Henrik Mortenson

Henrik has worked professionally with fly tackle design and development for more than 18 years, and he has caught more than 3000 salmon on the fly throughout the world.
Whether it's the design of world-class fly rods or developing some of the best fly lines, there is no-one more adept than Henrik.  He is recognized as one of the world's finest casting and strategy instructors, educating thousands of fly fishers worldwide. With a highly reviewed multi-volume video series entitled

Fly Fishing Academy and his first book soon to be published in English, many more will be exposed to his "Scandinavian style."  Don't miss Henrick's program! It will wow you!

Outcast Steelheader-18
"There's a new boat in town", is the way they'd say it down in Texas.
"Up-graded the guide company fleet by adding a new Outcast Steelheader-18.  Disposed of old inflatable fleet completely," might be the way they would explain it in down-town Portland.
Most likely the way we would describe it in Welches would be, "Wore out the green boat in seven seasons, scrapped it out and hauled it to the dump. The new Outcast Steelheader-18 was conceptualized, drafted, ordered, delivered and assembled.  Today we explored 25 river-miles of a flooding local river with it.  The river was too high in water level to be effectively fished with a fly rod, but it was perfect for testing my new boat.  This boat draws much less water than the old one and may prove to be even better than I expected. It has larger diameter pontoons than the old boat, but they are the same length.  The frame weighs 1/3rd of the old one.  The anchor system, oar towers and storage lockers are all superior to the old boat.  Passengers will ride side by side in this boat.  As with anything new, there is some tweaking to be done.  New parts are still arriving.

This boat is built with an extra margin for comfort and safety, even in gnarly water.

Fly Line Building Class:
Line Building; Simple and Easy with Al Buhr.
March 17, Saturday, 9:00am - 4:00pm, with a 1-hour lunch break.      Al's Books

Improve your success while making your fishing outing more enjoyable. A custom tailored fly line, like a personal hand-tied fly, has some advantages. A personalized fly line can match your unique casting style. It can be tailored to your own rod and help provide a super smooth casting outfit. Unique lines can be designed to counter seemingly impossible casting/fishing situations. A custom line can be tailored to cast further distances, sink deeper and faster, slice through gusty winds, and more. Freshwater to saltwater, single or two-handed fly rods, a customized line can drastically improve your

fishing success. Line building will bring a new dimension to your fly fishing experience.

This six-hour class will dispel many mysteries in designing and building fly fishing lines. We will explore how the line interacts with the rod, and how a fly line travels through the air during a cast. We will cover line shapes and line mechanics during flight. The Cut Chart design system removes any uncertainty to cutting the line sections. Hands-on demonstrations in several line-to-line and loop splices. This will include knotted, bonded and welded type splices.
Included is a “How to Design fly Lines” booklet as a class text and future reference.
Bring your questions on fly lines, floating and sinking. Ask about best fitting your rods for top performance. Come with your toughest fishing situations and find a line that is the cure. This is an interactive class that will focus on answering your questions and finding the fly line solution.
Al Buhr has been designing fly lines for 30-plus years for single and two-handed rods. He has worked with Leon Chandler, Jimmy Green and currently works with Bruce Richards of Scientific Anglers. Al developed with Bruce Richards the Salmon Spey taper and then the Short Head and Mid lines.
This 6 hour class is $125.00, booklet included. Limited to 12 students - first come, first served.

Nice Big Rod
A trend along the west coast is that spey rods are getting smaller.  Guys that were fishing fourteen foot nine-weight rods five years ago, have replaced them with thirteen and a half-foot eight-weights. The fifteen foot long, big-water-rod has been down-sized to 14 ' 6" or even 14' 3".  This is because you can get more tip speed and nearly the same amount of leverage with the slightly shorter, faster stick. The C.F. Burkheimer 9145-4 fits this category.  It is a big stick by Pacific Northwest standards.  You might want to check it out if you are a big water enthusiast.

