The salmon fly Kursk
How the Kursk fly’s weighted head helps it reach salmon in fast, deep water on the Aaroy River.
I got hold of the Kursk fly in 2016. By that time, I already had experience with nymph fishing for grayling and brown trout, so the way to fish the fly wasn't really foreign to me. The Kursk is fished like a nymph. The only difference was that everything suddenly scaled up massively when I started using it for salmon in Aaroy.
When I fish with the Kursk, my setup depends entirely on which pool I am fishing, the water level, the current speed, and the time of day. All the pools in Aaroy are different, and the salmon lie at different depths and under very different conditions.
I love using the heavy Kursk flies in Aaroy. Usually from around 4 grams and up to 10 grams. The most extreme thing I have fished with was a Kursk plus some secret weight with a total weight of around 15-17 grams. That was during brutal water flow in Baroness. It’s not possible with a regular fly line, but I caught salmon with that heavy fly.
I like to use my 12-14 foot rods. I have Loop 7X in both sizes and use, among other things, a very short Skagit with a very long mono leader. Other times I fish with an intermediate line and a slightly shorter leader. If conditions are extreme, I use sink tips from T10 to T17 or the secret weight.
With a floating line and a weighted Kursk, the long leader is crucial. Sometimes I add extra weight to the leader. The combination of a sinking fly, possible extra weight, and a floating line can be extremely effective.
But if you ask me if it is easy to cast with, I always answer: I don't know. My Kursk flies always land right where I want them to land!
When I fish the individual lines through the pool, I never change the length of the amount of line I am fishing with. I cast, let the fly fish out, take a couple of steps, and cast again. This is very systematic and important for my way of searching the pool for salmon.
I cast upstream and mend the line throughout the entire drift. Mend, mend. The goal is to make the Kursk fly fish like a nymph in a dead drift and find the line and depth where the salmon is holding. I fish both upstream and downstream, but not very much across. That way, the fly comes from a completely different angle and can get straight down to the salmon.
I search the pool systematically, almost like playing Battleship. Line after line. I know the salmon is there, and then it's just a matter of finding it. However, I rarely fish a pool more than once or at most twice with the Kursk.
When I fish the fly, I usually have the line between my fingers. Sometimes the fly suddenly stops in the drift, and I feel a soft resistance in the line. Other times almost nothing happens. Only when I lift the rod do I feel the contact, and the hook sets.
I also use a single-handed rod. My Loop 7X #9 at 10 feet with a floating line and a very long leader of about 12-15 feet can be used for pretty much everything. I choose the single-handed rod when the distance doesn't require a double-handed rod. Some pools in Aaroy are only 5-10 meters long, and here it makes no sense for me to use more gear than necessary. At the same time, I can switch between different flies and techniques without changing where I am standing.
In 2017, while working as a guide in Aaroy, I observed Antti fish for three days. He was technically very skilled and constantly changed his tactics and the size of his Kursk flies according to the conditions. I was already fishing with the Kursk myself at that time, but I learned a lot from watching him fish.
Salmon can be extremely active on the surface and suddenly change behavior and become passive. Then I have to change my fishing. Again, that depends on the pool, the water level, the current, and the time of day. If I continue for too long with the exact same setup, I find that the salmon's interest disappears.
My approach is actually quite straightforward. I like to start in or very close to the surface. If that doesn't work, I have to go deeper. At the same time, I try to read the salmon's reactions and change tactics based on what I see.
I have my own playbook after many years of fishing and after watching hundreds of anglers fish for salmon that we could see standing in the pool without taking the fly. My best teacher all along has been the salmon.
A salmon fisherman is never fully graduated. There is always more to learn. That is also why the slightly more unusual techniques and strategies interest me more than the actual fly cast.
The salmon will show up. Remember that.