I 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 usefulContinueContinue reading “Simple Beltra Badger”
Category Archives: fly tying
Favourite Silvers
Some 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 nowContinueContinue reading “Favourite Silvers”
Getting over Saturday
Burnley 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 ClaretsContinueContinue reading “Getting over Saturday”
January fly tying sessions
Still busy at the vice these days as I add some more trout flies ahead of the coming season. The Kate McLaren or Katie as it is often referred to these days needs no introduction but like may other tyers I change the colour of the head hackle to suit different conditions. When fishing forContinueContinue reading “January fly tying sessions”
Colours of our lives
The cold cuts me like a knife, a raw winter morning of windblown snow and I am stood shivering on the stone breakwater of Stonehaven harbour. My head still pounds from the alcohol of last night which I spent drinking pale ale and awkwardly trying to chat up skinny blue jeaned girls. My old parkaContinueContinue reading “Colours of our lives”
Back at the vice
It has been a while since I tied anything at all so to ease me back in to it I had a short session yesterday evening at the vice. I confess to feeling very rusty to start with and it took a few flies before I settled into some sort of rhythm but that isContinueContinue reading “Back at the vice”
Boxing clever
‘And so this is Christmas’ as the song goes. In this house we were not particularly looking forward to it this year but here we are so making the best of it was the order of the day. A little time off work, eating and drinking, snoozing in front of the telly – we undertookContinueContinue reading “Boxing clever”
Silver daddies
The silver daddy is an iconic west of Ireland pattern that can be used for salmon, sea trout or brownies. Of course, this being Ireland there are dozens of variations of the fly and it feels like every tyer has his or her twist on the pattern. The basics of a silver tinsel body andContinueContinue reading “Silver daddies”
Bruiser Bumble (well sort of)
One of Kingsmill Moore’s lesser known patterns, this is a capital fly for all game fish on a dark, scoury day. It is a fly I place a lot of faith in and it has repaid me with many fine fish over the years. Like the rest of the bumble series it is pretty easyContinueContinue reading “Bruiser Bumble (well sort of)”
Sweeney Todd Dabbler
This was a fly I dreamt up a couple of seasons ago but due to the pandemic it has not been tried. It should work but I am taking no responsibility if it is a lemon. I wanted a black dabbler for early season work on lough Conn, something with a bit of bling inContinueContinue reading “Sweeney Todd Dabbler”
Claretbumbler 