Klinkhamer Special

Klinkhamer Special celebrates 25th birthday

Author Hans van Klinken

It is always a great pleasure to revisit the notes from the early days of my fly fishing adventure. My diary makes the observations and events of that time always at hand making them more real and vivid. I have noticed that the older I get the more often I return to them. Sometimes I just read the comments relating to particular fishing trips, which allows me to remember a particular trip. I make no secret of the fact that this gives me a lot of pleasure. More often, however, I analyze in detail the records of the flies I shot in specific places. It was not only the type of fly used or the method of fishing that was important to me. The choice of materials used in tying a particular pattern were also important. Only now, after repeatedly analyzing my notes, did I realize how important the information on the materials used at the time really became.

Everyone probably imagines that I have a huge collection of artificial flies in my house. Unfortunately, I don't consider myself a fly collector. I spend a lot of time reading old fly tying materials focusing my thoughts mainly on the techniques used to spin certain patterns. Throughout my career, I have accumulated a huge amount of fly tying materials: old books, personal letters about fly tying as well as numerous magazines such as. Fishing Gazette. As for these materials, I can proudly say that I actually collect them.

I began my adventure with bow-tie making in 1976, but it wasn't until 1981 that I started designing new and improving old tried-and-true patterns. My collection of fly tying materials proved to be an invaluable source of information. In addition to poring over the various information available on fly tying, I exchanged my notes and observations with my closest friends. I tried to explore everything I was able to. There were many so-called fancy patterns, many random ones, but probably most accurate imitations of insects in various stages of their lives. What is missing from these beautiful flies? What's missing is the history associated with each of them. I am curious about the original intentions of their inventors, their trials and errors related to tying technique and also the choice of materials. I am often annoyed by the fact that quite a few bow ties have lost their original names, which have been so altered that their original original original names are irrevocably gone.

Understand what is at stake...

It is no secret that parachute flies have been my favorite patterns for more than 25 years. At the beginning of my fly fishing adventure, I used traditional English flies with a blackberry wound on the hook shank. Then I met a Swedish angler, thanks to whom I made many changes and started experimenting with both spinning and fishing. He introduced me to a fly called Rackelhanen which freed me from the traditional view of tying artificial flies. This not only made me more innovative, but allowed me to look from a different perspective and forced me to use many materials I had never used before.

Rackelhanen although very popular and well-known to this day on the Scandinavian peninsula has never gained its due fame elsewhere. I can't even imagine what my fishing would be like without the discovery of this fly. In fact, this ugly imitation of a caddisfly gave me so much self-confidence and inspiration that I was able to start a completely new era of fly tying. Personally, I have a great appreciation for spinners for their innovation and creativity, but I believe that creativity cannot obscure or change the development history of a fly in any way.

 

Name

I have never seen any other fly whose name has been twisted so many times as Klinkhamer's. At first this would be explainable because in the 1980s I wrote all my notes on paper in the traditional way. Due to my rather average handwriting, however, I could understand minor errors appearing here or there. Later, however, I noticed that many people began to consciously change the name of the bow tie. To this day I cannot understand it! In Germany they called it Nordisher Hammer or Wedges in the USA the Clinck, so I often got questions about different types of Hammers, Of which I had no idea. I had heard, therefore, of yellow, pink or blue hammers! Of course, I can't deny that I wasn't proud that my fly attracted such interest. The name was suggested by none other than Hans de Groot himself. Over the past 15 years, I have received more than 200 letters asking why exactly I chose such a name for my fly and what it means.

In Sweden, near where I often fished in my youth, there is a mountain called Hammer. Many believed that the name hammer originated from the English sledgehammer That is, to shoot from a cannon. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, its real name was LT Caddis Specifically, the 6th fly in the series, which I created in Scandinavia between 1981 and 1991. So. Klinkhammer Special is the name invented by Hans de Grote and Tony Lindhout, who, by the way, were both on our editorial board. They believed that LT Caddis is not a suitable name for such a great bow tie and with such capabilities, so they decided to change it teasing me in a way. I happened to be absent at this particular editorial meeting, and as they told me they wanted to weave some Scandinavian style into it. I liked fishing in Scandinavia the most, I was charmed by it, so that's how the name of this fly was born.

