Klaus Frimor is one of the key figures of these times when it comes to fly casting. His knowledge of both single and double-handed rods, lines and casting techniques have taken him to work in research and development departments for brands like Loop Tackle and Guideline Fly Fishing. He has also guided fly-fishers in the best spots of the world, like Iceland, Cuba, Argentina, US and Canada among others. It is our pleasure to share Klaus’ interview with you.
Fd: When did you start fly-fishing? Could you tell us about your memories from those times?
Klaus: I started fly-fishing around the age of 6 or 7. My parents built a summer house in the western part of Denmark, and close by there was a little lake with roach and perch in it. I found it fascinating when, on a quiet evening, the fish started to rise for hatching insects. Later, when I was a little older and could start bicycling from my home, I started to fly-fish for trout in the nearby lakes and creeks. Soon, pike and mullet were added to the species on my “bucket list”. I guess everything started out for real when we had a boom in sea-trout fishing in saltwater. I could bicycle or simply just walk from my home to the fishing grounds. A few years later, at the age of 15, I had the opportunity to go salmon fishing in Norway, where a double-handed rod was brought along. I realized I could use a fly rod in the search of sea-trouts in the larger Danish rivers, which still hold some of the largest sea-trout in the world.
Fd: How did you start working as a guide? What kind of waters did you fish and what are the moments that you still cherish the most about guiding?
Klaus: In the early ‘90s I started working in a fly shop, where we arranged trips for our clients to the salmon rivers of Norway, mainly the Orkla and the Gaula. This was the start of my guiding career, mainly as a tour-leader, but also helping our clients pointing out the salmon-holding spots in various water levels, but also helping with tackle and flies. Later I was invited to go to Iceland, guiding for trout, char and salmon. Later on, I realized this was a very solid start for my guiding. As you know, trout fishing is a much more technical type of fishing, as compared to salmon fishing. Unfortunately, and still a mystery to me, trout guides are less appreciated and paid less than those who work with salmon fishing? There's nothing easier than catching salmon if they're in the river; and if they aren’t, there’s really nothing you can do. While trout still feed no matter what the weather throws at you.Being an “established” guide with a number of returning customers is different than in the early years. Today, guiding for me is mostly going fishing with old friends, a social event, and no longer this desperate search of a large number of fish. I still see new guides only focusing on numbers, while I've realized that a fish caught on a new or different technique can be more satisfying than catching large numbers of fish. Today, I don't really “guide”, as much as earlier; I fish through my clients. This is something that's only possible once you've caught enough fish on your own, and know the casting angles and the mending of the line in order to achieve exact speed on the fly. Then you teach those methods to your client. That's the greatest moment in guiding for me!
Fd: How did you meet the legendary fly-caster Göran Andersson from Sweden and what kind of influence did he have in your future?
Klaus: What I'm about to say now, I actually never told Göran himself. About a year before I started working in this fly shop in Denmark, Göran made his entrance to the tackle/casting scene in Denmark, I guess he'd been known in Sweden before that, but I first heard of him when he started out with his clinics in my “backyard”. Being young and self-confident, catching a good number of pretty big sea-trout, I didn't see the point in his “fiddling about” with a fly line, for me it was all about catching fish, which I, myself, thought I was pretty good at, and to be perfectly honest with you, considered to be a waste of time. Then I started working in the fly shop, and on my first day at the job (I still remember it was Saturday in Easter) I had to join in on his clinic, and, oh boy, was I in for a surprise. Maybe these methods weren't so stupid after all? I was appointed to be in charge of all clinics, shows etc. And in the years to come I spent days and weeks with Göran casting, fishing and hunting. One could say Göran didn't teach me how to catch fish, I already knew that, but he did teach me an easier way of getting my fly out there to the fish, but at the same time he taught me a lot more about the approach to salmon fishing, how to choose a fly, when to make that important cast, and -not least- how to play big fish. Maybe what he really taught me was to cast less but think more before you did it?After nearly a decade with Göran, I met other people with great skills, maybe different technique, but with the same love for fly-fishing, and all these people have taught me one important thing: you're in the fly-fishing business because you love to fish and to teach other people to fish. Those who are in the business for self-promotion won't last. This was shown to me by late Mel Krieger, who I was so lucky to meet on several occasions around the world. A true ambassador for our sport.
Fd: How would you describe the Underhand casting technique and what are the main advantages it has over other techniques, such as traditional Spey casting?
