Flicking feathers

  The Pink Thing is an Australian pattern that was devised for barramundi. But don't thin you need to head to the southern hemisphere to get great results with this fly, it works for all kinds of predatory gamefish like largemouth bass, Japanese seabass, striped bass and snapper. Tie some and give them a try! To support the channel, join the monthly tying classes and enter the giveaways, head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers or https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/flickingfeathers and sign up Materials list Hook: Saltwater hook of your choice I used Gamakatsu SL12 size 4/0 Thread: White210 denier UTC/Danville's Weight: Dumbbells or beadchain of your choice Tail: long slender saddle hackles Tail flash: Krinkle mirror flash or whatever you like Tail support: Bucktail Body flash: Pink sparkle hair or crystal flash Over wing: Grizzle hackle Collar: Fluo pink schlappen Weedguard: 40lb fluoro Book of the month 6 is available here https://amzn.to/3jwznCE Amazon.com http

  Bob Popovics' semper fleye is essentially a souped up seaducer that swims amazingly and is a great choice of predatory gamefish all over the world. Tie them in all the usual colour combinations and in a size to suit your target species. To support the channel, join the monthly tying classes and enter the giveaways, head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers or https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/flickingfeathers and sign up Materials list Hook: Saltwater hook of your choice I used Gamakatsu SL12 size 4/0 Thread: 210 denier UTC/Danville's or fine clear mono Tail support: Bucktail Tail: long slender saddle hackles Body: Thick webby saddle hackles Book of the month 6 is available here https://amzn.to/3jwznCE Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3DuHvM1 Amazon UK

  Fry time is when you stand arguably the best chance of catching specimen trout from still waters and although subsurface flies like the minkie are deadly, there's nothing better than catching fish off the top. Enter the floating fry, or spondoolie as it's sometimes called. This deer hair pattern is a bit more time consuming to tie than a foam fry, but it makes up for it in effectiveness. It offers a more natural shape and sits lower in the water better mimicking a stunned fry and being less buoyant than foam with no stiff material behind the hook will get fewer missed takes and result in more positive hook-ups. To support the channel, join the monthly tying classes and enter the giveaways, head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers or https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/flickingfeathers and sign up Materials list Hook: Tiemco 5263 or equivalent 3-4x long streamer hook size 2-8 Thread: White gsp 100 Tail: Orange rabbit or marabou Body: White deer belly hair spun &

  This is a fantastic booby that will catch you fish year round. I find these larger boobies work best on the point or fished singly and really lend themselves to slightly faster retrieves that get the tail moving. For some reason I have found this particular pattern less effective when tied smaller in a competition size format. To support the channel, join the monthly tying classes and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and sign up or contribute through https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers . Materials list Hook: Kamasan B175 size 8 Thread: Olive Uni 8/0 Tail: Medium olive marabou Body: Olive chenille Rib: Med silver holographic Hackle: Grey partridge dyed yellow Eyes: 6mm yellow foam cylinder Book of the month 6 is available here https://amzn.to/3jwznCE Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3DuHvM1 Amazon UK

I took advantage of a break in the weather to head to a river on the outskirts of Tokyo that I hadn't fished for a couple of years because of some major construction works including a new road bridge. The fishing still hasn't recovered but there were some encouraging signs. To support my channel, join the online tying classes and enter the giveaways, head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and sign up or donate at https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/flickingfeathers Book Of The Month 6 https://amzn.to/3zwgkyc Amazon.co.uk https://amzn.to/2WyiuiE Amazon.com BOTM 1, Smallmouth is available here https://amzn.to/3wSaJAC   https://amzn.to/3vHUANX  

  The minkie is a fantastic subsurface fry pattern and is ideal for the back end of the season. It's best to carry a two or three different sizes so you can best match the size of the fry that the trout are feeding on. To support my channel, get access to the monthly tying classes and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and sign up or donate at https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Heavy wire long shank e.g. TMC 5263 size 2-6 or Kamasan B175 size 4-8 for smaller sizes Thread: White 8/0 Body: White fritz Rib: Silver wire Wing: Mink zonker Hackle: Grey mallard flank Cheeks: Jungle Cock Head: Globrite no.3 floss

Kenny Abrames' A perfect fish is a fantastic text on fly tying and fly fishing. Its main focus is on flat wing style flies and striped bass, but the lessons can be applied anywhere. This beautifully illustrated book is quite hard to come by but you'll probably be able to find a copy by following my amazon links. Amazon .com https://amzn.to/3DKxadM Amazon UK https://amzn.to/31BKYul Alternatively it can sometimes be found on ebay https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=a+perfect+fish&_sacat=0 Wherever you can track it down, this is a great book and well worth adding to your collection. To support the channel, get access to the monthly tying classes and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers or https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/flickingfeathers and sign up. Book of the Month 8: Strip-Set is available here Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3kizn9F Amazon.co.uk https://amzn.to/3wvglSo Using the link will help suppo

  Long time supporter Joe Andrezik is the winner of November's flies. The Christmas prizes are currently a box of flies, 2 materials packs and 2 signed copies of "At The End Of The Line" by George Barron. I might add some more over the next week if I can. To enter the giveaways, get access to the monthly zoom tying classes and support the channel, head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers or https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/flickingfeathers an sign up. #flyfishing #giveaway #flytying