LT - stands for light tan (light beige) color, this was color No. 19 of the dubbing produced under the name Fly Rite Poly dubbing because all 44 fly patterns in this series used the same color of dubbing.

Intentions for the creation of the Klinkhammer Special

In my opinion, before tying the Klinhammer you should know what I had in mind when I created this pattern. Although the first variations of the well-known Scandinavian Racklehanen pattern proved to be very successful, I was never completely satisfied with it. The reason was very simple. At the time, I didn't realize that both Kenneth Bostrom, who invented this fly, and I were making cardinal mistakes when tying it. At the time, I did not know or had not yet mastered many of the tying techniques I know today. These mistakes effectively prevented our patterns at the time from floating as Kenneth had imagined. Many of my flies did not float or fall on the water the way I wanted them to. For many spinners, such flies become inadequate or even bubble patterns. As I had the opportunity to fish with these flies, I noticed that my failures were rooted in mistakes during tying. I analyzed the whole thing and found the source of my problems. I tied them with single and much longer wings, so sometimes they were borne with the wings spread flat on the surface. This was the cause of many empty jams and fish losses because the hook was presented at the wrong angle. I also noticed that I was using too much buoyancy enhancer and still applying it in the wrong way to the fly. The fish were picking up the flies as if they were running amok, but I had way too many empty jams. I was taking out about 3 fish for every 10 strikes. To solve this problem I added a blackberry around the wing as I had seen before in Eric Leiser's book, and that's how my first parachute fly was created. After these adjustments, my flies began to swim the way I wanted them to, but that wasn't the only reason I became involved with parachute flies. Around the same time, I discovered that flies embedded a little deeper in the water surface were more productive than those floating a little higher or quite on the water surface.

Another discovery I made was one of the most important in my career. It can be said that grayling contributed to it. In those days I was still using flies with a thick blackberry tied around the hook shank in the traditional way and a sizable tail. I liked the way they floated on the surface and the fact that I could see them perfectly. I loved watching the grayling pick them up. Once, after a short cast, I noticed that the aggressively behaving grayling, instead of swallowing the fly, would only push it aside with its muzzle. After further observation, I noticed that this happens quite often, that the fish, instead of swallowing the bait, only nudges it lightly or pushes it aside.

Today, I know a lot more about the grayling, its biotype and foraging behavior. Most often it feeds near the bottom because it is built that way. Only now I realized why I had so many empty jams using flies with a traditional blackberry. Grayling can rise to a fly flowing on the surface very quickly, but due to the structure of the mouth opening it is more adapted to feeding near the bottom. The characteristic protruding shape of the grayling's mouth opening is almost ideal for taking food from the river bottom. Of course, grayling has also adapted to take insects flowing on the surface as well as trying to get to the surface(so-called emergers). Sometimes grayling also jumps to insects flying just above the water surface. I have seen such jumps many times especially in the northern Arctic regions. When fishing for grayling on a dry fly, its speed of rising to the fly and the shape of its mouth weighs down the miss of the target, which is our fly and, consequently, an empty strike. This problem is significantly reduced when using parachute flies or stuck even deeper in the surface layer of water, emergers. I proved this theory many times after the invention of the Klinkhammer. My tying method-where the trunk of the imitation is stuck in the surface film of water in a way that resembles a submerged part of an iceberg-solved the problems of fish not hitting the fly and significantly improved the effectiveness of the jams. According to well-known fly tying expert Oliver Edwards, jerking efficiency has increased by about 60%. In addition to the significant improvement in jamming efficiency, I also noticed that 8 out of 10 fish jammed were correctly fastened by the upper lip.

During an underwater photo and video shooting session in Canada using a standard camera speed(24 frames per second), we were unable to film a grayling collecting flies for the simple reason that it was collecting them too fast to record.

Why in the surface layer or just below it....

