albannachxcuileag

I spent a bit of time changing the set up I use for SBSs and instead of the frame with cards I cut it down to a disc and can attach it to my bobbin rest with a small bulldog clip. The reverse is a pale colour which also acts as a sight board. The camera is a Fuji S9600 set on ultra macro with white balance compensation on manual mode (this changes to full auto if I tie flies in the glasshouse). As you can see the fly is almost touching the lens filter (UV) when taking the pictures, I still need to sort out some incidental lighting to eliminate shadows but it works fine as it is. and this from a review of the Peak PPPM package I did for our forum showing the camera mount that Tupps and I designed to suit it. Designed by a moron, executed by a chaos engineer - The Peak Fly Vice Camera Mount! This should now give me the repeatability that was lacking in all previous SBSs as I could not be arsed to use a tripod. This little device could be a promising little earner out there in fly tying world. Believe it or not, when the camera is swung out to the side it does not even make the vice unstable. Nice one, Tupps! Patents applied for, world wide rights owned, trademark established, 2X2 at hand for miscreants! Yes, that is a genuine 10 loonie note of the old school in the photo!

Feck it all! I'm going fishing instead!

Don't hold your breath! I mailed it today after struggling to get vice time. It will catch fish, that is about all I can say about it

Pattern decided, just need to get some vice time but should be ready for the 11th! (Offers up sacrifice to the fly tying gods)

More on 'The Fat Trout' Whisky HERE

Hard lines Brent, it is not me you're up against but dryfly! I have the hardest problem as I have no feckin idea what to tie for this one and have the feeling I am going to get my ass kicked!

Leave a longish tag on the thread so that it will stick out from the end of the abdomen Run the thread to the bend area and back up to the eye Build up a smooth tapering abdomen with the thread. The advantage of the Krenik thread is that it does not give you a solid colour build up but has black flecks from the carrier thread that show in the abdomen as you build it up. Once you have done this apply 3 half hitches behind the eye and cut off the thread Apply a drop of varnish behind the eye to secure Tease out the metallic part from the carrier thread and remove the carrier thread. Trim the metallic thread to about 8 - 10mm and you are ready to go. You can also coat the buzzer with varnish, superglue or epoxy if you wish but I can tell you that it is extremely effective as it is accounted for 4 fish netted and 6 lost on the take in an afternoon of difficult fishing for other anglers at my local lake.

Krenik metallic thread first came to my attention in an SBS from a South African tyer who used the material stripped down for the metallic component only. Off to the local crafts & Knitting emporium and try and find the stuff, I managed to get Red and Blue, the blue being the one sought for the South African nymph pattern, the red? Well it is shiny and no fly tyer can resist seeing shiny things! So, 6 months down the line and the Red had not seen light of day until looking at a different buzzer pattern I thought about it again and dragged it out for a play and thus the Krenik Red was born! Materials:- Hook - Grip 14723BL Size 12 - you can use any curved hook such as Kamasan B100s etc Bead - Red Gutermann Rocailles 9/0 Art. No 773875 Thread - Krenik Metallics Ruby Shade 061 Assemblage of the bobbin Take a used small bobbin and tape the end of the thread to the spool Stuff a pencil or similar object in the hole and start winding on the thread and fill the bobbin. I stuck the Krenik spool onto the end of my bobbin rest arm for easy turning as I filled the spool Fit the small bobbin to a standard bobbin holder or a wide one using Mr Tupp's incredible reducers Mount a bead on your hook of choice and secure in the vice

Felt soled Scierras with screw in studs do the job for me, mostly rocks and shingle river beds with some silt thrown in.

Do you mean a combi boiler where it only heats when you turn on the hot tap and can be programmed for central heating too?

We do have a sense of humour on this side of the pond! 01/04/2008

Yes, it is. I am a member of the North Kildare Angling Association and we have 30 miles of fishing on the Liffey, I also fish the Clane Association waters on the Liffey as well and that is where that was caught.

Wriggle and twist the wire to break it off Take a strand of Zelon as it comes and double this over and secure with a couple of turns just back from the eye Fold this over and secure well , trimming the wing to length Tie in your hackle Form about 3 to 4 wraps and tie in removing the excess hackle Whip finish and your Zelon Caddis is completed after you add a touch of varnish to the threads.

