The London Fly Fishing Fair 2018
A little taster of this years great show. With increased footfall and an amazing cocktail from the best of the fly fishing world.
We look forward to next year’s event, please put the following dates in your diary 22/23 MARCH 2019.
Deer hair part I
Having been a passionate deer hunter for the best part of my life, It became a natural progression for me to embrace the material these animals have provided me with over the years and learn everything I could about it and its uses within fly tying.
Although the fly tyres world is filled with a magnitude of materials both natural and synthetic, there is probably only hackle that can lend itself to so many applications and techniques as deer hair can. Tails, wings, bodies, heads, legs, posts even hackles and parachutes. It can be used to create the smallest delicate dries and dyed, spun, packed and sculpted with a blade and sand paper to make the largest predator alien hair bugs. All this can all be achieved with only deer hair!
The deer mask, is the entire face and ear area of various species of deer (most commonly the white tail) As with a hares mask, which we are all familiar with, the deer mask provides us with a wide range of natural colours from light tan to speckled brown to light dun and the rest. It also furnishes us with a huge amount of hair textures from short stiff ultra fine to coarse, all varying lengths for flies from a size 6 down to the tiniest patterns. For the caddis fly specialist a deer mask is a must. Removing the mask from a deer, if done correctly, is a precise and time consuming task, so they only seem to be available every now and then from a relatively few retailers. If you know a deer hunter its well worth asking if they can obtain the head from a late season doe, these are normally discarded, if its a buck with antlers, they make it even more difficult to skin.
In a few days, I will be publishing a video tutorial on how to skin and prepare a roe deer mask and show the different hair types that are available from this wonderful material.
Sepia & Claret dun
The Leptophlebia marginata and vespertina or sepia and claret dun are two very abundent mayflies that prefer more acidic waters like, hill lochs and forest lakes. This easy pattern can be made to imitate both these naturals.
When the big flies are on the water you need a pattern that ticks all the boxes. Heres a mayfly dun that gives a great footprint and is easy to tie.
Hook: Mustad R30 # 12-14
Thread: Black
Tail: Three fibbets
Wing: Two CDC hackles
Body: Black tying thread with tying thread rib
Thorax: Brown superfine dubbing
Hackle: Black
If you enjoy watching the videos please subscribe to my YouTube channel below. Your help and support in keeping the channel going is greatly appreciated. Thanks…
The big mayfly dun
When the big flies are on the water you need a pattern that ticks all the boxes. Heres a mayfly dun that gives a great footprint and is easy to tie.
Hook: Mustad C53S # 10-14
Thread: Cream
Tail: Moose body hair
Wing: Mallard flank
Body: Three moose mane hair one black two brown
Thorax: Cream dubbing
Hackle: Two furnace or badger hackles
If you enjoy watching the videos please subscribe to my YouTube channel below. Your help and support in keeping the channel going is greatly appreciated. Thanks…
Blue winged olive (Aurivilli) mayfly
A simple little mayfly dun, that not only represents a blue winged olive but just with a little change in size and colour can be made to represent many other small mayflies.
Hook: Mustad R30 # 12-18
Thread: Olive
Tail: Light olive fibettes
Wing: Natural dark CDC
Abdomen: Olive turkey biot
Thorax: Light olive hares ear dubbing
Hackle: Blue dun
If you enjoy watching the videos please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Your help and support in keeping the channel going is greatly appreciated. Thanks…
