Danish Pastry Fly - The artist formerly known as The Copper Camel - Global FlyFisher

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Danish Pastry Fly

The artist formerly known as The Copper Camel


By Martin Joergensen

This fly pattern has recently had a name change. The reason for this will be obvious later in this story. It was originally nameless - as many other newly developed patterns are.

  
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Danish pastry fish - and Danish pastry fisher - This is the first ever fish caught on the Pastry Fly.
Danish pastry fish - and Danish pastry fisher
 
The camel and the copper
I tied it in a small breeze of inspiration primarily started by a box of camel's wool I was given as a birthday present by my Father-in-law. He had picked it up in a Danish animal park and thought of me and my fly tying. Very considerate.
I paired the wool with copper wire and a cree hackle, and wound up with a fly, which to me appeared quite fishy. It was simple and certainly seen before, but seemed very appealing to my eyes - even in the vice.
The only thing it had that I hadn't seen that often before was a head covered with copper wire - an idea that had come to me while tying the fly. I just continued winding the all-too-long rib over the eyes and the head of the fly before trimming the tag. Apart from that it was like many other inshore flies seen in Denmark.

The first fish
It did catch fish. Its first victory was actually the reason for the coming name change. At first I dubbed the fly the Copper Camel in lack of better ideas, and the name stuck for a couple of years.

Back to the first fish: Good friend Henning and I were on our way to a place we love and fish a lot. Upon arrival we remebered that we had forgotten to buy our traditional Danish pastry - a very important part of every fishing trip, eaten outdoors with a good cup of coffee. Henning was driving, and we decided that he would shuttle quickly to the nearest bakery while I sampled the water
I unloaded my gear and he drove off.

 
Boom!
I pulled on my waders, put my rod together and tied a Copper Camel to the tippet. Just in front of me was a small reef, which had produced a fish or two before. I started upwind from the reef, barely wading with water just over my boots. In the second or third cast I felt a small tug. It could have been sea weed, but it could also have been a fish. I placed a second cast exactly the same place: parallel with the reef over very shallow water. Boom! A sea trout took the fly as it hit the water and ran off towards deeper water.
It wasn't big, but a very nice fish in the 2-3 lbls. range. I beached it and decided to keep it - if for no other reason, then at least to show to Henning.

3 minutes later
Three minutes later Henning was back, parking the car and approaching me with the bag from the baker in one hand and his rod in the other.
Needless to say that he wasn't happy with my catch! This is probably the last time I ever get him to do the shopping alone while I fish...
Since that incident we have talked about the fly and the situation many times, and recently someone called the fly Wienerbrodsfluen - The Danish Pastry Fly - and that name stuck.

 

Danish Pastry Fly
TypeCold saltwater fly
Originator
Martin Joergensen
Year of origin
2001
Tied by
Martin Joergensen
Difficulty
Easy
Target species
Sea trout (sea run)
Steelhead (sea run)

Materials
HookStreamer size 4-6
ThreadTan
RibCopper wire
BodyCamel wool hair (long fibred, tan)
HackleCree rooster
EyesBead chain
HeadCopper wire

Tying instructions
  1. Attach the thread in the rear of the hook shank
  2. Tie in the copper ribbing
  3. Dub the body to a cylindrical, slender shape
  4. Prepare a hackle by removing the most webby part
  5. Tie in a pair of eyes under the hook shank in front of the body. leave space to tie in the hackle
  6. Tie in the hackle in front of the body behind the eyes, pointing away from yourself, shiny side towards the front of the fly
  7. Take a couple of hackle turns behind the eyes
  8. Turn the hackle down the body in 5-6 even turns
  9. Catch the hackle tip with the copper wire and turn this back up the body to secure the feather
  10. Continue turning the copper around the eyes in a figure eight movement
  11. Tie the copper down and trim the excess
  12. Cut off the hackle tip in the rear of the fly

 

 

 

 

 


Add comment  Go to article start
User comments
GFF staff comment
From: Martin Joergensen · martin·at·globalflyfisher.com  Link
Submitted April 10th 2012

Peter,

I fish it like I would most other seatrout flies. Cast it out and let it sink a bit and then strip it back in ½-1 foot long strips of varying speed. Not extremely fast and not dead slow.
I pause a bit now and then to let the fly sink and then continue as above.

Martin


From: Peter · peter·at·vanntur.com  Link
Submitted April 10th 2012

I wonder how this fly is fished best, fast as lightning or slow as a snail?


From: ricky fly · fly.ricky·at·yahoo.co.id  Link
Submitted August 12th 2008

so simple and very nice..i will try it.!



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