Looking Forward to the BFFI

Last Friday I spent the afternoon tying at the Orvis shop in Burford as part of their open weekend. The afternoon was very rewarding, it was good to talk and share techniques with other tyers.

Keith Passant, who works in the Orvis shop, will be undertaking a 24 hour tying marathon at the BFFI next month, principally in aid of Casting for Recovery, a very worthwhile charity. Please look up Keith if you are visiting the show and give your support. I believe there will be a raffle and auction during Sunday afternoon with plenty of items up for grabs.

If you haven't been to the BFFI before, it is well worth the trip, it is a great weekend, you can learn so much from some of the best tyers in the world. Take a look at the website, www.bffi.co.uk/

Whilst browsing the site this week I came across a link to Jean-Paul Dessaigne's website, www.jpdessaigne.com/. This is a fantastic site, with many excellent patterns, complete with tying instructions, this is worthy of a place in anybody's favourites.

Black Gnat Paraloop

I bought the book 'Tying flies the Paraloop Way' by Ian Moutter a couple of months ago but had done nothing with it until now. The technique produces a neat hackle that sits nicely on the top the fly. This allows the fly to sit on top the water rather than above it and therefore improving the profile when viewed from below. This is a very practical alternative to the traditional hackle. The flies above are Black Gnats.