After five years working with Marc Petitjean on his cdc fly tying book we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Marc has just returned home after three weeks in the studio together. This will be one formidable tying book and I will keep you up dated with the progress and eventual publishing date. Continue reading Three weeks solid work with Marc Petitjean!
Just a short message for all my friends regarding my exhibition of fly fishing and fly tying that opens friday 6. December at my studio from 18.00 – 21.00. So if you are around please pop in, everyone is welcome. Studio Address: Sliperivegen 16Myren Industriområde3718 Skien + 4792858609 Kjære venner, Du er herved invitert til åpning av min ‘pop-up’ utstilling contre-jour. Jeg stiller ut mer en 30 bilder, med motiver fra fluefiske og fluebinding. Fredag 6te desember kl. 18.00 til 21.00Utstillingen vil også være åpen lørdag 7ende desember fra 10.00 til 17.00.(eller etter avtale) Sliperivegen 16Myren Industriområde3718 Skien+ 4792858609http://www.gulindex.no/map-sliperiveien+16+skien/ … Continue reading Contre-Jour Photo exhibition
This is my variant of one of the best salmon flies in recent years. It is, without doubt my most productive fly for salt water sea trout fishing. There is something about this pattern that sea trout just can’t resist. On many occasions when there are sea trout feeding or on the move, and they just follow the fly and won’t take, this small fly works most of the time. Fished on a long fine leader and floating line just under the surface with a very slow figure of eight retrieve, the takes are savage and powerful, driving the tiny … Continue reading Proppen-most productive sea trout fly
Firstly may I wish you all a happy new year! The seasonal festivities family birthdays and goodbye ceremonies are now over and I have more time to get back to what is most important. Thats right, fishing and fly tying! So please accept my apologies for being vacant the last couple of weeks, but now I am back in the saddle with the first sea trout fly of the year. Please enjoy and much more will come soon. Yours, The Feather Bender. The original flat wing pattern was developed by the late Bill Peabody a well known fly tyer and … Continue reading Sea trout Flat wing streamer
My first attempt with some of the great Virtual Nymph products I received at the weekend and Bug Bond. Not 100% happy with the results, but when I have played a little more, I will be making the full step by step for this Stone fly nymph. Hook: Mustad Slow death 33862NP-BR http://www.mustad.no/productcatalog/na/product.php?id=2196 Thread: Dyneema Tail: Porcupine guard hairs Underbody: Natural seal fur Dubbing Body: Natural nymph skin Wing cases Virtual nymph stone clinger wing-buds and heads coated with Bug Bond Legs: Turkey biots coated with Bug Bond Antenna: Porcupine guard hairs Check out the products on: http://www.virtual-nymph.com/ and http://www.bug-bond.moonfruit.com/ http://www.veniard.com/section188/ Continue reading Virtual Nymph
Mayfly Nymph Hook Mustad R73 9671 # 8-12 Tying thread Dyneema Tail Olive ostrich herl Body Olive brown Antron dubbing Rib Olive Ostrich herl Thorax Olive brown Antron dubbing Wing case Golden pheasant tail Legs Pheasant tail This pattern imitates the nymph stage of our two largest mayflies, Ephemera vulgata, that is most common in lakes, and Ephemera danica, that is most common in slow flowing rivers and streams. These nymphs prefer sandy or muddy bottoms, where they live more or less buried for two to three years. These large nymphs can be recognized by the breathing gills along the sides … Continue reading Nymph-omaniac
To find a simpler dun mayfly imitation will be difficult. All you need in the way of materials is one long fibered CdC feather and a short foam cylinder and a hook. I named the fly “All In One” as the whole fly is tied with the same one CdC feather. You need to practice a little if the techniques I us are unfamiliar too you, but with a little practice or after you have tied a half dozen or so, it only takes about two minutes to tie this simple but effective pattern. All in one floats fantastic as … Continue reading All in one… a three minute dun mayfly pattern.
Buck-tail’s are not only great patterns to tie and fish but are making a huge comeback. Here are a few of the most recent I have tied, I will follow-up this post soon with an in depth article about tying these beautiful flies and the use of Buck-tail. Continue reading Make a fast Buck.
The original Thunder creek streamer series came from the vice of American, Keith Fulsher. In the early sixties, not satisfied with the regular head and eye size of streamers, he began experimenting and chose the reverse buck tail technique for his Thunder creek patterns. This technique involves tying the buck tail, as the technique suggests, the opposite way and then folding it back over the hook shank and tying down to form the head. The simplicity of this pattern and the minimal materials needed to tie it, is fly design at its very best! He achieved his goal, a slim … Continue reading How to tie Bug Bond Thunder Creek streamer
Apparently trout roe patterns have been working well for they Grayling guys in the UK recently. This ones for you. Continue reading Grayling Heroe-Trout egg
The ragworms wedding as it is known, is called the springs most exciting adventure for the sea trout fisherman. And if you are lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time, there is no danger for you not connecting with fish. Although ragworms are on the sea trouts menu the whole year round, its in the spring under the annual swarming that the sea trout will go on a feeding frenzy and gorge themselves on the worms. There are many patterns known to sea trout fishermen to imitate the worm, some better than others, some simple … Continue reading The worm that turned!