Parachute fly fishing has many benefits. I think it starts right from the presentation of the fly. A well-tied parachute fly not only lands perfectly on the surface, but floats on the surface all the way down the fly. In my opinion, it is one of the most stable flies, and tied with the right materials it holds up very well in all kinds of current breaks or fast current. The intention of the parachute fly was to present an imitation that more closely resembles the silhouette of a real insect floating with the water current. Perhaps this is another reason why you get better results using flies of this type. When we try to mimic an insect only certain factors are important. We generally focus on size, shape, color and movement. I think there are other factors that can be decisive and have not yet been discovered. I am still looking for them. A few years ago, I began to perceive differently the silhouette of a fly as seen by a fish on the surface of the water. Now in my classes I spend a lot of time carefully explaining to young fly fishing students how important is the shadow of the fly as seen by the fish, I don't even mention the shape. He tries to perceive it a little differently. The wind influences the movement of insects on the surface, and we also try to take this into account when spinning our flies. But how many spinners take into account the sun and the angle of its rays falling on the fly as it floats on the surface? Only now have I realized how important the silhouette or outline of the fly as seen by the fish is, and how much of an impact it has on different types of subsurface flies like spiders (spiders). I can't so far explain the reason why some fussy fish only take the fly during sunrise or sunset, or when the sun will be obscured by clouds.

Problems in shooting ...

I think we are getting close to the heart of the matter. In a way, I am compelled to write about it because I have read and seen many mistakes made in the preparation of Klinkhammer. Probably not everyone will agree with my explanations, but I will try to explain some things to the best of my ability. Why I use such and not other materials, a hook of such and not other shape and why I tie the hackles of my flies in such a way. I will also try to explain why I still use the same materials that I first used for spinning and prefer them to others. I believe that I have the necessary qualifications and I know what I am talking about because I have tried to perfect the Klinkhammer a dozen times myself. But sad to say, very few of my modifications have turned out to be better than the originally knotted Klinkhammer.

 

Blackberry(part one)......

Contrary to what most people think, I've discovered that we don't need the best, quality feathers at all for the scissors of parachute flies. However, the more modest, skinnier the fly, the more important the matter of choosing the right material for the blackberries becomes. There are also spinners who believe that all kinds of rooster feather waste are ideal for parachute type flies. I completely disagree with this as well. Thinking logically we will come to the same conclusions, flies of this type stay on the surface thanks to a well-balanced and horizontally knotted hackle. The tail can help especially with hooks with a straight shank, but it is not necessary. Too bad, the quality of the feather and thus its soft rays can cause the fly to sink instead of swimming. There is one more important factor that causes us to use feathers for blackberries with stiff and hard rays of decent quality. Let's think for a moment about casting and the force we use when maneuvering the fly. A parachute-type blackberry tied with soft feathers of poor quality will quickly deform losing its perfectly horizontal position and this will certainly affect its buoyancy. The force acting on the fly during casting deforms the poor-quality hackle upwards, so sometimes at the very first presentation, the fly will refuse to obey us and will start to sink. This happens often maybe not already with the first cast, but after subsequent casts the fly swims worse and worse and consequently sinks. I have seen many articles decorated with many beautiful photos of various Klinkhammers, the effectiveness of which, in my opinion, would be questionable to say the least. I have plenty of strong arguments supporting my opinion. What's more, I have discovered that a blackberry tied with only two or three turns will not float well. It became clear to me a long time ago that a poor blackberry will never be able to keep a heavy hook properly afloat. Any fly tied with mediocre quality feathers will not be fishable. Thus, we will need a fairly long feather for a blackberry composed of many turns. Depending on the size of the fly we will be tying it will be as many as seven or eight turns. I usually make so many turns until the natural direction of the feather rays begins to change during the winding process into the opposite direction. In my opinion, when tying our flies we should be guided by the power of observation and the simplest reflexes. One of my most important „tools” when tying flies is a glass of water or other vessel. The sight of a tethered fly from the „underside” will quickly answer us if everything is as it should be. Even now, despite a lot of experience and proficiency in tying flies, I still use a vessel with water. I always want to see the result of my tying and also observe how much water my fly can absorb before it sinks. Before we continue with our considerations, I would like to add a very important observation about the size of the blackberries. I have made many Klinkhammers that at first glance have at large blackberries. I do not know what exactly they imitate, but they are very effective. Moreover, when I compare the same fly patterns tied by my friends and acquaintances, my flies stand out precisely because of the oversized blackberries.

