Fly Tying Marathon at the BFFI

Keith Passant will once again be undertaking his 24 hour fly tying marathon at the British Fly Fair during October in aid of Casting for Recovery. This is a fine charity, that does some fantastic work and is worthy of any support we can give it.

To support the marathon Keith is running a raffle to raise additional funds. The main prize is a superb frame of 16 Spey Flies tied some of the best tyers in the world. Other prizes included boxes of flies, rods and reels, something for everyone. To buy tickets and view the other prizes (so far), take a look a Keith's site.

To support Keith I have been tying a box of flies, in a wide range of styles.

Pheasant Tail Flymph

I have had a fair degree of success over the last month with this fly. I sensed that a little more movement in the fly was needed than I was getting from the Sawyer Pheasant Tail and after a couple nights at the vice, came up with this flymph. The Trigger Point Fibres used in the hackle tend to become less waterlogged than feathers and may just provoke a little more interest from the trout.

Recent Trips

Many of the rivers are still very low, despite the recent showers which appear to have been very localised. Many of the fish are holding up in the deeper holes, which limits the fishing opportunities. You do need to question whether we should be fishing in these conditions and the welfare of the fish should always be the first priority, particularly where wild fish are concerned.

Although the fishing has not been easy, fish have been taken recently on Small Olive Goldheads, Sawyer's Pheasant Tails and a Pheasant Tail Flymph.

Reversed Parachute Emerger

I have been tying a few of Roy Christie's Reversed Parachute Emergers. Having just received some Hend's wire from the Fly Tying Boutique (http://www.flytyingboutique.com/index.html), I have used the olive wire to rib this fly, creating a very subtle effect. I hope I have done the pattern justice.

More of Roy's fabulous patterns can be found here,

http://www.danica.com/flytier/rchristie/rchristie.htm

Cotswold Mayfly

I took a day off last week hoping to catch the Mayfly. The river was in fine order, but a little coloured after rain the previous evening. The Mayfly trickled off the water from early morning until lunchtime, when the hatch slowed. Rising fish were hard to find, and harder to tempt. I tried Emerger patterns and Wally Winged Mayflies without any joy, but finaly took a couple of fish on an Oliver Edwards Mohican Mayfly.

Churn Pool

Our Fly Tying Club are holding a fishing night and BBQ at Churn Pool this week so I have busy tying a few flies that might have some success. Churn Pool is a well run and friendly fishery in the Cotswolds, well worth a visit if you are in the area. http://www.churnpool.co.uk/


This first pattern is simply a wire body and rib and a CDC hackle. Two colours of wire are used,say black and green, this is wound in touching turns to the bend of the hook and returned to the eye as a rib. The fly is then hackled with corresponding CDC. This fly was shown to me by Phil Holding of the Fly Tying Boutique (http://www.flytyingboutique.com/) and has proved very effective on the stillwaters I fish. In smaller sizes it would make a great wet fly.

This Bloodworm pattern is a favourite of mine and so simply. The Flexifloss is whipped on to the hook leaving strands from the eye, bend and middle of the hook, to add some extra sparkle to the body of the hook, an overbody of red holographic tinsel can be added. This is a great pattern fished on the drop, when the majority of takes occur and additionally can be fascinating to watch in clear water.

Slow Start to the Season

The season has begun very slowly, everthing is behind this season and the weather remains cool. Having said that, The Leach is currently looking very nice.

A minor success last week in the shape of a small Brownie, taken on a size 20 Goldhead Hare's Ear. It was very welcome on a cold and miserable evening. I would guess it was from last years spawning and a very healthy sign for the river.

Orvis Fly Fishing Show at Blenheim

Orvis will be holding a Fly Fishing Show at Blenhiem Place on Sunday April 11th between 10.00 and 5.00.

To quote their website, where more information can be found:-

"Orvis have teamed up with Blenheim Palace Trout Fishery to bring you a day of fly fishing demonstrations, along with lectures by the Orvis Pro-Guide team, including writer and magazine contributor Paul Procter and local professional guide Jim Williams."

I have been asked to tie flies at the show along with Roy Christie, Dave Wiltshire and Dennis Shaw. This is a very exciting opportunity to tie along side these experienced tiers and I am very much looking forward to it, hopefully it will be a great day.

Fly Tying League Round 1

I recieved this months Fly Fishing and Fly Tying Magazine in the post yesterday, after round 1, I am equal second in Division 1. A very pleasing start, so onward with the next round of flies.

Comparadun

The Comparadun is a beautiful looking fly. I tied a few towards the end of last season and found it a lovely little fly to fish with, so delicate and with a great profile on the water.

Dave Wiltshire provides great tying instructions for this fly on his site River Fly Box, http://www.riverflybox.co.uk/cdcdun.html, it is well worth taking a look. Dave has developed many variants of this fly and I make no excuse for following his pattern.

One thing I would add is that it is essential to use good quality CDC, it makes tying so much easier. Marc Petitjean's CDC is available from several sources and the Swiss CDC from Phil Holding at http://www.flytyingboutique.com/ is superb, coming in a great range of colours. For anyone who has not seen Phil's site it is well worth a look, a great range of excellent materials.