Afraid this is a rambling and at times barely coherent tale which spans decades and continents but at the end I will give you a really good salmon fly pattern. Trout and Salmon magazine was an integral part of my angling education. When I was still living at home with my parents my bedroom had […]
Read More Near the endCreamy pints of porter before us, I was sitting in the warm half light of the Cobweb bar on Linenhall Street with Patrick McHale a few weeks ago. We had met up to do what we always do, talk about fishing. Like a pair of old fishwives we gossiped about prospects for the season, who […]
Read More Old MayfliesI know it is only April but the merry month of May will soon be upon us so with that in mind here are a few of my favourite Mayfly patterns. My own fly boxes are full of old masters and new patterns and most of them will catch a fish or two. Finding consistent […]
Read More My favourite mayflies.I should have started my trout fishing by now but work and some other obligations have got in the way so far. I am hoping to sneak out for an hour this weekend but there seems to be an awful lot of chores to get out of the way first before I go swishing a […]
Read More Pulling fliesThe storms of last week continued to batter us here in the west over the weekend and my plans to go fishing had to be abandoned. Getting wet/cold at this time of the year in blustery showers is expected and if you can’t face those discomforts then spring fishing here is not for you, but […]
Read More The wind it doth blowI am guessing that most of you reading this are already very familiar with the Beltra Badger salmon fly. Although it is a pretty easy fly to tie in its original form I make a simplified version for tying on small hooks such as a size 10 trout fly hook. This makes a very useful […]
Read More Simple Beltra BadgerSome of my favorite silver bodied flies We fly tyers live in what is the golden age of artificial flies. Every conceivable material is readily available and at affordable prices. New materials proliferate every year and so new, innovative patterns are devised to use this plethora of plastics and threads. I now that I now […]
Read More Favourite SilversBurnley managed to scrape a draw at home to Watford on Saturday evening but being realistic my team are bound for the Championship next season. We had a good run in the Premiership I guess but I worry about our financial position and how we are going to rebuild an aging team. Being a Clarets […]
Read More Getting over SaturdayThe days are stretching and you can feel the new season approaching. The gaps in my fly boxes are proving to be painfully slow to fill but as I tie more flies some niggling questions need answered. Do we really need to tie such complex patterns for a start. Is it vital to add tags, […]
Read More LegsI have written before about using feathers from the Francolin to make spiders. These are very effective little patterns for use on the river when small stoneflys are hatching in the spring. It’s the smaller feathers from the breast on the skin that I have which provides the hackles for the spiders but it also […]
Read More Francolin ideas
Claretbumbler 