Danica Dun
December 8, 2024
Tying Guide: How to tie Michael Olesen’s Danica Dun Hook: Maruto d21 size 10 Thread: Classic Waxed 12/0 from Semperfli, primrose for the abdomen and
The mayfly fishing is always worth the wait, but this year the wait wasn’t so long. The iconic insect arrived surprisingly early. Already by May 4th, some fly fishermen were out and about, and personally, I had my first real Danica day on May 14th, when I netted several beautiful trout. Naturally, on my “Luna Mayfly.” Every season is different;
The mayfly fishing is always worth the wait, but this year the wait wasn’t so long. The iconic insect arrived surprisingly early. Already by May 4th, some fly fishermen were out and about, and personally, I had my first real Danica day on May 14th, when I netted several beautiful trout. Naturally, on my “Luna Mayfly.” Every season is different; some are dry, some wet, some early, late, short, long, dull, or intense, etc. This year, the water level is slightly above normal where I fish, but I think that’s true for most of Denmark, given the wet spring we’ve had. Regardless, I usually notice when the “show” starts, that is, when there are enough mayflies for the fish to want them, as my dry fly fishing generally starts quite early in the year with rhodani, alder, hawthorn flies, and Sulphurea, among others.
Briefly about “The Feather Mechanic II: Beyond the Pattern”
A look into the feature of the Luna Mayfly in Gordon van der Spuy’s new book. What Michael’s thoughts were going into this, and places on the web where the book can be bought will also be mentioned here.
See more from Gordon van der Spuy on his socials and website.
You can find a copy of “The Feather Mechanic II: Beyond the Pattern” on www.themissionflymag.com
Explore flytying from my vise at different levels of difficulty and learn ways to make them with easy step by step guides and simple illustrations. Explore a variety of flies and a passion for fly tying.
I had been looking forward to it for a long time, but honestly, I wasn’t mentally prepared. Out of the blue, they came; it went “whoosh” and suddenly there were mayflies on the surface of my little stream. The first week, the fish were eager as always, and already from May 20th, I encountered large spinner falls daily, which provided some fun and unforgettable experiences with unusually large fish. As a rule, I pay a lot of attention to afternoon dun fishing at the beginning of the season, but after about a week, it’s the evening spinner falls that mostly capture my attention. On May 20th, I managed to outsmart a beautiful lake trout that was sipping spinners around 10 PM. There were quite a few flies on the water, and I spent a good 10 minutes letting my fly drift over the fish, which was fortunately an eager “steady riser.” I made a single fly change to a more sparsely dressed version of my mayfly, and it paid off. The fish only needed to see the fly three times before deciding to take it. Was it a wise fly change, or was I just lucky? I have no idea, but my impression is that the most important thing is simply to notice and get into the fish’s rhythm. I played the fish for a good 15 minutes before I had it in my net and could call my good friend Jens, who was fishing a bit upstream. I don’t know who was more excited at the sight of the deep and beautiful trout, but the atmosphere was truly exceptional. We estimated the lake/browntrout to weigh around 2.5 kg.
The very next day, May 21st, I was once again overwhelmed by a fishing experience in a class of its own. I was out walking along the river. It was a fairly calm day, where I, around midday, was a bit down after losing a good dun fish for the second day in a row. But in the evening, both the sun, moon, and stars aligned perfectly as I once again got the chance to fish for a large spinner-sipping trout, and this time it turned out to be one with red spots. The approach was exactly the same as the night before, though with an extra fly change before I managed to outsmart the giant. The semi-dark evening was definitely a help for me, as darkness often has the fortunate effect on the fish, that they don’t feel the same urge to hide under banks, weeds, and roots from trees as they do in full sunlight. I think I played this fish for at least 20 minutes before I could bring the 4 kg heavy trout to my net. My right arm was definitely shaking like hell and not any good for days after that fight. I even felt sorry for my 4 weight
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Here are some atmospheric images from the trip.
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