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.

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.

Daddy Long Legs

This Daddy Long Legs pattern is taken from Malcolm Greenhalgh book, The Floating Fly. The fly sits beautifully on the water and can be deadly at this time of the year. The takes are often very savage and spectacular, however for one reason or another there seems to have been very few around this year.

I have used ginger rabbit dubbing for the body on this fly, using a little squirrel belly to enhance the colouring. The grey poly-yarn wing has been tied in as two small wings and the hackle wound front to back between the wings and tied off at the end of the body to give the effect I was looking for.

Malcolm’s book is well worth reading, describing the most recent develops in dry fly design. The book contains a chapter on the flies that Malcolm uses, however tying instructions are not included. The book is written in a very engaging manner and is very readable, giving the tyer plenty of food for thought.

The Stimulator

Having returned from holiday in the Lake District, I visited the Windrush this week.

The river was fairly low but retained a good flow, however the water was quite coloured after some recent rain. I fished through the afternoon into the early evening without success and barely saw a rise in the time I was there. One memorable moment occured when a very large chub rose to a Stimulator but failed to take the fly, the spot has been noted for a visit with coarse tackle in the autumn.

Interestingly the Stimulator also did the trick a few weeks ago on a lake when the Rainbows were striking at Damsel Flies.

I first saw this fly demonstrated by Stack Scoville at the Fly Fair in 2008. I may have changed a few colours but it is basically the same fly. I see that Stack is demonstrating at the Fly Fair again this year, it's well worth taking a look a his flies if you get the opportunity.

Klinkhammer

I have been tying a few Klinkhammers this week. The body is black supperfine ribbed with black holographic Mylar tinsel, with a thorax of peacock herl. The wing is white antron and the hackle a Herbert Miner Dark Brown dun Rooster Saddle.

Vulnerable Dun

I have been tying a few Vulnerable Duns (a Chris Watson creation) in preparation for the new season. The fly has been tied on various sizes from 14 down to 22 using Aero Dry Wing with a few strands of Krystal Flash UV Pearl for the wing, a body dubbed with Superfine and ribbed with thread (ropped and coloured with permanant marker), a shuck of white McFlylon with a few strands of Krystal Flash UV Pearl and a hackle, in this instance, from a Metz Grizzly Hackle.

Wally Wing Mayfly

At the Fly Fair last year I was impressed by the Wally Wing Mayfly tied by Chris Watson. I have been trying to master the technique on and off since then and contacted Chris who was kind enough to help. The picture is of my latest effort. On this particular fly I have used Fly Rite dubbing, #38 Pale Watery Yellow, from Niche and a Dark Smokey Dun Hackle from Collins in the US.

Fly Tying League Round 2

Round 2 of the Fly Tying League required three CDC Loopwing Emergers to be tied. The fly is very straight forward to tie, however I found that the CDC loopwing either worked first time or not at all and it was pointless messing about trying to make it look good.

Hook - size 14

Thread - brown

Tail - brown partridge fibres

Abdomen - Arizona dubbing

Wing - Natural CDC

Thorax - Arizona dubbing

The results of Round 1 have just been announced, I am equal 30th, a very pleasing start.

Fly Tying League Round 2

For the additional fly in Round 2 of the Fly Tying League I have tied John Goddard's Poly May Spinner.

Hook - size 12

Thread - black

Tails - 3 or 4 black microfibetts

Wings - black and white calfs tail

Body - white poly yarn

Hackle - 3 turns of black cock

Light Cahill for Izaac Walton Trust

Last night was club night, we tied flies for the Izaac Walton Cottage Trust with a view to giving them to the trust this weekend at the BFFI for fund raising.

I chose to tie a Light Cahill on a size 14 using yellow thread, wood duck for the tail and feathers, pale yellow superfine dubbing (I found the light cahill a little pale) for the body and a light ginger Whiting saddle hackle. I ensured I had a couple of layers of yellow thread over the hook before dubbing to give a depth of colour. In this instance I did not split the wings.

I always look forward to this show, and will stay over for the weekend. I like to take in as many demonstrations and talks as possible over the days but predominantly watch the tyers, you cannot fail to pick up new ideas and techniques.