Fishietales

Another beady head buzzer, but this one is just a little different, the body is made from a metallic embroidery thread bought from a sewing shop, and the head is a glo green bead the finish is clear varnish, no thread no other material, takes a little over 30 secs to tie, but takes fish at all depths

This little bloodworm has everything it needs to fish the depths during the winter months when fish are bottom feeding, it's simple to tie 1 gold bead and a length of flexi floss, thread the same colour and Bobs your uncle, superglue the bead to the hook, then twist the flexi floss into a rope tie it in at the bend and run the thread to the bead, wrap the hook with the remainder of the flexi floss, tie off behind the bead and finish, then a coat of clear varnish job done

These aren't epoxy but they are effective

No thats not the keel hook we use over here, the bend at the eye is reversed, the original keel hook when Goddard used it, was tweeked it a bit to get the shape he wanted, see for your self below

Again I have to go with Hardy's for the no.1 slot, the Angel I own is just the dogs dangly bits, the drag is second to none, and the construction is out of this world, the wide large arbor eliminates a lot of the problems of line memory, just a nice reel full stop. But the Greys range are terrific value for the no.2 place or second reel, the GRX i has an excellent drag and a very robust build to it, as it also comes with 4 spools it makes a very economic system, I have the old GRX and the abuse it has taken this winter is unreal, the mud and blood that's been stuck to it, as well as being fished in salt water for a comp, well it says it all and it still performs great, I have used other reels but much prefer Hardy Greys

I have an Airflo polyfuse floater, bright yellow, they do tend to stiffen up in the cold, and acquire a bit of memory, great in the summer months though

I have an Airflo polyfuse floater, bright yellow, they do tend to stiffen up in the cold, and acquire a bit of memory, great in the summer months though

Well time to add my twopenneth, being only 2 miles from Hardys in Anlwick, I do seem to have a bent for their rods, I own three different models, with three different actions, and believe me rod action has little to do with distance, I have been invited on many occasions to watch the R/D guys testing the rods on the casting pool, and have watched the best casters in Britain using their rods, and it makes no difference to them what the action is they still get all the line out and half the backing, that goes for 3# river rods 7' long up to 11# 15' speys, of all actions, distance is determined by pure arm action, the co-ordination and rythum you put into the cast and the timing, tight loops, fast line speed, and the effort exerted in the final punch, they are what determine distance, I won't disagree that certain rods do help certain people overcome problems with their casting technique, but when you see the experts doing what they do best, you realise that it's not the rod it's the person using the rod that matters, to provee a point I now use a cheap $30 Shakespeare Oddessy #8 10' long, and a £25 shakespeare oddessy #5 8 1/2' long rod, the reason being the winter can cause all kinds of damage to your tackle, so at these prices I can afford to replace them each season should I need to, but the actions are mid to tip and they do the job, I can get all the line out and present a decent fly at 30yds, what more can you ask, mind I still use the Angel on very windy days, the fine diameter of the blank does seem to take the effort out of the casting

'Och' a true Scot, well said my man, y'll no be cauld in y're neck'o'tha woods heh mate,"hic"

I think he means what we over this side of the pond call a keel hook, like the ones John Goddard was using to do the polywing midge, remember the upside down fly? I'll dig a picture out and show you

You'll wonder what you ever did without one mate, but a little advise, you're from the UK, so go for the lureflash version, its a third cheaper for the same machine, you also get a handy gizmo for turning your rod sections when either fitting new rings or re-varnishing, saves all those messy drips, anyway heres a photo

The varnish I use for buzzers, is a laquer made for the furniture industry, its celulose, and dries very hard, and is waterproof, I've used it also for varnishing whippings on rod rings, but for that smooth even finish I must reiterate that a rotary fly drier is a must

You want a scotch ask a Scot, either Jura if you can get it, or Macallan, and no water, a Scot takes it straight, I once asked for a little water in a scotch for my good lady, in an inn on the borders, I was told "if you want a coctail go to a wine bar"

Believe me it was, I had it confirmed before I returned it, but unfortunately no camera that day didn't think I'd need one, take one everywhere now, it's kind of scary when al your line and backing goes screaming off the reel, you just live in hope the rod can handle it, I know that leg shaking terror now, but luckily the reel was also a Hardy Angel and the drag is second to none for playing fish, I always set the drag so it is just as stiff as the tippet poundage, it works well that way limiting snaps

Thanks all for the welcome, and no I caught it in the bath, it was a tadge over eight pounds, and wouldn't go down the plug hole laugh was I had a seven pound blue just before it, what the grand bairns bring in as pets you'll never know

You could try this one, it's fairly easy, basically it's a standard buzzer hook, black thread, silver wire and holographic tinsel, wind down the thread to the bend, tie in the silver wire, run the thread back to 1/8" of the eye, rib with the wire, tie off the wire and tie in the holographic tinsel, either as a wing case or as cheeks, the choice is yours, next form a head, pull over the tinsel and tie off, whip finish, and either varnish or coat in epoxy resin, the secret is to use a rotary fly dryer,

This is a popular fly this time of the year in the UK, in fact it's another anytime fly, this is my version of it, it's slightly different to the original, by the inclusion of seed bead eyes and the omitting of the blue beard hackle Hook: #12 wet Thread: Olive UNI Tail: Olive marabou over orange marabou Body: Bright orange seals fur dubbing over fine lead wire Wing: Olive marabou This is another variant using orange glister as the dubbing

This little fry pattern works so well this time of the year anywhere there's fry in the water, it's another simple pattern to tie, firstly run a bed of white thread down the hook, then tie in a length of of doubled white metalic wool, run the thread back to the eye and tie in a set of seed bead eyes, behind the eyes tie in a length of green ice yarn, you then wind the ice yarn down the hook to where you tied in the wool take the ice yarn over the back of the wool and wind it back up to the eyes, lastly take the wool and pull it to the eyes to form a back, tie off and trim wool then whip finish in front of the eyes. ]

The Maggoty Grub this little grub is so like the real thing in the water, it's like bait fishing on the fly the receipe is simple, 50lb. yellow shock leader wound from the bend to the eye and tied off with red thread, varnish and there you go

Nice buzzer my friend, try tying a one of these, both in olive, red, orange, and black, they work very well any time really, but are best in the cooler monthe or when the waters a bit coloured, although they are from across the pond, I've given them to friends to take when touring the States, and the reports where very good

As promised the Waterhen Bloa, I've also add a coulpe of other spiders you might like to try

I mostly tie them on size 12 or 14 hooks, but as to colours, yes I tie olive, red, blue, brown, yellow and black, in fact I do mixes of colours, they all catch fish very very well, we generally fish them on a slow retieve during the cooler months, and fast stripping during the hotter months

A bit quick maybe no tying involved, 5 white beads 1 blue bead size 10 buzzer hook, a dab of superglue, deadly fished static under a strike indicator

Terrific fly girl, your tying is spot on, I'd use this fly over here no problem, when I get a minute I'll tie you a traditional pattern called a " Waterhen Bloa " it's very easy but I don't know whether you can source the materials, the dressing is as follows Hook: #14 down eye Thread: Yellow UTC Body: A tiny pinch of young mole fur Hackle: The feather is from the underside of the Moorhens wing Basically you run the thread to just opposite the barb on the hook, you then dub the thread with very fine mole fur and wind it to just before the eye, then tie in the hackle by the tip, then wind on no more than three turns, tie off and whip finish, a very good winter/spring fly, I'll post a photo tomorrow for you Tightlines

Orange Glister Damsel Just a little something we are using here, try it it works on any trout any where, and salmon like it too