Today I am going to take a look at a simple fly which is used in very specific circumstances, the Balling Buzzer. Here in Ireland we see huge hatches of chironomids on our large loughs. Hundreds of individual species share these lakes, each with their own season and preferred habitat. Of course, these small creaturesContinueContinue reading “Balling Buzzer”
Category Archives: fly tying
Badger Bibio
Who doesn’t love the Bibio? Many anglers here in Ireland swear by the original Bibio and use it almost to the exclusion of other black flies on their trout cast. Of course, such a popular pattern has spawned countless variations, many of which I have detailed in earlier posts. Here is one which can beContinueContinue reading “Badger Bibio”
Some more duckfly patterns
2026 is whizzing past at a frightening rate, meaning the opening of the trout season here in Ireland is not far away. Early in the season, the Irish fly fisher has four main options, namely pulling lures close to the bottom, traditional fly fishing with dark wets targeting fish feeding on hog louse and shrimp,ContinueContinue reading “Some more duckfly patterns”
Tying the Raymond Variant
This fly seems to strike fear into the heart of fly tyers so I thought you might like to see how I make the Raymond Variant. It is a good wee fly to have in the box for the mayfly and it catches fish when tied on the bob position and fished in a goodContinueContinue reading “Tying the Raymond Variant”
How to colour feathers
Over the years I have often written about dying fly tying materials but never gone into any great detail. Since I was dying a few things today I thought perhaps it is time to address this subject? One of the big questions is why bother? These days you can buy just about any material inContinueContinue reading “How to colour feathers”
1,000 up, and still going strong
Happy to report that I reached my self-imposed target of 1,000 flies this week, a full two months ahead of my plan. I guess it wasn’t too much of a stretch really, given that I don’t tie very complex patterns and had a lot of time on my hands due to the horrible wet weatherContinueContinue reading “1,000 up, and still going strong”
Three quarters of the way there
My target of 1,000 flies tied for the winter is well on course. Indeed, I am far ahead of where I thought I would be at this stage. That will probably change as Christmas hits over the coming weeks, what with shopping , cooking and the occasional libation (hic). Today I cracked the 800 barrier,ContinueContinue reading “Three quarters of the way there”
Silver Blue Bumble
I am risking life and limb here as I commit fly tying heresy. The ‘bumble’ patterns devised by the late, great Justice T.C. Kingsmill Moore were ahead of their time in many ways. His use of multiple different coloured hackles to impart ‘life’ into his flies were an inspiration and his prodigious catches of troutContinueContinue reading “Silver Blue Bumble”
Half way
In an earlier post I said that I was aiming to make 1,000 flies over the winter period. I envisaged it would take me until the end of February 2026 to complete that number, but it looks like I might be a bit wide of the mark. This week the 500th fly rolled off myContinueContinue reading “Half way”
A bit of everything
It has been a while since I posted anything here, so this is a bit of a catch up. That storm a couple of weeks ago did some minor damage to the house, meaning I was up ladders again making repairs instead of fishing. ‘Amy’ gave the west of Ireland a good battering, bringing downContinueContinue reading “A bit of everything”
Claretbumbler 