Klink (book)

Hans van Klinken started flyfishing at the age of 15 in Norway. He immediately fell in love with the unbridled beauty of the Arctic regions. Hans’ greatest outdoor experience was in 1975 when he spent almost four months in the wilderness of Lapland, where he learned how to survive in the forest and on the tundra. Hans began flytying in 1976. By the early 1980s, he was creating his own designs, mostly parachutes. This eventually led to his development of several unusual patterns and tying techniques. His international fame increased as he continued his meticulous development of his flies, giving demonstrations, workshops and classes around the world. Armed with his backpack, rod and flytying material, he and his future wife Ina travelled round Scandinavia as far north as Svalbard and later Europe and North America, fishing their way around. It was in the large variety of the river systems and lakes of Scandinavia and Finland that he honed his flyfishing skills.Hans’ retirement now makes it possible to commit fully to the world of flyfishing and related environmental issues. He has finally found the time to write his long-awaited first book which sheds light on his ground-breaking thinking behind the world famous Klinkhåmer fly and variations.Throughout his life he has held free-of-charge educational programmes and flytying lessons for youngsters, something he sees as his way of giving back to society.

• Foreword John Roberts 10Introduction Hans van Klinken 12Chapter 1  Dutch Panama: The forgotten fly 17Start of flytying 21Scandinavian influence 24Dutch Panama (version 1) 26Dutch Panama (version 2) 30Chapter 2   Rackelhanen 35Rackelhanen background 38Rackelhanen fishing techniques 39Tying the Rackelhanen 44Chapter 3   The Way with a Parachute 51My first parachute flies 57A little history of parachute flies 59The real power of the parachute fly 73Trends that have evolved in the last few decades 75Chapter 4   Scandinavian Parachute Flies 89Tying a parachute on a Swedish dry fly hook 90Tomas Olsson 96Tying a classic Tomas Olsson emerger using his original drawings 99Hare’s Ear Parachute Emerger 99How to burn a synthetic wing using the famous Olsson technique 100Chapter 5   Universal Baetis 105Lessons learned through addiction 106The rise of the Universal Baetis 108Tying our Universal Baetis (as we designed it in Denmark) 114Chapter 6   Klinkhåmer Special: Forty years of dry fly success 119Setting the record straight 119Sharing the credit 120Naming of the Klinkhåmer Special 123Real thoughts behind the Klinkhåmer Special 123The original materials 127The truth about hooks 146Tying the original Klinkhåmer Special 158Klinkhåmer version 2.0 164Tying the Klinkhåmer Special version 2.0 165Repairing damaged Parachute Flies 172Making Klinkhåmers with extra slim bodies 174What does the Klinkhåmer imitate? 176Fishing the Klinkhåmer Special 177My leaders and tippets are different from most systems 179Klinkhåmer catches so far 180Chapter 7   Para Poly Sedge 183New Sedge pattern 183How to fish the PPS 185Tying the PPS 186Chapter 8   Culard and Once and Away 191My way with CDC 191Floatability 192Mobility 193CDC against all the rules 195Tying the Culard 196The rise of the Once and Away 200Tying the Once and Away 204Chapter 9   The Power of Ants 209Investigations and observations 210Shape or silhouette 213Floating ants 217Tying the one minute Parachute Ant (no 1) 220Tying the Parachute Ant (no 2, river version) 224Adding an extra sight indicator 226The Ugly Bug – my version of the Chernobyl Ant 228Tying the Ugly Bug (the best of the best) 229Chapter 10   Green Glomma Duns 235My ‘Shining River’ (The Glomma River) 242Entomology (keep it simple) 245New way of thinking 252Forking the tails 257Tying the Green Glomma Dun 260Chapter 11   Nalle Puh 267The national fishing fly of Finland 272The Nalle Puh and some crucial background information 283The natural insects described by Aki Rinne 284The final Nalle Puh 287My first Nalle Puhs 289Tying the original Nalle Puh 305Dark Puh (original version by Simo) 308CDC Puh (original version by Juha Pusa) 308Honey Puh (original version by Simo) 308Snösko (Snowshoe) Puh (originator: Juha Pusa) 308My own classic version of the Nalle Puh, Honey Puh and Dark Puh 309Tying my version of the Nalle Puh with synthetic wings 310Chapter 12   Perfect Poly Bugs for Atlantic Salmon 315My way with Atlantic salmon 318Rising fish 328Tying my first dry flies for Atlantic salmon 332Deer hair versus poly yarn 337More time spent to perfect my Poly Bug 338A few important notes about the materials in the dressing 344Tying the Green Poly Bug 346A few last words 352