New 3D epoxy eyes

Hi everyone

Here sre a couple of new eye designs that will be arriving soon.

They are ultra bright attractor patterns.

Tight lines......|Rich

Saltwater flies using E-Z body, mylar tubing, DC expando tube

Here is a compilation of flies tied using some form of body tubing. I really enjoy tying these flies as you can create some stunning patterns with a little imagination.

Enjoy!........Rich

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Deercreek Body tubing.

This tubing is a new product from Deercreek and it is amazing!!

It makes perfect baitfish bodies and has a great scale like effect when lightly coated in UV resin. Use promarkers to colour it if you wish for extra realism.Simply tie it in at the front and give the tubing a light coat of UV resin, compress to the shape you want and cure the resin with your torch and Hey-Presto you have a great looking minnow body.

The tubing is approx 8mm wide but when compressed it streches to a whopping 20mm! The only other tubing to do this is E-Z body and that costs a fortune!

Grab some while you can from www.deercreek.co.uk

Tight lines.......Rich

Finally a good Pike and Saltwater dubbing brush

Finalyy there is a great dubbing brush on the market that is aimed at the Pike and Saltwater fly tyer. The fibres are around 4" long and have a fine angel hair flash blended through them. The overall length of each brush is around 15" and I have managed to get 4 size 2/0 kinky muddlers out of 1 brush!

If you are interested please contact me at m4dc4t@gmail.com

 

 

NEW Materials fish scale flash

I have been searching for a flash material that gives a scale like appearence when used in a baitfish pattern and finally I have found what I am looking for "fish scale flash"

It is a mylar type material that is crimped to give it a multi faceted appearence and has an opal mirage finish to give it great light reflecting qualities.

Great tied in on its own to create a complete baitfish or use with other materials for a more subtle look.

Please feel free to contact me on m4dc4t:@gmail.com if you are interested.

Tight lines.........Rich

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saltwater flies for Pike?

As you know I am a great fan of using Saltwater patterns to fish for Pike and perch on my local stretch of the Erewash. There are some very well known flies such as the Deceiver and Clouser minnow that make excellent Pike flies, but its the little known patterns that interest me the most.
The same goes for Salmon and Steelhead flies for the Perch. Its amazing just what a predatory fish will take!

Here are a few I have been using with good success! Try something different, you might just surprise yourself.
Tight lines.

New Flies and the BFFI

Hi all

I have been very busy lately what with work, family and other commitments so apologies for the lack of recent posting.

I was a guest on the Deer Creek stand at the BFFI this year and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I got to meet up with some old friends as well as meet new ones and as per usual spent too much money......

My 10 year old |son Oliver was also tying on the Deer Creek stand and spent most of Sunday sitting next to Dave Lindsay showing him how its really done! (just kidding dave). Dave is a really great guy and took time out of his tying to help Oliver out when he needed it as I was busy wandering around trying to convince my wife to buy me a new vice! (fat chance of that)

I would like to say a great big thank you to Nik and Jen for having us on their stand over the weekend and also to John Horsfall, Dai Jones, Dave Lindsay and Bob and Sue swan from Castle feathers for making it a memorable weekend.

I have long had a fascination with Saltwater flies,, especially the shrimp patterns, and have been spending WAY too much time perfecting my own pattern. It still needs work but is slowly getting there. I have also rekindled my passion for EP fibre and have been knocking up some small baitfish patterns ready for when the weather improves (if it ever will).

Anyway, I have a half finished shrimp sat in my vice that really needs finishing so until next time....

Tight Lines

Rich

Fly action!!

A short video I took of a white/orange baitfish tied with sparkle fibre. The action this synthetic material imparts is very realistic.

Tight lines.......Rich

Pike Fishing with my 10 yr old son.

Today was Oliver's first time Pike fishing on the fly, and what an eventful couple of hours we had!

We got to the Erewash around 6.00pm and set the rods up in the car park. We had a quick look either side of the bridge to see if we could spot any fish, as there had been a few Pike surface cruising the evening before. I saw what I thought was a small Pike sat amongst the lillies so we decided to try there first.
Oliver was using a simple silver/orange baitfish pattern I had tied and I put on a large deceiver to give the fish a choice of 2 different flies.
Within 5 minutes of fishing I lost what felt like a reasonable fish and Oliver pulled out of one. We carried on fishing for a further half hour without a bite so we decided to move. The fish must have been spooked from the lost fish and constant thrashing of the water.....:o)

We had a walk to the other side of the bridge and immediately saw a very large carp crusing close to the Lock gates along with a shoal of what looked like small roach. With this many small fish around I knew a pike must be fairly close by, so we decided to give it a half hour and then move on if we caught nothing. Within 10 minutes I had banked a small Pike of around 3lb and Oliver had yet again pulled out of another fish. I looked at the fly and the hook seemed o.k but just to be safe I asked Oliver to pick another fly to use. After another few minutes and with an impatient dad chastising him he picked a Clouser minnow style fly.

On went the fly and approx 10 minutes later he hooked a Pike. He was playing the fish well when suddenly the rod tip slammed over and he shouted me to help. I got there just in time to see a Pike of epic proportions (well it is to Oliver) let go of the smaller Pike he had hooked. The rod tip sprang back and almost flirted the poor little Pike onto the grass bank.The look on Oliver's face was a mixture of panic and joy at catching his first fly caught Pike. I netted the fish and removed the fly easily as I had crimped the barb on the mustad C68SZ tarpon hook.

In the Pikes left flank was a large and very deep gash where the larger Pike had hold of it.  I wiped down the wound with an old towel I keep in my tackle bag ,and applied some Kryston Clinic antiseptic wound wash. Normally I only carry the clinic when stalking carp with my older son but luckily I had left it in my tackle bag.

Oliver and I had a fantastic couple of hours fishing together and I am really proud of him taking his first ever fly caught Pike.

In a society obsessed with money and technolog its days like these that remind us all of whats really important..........

Tight lines.......Rich and Oliver

Streamer flies for Pike

Hi all.

I have been tying up a storm lately and have had loads of fun tying Streamer flies for the local Pike to (hopefully) have a chew on.

These flies are a pleasure to tie and fairly easy as long as you get the proportions right. The action varies with each fly depending on hook size, dressing etc. and half the fun for me is seeing them in action and working out how to improve them.

Give them a go and see how much fun they can be....

|Tight lines.....rich

Pike Fly, Hot Pink Bunny Tube fly

I have been experimenting with tube flies recently, mainly because some of the patterns I want to tie will close the gape up on a standard hook and affect hook ups.

This fly is tied on a Pro Tube system flexi tube with a soft sonic disc. I have cut off most of the retainer tube leaving approx 10mm left.

I first tied on a "pillow" of UV hot pink fritz followed by a collar of barred blood marabou. I then attached a length of 2 tone zonker strip before locking everything down with a drop of superglue.
The body is a mosaic fritz followed by a marabou collar and topped with some peacock hearl.

Video coming soon......

Tight lines......Rich