Fly Fishing in Iran with Amir Salehi

I have had the pleasure, while writing a blog, to see the broad appeal of fly fishing around the world. Some parts of this world seem harder to explore than others, to gather a sense of fly fishing. One of these places was Iran. Iran is often overshadowed by ranting, fist waving leaders. In fact, Iran is an immensely beautiful country, full of expansive history, sophisticated culture and beautiful people.

Recently, SwittersB was fortunate to make the acquaintance of Amir Salehi, via Maryam Peigahi on Facebook. Currently, Amir lives in Sweden. However, he was so kind to provide information about his early fly fishing in Iran.

Mountain Stream by Amir Salehi (SwittersB)

Amir writes: “I worked as journalist for more than 6 years in Iran on a hunting and fishing magazine : “Nature Funds Courier” and wrote mostly articles on fly fishing and catch and release fishing to teach the culture to Iranian for being ethical while they fish.

The book “Mahigiri dar Iran ” which means “fishing in Iran ” is an encyclopedia of fishing in Iran and I wrote the fly fishing part of the book.    Some pictures from Lar my favorite place in Iran is attached.”

Further Amir writes: “In north of Iran there is a chain of maintains called “Alborz”. These mountains contain plenty of springs and rivers that support the water of cities as well.

Brown Trout is the purely native specie of Alborz Mountains, with its own specie type. The Lar area was one of the most important ones, which recently became national park. These mountain have variety of wildlife species such as Alborz Mouflon, Persian ibex, Persian leopard, wolf, Persian partridge, etc.  It was Iran kings hunting area and fishing area as well.

In 1860s sport fishing was brought to the country by diplomats from French, USA and Britain. Britain, and USA diplomats also had a special summer camp in Lar area. After the starting the Dam project in Lar, it became even more popular where Italian engineers, who were working there started to catch brown trout from Lar. Other rivers in Alborz also had the native Brown Trout. The record for a Brown Trout in Iran is for Karadj river, which was hooked and landed by an American diplomat in late 70s (The brownie more than 1 meter long).”

A special note, within the week comes the Persian New Year, Nowrūz, which transpires upon the vernal equinox. Read the attached link to learn the ancient heritage of this special event. I hope to learn more about Iran’s fly fishing from Amir. However, he may be too busy catching Atlantic Salmon and other species in Sweden.

Fly Fishing: Stillwater Lesson Plan

Several years ago, I did one of those Saturday morning classes at NWFFO’s in Portland, Oregon. Because I love fishing lakes, they asked me to do a class re Stillwater fly fishing. I put together an outline for the attendants and for myself to collect my thought and given them some idea where I was rambling towards. I attached here. My son, Tony, did the art work to liven it up a bit. The images are terribly presented, but I got them on here and blurry or not, you get the idea.

Stillwater Notes for Presentation (SwittersB) Page 1

Stillwater Lesson Plan (SwittersB) Pages 2

Fly Tying Expo’s (Some Thoughts For the Beginner)

First and foremost, I appreciate every tying expo I have been to. I spent a few years driving my son, Tony, to them when he was the obligatory youth tier (albeit a darn good tier). So, I appreciate the mental~practical preparation involved.

As a beginning fly tier, I encourage you to attend these shows and most importantly do not be shy. I normally walk in and walk the circuit making a quick assessment of types of flies being tied. Now some would say not to eliminate any style of tie. Your choice. I look for the type of flies I will most often fish and want to learn more about. So, I look for trout flies and steelhead tube flies. You may look for bass flies and Atlantic Salmon artists, or Realistic Fly Designers (my designations).

As I said, do not be shy. You are there to learn. They are there to teach, clarify and inspire. If a chair is open sit down or get close. They aren’t selling anything so don’t walk on by. Take notes. Take their cards for later study or commercial contacts. If a tier is busy gabbing with friends or telling stories and not tying move on. Keep looking for the type of flies you are most interested in.

Ask ‘how to’ questions: ‘can you do that whip finisher move a bit slower?’ ‘what kind of feather is that?’ Some tiers are tying to knowledgeable tiers and may whiz by stages, so feel free to ask questions. It is a very open venue….or should be. The NW Fly Tying Expo in Albany, Oregon, I just went to, was a perfect match for most of my interests. Maybe a bass fly fisher would say different, I don’t know.

Another thing I noticed, and liked, the tiers run the gamut of human nature: the tiers were in various ways precise, scattered, anal, disorganized, gregarious, shy, gruff…the full range. They tied great flies and with all the varieties of styles, personalities and patterns. I think you will enjoy these shows and as I did take away tips and techniques I had forgotten or never seen before. Thanks to those that organize these shows and the tiers (and, vendors).

“You take 186 tyers, plus 160 volunteers,” Sherry Steele said. “And to have that many people step up to the plate, that’s really great. It’s huge.”    Statesman Journal

Fly Tying: “Inveigle” Dry

Inveigle: ‘to acquire by ingenuity or flattery’   ‘to entice, lure, or ensnare by flattery or artful talk or inducements’     ‘To win over by coaxing’

This dry fly pattern was tied on a size 14 light wire hook. I used black, 14/o Sheer thread. The tail is Guinea feather barbs. The body (abdomen) is a light dubbing of olive super fine. I tied in an underwing of olive CDC followed by an overwing of white CDC. I tied in a Grizzly feather of dry fly quality in front of the CDC wing. Then  I dubbed a bit of the same dubbing in front of the CDC wing. The hackle was wound three time toward the eye and tied off. A thread head was completed to finish the fly. I am certain this fly will Inveigle the heck out of the trout.

Fly Tying: Euro Bead to Hook Sizing

Kristján from Iceland @ http://kristjfr.wordpress.com/ reminded me that the mm designations are of greater help to many tiers outside the U.S. With his permission, I am providing his blog link for additional details re mm sized beads and their corresponding hook sizes.

 

Fly Tying: Bead~Hook Comparison Charts for the PP

BEAD to HOOK Matching

Bead to Hook Chart

A review with past posts re what size bead is most often best suited to what size of hook…variations ok.

Fly Tying: ‘Bzzzz’ & A Photo Question?

The fly is tied on a size 18, curved shanked hook. A typical mistake, as I so fortuitously provide here, is compressing too much material near the head. This results in an over developed head (fat head) at the end. ‘Less is more” (better) with many fly patterns and especially so with small flies.

Now a photography question: The back drop for this shot was bright white. The lighting was and OTT light directly over the fly less than 2″ away. On either side are two small halogen lamps also about two inches away. The Canon Xti with a 100mm Canon Macro is set on AV f22.  I seem to always get a quite dark shot with the back drop actually darker than depicted here. I tweaked it with Photoscape. I am not that accomplished with the photo lingo but any advice much appreciated to achieve better lighting.

Fly Tying: Rainbow Beads

These rainbow metal beads give a variable color as the fly swings or tumbles. Assuming the fly is high enough in the water column for the various colors on the bead’s spectrum to show with available light, I like the possibilities…

Same bead from different angles yields different color casts to the flies. There are several different sources for the metal beads.

Charlie Goofball Sheen NOT! Dead (for now)

Viral Hoax

Fly Tying: Emerger~Wet

Just my ongoing kick with CDC and Starling to create a wet fly sort of pattern. I say that because some will take exception to the overly dressed, complicated creation as not in line with the simple silk/floss body and two turns of sparse grey hackle. Buzzer sound here….  To each their own. It must be quite apparent, I am not a traditionalist, even though I do know and respect the origins of certain patterns. I am more in tune with the last times on the water and what worked and presented well.