House building caddis larva are available in most waters all year round, and are an important segment of the diet of trout and grayling. There are many techniques that have been developed over the years from fly tying benches all over the world to imitate the house of the caddis larva, but this technique really gives the right impression. This is a pattern I believe was developed in the US, but other than that I cant find any other information about it. The great thing about this pattern is if you trim the rubber legs close to the body you … Continue reading Elasticaddis in the house!
This is a quick Friday night, simple and realistic melt glue caddis pupa. Although it takes a little practice to master the use of melt glue, once mastered its a great material. Continue reading A quick and simple one for Friday night.
“Steaming is term given to a style of mugging where an unsuspecting victim is chosen, followed and attacked suddenly at great speed without warning”. The art of camouflage, surprise and speed are the pikes most powerful weapons for securing a meal. Of course some meals are obtained easier than others, but generally speaking the freshwater crocodile wont say no to a free meal. Like the muggers victims the pikes are chosen for much the same reasons, easy pickings! weak and old, or both, unable to move fast or get away, once attacked and of course the bounty. The idea behind … Continue reading The fly for Autumn Pike…
Bee Cee Caddis Pupa video tutorial Hook Mustad C49S curved caddis # 6 -14 Thread Dyneema Gills Ostrich herl Body Fine leather strip (chamois) Under body Dubbing / Lead free wire if required Legs Partridge hackle & CDC Collar/Head Hares ear dubbing & CDC Dubbing Each summer a few fishing freinds and I make the annual fishing trip from our home town Skien in southern Norway to Lofsdalen in Sweden. A journey that under normal circumstances will take six hours driving, from door to door. Lofsdalen is acctually known for two things, skiing and bears. During the winter, when the … Continue reading Bee Cee Caddis Pupa
The 32 images in this coming exhibition endorse Barry’s love and passion for the sport as a fly fisherman, photographer and artist. The viewer is taken on a journey into the world of fly fishing that is rarely seen. On first encountering these beautiful images, they are sufficiently recognizable as images of fish and fishing, but as you approach and view them at close range, they transform into a graphic and sometimes abstract, overlapping of organic patterns and colour. All images are for sale, signed and numbered by the artist. Barry is also making a series of limited photographs with … Continue reading Contre-jour Fine art photographic prints
From late autumn until early spring the majority of bait fish around our coastline leave the shallows and head out for deeper water where they will be protected from the bitter cold of winter. Many of the species of shrimp that can be found on the other hand move into deeper tidal pools and onto shelves were the coastline is steeper. Therefor shrimps are on the coastal sea trout’s menu the whole year round, and are found in great numbers all over Northern Europe’s coastline. These are particularly important to fly fishermen because they mature in the shallows where we … Continue reading How to tie Shrimp for all seasons
After a short drive, south east from reykjavik, a small farm road leads us the last few kilometers to the fishing lodge at Minnivallækur, the weather was perfect, for September. A little overcast, with small patches of blue, a slight breeze and 14 degrees “dry fly fishing was written all over the sky. Jan and I where so hyped, we could almost hear heavy brown trout rolling in the surface and sucking in size 22 midges, over the sound of the engine of our four wheel drive hire car. But in true Icelandic fashion, by the time we had pulled … Continue reading Minnivallalækur, Icelands prehistoric monster trout
Fly Photography service: When you have spent several hours or even days, tying a fly for a competition or commissioned sale, its a real shame to have no record of it! Now is your chance to correct that! Being a professional photographer and fly tyer I know exactly what’s needed when it comes to fly photography. I offer a service for simple fly archive photography on white background or artistic fly photography for framing. Prices: Archive photography (white background) Euro 30 per fly. Artistic fly photography (still life) Euro 150 per fly. Step by step tying photography Euro 200 per … Continue reading Fly Photography…
The feather bender is a blog focusing on fly tying & materials for fly-tyers by fly-tyers. Fly tying for many is a hobby, for others it´s a means of filling their fly box with fine tuned and well tested patterns, that would be otherwise unavailable. For many of us who read this blog it´s more of a passion, and for some, even a way of life… The aim of the feather bender is to connect fly-tyers all over the world, to share, techniques, patterns, information and knowledge. To help the new beginner, to our craft, exchange frustration for inspiration, and … Continue reading The feather bender