Klaus: First of all, I don't look at underhand casting as a technique alone, it's a way of thinking about fishing, lines, rods, leaders and flies.You cast with a very short casting-stroke because of the short head. Something you won't be able to do with a longer head where a longer casting stroke is needed, but you can cast a short head with a long stroke as well, but why should you?
-A shorter stroke takes less space!
-A shorter head takes less space!
-A shorter head can be cast with a shorter casting stroke, and takes less space!
-A short head is thicker than a longer line that weighs the same, therefore it can cast a larger variety of fly sizes, simply adjusted by the leader!
Just to name a few of the advantages in the Underhand casting “mind set”, to make it short (pun):
You can fish more places easier!
There are many forms of casting today, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. Spey, Skagit and Underhand casting to name a few. In my world there are no wrongs and rights, but I've chosen the technique which I believe to be the easiest and that perfectly suits MY type of fishing. You could put it this way, they're all differentiated by the “anchor” Skagit and, partly, Spey casting is done with a “sustained anchor”, meaning a part of the line is stuck in the water to create friction to load your rod. Not down to the same reason, Skagit is because one casts a heavy sink-tip and often a heavy fly; and Spey, because of a longer belly. Both are developed because of the necessity due to either line length or type of fishing. I believe I can do the same with the Underhand technique, I might have to change my line setup to do one or the other, but bottom line, it's possible to do it. Technically, the Underhand cast is tougher, your timing has to be more accurate, due to the fact you are only anchoring the leader. But at the same time it's much easier to make an angle change with a 30' head than a 70' or 80' head. At the same time, a shorter head takes less space behind you and allows you to fish everywhere. But most importantly, you can cast in larger angles. And there is NO discussion about the shortest way across a river is 90 degrees across to the other bank, therefore your average casting distance will be shorter through a day of fishing. I know there are many arguments against this idea, but with an Underhand cast and a shorter head I can cast 90 degrees even in a tight spot, but I can ALSO cast more downstream, something you simply cannot do with a longer head! When fishing sinking lines, the Underhand technique is simply the easiest down to the short head, but remember traditional Spey casters will simply choose a longer rod and thereby shorten the head length. You could say.... There's many ways to reach the same goal.
Fd: In what kind of waters and conditions do you choose to use a two-handed rod over a single-handed one? What are the reasons that lead to choosing one or the other?
Klaus: As a rule of thumb, you could say “the further away you need to fish the fly, the longer the rod you need”. But at the same time, it's a lot easier to fish heavy sinking lines on a double-handed rod than on a single-handed even though it's short distances.This is only when we speak about fishing rivers, when fishing lakes or saltwater, where you need to strip the fly back, a single-handed rod is by far to prefer. A double-handed rod will, under these conditions, be too heavy to handle.At the same time you have to look at line weights from a fishing point of view. For instance, you might need a long cast while dry fly fishing, you wouldn't choose a line weighing 30 grams (460 grains) because it splashes too much. I don't look at the size of fish as a determinant factor for choosing one or the other. I've caught 11, 5 kg. (25 lbs.) sea-trout on a #5 weight and 6 lbs. salmon on a 13' #8 weight, and both have been challenging.
Fd: More people fish with two-handed rods each day. What are your thoughts on the future of this tendency?
Klaus: I think more and more people realize how easy it is to cast double-handed rods, and for sure we have serious problems in Europe with cormorants wiping out our trout and graylings, leaving only salmon and sea-trout. So most of our dry fly fishing no longer exists and people switch over to targeting species where double-handed rods are more common.In USA, double-handed rods (or Spey rods, as they call them) are swiftly gaining territory, simply down to two factors: it's new, and the fact that it suits their steelhead fishing, which in many ways is very similar to salmon and sea-trout fishing in Europe.
Fd: How did you start working on Research and Development of fly-fishing products?
Klaus: Loop Tackle Design gave me the opportunity years ago to take over the development of rods and lines, and now, lately, I’ve been involved with Leif Stävmo from Guideline, on their products.I think the main reason why I started was because I wasn't really satisfied with some products and thought they could be improved, not saying “better” but creating rods and lines that were easier for people to use, I see quite a bit that actually makes fly-fishing more difficult, and harder for newcomers to handle. How clever is that? We need, as a business, to create as many fly fishermen as we can, not from a business point of view, but also from an environmental point. Fly fishermen are simply committed and enthusiastic about their sport and the waters they fish. I think some of the most interesting and not least challenging tasks in developing rods and lines has been to make great rods out of less expensive materials. I used to say, “it's easy to make great fly rods out of high tech materials but a true challenge is to make them just as good from low tech materials”. Unfortunately, price is very much a quality stamp in this business; most people think: the more expensive, the better. To that I will put my head on the line, and swear it is not always the case, far from it!
