mustad hooks
Fishing, or even identifying a mayfly spinner fall can be one of the most challenging situations a fly fisherman can experience! Its all about breaking codes and learning to read the signs. With the larger mayflies its somewhat easier to … Continue reading Pseudo Mayfly Spinner
Its been a few days since my last post, so I thought I would get things going again with a truly modern classic, the Klinkhåmer. When I have held fly tying demos and courses for both beginners and advanced tyers … Continue reading Klinkhammer fly Special
One of the great classic American streamers, developed by the well know fly tier Bill Edson in 1929. The Edson Tiger dark & light where influenced by a streamer called “Dick´s Killer” that Edson received from fellow fly tier Dick … Continue reading Edson Tiger fly
Since I posted the video of the Veniard 120 challenge, I have been bombarded with questions about the head gear David Edwards and myself are using! They come with three separate lenses x 2. x 2.5 and x 3 that just clip on and off. The head band is adjustable and fits all. If you wish to improve your tying these will do it overnight!! You can see the slightest mistake and the rest. Best Fly Tying Magnifying Glasses They are available from: Sandra or Dave at: The Anglers Lodge Jubilee Lakes Redworth Darlington Co Durham DL2 2UH Email:- info@anglers-lodge.co.uk … Continue reading Head gear for tying!
After approximately four years in testing my Hoodlum sea trout streamer has passed with flying colours! Although a little fancy this fly fishing streamer was inspired by the sparser flat-wing patterns that have been so effective on Scandinavian salt … Continue reading Sea trout streamer Hoodlum
I am having a spike right now on the site with visitors from Finland, and I would just like to say, I look forward to seeing you all at the Finish fly fair in April. Please visit me and say hi. Continue reading Finish Fly Fair April 2014
Here it is, working with deer hair, all three parts in one post, updated with new techniques and images. Deer hair is normally described as hollow, This doesn´t mean that it´s hollow like a drinking straw, but that each hair is built up of hundreds of small air filled cells. This type of hair structure is most defined in deer from areas with an extreme winter climate. The result, the colder it is, the better the spinning qualities, with some exceptions. The hair from our own reindeer and the north american caribou. In order to achieve optimal insulation, these hairs … Continue reading European Roe Deer Hair, tools and top tying tips 2
NEW DATES: The 2014 fly tying show dates are now being confirmed. If you are not a regular to fly tying shows I can’t recommend them highly enough! They are a great source for not only materials and tools but also inspiration, with many great tyers from around the world demonstrating their techniques and patterns, so try and take in one of them this spring. Here are my dates for some of the shows. There are several other shows that the dates are not fully confirmed yet and I will publish these when they are up-dated. I look forward to … Continue reading Tying shows 2014
The G & H sedge, as it was originally named was created by John Goddard and Cliff Henry. John Goddard who died last December was one of the great innovators of fly tying. This is a small tribute to one … Continue reading Goddard Caddis – G & H Sedge
This is a simple but extremely realistic salt water shrimp pattern I designed for salt water sea trout fishing in Northern Europe. Ribbon Shrimp pattern Hook Mustad Shrimp C47SNP-DT Eyes: Easy shrimp eyes Feelers/Body: Organdie decretive ribbon If you’re looking … Continue reading How to tie The ribbon shrimp SBS
The Brassie Continue reading Brassie fly
Now you should have learned the basics, mounting the hook, attaching the tying thread and the whip finish. With these you should be able to start and finish a fly, its just what’s in between now! I always believe its better to start with a simple pattern that illustrates other elementary techniques, than demonstrating each technique one for one. When you are tying this pattern you may find that handling the materials is a somewhat difficult task especially if you have large fingers and are not use to intricate work. But let me assure you, this will come with time. … Continue reading A simple nymph
Fly tying, in most cases, begins with a fly tying kit. Unfortunately most fly tying kits can result in the same frustration as starting to tie too difficult patterns. When you open a fly tying kit for the very first … Continue reading Fly tying kit – Build your own
Many daddy patterns are somewhat delicate and easily damaged, be it by fish, or even prolonged casting, and general ware and tare. Here’s a pattern that show you how to make your daddy’s not only more resillient, but also with added float ability. Tipulidae or Daddy long legs as they are more commonly known, are a familiar sight both on and off the water more or less the whole summer. There are in fact several hundred species of daddy’s from just a couple of mm to over 40mm long. Although most species of daddy are terrestrial there are a … Continue reading Deer hair daddy
For all my German friends. In 2014, I will have deliverd fly tying step by step articles for the the top German Magazine ‘Rute und Rolle’ every month for the past twenty years! In december this year they will publish a whole special fly tying issue, with over 40 of my step by step patterns and a free pack of five of my favorit Mustad hooks. Danke Rute und Rolle! Continue reading Rute und Rolle
