Håvard's secret fly box

Every fisherman have their secrets. A secret fishing spot or a fly can be so good that you would almost risk your life to keep them secret.

During the tour we had moments when the fishing was really slow. At one of the fishing trips, in the middle of a Norwegian night there were certainly fish but they were not taking our flies, no matter what patterns we tried. We kept casting on the rising fish but they totally ignored our attempts. After a while Håvard turned away from us and had a cigarette. Looking ignorant he took a small, gray fly box out of his pocket. Turning his back to us, he quickly changed the fly to a pattern that remained a mystery to the rest of us. After a few seconds the first fish was on. Håvard was the only one catching fish that night. The fly Håvard was using was so small you could hardly see there was anything at the end of his line. No matter how much we asked he never revealed the pattern to us. We never saw the fly box in broad daylight and the mystery kept haunting me ever since.

Just a few days ago when I was going through my fishing equipment I ran into a small fly box that seemed vaguely familiar. My heart started pounding and I could feel pearls of sweat rising onto my forehead. I opened the box, and all of a sudden all of Håvard’s secrets (or most of them?) were revealed to me! I had no idea how this gray box ended up with my equipment but I didn’t care. It was there and I had it right in front of my own eyes. The box was full of tiny small dry flies – the ones Håvard used when nothing else worked. Håvard had been fishing in those waters whole his life and the flies in this box were the result of thousands of hours of fishing, hiking, sweating and eating reindeer hair. This little box was worth a fortune!

Now you all might think I would reveal the contents of this magic box! Don’t worry Håvard, I won’t! I will go to grave with this secret! But instead, I will soon follow up with some of my most trusted flies for Finland’s hungry trout. But the real secrets – they shall always remain secret.