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).

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.

Perch

I tied these after a friend told me about some large Perch in a lake that he fancied tackling with a fly.

The flies are not my normal type of thing but I thought they might do the trick with the Perch. The left fly is grey frosty fish fibre and black calf tail and the right fly is white antron, green streamer hair and a hint of black calf tail. We fished one evening and caught plenty of Perch but only small ones, it will be interesting to have another go, but it will need to wait until the end of the trout season.

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.

Beetle

The beetle pattern is based on a fly tied by Chris Watson. The underbody of peacock herl was intended to to give the blue/green colouring of the beetle. When tying this pattern you must use a fine wire hook and not overstretch the foam to prevent the fly from sinking. It worked like a dream on Friday as you can see from my previous post, but I imagine it will very effective after plenty of rain.

River Leach

I fished the River Leach on Friday evening. The river is very much in need of some rain, but thankfully the flows are holding up nicely.

I took 3 fish during the evening all on a beetle pattern. It's possible the fish don't see these flies very often as they were taken fairly readily or maybe it was just a going night.