Irish Fly Fair - Tyer - Mikko Stenburg

I am Mikko Stenberg from Finland. I've tyed flies for 20 years now. In the end of 90’s I got interested in fly tying competitions. I think I sent my first flies to some Finnish magazine’s small competitions and other local competitions. After doing well and receiving nice feedback from folks I decided to give a go for the bigger international competitions. FQSA’s Worlds and Mustad have been very popular and respected competitions among Finnish tyers so I sent a hairwinged Silver Doctor for the FQSA’s compulsory model category in 2001. Competition went really well and I ended up winning my first FQSA World Championship with that fly. The next year I sent a few more flies to the same competition and the result was a silver medal in the hair winged creation category with a fly called The Burning Sunset - the rest of the flies were disqualified I think for some reason. In 2003 I sent three more flies. Feather winged compulsory model Blue Doctor won me a silver medal and hair winged creation pattern The Fox Parade won me my second World Championship title. Due to these achievements I was nominated as a “Master Tyer” by the FQSA and included to the same list with many brilliant tyers such as the magnificent Peter Dunne and the excellent Finnish champions.

Besides the FQSA I’ve sent flies to some other international letter competitions. In the Mustad and Fly Anglers Online competition I’ve won a couple of medals. I also did well in the Global Flyfisher’s Flymeister 2001 competition by winning one category and the “Best of the Show” price with a fly called The Green Glory. This year I managed to win the tough Fly Fishing & Fly Tying magazine’s Daiwa Masters League and a few years back a separate Oliver Edwards Hydropsyche larvae competition.

During this fair I am going to introduce you to a tube fly that I've been working on for a couple of years. The flies are called Snow Fly tubes. They are based on classic patterns such as The Beauly Snow Fly. The Snow Fly tubes have proved to be excellent fishing flies. They have a very attractive motion in the water. They are also fun to tye and not too complex. There are however a few tricks to make them better. Come and see how they are tied and how they swim in my Kalax fly tester device. You might find yourself a new killer fly!

Mikko Stenburg - Finland

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