 

Blackberry (part two).....

 

I consider my technique of tying blackberry to be the best, however, I left out one exception when not following its rules. Well, when tying Klinkhammers for fast rough water I give much more material to the wings than usual. In this particular case, the blackberry is not the most important thing when talking about the buoyancy of the fly. Poly Yarn used for the wings plays the main role and is what keeps the fly afloat.

 

Wing.....

 

I wish we had researched in detail the material we would use for the wings of our flies. If I had a little better eyesight and could see better and farther, I would probably use the fused wing technique by Tomas Olson for many of my parachute flies. Unfortunately, I don't have it, and that's why I started shooting flies in which the priority of the wing became its good visibility in fast and rough water.

When I started fishing with the Klinkhammer more often, I noticed that the wing was very helpful when fishing for grayling which can suck the fly off the surface without leaving any trace on it. I also had a similar feeling while salmon hunting. It was in these cases that my poor eyesight proved to be an advantage. I would clip when the large white wing disappeared from my field of vision. It was in this simple way that I caught hundreds of fish.

The most important elements in choosing the material for the wing is that it must be definitely lighter than the color of the water we are fishing in, the material must not be slippery and the pile of feathers from which we spin the hackle must hold well on it. When tying parachute flies, you will quickly notice that both the wing material, the blackberry and the leading thread must match perfectly. If the leading thread or the scrambler slips off the wing too easily then our fly will not last and will not serve us for a long time. The biggest mistake most people make when trying to spin a Klinkhammer is not realizing how important the buoyancy of the wing post material(poly yarn) is. I have seen many people tying large Klinkhammers using wing material that was inadequate and the fly was already sinking in a glass of water when tested. When using large hooks as I do the wing along with the dubbing must be lighter than the water. Otherwise our fly will surely sink. My good advice is to check the quality of the material we intend to use for the wing posts. Just cut off a small piece of our material roll it into a knot the size of a fish-feeding pellet and throw this into the water. If it doesn't sink our material will definitely work. In any other case, let's not buy the material. The best achievable poly yarn materials are: Sillicone yarn produced by Niche company( works best for small flies) and Wapsi poly yarn best for medium and large flies. Wapsi's product is purchasable in many different colors while Niche's Silliconized Yarn only comes in four basic colors. When poly yarn is used for the wing posts, everyone must check for themselves how many strands to use for a particular fly, adjusting, of course, to the size of the fly and the type of water where we will be fishing. For fast and rough streams usually the normal dose of poly yarn must be doubled, for very large dry flies used for salmon and sea trout fishing even tripled. As I mentioned earlier, you should always take into account your own observations and insights. I have tried many times to use alternative materials for wings, and I must admit that with not bad results. However, for example, the foam has great buoyancy however, it is not as durable as poly yarn, especially if it is not tied down perfectly or if you use foam of not the best quality. If you don't mind frequently changing flies damaged by tiny fish teeth then you can successfully use foam for wings. A common reason why many use foam for wing posts is that when we cut the post just above the blackberry, the foam post will expand a little while pressing the blackberry down thus adding to the charm of the fly and improving its buoyancy a little. So, when we run out of poly yarn in our fly fishing workshop, we can boldly use foam. Personally, however, I definitely prefer poly yarn. Finally, a few words about the size of the wing post. I have seen many flies with rather short wing posts, but I leave them a little longer. This is because I assume that a wing post that is too long can always be trimmed and a wing post that is too short cannot be lengthened, unfortunately. That is why I leave my wings as they are.