Fd: You have developed fine fly-fishing products throughout these years. Are you working on any project these days?
Klaus: Always working on various stuff, at the moment mainly as a “mind project” since we haven't launched the actual project yet. To me it seems development is changing more into creating tackle with a more “local touch”; meaning, you can't -as a brand- just make a 13' #8 rod and then claim it will work for everything and for everyone. There are different traditions and techniques in various parts of the world, and you simply need to identify those needs and requirements and adjust accordingly.
Fd: After such tremendous evolution in fly line taper designs, coating and core technology over the last decade. What’s next?
Klaus: Durability of fly lines is one thing, also smaller details such as connecting loops for shooting heads, etc.It is a funny discussion, since one of the best lines for casting is still a silk-line, unfortunately they are expensive and require a lot of maintenance, but as fishing lines they are great. The only down side of those lines is the running line, doesn't float as well due to absorption of water.I think the future will bring a wider variety of tapers and head lengths, for more individual choices.
Fd: How do you manage to guide and work on rod and line design at the same time?
Klaus: It is simply the perfect way of combining design with the practical side of things.If a designer doesn't have the “touch” with the real world, or simply just designs what he, himself, thinks is working, maybe even without a deep understanding of the usage of the product, he will either fail or only make products that fit into a very narrow group of fishermen, the group that does exactly like him.I guide on salmon rivers, steelhead fish with my friends and own an outfitter business in USA for steelhead fishing, used to host weeks in Argentina for sea-trout fishing. This gives me a lot of practical experience on fishing, but more important, I get to meet a wide variety of fishermen with very different skill levels. A unique opportunity to see with my own eyes the problems that occur while fishing, and on that basis solve issues that I might never have thought about in my own fishing. At the same time, these men and women are excellent “opportunities” and are always willing to assist, and you almost always get a valid evaluation since there is NO price tag on the rod or line...I would actually turn the question around and ask: How can you design without meeting people that actually fish and in the right environment?
Fd: You have visited many places because of fly-fishing.
A) Which are your favorite spots?
I have been fishing and guiding in Iceland for years, I still love the country. It's simply spectacular fishing. In crystal clear water and often quite technical fishing while skating small hitch tubes or single-hooked flies.In the autumn I love steelhead fishing on the Clearwater in Idaho, traditional “greased line” fishing for steelheads, and quite large ones too!But I have also fished in Canada, Cuba, Argentina, Scotland, Norway and of course in my home in Denmark. All the places I have fished have something that makes just that place special.
B) Could you tell us any funny story you recall from your trips?
A few experiences have been picked up here and there, and to name the funniest might be difficult. But if I have to mention something, it'll be the baptism of one of my favorite flies. On a trip to Scotland my hosts came up with the great idea to invite some “exotic dancers” to the lodge during the week, since one of the guys fishing was soon to be married. I had tied a fly for salmon a few years before that, that I had never really found a name for, just one that I always have in my box, and it produced fish more or less everywhere I fished it. When introduced to the “show girls” I decided that “Randy Candy” would be its future name. That fly is in production commercially now, and sold as far away as Canada.
C) Any risky situation you have been into?
Not really, but I have been challenged a couple of times. Once I did under estimate a waterfall in Iceland. I thought I could take my client to the top and climb down along the side, but I hadn't really calculated the steepness and the slippery rocks while climbing down.Another time I lost one of the wheels while chasing Rhea's in an old river bed in Argentina.Maybe I've just been lucky… So far!13) Which spots and species are in your bucket list?I've fished for Tarpon once, and it's simply something I have to do again.
Fd: Do you consider it important to know about fly-fishing history? Why?
Klaus: The philosopher George Santayana once said “to know your future you must know your past”. I think the same goes with fly-fishing, to understand what fly-fishing is and what will happen when designing products, one has to know what has happened earlier.At the same time, it's amusing to realize how little we still know about several species of fish, like the Atlantic salmon. Our knowledge has been expanded a whole lot over the last century, but still we hardly know anything about this fish.
Fd: As a final point, what does fly-fishing mean to you?
Klaus: Today it's more about challenging myself. I still see people for whom it's a competition and about bragging of their catches. That I don't understand. I simply love the social aspect of a fishing trip; but when fishing, it is all about me against the fish, if you can put it that way. Since I release 99, 9% of the fish I catch, I like to get a nice photo of the fish, not to brag but for me to remember a great experience.
