are holding on to their jobs. And I really understand why!

Ok, so you don’t tie commercially, you don’t work at a fly shop, so what do you do for a real job?
Right now I don’t have a real job to be honest. I’ve just graduated from a University in England, and I’m applying jobs at the moment (lots of time to do some fly tying). In my spare time I volunteer working on a cultivation project in my home river, helping the trout population to reproduce.

What is your favorite rod, reel, fly line? and why?
My favorite rod is a Loop Yellow Line 9’3 ft #5. The reason why I really enjoy this rod is that it’s not for people in a hurry, it’s a rod that you can enjoy with every cast and it presents even the smallest dry fly in a delicate matter. The reel that is usually on that rod is an old Loop Original Dry Fly (now called a Danielsson) - it’s a simple but lovely reel. It’s my favorite reel because I always wanted one when I was a young kid looking in the shops.

The fly line I’m using is a Guideline Highwater. It’s a great line for nice presentation, and it’s perfect for my rod and reel combo!





What is the most time you have ever taken to tie one fly?
To be honest I’m not sure, maybe when I first tried to tie the Mohican Mayfly by Oliver Edwards. I spent about an hour tying the first one. But after I got a hang of it, I found out that it’s not as hard to tie, you just need to take your time and be thorough.

Is there a pattern you can't tie? Something you just can't get it to look right, or just won't try because you know you won't be able to do it?
This is kind of embarrassing, but I just can’t get the Lafontaine's Sparkle Pupae Emerger. I just can’t get the antron to look right, so I don’t tie that fly and it’s a shame because I know it’s a killer fly for those caddis hatches!!

Mohican Mayfly

What is your favorite fly tying hook, material, hackle?
My favorite fly tying hook is the Tiemco 102y. I love the light black finish and the wide gape. It hooks trout perfectly almost every time.

My favorite hackle is a Whiting hackle, and the color is coachman brown. Love that color.

My favorite materials at the moment are snowshoe, CDC and deer hair. I like to tie my flies with a mix of natural ingredients and modern synthetics.



Do you use any material different than its intended use? Like maybe computer foam for wings, or something crazy?
Well, it’s not my idea but a Norwegian fly tier named Staffan Linström who came up with a material called VAG. It’s the pollen filter for Volkwagen Passats 90 model. I used as a caddis wing, and it floats all day and looks pretty realistic.

Dark Olive Dun

Your house is burning down, you have 5 seconds to save something,....save the dog, the cat or your fly tying stuff?
Definitely not the cat, and I don’t have a dog so it has to be my fly tying stuff. If I had a dog I would go for the dog. I could always get new fly tying stuff.

Caddis Trio

Weirdest material used in a fly? And don't say belly button lint - that isn't so weird!
Not that I know of, but those danish people are crazy. Check out www.pussyflies.com. That’s weird!! (yikes Petter, this is a kids show! j/k, but that is pretty damn weird!!)

VAG Caddis

Obviously you are quite a talented fly tier - your flies are all over the internet - but your photography is stunning - great close-ups of well tied flies, great lighting and contrast with deep colors. What do you love more, tying the fly or photographing it?
Thanks! I will definitely say fly tying. The photo’s are just so I can share my passion with other fly fishermen/women.

Organza Ribbon Caddis

Do you have an online gallery we can link to? Is it in development?
I have a web page coming up soon, but I’m not sure when it will be ready. The site is www.arcticflyfish.com.

Caddis

Your photography is amazing - do you take photos of more than flies?
Well, I usually take photos of nature and fishing stuff, but I’m all about fishing and tying. Photography is just an extra thing to it all.

Streaking Caddis

Any tips for us fly photographers who can't seem to figure out how to take a decent pic?
There’s one thing that is really important and that is light, you can never get to much light. And don’t use yellow light, white bright light is the best you can add to photos! I use a lot of tin foil to remove as much shadow as possible.

Caddis Pupae

Explain your camera set up for photographing flies?
Well, a lot of people don’t believe me when I say this. But I only use a mounted Olympus compact camera that I bought several years ago. Its macro settings are fairly good, and as I mentioned before, light is very important.

Biot Mayfly Emergers

Do you share tips with other fly photographers?
No, not really, there are many, many photographers better than me!

Vulgata

What other fly tiers inspire you? Who do you look to for ideas?
Well one of my biggest inspirations is Oliver Edwards, he has created lots of fantastic looking, fishable flies that I love. There is also lot’s of great Norwegian fly tiers that has inspired me over the years. Pål Krogvold, Staffan Lindström, Terje Refsahl (aka DryFlyPurist), Rune Stokkebekk, Andre Brun to mention some of the great fly tyers.

PG CDC & Foam

What fly fishing forums/boards do you frequent?
I’m usually on Norwegian fly tying forums, and one of the greatest is www.fluefiskesiden.no. It’s great, and a lot of inspiration and information on fly tying and fishing. I also frequent flytyingforum.com. A lot of great ties on this forum, and a lot of great American fly tiers who have given me a lot of inspiration!

Claret Dun

Family? Kids? Wife?
No kids or wife, but I have a girlfriend. She’s not really into fly fishing, but she understands my needs and is really patient when it comes to me fishing 24/7.

Big Caddis

-------------

If you'd like to reach Petter, you can check out his site at www.arcticflyfish.com, or you can contact him on www.FlyTyingForum.com under the name PetterG.

All photos were taken by Petter Gustavson.

Thank you again Petter, I hope that I have somehow showcased your work (to my 6 readers - hi Mom!) to a larger fly tying/fishing audience here in the US. If you are ever in the US, look us up so we can take you to a beautiful place in the rockies and have one of those American Lager's!