I’m from Sweden, the small country far far away up north. Our neighbors are Finland and Norway. If I go to Norway, it is possible to buy (almost anywhere) “the book about stupid Swedes”. If Norwegians go here to Sweden they can buy the same book but with the very different name “the book about stupid Norwegians”. The stories are exactly the same in both of them. Here are some examples:
Story number one: (since I’m from sweden the stories have to be about norwegians)
A norwegian guy walks to a store. After a couple a minutes he says to an old man passing by: “why doesn’t the store have a door?
“because you are on the wrong side” the old man replies.
Story number two: Two Norwegian men are talking to each other:
“Have you heard that in USA, one man gets smashed by a car every fifteenth minute!?”
“Are you kidding? That man must have some bad luck!!”
In Finland they don’t have that kind of book and we don’t have one about them, But there are still some old nice tensions between swedish and finnish people. According to some rumors, finnish people often believe that we in Sweden are fashion freaks, weak and crying a lot. On the other hand we in Sweden accuse the finnish guys to go hard on the Koskenkorva (spirit drink) and do nothing but stay in the sauna.
Since the situation is as it is, I started to think for a while. What flies should I bring next time I’ll go to Norway and Finland. What colors should a fly have in order to make the fish in Norway and Finland go completely mad? After a while I got it. Then I tied these creations, three patriot flies, one for each country. I convinced that they will work extremely well and I can’t wait to try them.
The reason to why I also made a Swedish pattern is simply because I think it can be very effective on the swedish national day. Then the fish will take it in a joyful mood, probably laughing at the same time they bite.
I like them. I will have 3 Risto’s and two of the others.
I’ll take the orders, let’s see… three Risto’s, one Åke, and one Hakon. Great, you’ll get them in one week!
Once a Swedish fly left for Norway and the average IQ (of flies) increased in both countries.
I like the joke, Lars. I think it’s hilarious.
What many of the Swedes don’t know is that these jokes are very popular in Finland. It’s always the Finn, the Swede and the Norwegian. The Finn always beats the others. We must try Risto against Åke and Hakon and see if it’s true.
I´m pretty sure the Norwegian flag-coloured “Hakon” fly would be excellent for big arctic char and big trout feeding on small arctic char. And red and white always work in a fishing fly anyway. I suspect Hakon will beat Åke and Risto any day of the week, and I´m really looking forward to the first field test!
The only sad thing about that fly is the name. “Hakon” is a big corporation that deals in groceries. The name is spelled “Håkon” or “Haakon”, you nitwit!
But if Risto gets to the rivers of his home country, he will be unbeatable. He looks just like the baitfish trout feed on there. I’m sorry, but I think Åke drew the short straw here. Well, maybe on the Swedish national day…who knows.
I think that Åke is the bomb, the excellent mix between a leaf in the autumn, the swedish flag and a fish makes Åke… irresistible!