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.

Fly Tying League Round 1

The 1st round of the Fly Tying League this year required 3 Biot Nymphs, tied on a size 12 wet fly hook, an odd combination. The additional fly I chose to tie was the Dentist's Delight. Last year I finished 7th in the Open Class, so it will interesting to see how I fair this year in the new format.

Emerger Bodies

After tying the 'Once and Away' I wondered what other combinations of materials might make interest bodies. The flies below are tied with a paraloop hackle but the body was the main focus. The first body is gold tinsel alternated with black horse tail hair (see previous post), this has plenty of sparkle (perhaps too much), the photo doesn't do it justice. The second body is brown / tinsel sewing thread alternated with black horse tail hair, not so sure about this. The third, my current favourite, is Crystal Sunburst Boar Hair overlaid with gold wire, this has real possibilities.

Gold Tinsel and Horse Tail

Brown/Tinsel Thread and Horse Tail

Crystal Sunburst Boar Hair and Gold Wire

Snow in Berkshire

It's been a difficult couple of days in Lambourn with the recent snow fall but we have still had to make a twice daily trip to our ponies just outside the village. This is Barney, our Norweign Fjord.

Putting a Bend in the Rod

I fancied a little fishing yesterday so took an old fibreglass float rod, centrepin and a loaf of bread down to the River Windrush. The river was very coloured and fairly high so fishing was limited to a few bits of slack water. In a couple of hours I took 4 Chub and a Brownie. Interestingly, the first fish I hooked (and lost) was a Brownie which snapped the hook link and the last fish I caught, two hours later, was the same Brownie with both hooks in its mouth. The first hooking obviously did not affect the fish too much as it continued feeding during the afternoon. It was a very pleasant and enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.

Once and Away

The 'Once and Away' by Hans van Klinken has featured in several books, notably

Tying Flies with CDC and Tying Emergers.

I have admired the fly for sometime and only recently obtained some Peccary from Niche Products. Having tied a few in various sizes, I can only be impressed by the way the fly sits on the water and look forward to putting it to use next season.

British Fly Fair 2009

The Fly Fair last weekend at Trentham Gardens was a fantastic event as usual. The weekend was a great opportunity to watch and learn from some of the great tyers from around the world. I took the opportunity to catch up with some of my favourite tyers including Chris Watson, Phil Holding, Roy Christie and Dave Wiltshire, these guys tie flies that catch fish, not the angler. Each time I watch them I learn so much and come away with so many ideas. The Caddis below was tied by Chris Watson and the Shrimp by Phil Holding, both superb flies.

During the show my friend, Keith Passant, under took a 24hr Tying Marathon in aid of Casting for Recovery and Help for Heroes. I donated the box below for the auction that followed, where further funds were raised for the charities. This was a great effort by Keith.

CDC Emerger

I was recently bought the book 'Tying Flies with CDC' by Leon Links, this has proved an inspiration in the use of CDC. I have been tying a few flies over the last couple of weeks including this emerger. The possibilities and uses of CDC are endless as demonstrated on Dave Wiltshire's blog, http://davewiltshireflytying.blogspot.com/ and the website of Jean-Paul Dessaigne , http://www.jpdessaigne.com/index.htm.

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.

Pheasant Tail Nymph

The Sawyer Pheasant Tail is a fly I use an awful lot, particularly in sizes 16 and 18. This season it has been my 'go to' fly and it rarely fails to produce some sort of interest.

I like to tie the flies in the traditional manner, however I do have a problem obtaining tail feathers with fibres of the right length, however I have developed a two part method of tying the fly to make use of the smaller feathers.

I have often wondered if Frank Sawyer would have used the same materials if he had designed the fly today, with the vast amount that are available. Pictured are two variations, the first using a small bead for the thorax and the second creating a body from EP-Trigger Point International Fibres (colour-March Brown).