I got a 9145-4 a year ago.   It had arrived in late June and the local rivers were becoming low and clear. The 9145-4 didn't have much appeal for these conditions. I used it a couple of times, had fun, put it away and nearly forgot about it.  The other day while Roger Shearer and I tested my new boat we also tested his newest Burky, a 9145-4.  He had assembled this new outfit, combining a Nautilus 12T, 550-grain Rio Skagit Shooting head and GuideLine Shooter. 
The river was so high there was nearly nowhere to fish or even wade.  I parked the boat on an inside curve..  Roger fished the water from the boat to the tailout.  I watched from the boat.  After reassessing the water flow, I came to the conclusion that the water upstream better speed.

I also remembered that while floating over it , we had only been able to see the bottom, very close to the bank.  To make matters worse, stubbed-off blackberry vines and willows protruded out over the water.  When Roger returned to the boat, I informed him that I thought the better water was above the boat.  He said something about a call of nature and tossed me his rod.  I scouted the terrain on my hide upstream from the boat.  It didn't look good.  The flood water had enough color it was hard to see the bottom in more than three feet of water.  When I got into the water I was about 75-yards upstream from the boat.  The bank was a steep drop of two feet to the water.  Three feet off the bank I was waist deep with little inclination to get any deeper.  The room for a D-loop was nearly zero.  All of the casts would have to be preformed over the water.  I remember Simon Gawesworth performing what he called a "Crude Spey" cast.  He explained that it was best for a tight casting situations.  With the Crude Spey you just sort of get our line positioned in front of you and then whack it our there.  I tried a couple of short casts parallel to the bank to get the feel of the rod and found it to be perfectly suited to the task at hand.  I found that this long, stiff rod aided my ability to keep all of the line over the water.  Any time I tried to for a longer back loop, it usually connected with vegetation. With some practice, I was able to form a single spey cast entirely over the water.  With the shooting head system, casts of 70' were made consistently under really harsh conditions.  Beyond the 70' mark the water was too fast to hold steelhead so no longer casts were needed.  No fish were hooked, but I learned something really valuable to be applied to future fishing trips...big rods are still best for big water.  When I got home I took my Nautilus 12T off another rod and put in on my 9154-4, and then put that outfit in a Harding Rod/Reel Case so it will be ready for the very next trip.

Length: 14' 5"    Line: #9    Pieces: 4

Us Balance Digital Pocket Scales 
Great for hobbyist of all kinds.  This scale has a vibrant blue back-lit face for easy reading. Included is a removable plastic lid, which becomes a tray for weighing. It also has an automatic tare function.
Modes: g, oz, gn, ct, ozt, and dwt.
Weighs in grains which is a favored fly line calibration. 
Weighs in ounces, a favored fly rod calibration. 
Uses two AAA batteries (included).
 
500g capacity (17.6 ounces)
Assorted colors.
5-year limited warranty

One-Day Winter Steelhead Fly Fishing Schools
Take a drift boat ride down a Local River with: 
Mark Bachmann, Brian Silvey,  Josh Linn and Ron Lauzon.
Because of the overwhelming demand for these schools, we've added a fourth boat.

Watch an expert guide as he fishes and discloses the secrets and proven methods that put fish on the beach. Get a lot of hands-on help so that you too can be productive.
Arrive back at The Fly Fishing Shop at 6:00pm.
What our customers say.  
A report on a Steelhead School.
First come, first served.

"Elementary Spey Casting School"
Saturday, January 27, 2007
More info...
This class is for right or left handed casters, and will deal with the most efficient methods of casting from the river left position. 
It will cover Single Spey, Snake Roll & Snap-T casts with both
 floating and sinking tip lines.  Each class is 4-hours.
The instructors are: George Cook, Mark Bachmann & Leroy Teeple.
No other spey casting school features a two student per instructor ratio
with instructors of this caliber.