Featured : Edgar Reppanen

Tell us a little about yourself?

My name is Edgar Reppanen and I live in Espoo, Finland. For the past 9 years, I've been working in different restaurants as a cook. Now focusing more on my own photography and videography company. I spend all my free time trying to go fly fishing as much as I can.

When did you first touch a fly rod?

I got my first fly rod from my father around 12 years old. It was Pflueger, a glass fiber rod that was so flexible it probably is still trembling somewhere. First year was all about trying to catch sea-run brown trout and rainbow trout on an orange zonker fly in a river called Aurajoki and water colored as coffee with milk.

Where did you go and when?

For the past 6 years, I've been mainly fishing northern pike and sea trout in Finland. Brown trout, and arctic char in Swedish and Norwegian mountains during summer. Those trips to the mountains hiking around 40km to get to the spot with all the gear and staying there over 2 weeks in the middle of nothing is something really special.

What did you hunt for with Good Hooks - fly shop flies?

Last summer we could not go to Norway because of covid-19 restrictions and closed borders so we needed fast to figure out a new spot in Sweden. Little did we know how amazing a place with a glacier river we managed to find. Not a single track from humans and a river full of trout. Before this trip, I did not have to fly fish so much with streamers. Toni suggested to me that I need to try the streamers that he has been using and they have been really working on a trout. Amazing patterns and colors. On the first cast, I got trout to follow the fly. It was an olive/copper articulated worm. Landed nice trouts on that fly. My other 2 favorite flies were a white Game Changer and a brown Sex Dungeon. Lost a few 70cm trout on those flies and they really proved deadly on a trout. I liked them so much that I don't use anything else on trout even on sea trout they work perfectly.

What makes a great trout streamer?

I think the most important things for me about the streamer are color, size, and how it moves. Toni from the Good Hooks truly knows how to make them swim like a real baitfish. Also in some situations, it's also important that you can stop the fly and it will levitate in place when stopped. This can sometimes really trigger a fish for a bite.

What makes a great streamer fly angler?

The most important feature of a great streamer fly fisher is having a child-like mind when swinging flies. You need to be open-minded, trying new tricks and tactics. Being very active in finding the right colored fly in different situations. And giving that streamer a good movement by jerking rod tip and stripping line.

Any favorite streamer patterns?

Definitely Kelly Galloup's Sex Dungeon and Blaine Chocklett's Game Changers but made with deer belly hair

What draws you to fly fishing?

It's really hard to say. It just feels something special when you combine a perfect and accurate cast with the right fly in amazing surroundings. When you get everything right and sometimes are rewarded with nice fish it's just something I can't explain.

What's next for Edu?

At the moment waiting for spring to get back after sea trout and northern pike. Meanwhile, tying flies and planning for an expedition after glacier brown trout in the Swedish mountains. This year we are going to go even bigger, with more camera gear, more fly fishing equipment for different situations, and even more tactics.

Any famous last words?

Don't get stuck with old habits! Be open-minded, stay focused on what is happening around you during fishing and be playful with streamers and have fun.