1. Often many people have problems with the buoyancy of Klinkhammers. The main problem is the use of original poly yarn for the wings. It is a great product, but it is so unfortunate that it absorbs water almost immediately. Although it is lighter than water, once soaked up, the water makes our fly sink. Therefore, the use of a suitable buoyancy enhancing agent is necessary here to avoid problems with sinking flies. Since poly yarn absorbs water so easily it must also absorb the buoyancy enhancing agent well. Therefore, the wing material must be properly prepared and soaked in advance with a good buoyancy enhancing agent. When we use flies of standard size and those poorly dressed we should also use a buoyancy enhancing agent when preparing the material for our blackflies. Here I would like to recommend a type of wax with the trade name dilly wax, which has been specially prepared for poly yarn. Proper preparation of materials makes my flies almost unsinkable. A properly applied agent will make our fly really float for a long time. At the same time, I would like to warn against applying the agent to the torso of our fly (especially with small flies) because it will prevent the torso from breaking through the surface film of water and what is extremely important for the effectiveness of this unique fly.

 

Trunk material....

I do not find it necessary to write at length about the materials used for the trunk of my flies because I use only a few dubbing. I like to use natural feather rays of some birds tied with leading thread, but it is not a very durable material, so I use it mainly for flies for grayling. For normal and large flies I use Fly Rite poly dubbing in extra fine version. So far on the market I have not found anything better and more durable than this material. The beautiful range of colors of this dubbing allows me to imitate the torso of almost any insect. You can, of course, mix colors according to your needs and preferences. Since this material is lighter than water it is very good to use it for larger heavier hooks. The other material I use is Wapsi Super Fine Waterproof Dubbing used by me for smaller flies(size 18 and smaller) because it is much finer in its texture.

Before we go any further I would like to point out a few important things. Many times I have seen people using such an amount of dubbing for the torso of one fly that I personally would have enough for 4 or 5 flies. Remember, the slimmer the silhouette of our fly, the greater the chance of catching a fish. Believe me, a thicker torso has always been less productive than a thin one, I have tested it myself. If we happen to apply too much dubbing do not cut it off and throw it away, try to use it for a thorax backing. The dubbing here is an alternative to peacock rays. I have noticed that peacock of inferior quality tends to become unnoticeable, almost invisible when fishing. Many more flies will get damaged when we unhook fish than during hauling or casting. This is another reason why we should use barbless hooks. The last point worth noting is that our fly must have a neat conical body and how to achieve this I will explain in the next chapter.

 

Thorax...

A few months after I tied my first Klinkhammer, I noticed that a neat thorax made from peacock rays improved the effectiveness of the fly. At first, it seemed to me that peacock rays would be too fragile and delicate. However, I found a way to improve the durability of the peacock with a simple varnish. Dubbing ( in a color darker than the trunk) is also suitable for this purpose, but the peacock rays look much better. Olivier Edwards at his workshops taught to tie peacock rays by the ends which makes them easier to tie and makes everything come out very nicely. Some people still twist the rays in the process making them more durable. We should experiment a little and see what suits us best. I stay with the old technique and use a good varnish. When the fly is finished, I give a little diluted cellulose varnish to the base of the wing. This protects both the wing, the thread and the thorax.

 

Hooks...

 

I realize that everyone has their own preferences when it comes to hooks. My preference is a hook with a wide bend(wide: gap). I tied my first Klinkhammer on a Partridge K2b hook more widely known as a Yorkshire Caddis hook. Twenty years ago, these hooks were available in a thin wire version. When we compare this hook with others available today it is a big solid hook. There were two reasons for which I gave up using these hooks. Firstly, the Partridge company was changing the thickness of the wire used to make this hook and secondly, these hooks are made with the eye facing up(up eye hook). In parachute flies, I definitely prefer hooks with a straight shank with a thin wire and a wide elbow arc. I was convinced that hooks with a wide elbow arc and a slightly curved arc were more effective in hooking. I wasted a lot of time finding the right hook for my Klinkhammer Special. However, this search proved fruitless. The lack of suitable hooks prompted me to design my own. My first prototypes were produced by Alan Bramley of Partridge of Reddich in 1989. Today they are known as Partridge Klinkhammer GRS15ST, 15BN and 15 BNX.

