This is my portrait of the late great Norwegian fly tyer, Erling Sand at his tying bench in his fly shop. He spent many hours each day tying flies to order, and building up his shop stock, if you look … Continue reading Verre enn minken – Worse than a mink!
One of the first nymphs I ever tied and fished with. Although this has the appearance of a modern nymph it was first tied back in the early 1930’s by Don Martinez from California. A great generic nymph that has … Continue reading How to tie Black Martinez nymph
As a little project I’m going to tie up a set of old Norwegian dry fly patterns that have almost been forgotten, but I’m having problems with finding the original recipes. As with the featured image above of ‘The Kaktus’ … Continue reading Traditional Norwegian trout patterns
When the egg layers are active your waders can be a popular place to deposit the eggs! Its that time of year when an egg laying caddis is an essential addition to your fly box! Heres an easy pattern that … Continue reading Egg laying caddis/sedge dry fly
The scruffy squirrel nymph is a great all rounder and a good alternative to a hares ear. The combination of squirrel dubbing and a rib of Ultra lace tubing makes a very buggy morsel that ticks all the boxes for … Continue reading Scruffy Squirrel nymph
A great little caddis pattern that has a few nice techniques. The super buoyant combination of CDC and deer hair make this pattern almost un-sinkable. Hook: Mustad R43 # 12 Tying thread: Petitjean SS Olive Abdomen: Fluorescent Green CDC hackle … Continue reading Midsummer Caddis dry fly
An extremely quick and easy, yet effective pattern that can be mastered by tyers of all levels. This Ugly or scruffy mayfly dun includes a few interesting techniques for making dubbing and applying it. Don’t be fooled by it’s simplicity, … Continue reading Ugly Mayfly dun pattern
Yet another quick and simple, but effective pattern, that requires only basic skills and materials. Fish it not only as a generic Coleoptera but also as something thats just buggy! Hook: Mustad R30 # 12 Tying thread: Sheer 14/0 Claret … Continue reading Brown & Peacock Beetle dry fly
A very quick and easy variant of the classic pheasant tail nymph, using only a sparse amount of materials. One for the box in various sizes and colours. Continue reading Magic Glass Pheasant tail nymph
A no hackle emerger that gives a very nice presentation of a hatching mayfly. An interesting technique that uses Para post yarn for the emerging wing and hackle. If you don’t have the Booby eyes, you can also use a … Continue reading Clarke’s No Hackle Emerger
A damsel nymph tied in the Montana nymph style. A great pattern, especially for still waters and as a stalking bug. Tie it in your favorite colours and the more weight you add at the head the more aggressive the … Continue reading How to tie Montana Damsel nymph
A truly effective pattern for when those hatches of small caddis are underway, or even just fished as a all round attractor. Simple and quick pattern that pushes all the buttons! X-Factor Caddis pattern recipe Hook: Mustad R30 # 12-18 … Continue reading X-Factor Caddis
Another easy nymph technique for a long slender nymph body style that with a little adjusting will work for most larger mayfly nymphs. Hook: Mustad R75 # 10 Tying thread: UTC 70 Flou Green & Sheer 14/0 Brown Tail: … Continue reading Ultra Lace Mayfly nymph
Another winging technique that gives a realistic flat lying wing, ideal for midges and stoneflies. With this technique all you have to do is change the hook size and colour and you can cover most small stonefly hatches. There is … Continue reading Wonder wing stonefly
A nice technique for making realistic mayfly nymph abdomen with simple materials. Continue reading How to tie Gill Abdomen nymph
The lovely little Welshman’s button or chocolate drop, as it’s also known, is a simple but rewarding pattern to tie. With three nice techniques to learn for the body, wings and antennae. Tie a few up for coming hatch of … Continue reading Welshman’s Button fly
A robust yellow quill buzzer for those hatches of midges. Fished alone or as a dropper with a team. A seriously effective pattern on still waters. Yellow quill buzzer pattern Hook: Mustad C49S # 10 & smaller Thread: Sheer 14/0 … Continue reading Yellow quill buzzer
An extremely mobile nymph, that uses only marabou and a copper wire rib. Although very simple the technique has to be learned in order to tie it correctly. Once you have seen this pattern wet or swimming, you’ll be tying … Continue reading Generic Marabou nymph
Adult blue damsel is a semi realistic but easy pattern to tie. If you are on the water and the fish are taking them they can be extremely selective, so having a couple of these in your box can be … Continue reading Blue damsel dry fly
An nice little wet pattern that imitates a diving egg laying caddis fly. The small Tungsten bead head will put this caddis where it needs to be. The wing and collar creating a trapped air bubble effect. Again a few … Continue reading Bead Head Diving Caddis/sedge nymph
