Mayo Bumble

The Mayo Bumble used to be a very popular fly during the mayfly season here in the west of Ireland but its popularity seems to have waned of recent years. I don’t understand why this is as it is a grand fly when the yellow drakes are hatching out in a good wave. As Bumble […]

Sunburst Octopus

A few years ago nobody had heard of the colour ‘sunburst’ but now it is widely used in pulling patterns. I tie a version of the Octopus using sunburst colours so I thought I would share it with you. I like to tie this pattern on a size 10 heavyweight hook. That is because I […]

More Dabblers

I’ve been bust at the vice again and the fly boxes are filling up nicely now. For me, Saturday afternoons are my preferred time to tuck myself away with the radio on, happily snipping and whipping away. Steam rising lazily from my umpteenth mug of coffee while the room around me gradually fills with half […]

Jenning’s Dabbler

I was contemplating the Jenning’s Nymph the other day and decided to make a Dabbler based loosely on it. I already have plenty of Claret Dabblers in the box but none sporting a peacock herl body. The more I thought about this the stranger this omission looked. We all know how deadly flies with peacock […]

Octopus variation for you to tie

Born here in the west of Ireland, the original Octopus has spawned a huge number of variations, some more effective than others. Very much in the camp of ‘pulling’ patterns, these bright concoctions do good work over deep water when the browns gather is loose shoals. That is not to say they don’t catch trout […]