I receive many letters asking why there are so many empty strikes when fishing with Klinkhamer. Most people claim to have a lot of bites, but find it difficult to hook them. After my careful analysis of the hooks they used, the type of hook turned out to have a significant role here. Also, if you are getting down fish change the hook! As for its size, on the other hand, the view still persists that, for example, only small hooks are suitable for grayling, but this is not entirely true. Grayling, especially its Arctic variety will rise to a dry fly in size 6, similar sizes for wet flies are also worth checking.

 

 

Spiderweb and end node

After many years of spinning parachute flies, probably the best idea I have used was to use Spiderweb thread to cap the fly. Spiderweb is manufactured by Danville and is relatively readily available. I have demonstrated many times step by step how to attach the wing in an easy and simple way. For most, parachute flies are associated with being difficult to tie. During my classes in groups (max 10 people), my students were surprised after only 1 hour course how fast and easy it is to tie flies of this type. I still don't understand why so many people use the old, traditional way to tie parachutes. Not only is it more complicated, but the downside is that it is less durable. The fly often falls apart faster than we think. Spiderweb, on the other hand, protects our fly and its attachments much better from trout teeth than the threads used with the traditional method.

Increasing the durability of my parachutes used to be a huge challenge for me and even became almost an obsession. At that time I was fishing mainly grayling but, as often happens, I also often jammed trout that literally demolished my flies. Therefore, it became so important for me to tie flies that are durable and resistant to fish teeth. It took me an entire winter to find an effective tying method such that it would well protect the hackles of my parachutes from the trout's small sharp teeth. During this period of experimentation, I also focused on the end knot itself attaching the blackberry as well as the entire fly. Most spinners end the fly at the eye of the hook. This way of tying causes that we have to be careful not to untie the blackberry, which complicates it a bit. There are techniques where by using the right finger positioning you can grip the blackberry in such a way that it doesn't untie, but not many people use this and it doesn't do anything for the durability of the tie. The radius of the blackberry must go directly from the wing to the eye of the hook which makes it an easy target for the sharp teeth of the trout. In my experience, this type of fly design is not very durable and when the feather radius is destroyed the entire blackberry is destroyed as well. This used to be a big problem of mine that I struggled with for a long time when shooting parachute flies. My next improvement in tying technique was additional coils attaching the thorax before tying the blackberry. This improved the durability of the blackberry but made tying a little more complicated. In fact, I don't remember when I came up with the idea of using Spiderweb thread. I haven't seen or heard of anyone using Spiderweb for this purpose before. I am proud to say that this somewhat unusual idea has made it possible for everyone to tie this type of fly, has made the tying operation easier and has made the fly and especially its hackle more durable without destroying any of its rays. With normal traditional thread we would never have achieved similar end results.

Materials used in shooting Klinkhammer Special

Hook: Partridge GRS15ST, 15BN or 15 BNX in sizes 8-18 for trout and grayling

             Partridge CS54 size 4-6 for salmon

Thread: Uni -thread 8/0 gray or beige for the torso

             Spiderweb for blackberry

Torso: Poly 2 dubbed- color of your choice

Wing: Poly-yarn, one or two strands depending on the speed and type of water you intend to fish on

Thorax: One or two peacock rays

Blackberry: Colors-blue dun, dark dun, light dun, walnut in appropriate combinations to match the trunk color

Note: With flies tied on CS 54 hooks, I double or even triple the amount of poly yarn used on the wings and also the number of windings of blackberry.