A quick little deer hair midge fly that pushes all the buttons. Not only a great fishing pattern but also a couple of nice techniques with deer hair and a very simple CDC parachute hackle wing. Deer Hair Midge pattern … Continue reading Deer Hair Midge fly
Clarkes All Purpose Emerger is without doubt one of my absolute most productive trout & grayling patterns. Tied on a # 12,14 or 16 hook, as here, it makes a fantastic caddis pupa but on smaller sizes, even down to … Continue reading Clarkes All Purpose Emerger
Another easy tie with basic materials that is guaranteed to catch. An elk hair caddis variant that has a little extra attractor factor. Continue reading Hot Butt Caddis pattern
A real quick and easy basic material hatching midge fly pattern, that can be fished static or twitched to give a little movement. One of my go-to flies for hatches of midge on still water. Continue reading Pay day midge fly
A semi realistic parachute with a couple of nice tying techniques that are useful to use on other patterns. Continue reading Sepia Para Dun pattern
Five different but simple dubbing techniques using the same hair, to give five very different effects. All these techniques can be used with many types of hair & fur and adapted for dry, nymph, wet and streamer patterns. If these … Continue reading Dubbing techniques with fur & hair
A little shuttlecock emerger with a couple of different body & wing techniques. Shuttlecock emerger fly pattern recipe Hook: Ahrex FW511 #10 Tying thread: Sheer 14/0 Olive Trailing shuck: Parapost fibres Rib: Brown floss & natural ostrich herl Abdomen: Golden … Continue reading Shuttlecock emerger
This is a very interesting variant of one of the most popular dry flies in the world. Surprisingly this great pattern, that doubles just as well for a caddis fly as it does a mayfly is very little used, especially … Continue reading Hair wing Adams dry fly
Another simple but essential technique for the new beginner. Watch, learn and practice. If these simple skills are learned and practiced they will not only improve your tying but also make your time spent at the vise, much more enjoyable, … Continue reading How to using Whip finisher tying tool
A little twist on this modern classic from Jim Slattery. One of the great stimulator fly attractors that you shouldn’t be without when chasing big browns & bows. Rubber leg Stimulator pattern recipe How to tie Rubber leg Stimulator Continue reading Rubber leg Stimulator fly
This is another very important tutorial, illustrating how the same dubbing can be used in three different techniques for three very different results. All three of these techniques can be utilized on all types on many different style of fly. … Continue reading Three simple dubbing fly tying techniques
A great little skating caddis pattern from Charlie Craven, tied with elk hair. The forward wing pushes a whole load of water when its pulled through the surface. Buy MUSTAD signature hooks Buy VENIARD product on AMAZON:Fly tying tools and … Continue reading Screaming banshee caddis pattern
A little variant of Andre Puyan’s famous Muskrat mayfly nymph. Muskrat Nymph pattern recipe Hook: Mustad S60 nymph hook # 8-14 Tying thread: Sheer 14/0 Brown Tail: Moose body hair Rib: Copper wire Abdomen: Muskrat fur Wing case: Moose body … Continue reading Muskrat Nymph
Following up the video on how to set bobbin tension, this is another very important tutorial, although a skill taken for granted, this shows how to attach your tying thread to the hook shank and how to master & retain … Continue reading Attaching fly tying thread & Thread control
The second short video in the series, fly tying for beginners. One of the most important elementary skills is knowing how to set the tension on your bobbin holder. This little tutorial will help stop your bobbin holder un-winding thread, … Continue reading Setting your bobbin tension
A simple but extremely effective March Brown emerger that can be tied in sizes 10-16. The foam post and parachute hackle give perfect presentation and will float all day long. March Brown emerger pattern recipe Hook: Mustad C49S # 12 … Continue reading March Brown emerger with Foam Post
In this new series, I will be making many short videos that cover all the elementary fly tying techniques, basic materials, tools and know how. These will hopefully help all those who are new to our craft, fly tying clubs … Continue reading Fly hook anatomy for beginners
You don’t need anything more complicated for fishing a grasshopper. This is a quick and extremely easy pattern that everyone can tie. Just change the colour and size you need to match the hatch. Tied in all black it also … Continue reading Quick foam hopper pattern
A little twist on a well known classic with a couple old but good techniques. One of my most productive streamers, especially for sea run browns. Grizzly Muddler streamer pattern recipe Hook: Mustad S71 # 4 Thread: Dyneema Tail & … Continue reading Grizzly Muddler streamer
The second technique for tying a deer hair parachute hackle with an extremely buggy effect, that will float all day long and then some. Learn more about deer hair material Continue reading Deer hair hackle suspender midge
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