The original pattern is from the American fly tyer Randall Kaufmann and is probably one of the most popular flies in North America. Originally tied to imitates the adult giant stonefly, but will fish just as well as a hopper … Continue reading Stimulator Dry Fly pattern
UVF is the fluorescent wavelength in bright colours we know from paints and dyes. This can be an advantage in different light and water conditions and colours. UVR or Ultra Violet Reflectance is a UV light that cannot be seen with the naked eye for humans. However it can be seen and is apparently used by most insects and animals. There eyes are constructed with different rods and cones that are tuned to UV wavelengths. Although I have never used UV materials in my tying before with the exception of fluorescent flosses, threads and bead heads I am looking forward … Continue reading UV Caddis Pupa
Charles Bickle one of the pioneers of CdC flies, standing on the bank of the Orbe river in Switzerland in the town of Vallorbe in the 1920s. While visiting Marc at his home, although a little more overgrown, we managed to … Continue reading CdC bead head nymph with Marc Petitjean
Hi, I am back again with # 15 in the fly tying course, this time its a small mayfly Dun. Where I live in Southern Norway the Claret Dun (Leptophlebia vespertina) and Sepia Dun ( Leptophlebia marginata) are amongst the first and the most common mayflies to hatch. Because of their tolerance of acidic water they are to be found on most forest lakes and ponds along with slow flowing rivers. These two mayflies are on the trouts menu from as early as April until the end of July and no Norwegian fly fisherman should be without a good imitation. … Continue reading Tying the parachute Leptophlebia
Being no stranger to stripping and tying with quills, I was eager to try these new hand stripped peacock herl from Polish quills. At first sight I must say I was a little disappointed with the short length of the quills, they are approximately 6 cm in length, from end to end and have a usable area of about 5 cm. But I gave them a go and was pleasantly surprised that you could actually get quite a good length of body out of each quill. No doubt the shortness of the quill is reflected in where the herl is … Continue reading Playing with Polish Quills
Heres an American Classic to tie and try over the holidays. The H & L or House and Lot as it is also known was said to be President Dwight Eisenhower’s favorite trout pattern, especially for fishing Eastern streams. Like … Continue reading H&L Variant fly
Now that the blog has become established and I have just reached 50,000 visitors and over 3000 followers I thought it only correct to take you on a little tour of the tying room. This is where it all the tying and photography happens. It may look like its a bit chaotic but everything I use on a regular basis is close at hand. Trying to keep order in the hook department is always testing, without order, everything falls apart, I can spend more time looking for hooks that actually tying the pattern it was intended for! But I have … Continue reading The feather benders tying room
Monster popper for spring pike recipe Hook: Ad Sweir Pike # 8/0Tying thread: DyneemaTail: Marabou and crystal hairSkirt: Four large Whiting American hacklesTopping: Peacock herlLegs: Barred rubber legsCollar: Lite Brite and MarabouHead: Three foam pencil poppers welded togetherEyes: Mobile dolls eyes For a long time after I began fishing with poppers, I was constantly disappointed with how little water the pre-made cork and foam heads actually moved – when yanked, after all, optimal popping, gurgling and splashing is what we are trying to achieve! I then experimented with cutting my own popper heads from foam blocks, but found it difficult … Continue reading Monster popper for spring pike – The Bulldozer
This is another deer hair technique that very useful for many dry, terrestrial, and streamer patterns. Although not an easy technique to get right without detailed instruction, once mastered, never forgotten! Hook: Mustad R30 94833 # 4-10 Tying thread: Dyneema Tail: Bleached elk hair Body: Floss silk Wing/head: Bleached elk hair Legs: Rubber legs This pattern was designed by US tyer Doug Swisher for attractor fishing in the Rocky mountains. The advantage of rubber legs in an attractor pattern is that the create maximum movement in the surface, ideal for searching out fish with both free drift and stripped across … Continue reading Bullet head technique Madam X
Wooly Muggler For me there are two big fish flies that I just dont go trout fishing without, Wooly bugger and Muddler minnow. Wooly Muggler streamer pattern recipe Hook: Mustad S74S NP-ZS # 6-4 Thread: DyneemaTail: Marabou and crystal hair Body: DubbingHackle: … Continue reading Wooly Muggler: A big streamer for big fish
Heres the second part of the MP CdC tutorial. Where Marc Petitjean is tying one of his great CdC may flies. This is not only an extremely quick and easy pattern to tie but also a very effective fishing pattern, … Continue reading CdC May fly with Marc Petitjean