BEFORE YOU START TYING YOUR FLY, KEEP THE FOLLOWING THINGS IN MIND:

1. Visibility: being able to see the fly on the surface of the water is very important. We use long wings to easily observe our imitation in rushing water. This is contrary to the theory and technique of Thomas Olson who stoned the wing to better secure the parachute-type hackle. His method is probably the most durable and robust of all those invented so far, but his fly without a wing bar is difficult to spot especially for those with not the best 
2. Durability: use Spiderweb for the end knot and for attaching the blackberry. It is crucial for steps 12, 13 and 14 because it does not damage the rays of the blackberry in any way making its construction stronger and more durable. It also improves the appearance of the fly.
3. Hedgehog backing: Using Spiderweb thread, wind a solid backing at the base of the wing post for the future blackberry. This will definitely improve the durability of the entire fly. By creating an underlay for the blackberry, you will gain additional experience in working with Spiderweb.
4. Hooking efficiency: Use hooks with a wide elbow arc to increase jamming efficiency. If original hooks are unavailable, use hooks with the largest elbow arc.
5. Quality blackberry feathers: use the best quality blackberry feathers use as many windings as necessary until the blackberry rays begin to change their direction. In my opinion, at least 5 full windings are necessary for the blackberry to effectively hold the structure on the surface. Rarer blackberries may be effective for calmer waters, but will sink quickly in faster rushing currents.
6. The magic of dark color: Experience has taught me that the same fly made with a darker shade of thorax is more effective than one whose thorax is lighter.
7. Poor torso: Trunk colors can vary depending on the angler's preference. Dubbing Fly rite in light tan, dark tan and rusty olive colors has worked best for me. Make the trunk so that it is thin and sparse and also so that it has a distinctly conical shape. Start winding the trunk trying to get the end of the trunk as close as possible to the burr of the hook. The more slender, sparse the torso, the more effective our fly will be.
8. Use buoyancy enhancing agent in moderation. Don't apply it to the torso, but only to the scutellum.
9. Reinforce the blackberry with varnish to improve its durability: Use an applicator to apply varnish to properly protect the blackberry, thorax and wing.
10. Change the shape of the CS54 hook by properly bending it to create a wide opening of the knee arch.

TYING TECHNIQUE

Step 1

Fig.2

Fix the hook in a vise, then cover the entire length of the hook shank with leading thread. This will prevent the wing from moving in the finished fly.

Step 2 

Fig.3

Cut off a strip of poly yarn by shading the end with scissors before attaching it to the hook shank. Try to keep the trunk as thin as possible.

Step 3

Fig 4

Attach the poly yarn to the hook shank with the leading thread in the position as in the photo shown above

 Step 4

Fig 5

Wind the leading thread up to the beginning of the elbow and back to where we started. Try to make a nice conical base for the future trunk. The cone must be noticeable yet the whole thing should be slender. This is a very important step. The better we do this underlay, the nicer and more effective our future fly will be.

 Step 5

Fig 6

 Tie the feather to the blackberry so that its direction is in line with the attachment of the material to the wing.

Step 6

 Fig 7

 We form the wing leaning slightly forward tying the poly yarn and the blackberry. This must be done carefully to avoid potential problems with the blackberry in the next steps of tying the fly.

Step 7

Fig 8

We apply a small amount of dubbing to our leading nothing. We apply the dubbing very sparsely so that it is just enough to cover our entire torso base. We try to apply the dubbing so that the torso is slender yet cone-shaped. The torso of our fly must start as close to the burr as possible and enter the knee arch. I'll say it again, the slimmer the torso, the more fishable the fly.

step 8

Fig 9

Fig 10

Wind the dubbing around the hook shaft stopping just behind the wing. Cut off the superfluous piece of poly yarn and then use the dubbing to make an underlay for the thorax. It often happens that there is no need to cut off the excess poly yarn, in which case we create an underlay from it. Both ways are good. Many of my students felt that it is much easier to make a good thorax when it is preceded by an underlay.

 Step 9

Fig 11 fig 12

 Tie three rays of a peacock feather. If you attach them by the tips it will enable you to make a neat thorax. Make sure you tie the peacock well, this will prevent a common dissolution.

Step 10

Fig 13

 We make 3 rotations with our peacock rays behind the wing, pass the peacock in front of the wing and form a neat thorax with the rest of the peacock rays.

Step 11

Fig 14

We fix everything with a few windings of leading thread finish with a knot and varnish.

ATTENTION CRITICAL POINT!

 Take a bobbin from Spiderweb!!!!

