Hans van Klinken

About Hans - Semperfli Ambassador

Hans van Klinken retired from the army in April 2012. After a 35-year career, Hans left his position as Commander of the Royal Dutch Army Gunnery School. His retirement hours are consumed with fly fishing, fly tying, workshops, classes, lectures, writing, photography, and when he does find some spare time available, he continues his work as an outdoor journalist.

Hans was born in 1956 in Eindhoven in the Netherlands. As an inquisitive child, he began bait angling at the age of six in a nearby lowland brook called River Dommel. Then, the river was abundant with fish and was even known for a respectable population of brown trout too.

Hans remembers his first experience with fly-fishing around the age of 15 while in Norway. He immediately fell in love with the unbridled beauty of the Northern Regions. He continued to regularly travel to Scandinavia to spend the summer holidays well into the late nineteen-nineties. Scandinavia offered a vast array of river systems and lakes that allowed Hans to hone his fly-fishing skills. His first venture into fly-tying occurred in 1976. Within three or four years he was creating his own designs. His preference for parachutes, led him to develop several unusual patterns and tying techniques............  Find out more here

Check out Hans’ latest posts here