This is just to show you the correct way to prepare and mount a traditional dry fly hackle. Firstly a little about hackles. Dont forget! If you have any questions please dont hesitate to ask. Just post your question at the foot of this page. If you would like to receive a message when the next stage of the course is published, just add your e mail address at the top right of this page. Thanks, The feather bender. Dry fly hackle prepare and traditional dry fly Generally speaking the more money you spend on hackle the better they are! … Continue reading How to prepare Dry fly hackle
My apologies to everyone doing the fly tying course, but the last few days have been busy making step by steps for magazines, but now I’m all done and ready to post a patterns for the the tyer that is a little more advanced, but of course you can always give this one a go even if you are a beginner. The original Ammonite nymph, if I am not mistaken, comes from the vice of UK tyer and photographer Steve Thonrton. Getting this great looking nymph right is all about proportions! So if you are going to give this a … Continue reading Step by step tutorial for the Ammonite nymph
Back to the tying bench again, this time with a salt water pattern. I must say, Its nice to see that salt water materials being made in smaller sizes, not just for the monster warm water fish across the pond. These FisHeadz from Deer creek in the UK , are perfect in the two smallest sizes for salt water fishing in Europe, for both bass in the south and sea trout here in the North. I still haven’t had much time to play with these, I’v only tied half a dozen flies with them, but they are that easy to … Continue reading FisHeadz Mackerel
This next fly in the course is the X Caddis pattern. This is a no hackle dry fly that floats extremely well because of the natural buoyancy of the deer hair and Antron tail. I can´t recommend the X-caddis enough. … Continue reading X Caddis pattern
Tying thread: There are many threads available today that have many different properties. The tyer will want to use the one that is most suited to the task at hand, in respect to thickness, strength, stretchability, waxed or un-waxed and weather it has a flat or round profile on the hook, And of course colour. Size / thickness: Thick threads are described in lower numbers 3/0 and thinner threads in higher numbers 16/0. And strong threads such as Kevlar and Dyneema are as strong as carbon fibre. Silk threads and flosses are still available, but most modern threads and flosses … Continue reading Thread and Whip finish
This is a tutorial I made with my good friend Marc Petitjean to demonstrate how he uses the magic tool and a few other CdC techniques he has up his sleeve. If you are not familiar with Marc’s tools and … Continue reading CdC tutorial with Marc Petitjean part 1
Once again this is a request I have had from several fellow bloggers for the fur hackle spinning technique. Although similar too the spinning deer hair article, there are a few pointers you should be aware of when mastering this technique. Just about all natural and synthetic furs, feathers and hairs can be used as one form of dubbing or another. Before you start its worth considering what type of hair or material is suitable for the type of fly you are tying. There are several factors regarding the choice of natural materials. 1. Dry fly, nymphs, wet flies. 2. … Continue reading Making a fur hackle and dubbing tutorial
The reverse foil Gammarus I cant really say much about this pattern as I only designed it and tied it up a couple of hours ago while playing with the new Shrimp Foils. But I could see right away when I started messing around with them that if I tied the foil onto the hook in reverse it could possibly bee a decent gammarus shell back! Hook: Mustad C49SNP # 8 Tying thread: Dyneema Feelers: Partridge hackle Underbody: Seals fur Shell back: Shrimp foil small with Bug Bond Rib: Clear mono 1 Secure your Mustad C49SNP hook in … Continue reading How to tie reverse foil Gammarus
Although its still a few months before the rag worms start swarming on the coast for thier annual spawn, its always good to have them tied up before hand. For those of you who find the earlier rag worm pattern … Continue reading Video tutorial for a simple rag worm
Yesterday I received in the post a few samples of Shrimp foils from the fly people in Germany. One sheet with coated foils and a second with uncoated. The coated foils really look the business but unfortunately after three attempts … Continue reading Awesome opossum Shrimp – just foiling around
Elk Hair Caddis pattern is from the tying bench of well know American fly tyer Al Troth. This is probably the most well known caddis pattern in existence, and rightly so. The Elk Hair Caddis as it is also known … Continue reading How to tie Elk Hair Caddis
Deer hair is normally described as hollow, This doesn´t mean that it´s hollow like a drinking straw, but that each hair is built up of hundreds of small air filled cells. This type of hair structure is most defined in deer from areas with an extreme winter climate. The result, the colder it is, the better the spinning qualities, with some exceptions. The hair from our own reindeer and the north american caribou. In order to achieve optimal insulation, these hairs hold so many air cells that they have a tendency to be brittle, and break under the pressure of … Continue reading European Roe Deer hair tying material
A simple but effective shrimp for salt water sea trout. Yet another older video but they tying technique is still valid. Continue reading How to tie CdC shrimp video tutorial
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