A truly quick and easy pattern to tie with a couple of nifty techniques, that create a wonderful translucency when wet. Tie them in any colour combination of abdomen and fur hackle desired, to fish as a traditional wet or … Continue reading Rabbit under fur wet fly
After nearly two years away from the fly tying show circuit I’m so pleased that EWF will go ahead in October. I will be tying flies at the 2021 EWF Experience the world of fly fishing in Furstenfeldbruck near Munich … Continue reading EWF 2021 Experience the world of fly fishing – Munich
Named after the famous East Tennessee River, the Tellico’s origins are as foggy as what it is designed to imitate! Some say a mayfly nymph where others are sure that its a caddis larva… But the colours are similar to … Continue reading Tellico Nymph
An extremely quick and easy pattern, that pushes all the buttons for those Autumn fry feeding rainbows and browns, on still waters. Suspender Minky pattern Hook: Mustad R73 # 8-10Tying thread: Sheer 14/0 WhiteSuspender: 7mm Booby eyeEyes: Light weight Dumbbell … Continue reading Suspender Minky
Currently one of the most popular caddis patterns, that has a couple of interesting techniques. Holy Grail Caddis pattern Hook: Mustad C49S # 12-16Bead: 2.8 mm tungsten slottedTying thread: Sheer 14/0 BrownRib: UTC Mirage OpalBody: Hares ear dubbingWing case: Pheasant … Continue reading Holy Grail Caddis
A very quick and easy wet fly showing basic soft hackle techniques that are easy to master. Soft hackle wet fly pattern Hook: Sprite Competition wet fly # 12Tying thread: Sheer 14/0 RedBody/rib: UTC wire AmberThorax: Peacock herlHackle: Green Whiting … Continue reading Soft hackle wet fly
An extremely buoyant caddis pattern with a special CDC parachute hackle technique, that ticks all the boxes. Tied in a little larger sizes it doubles as a great stonefly and with legs makes an exceptional hopper! CDC para-weld caddis pattern … Continue reading CDC para-weld caddis
Tying thread, one CDC hackle and a pinch of dubbing, makes one of the most essential patterns in my fly box! A quick and easy CDC spent wing midge that can be fished just about all year round. CDC Spent … Continue reading CDC Spent wing midge
One of the iconic American fancy wet flies. Tied on a # 10 Mustad R70 wet fly hook. Although many find these classic wets challenging to tie, with a little practice and patience, they soon become natural… Royal Coachman wet … Continue reading Royal Coachman wet fly
It’s here at last, ‘Flytying for Beginners’ This is a guide book for those totally new to the art of tying flies. Until now, learning flytying from a book has not only been challenging, but often the cause of great … Continue reading Learning flytying from a book is about to get easier than ever before!
One of the classic generic nymphs. Although originally designed to imitate a cased caddis fly, the Zug Bug has proven its effectiveness over many decades. Well worth tying up a few in # 10-16. Zug Bug pattern recipe Hook: Mustad … Continue reading Zug Bug
A quick and effective free swimming caddis larva for those who need something new in their box. Fish it dead drift or a bottom dropper as part of a team. You can also colour the body with water proof markers … Continue reading Free Swimming caddis pupa
As the name suggests, the gravy train midge will give great rewards for little effort. A quick and simple all year round midge that works in most midge fishing situations. Give it a go, you won’t be disappointed! Gravy Train … Continue reading Gravy Train Midge
Hi everyone, I have had many requests for flies for framing from my best selling ‘The Feather Benders Fly Tying Techniques’ book so I have been busy tying! If you would like to order any of the patterns in the … Continue reading Flies for framing from my best selling book
A little variant of the LaFontaine classic. An absolute must have pattern if you are fishing still water caddis fly hatches. Here I demonstrate a good technique for getting the Antron shuck in place. Deep sparkle pupa variant pattern recipe … Continue reading Deep sparkle pupa variant
Continuing the quick flies to tie,the PDQ (pretty damn quick) caddis will not only float all day long, but it also takes under 4 minutes to tie! This very simple technique, uses a single natural CDC hackle and a small … Continue reading PDQ Caddis
This Pale Morning Comparadun demonstrates a little different technique for the regular comparadun wing. This technique results in a slimmer abdomen and greater buoyancy. It’s also an extremely effective pattern for a Heptagenia sulphurea dun. PMD fly pattern recipe Hook: … Continue reading Pmd fly
Although you may think that they look challenging, heres a quick and easy selection of patterns to tie. I’v chosen five each of the following: Dries, Nymphs, Streamers and wet flies. All these patterns are not only great for honing … Continue reading Easy flies to tie
Although it requires a little practice, this fur hackle technique produces a much softer presentation that floats extremely well. Here I use natural hare crosscut strip but any fur or hair can be adopted to this method. Fur hackle mayfly … Continue reading Fur hackle mayfly
A semi realistic and extremely effective, yet quick long horn caddis pupa. Tie it with or without a bead head in sizes 12, 14 & 16. Long Horn Caddis Pupa pattern recipe Hook: Mustad C49S # 12-16Bead head: 2.5 mmTying … Continue reading Long Horn Caddis Pupa