Well I bought the stuff so I suppose I had better do something with it! This is a very simple Caddis pattern and is not restricted to Zelon or to the colouration used but as I had a nice Ginger cape I thought I had better use it as well. Materials:- Hook - Grip 14723BL Size 12 Thread - Olive UTC 140 Denier Rib - UTC Hot Yellow Brassie size Dubbing - Mix of Olive and Dirty Olive Seal's Fur Wing - Ginger Zelon Hackle - Ginger Cock Assuming right handed tying for this one Mount your hook in your vice Run your thread from eye to bend Tie in the ribbing wire bearing in mind Tango's advice to keep it on top of the hook to keep the abdomen slim Dub your Seal's fur mix on to the thread - not too much Wrap the dubbing to a point behind the eye - not too close! Follow this with the ribbing wire and tie in at the same point

dbt, I have no objections at all to what anyone does to something I created, that is what fly tying is about. Create an idea, throw it out and see what happens. There are too many who try to 'patent' flies' for their moment of fame and I am not one of those. I might give your idea a whirl too! For the people by the people!

My gear regularly gets a soaking in the rivers but as everyone says, once or twice a season give it a damn good clean and lubrication. Getting the cork wet is different, my rods are brought in and taken out the bag and left to dry naturally. Smelly, rotting backing? I would not have thought this would have applied to today's modern synthetics but I will have a sniff and find out.

Tie this in securely and again return the thread to the start point ready for the body material. Trim the length of the marabou to that of the Crystal Hair by pinching the excess off with your nails. I use Veniard's Ice Straggle here but you can use any similar product. Tie it in and run the thread up the body and leave hanging below the eyes as this will keep it out of the way. Wrap the straggle in touching turns up the body stroking the fibres back to avoid trapping them with the next turn. Cut the excess straggle off and secure well behind the eyes. Make a whip finish in front of the eyes and varnish the thread. Using your dubbing needle take a small drop of the glass paint and cover the domed part of the eye on both sides. The eyes I use have a very slight ridge on the edge and I ease the paint into this. This glass paint is the translucent type and does not require a thick covering as you want the reflective property of the silver to shine through the paint. Your completed Jazzed Up Damsel should look like this at the end. When the glass paint dries the effect is much more pronounced on the eye. Fish as you would a normal Damsel over the weed beds and along the margins using a jerky figure of eight retrieve, vary the speed during the retrieve for effect. Another variation of this uses black marabou with strands of Krenik metallic thread in the tail and a black UV straggle by Veniard's with the eyes painted red. TLs I need to learn to spell properly and avoid all the mods!

This little feller has been good to me since leaving the vice a few months back and is well worth inclusion in your box for still water fishing for Browns and Rainbows. A nice easy tie and effective to boot! Materials:- Hook - Partridge Big Mouth Nymph Size 14 Thread - Olive UTC 140 Denier Tail Flash - Mother of Pearl Crystal Hair or similar Tail - Olive Marabou Body - Veniard's Olive Ice Straggle Eyes - 3mm Plain Silver Dumbbell painted with yellow glass paint. (I have used Lefranc & Bourgeois No. 144 Sun Yellow. This make is the better of the two brands commonly available in craft shops, the other has a tendency to harden in the pot after a while) The tying Mount your hook in the vice. I have taken a liking to these hooks for mini lure styles as they give you great hooking capability on heavily dressed flies. Their quoted size belies the actual appearance resembling an ultra short shanked 8 rather than the size 14 it really is. Start your thread at the eye and run it back along the shank for about 4 mm in preparation for attaching the eyes. Tie in the dumbbell eyes with figure of eight tyings, you can secure this further by applying a drop of liquid super glue or varnish if required. Run your thread along the shank to the start of the bend ready to construct the tail. Fold a single strand of Crystal Hair or similar material twice and tie it onto the hook returning the thread to the start point at the bend. Trim this to about two hook lengths, if longer you will get fish nipping at the tail and miss the take. Take a medium sized clump of marabou and prepare it by stripping the flue from the stems using your thumbnail, this avoids bulking up the body too much.

Floss! When you have skin like 40 grit Aluminium Oxide it just frays all over the place.

While you guys and gals are hacking your way through the ice and dodging bergs on the rivers we have been enjoying some good early season fishing across here. The Liffey above Clane Bridge Beautiful little fellow who took my Gold Headed Rusty Nail from the pool in the photograph above.

That is what I am hoping too!

My effort has been submitted and is now in the lap of the gods.

A greedy little fecker judging by the size of the fly!

The only consolation for me in this is that I have 24 Mayflies to tie (12 dry, 12 wet) for a swap before the end of the month on our side so one of these when they are done will have to do. I hate tying Mayflies!

Prior to buying a Peak last year I had always been a C clamp tyer, the Peak came with both C clamp and pedestal but I have used it solely on the pedestal as it is stable and can be moved out of the way without any hassle. Tying off a pedestal vice gives you much more freedom as you can move the vice to any position to aid the tying.