Step 12

 Fig 15

Invert the hook in the vise as shown so that the wing is in the horizontal position and the hook's elbow is at the top. Grip the poly yarn with your fingers and then, using a bobbin from Spiderweb, wind a few windings at the base of the wing post to form a solid base for the future blackberry.

 Step 13

 Fig 16

Wind the blackberry around the base of the post, starting from the top of the base. Each subsequent turn we make pointing downward toward the hook shank.

A few words on the number of blackberry windings:

A parachute-type blackberry made with one or two turns of the feather around the base of the wing will not do the job. When tying parachutes, we should learn to „feel” how many turns of the feather we need. Sorry a lot, but this comes with experience. There is simply no shortcut. In short, I let the feather „tell” itself when to finish. I learned this little trick from the well-known bow tie master Wayne Luallen. He taught me that when, making successive turns with the feather going down to the hook shaft, the rays of my blackberry instead of laying flat horizontally begin to point upwards this is a signal that the space for successive turns has run out and the fly „tells” us that we should finish.

I have noticed that many of my students tie the blackberry by going with the rotation of the feather in the opposite direction, i.e. upwards. I guarantee that this way of tying the blackberry makes it less durable and leads to its dissolution. My way of tying the blackberry from the top down ensures a neat well-tightened blackberry and the most durable construction.

We pull the tip of the feather in the opposite direction to the wing and secure the position of the blackberry with a few windings of Spiderweb thread. We need to secure the blackberry well especially around its base so that the threads go between the blackberry and the body dubbing. We use a ligature.

We cut off the superfluous part of the feather with the rays pointing downward. Apply lacquer with a needle to the end knot located just below our blackberry.

Admire the simplicity of the bow tie made

Why is this large fly so attractive to fish? What on earth can it imitate?

 I must confess that when I invented the Klinkhammer my knowledge of entomology was small. The first Klinkhammers were meant to imitate what I was finding in the stomachs of decent-sized grayling. These were mainly caddis pupae Here in front of the wye. At first, I tried to imitate their curved bodies with a germ hook and the outgoing wings with a parachute-type scuttle. This combination gave rise to the appearance of the current Klinkhamer. Now, many years later, I have a much deeper knowledge of insect life on the Scandinavian peninsula, and I can say that I have a much better understanding of the function performed by this fly. After these 25 years since I started my adventure with the Klinkhammer, I see it not only as a super effective fly but as a whole series of flies. I can appropriately change the pattern to imitate swarming caddisflies, flies, mayflies and so on. Moreover, it has become an almost perfect imitation of larger land insects trying to get out of the water. Even when there is no sign of any swarming fish rise to this fly making it a great control fly.

SOME TIPS TO IMPROVE FISHING EFFICIENCY....

When fishing, he mostly uses downstream casting. I have personal arguments in favor of this way of presenting the midge. I simply believe that a fly swimming in front of the leader and line is the most effective. I try to reason a bit like a fish, so I believe that a fish may give up on rising to our fly when it sees something suspicious such as a leader or even its shadow. This often happens when presenting upstream. Some people think that thin leaders eliminate this problem. My answer is that when hunting salmon, for example, we do not have the option of using thin leaders. I know from my own experience in Scandinavia that presentation downstream in a river or stream is much more effective.

A few words about leaders..... I have read that many people do not use braided leaders. As for me, I love them the most especially the conical ones with neutral buoyancy. They add not only stability but also weight to the leaders, they don't tangle and don't have a tendency to knot( so called wind knots).It is easy to cast them with big flies like my Klinkhammers . As for my method of connecting the line to the leader, I attach the leader to the line with a leading thread adding a drop of glue at the end. The knot is slender and very strong. It has not yet happened to me, even with large fish, that it failed me. On the other hand, at the end of my leader I tie a loop to which I tie the thinnest part of my kit, the tippet.

It allows me to avoid or minimize the knots that form on the leader. Moreover, it allows me to change the leader quickly and easily.

Finally, I'll add, wanting to fish exactly as I do, use parachute casts and a variation of the rolling cast known as a snake cast or a combination thereof.

Hans van Klinken