A new series of videos for those that are new to fly tying, to accompany my new book, ‘fly tying for beginners’ out later this year. Here I am showing techniques that may look challenging, but are totally achievable with … Continue reading Fly tying for beginners using a Dubbing spinner
A new series of videos for those that are new to fly tying, to accompany my new book, ‘fly tying for beginners’ out later this year. Here I am showing techniques that may look challenging, but are totally achievable with … Continue reading Fly tying for beginners Montana nymph
A new series of videos for those that are new to fly tying, to accompany my new book, ‘fly tying for beginners’ out later this year. Here I am showing techniques that may look challenging, but are totally achievable with … Continue reading Fly tying for beginners- Woolly Bugger
A new series of videos for those that are new to fly tying, to accompany my new book, ‘fly tying for beginners’ out later this year. Here I am showing techniques that may look challenging, but are totally achievable with … Continue reading Fly tying for Beginners – Klinkhamer
A new series of videos for those that are new to fly tying, to accompany my new book, ‘fly tying for beginners’ out later this year. Here I am showing techniques that may look challenging, but are totally achievable with … Continue reading Fly tying for beginner’s – Elk hair caddis
A new series of videos for those that are new to fly tying, to accompany my new book, ‘fly tying for beginners’ out later this year. Here I am showing techniques that may look challenging, but are totally achievable with … Continue reading Fly tying for beginners – Hair wing Dun
A new series of videos for those that are new to fly tying, to accompany my new book, ‘fly tying for beginners’ out later this year. Here I am showing techniques that may look challenging, but are totally achievable with … Continue reading Fly Tying for beginner’s UV Zonker
A new series of videos for those that are new to fly tying, to accompany my new book, ‘fly tying for beginners’ out later this year. Here I am showing techniques that may look challenging, but are totally achievable with … Continue reading Fly tying for beginner’s Hares ear nymph
A new series of videos for those that are new to fly tying, to accompany my new book, ‘fly tying for beginners’ out later this year. Here I am showing techniques that may look challenging, but are totally achievable with … Continue reading Fly Tying for beginners – Pheasant tail nymph
A new series of patterns for those that are new to fly tying. Here I am showing techniques that may look challenging, but are totally achievable with a little patience and practice. I have slowed down the tying and explain … Continue reading Fly Tying for beginners – Flying ant
Although an extremely simple tie, the Zebra midge is an essential pattern to have in your box all year round. Tie it in all hook sizes from a 12 to a 20 and in any colour you fancy, be it … Continue reading Zebra midge
A quick and simple, semi realistic pattern to imitate the Mysis shrimp. Ranging from 0.5 to 25 mm long with a slender transparent body. Inspite its small size the Mysis is a very important food item in both lakes and … Continue reading Mysis shrimp fly
Currently one of the most used tied and nymphs, especially in competition circles. An extremely easy tie for an extremely effective pattern for Euro nymphing. Change the hook size, body and collar colour and even tie it on a jig … Continue reading Frenchie Fly
I would like to thank everyone who participated in the draw. My web master drew a winner yesterday evening and the Fly Photography Gadget will be sent too… William de Jong in the Netherlands. Congratulations William, please send me your … Continue reading And the winner is….
The full fly Photography Gadget set that will be given away on 17th March, and the winner will be a announced on the 18th March 2021. Flies Photo Gadget Giveaway / Share and winAnyone who shares this post on their … Continue reading Fly Photography Gadget Give away!
Walt Young’s hares ear pattern, that is one of the simplest but most popular competition jigs. Although an easy tie, there are a few nice techniques in this pattern that are worth learning. Walt’s worm pattern Hook: # 12 Barbless … Continue reading Walt’s Worm
WD 40 fly one of the simplest but most effective mayfly midge larva that you can have in your box. An absolute must for early season fishing! Tie it in sizes from 16 – 22 and in the most popular … Continue reading WD 40 fly
A functional emerger midge pattern with a few nice techniques. Tie it in any size from large buzzers to the smallest hatching or cripple midges in any colour you like. A must have pattern. Midge emerger pattern recipe Hook: Partridge_Sprite … Continue reading Midge emerger
A lovely little CDC ant pattern, that is tied with only one CDC puff and a few turns of hackle. A quick and easy pattern for the most important terrestrial, no matter where you live, that will float all day … Continue reading Cdc ant fly pattern
Gee! I never thought that it would be this difficult!! This has been going around fly tyers on YouTube, and I thought that it might be a bit of fun, tying a Black Pennell, with a blindfold on! I not … Continue reading Blindfold challenge Black Pennell