 An old one I wrote for www.sexyloops.com I'm terrible at naming flies. Or at least, terrible at it most of the time, when I actually come up with a fly that's reasonably original I can come up with something. It's probably because, I don't really think most patterns warrant a new name. We're probably stuck with the old style naming where there essentially only a few different flies, but loads of names for what are essentially just colour different colour combinations. I mean, look at the Kate Mclaren for example, is it really anything other than a black & brown bumble? No it isn't. And that's by no means unusual. Almost everyone calls hedgehogs sedgehogs now,  because Stan Headley renamed it after putting a hackle on it.  I think the hackled version didn't need a new name, even if sedgehog is probably better branding.  The thing about names though, they have some kind of power. I've noticed this several times recently. Folk raving about the blac

  Pop's Bonefish Bitters is an absolute classic bonefish fly imitating small crabs. It was developed by Craig Mathews for Belize, but works universally and also catches permit. It's fairly snag resistant because of the deer hair wing and I find it works best over rock, coral flats and broken ground. It's well worth tying up in colours to suit your fishing location for fish that are refusing the less imitative, attractor type flies like the gotcha. Materials list Hook: Your preferred saltwater hook size 10-4 Weight: bead chain Body: Epoxy coloured with nail polish or acrylic paint Legs: Silli legs or flexifloss Underwing: Zelon or antron yarn Wing: Deer hair Book of the Month 8: Strip-Set is available here Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3kizn9F Amazon.co.uk https://amzn.to/3wvglSo Using the link will help support my channel at no extra cost to you. To support the channel, get access to the monthly tying classes and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flicki

  Aaron Adams's Big Ugly is an effective ghost shrimp mantis shrimp imitation. It's on the big side for a bonefish fly, but it's simple, durable and deadly in the right situations. Look for mantis holes or the little humps made by ghost shrimps to indicate where bones and other species may be receptive to this pattern. Materials list Hook: Gamakatsu SL11-3H Thread: Fluorescent "Gotcha" pink Danville's Weight: Bead chain or dumbbells Tail: Tan craft fur (barred with marker) Body: Root beer cactus chenille Wing: Tan craft fur Weed guard: 16-20lb hard mono Book of the Month 8: Strip-Set is available here Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3kizn9F Amazon.co.uk https://amzn.to/3wvglSo Using the link will help support my channel at no extra cost to you. To support the channel, get access to the monthly tying classes and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and sign up.

  The Maruta, or pacific redfin, is a sea-run member of the dace family that return to Japan's rivers in early spring to spawn. They can be caught on nymphs and streamers for the weeks around cherry blossom time, and if you can find large schools of them they can be quite easy to catch at times. BOTM 7 The practical angler is available here: https://amzn.to/3kLyBSW Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3EZxneY Amazon.com

  This revised version of Barr's Spork is the 2nd fly from the carp fly tie & catch video. It's a very effective choice for shallow water carp that are searching for crayfish, shrimp or other mobile forage. I've changed some of the features of John Barr's original to address some of the issues I encountered while using it making, I think, a more effective fly.To support the channel and be eligible for giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers​ and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Materials list Hook: TMC 2457 size 8-6 Thread: uni 8/0 Weight Bead chain Tail: Marbou Rib: Gold wire Body: TMC pellet dub or similar shaggy dubbing with a little flash Legs: Barred round rubber Hackle: Grizzly soft hackle BOTM 7 The practical angler is available here: https://amzn.to/3kLyBSW Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3EZxneY Amazon.com

Another old one I wrote for www.sexyloops.com The weather is cooling off a bit and I'm turning my eye on the seabass again.  They're around most of the year but fishing is better in the cooler months and inshore areas around Tokyo in summer aren't that pleasant with the humidity anyway. I went out a couple of weeks ago with Hawaiian Dave for the first trip of the autumn, just before the last typhoon passed by. It was a bit blowy and Dave was struggling a bit with his casting - not enough practice! But despite this the wind and the pre-frontal conditions had the bass heavily on the feed, and the thumb rash was right up onto the palm of my hand. Numbers and big ones. Which was nice.  As usual, I stuck on the intermediate and a 7cm rubber candy. It worked incredibly well, as it always does. I'm not sure when I last fished another fly for seabass. There are plenty of other flies that I know work plenty well enough, but it's just so relentlessly consistent that I can'

 

  Rab Adam tied this fly for Ayrshire's reservoirs, specifically the Camphill dam, but it certainly works well further afield. To support my channel, get access to the monthly online tying sessions and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Materials list Hook: Kamasan B175 size 10-14 Thread: Black Uni 8/0 Body: 60%Hare's ear 40% yellow olive seal fur Rib: Gold tinsel Body hackle: Ginger/natural red cock hackle Head hackle: Brown partridge

  This month's BOTM is available here Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3vMvYmp Amazon.co.uk https://amzn.to/3wVW6fK Rod Harrison's DIY Bonefishing is a fantastic resource for anyone who likes to walk the flats in search of tailing fish of any species. I refer to this book regularly before trips as it's full of useful information & reviewing it really helps fix things in my mind. Don't think it's just for the DIY angler either, there's lots in here that will make you do better when fishing with a guide. Last month's BOTM Amazon.com https://amzn.to/3pcwPuH Amazon.co.uk https://amzn.to/3g1KvES BOTM 1, Smallmouth is available here https://amzn.to/3wSaJAC https://amzn.to/3vHUANX BOTM 2, Irish Mayflies is available here https://amzn.to/3i73Y9T

Another old post from www.sexyloops.com   Recently I've been tying a box of flies to take to Caithness and the Hebrides once we're able to travel again and I can get to Scotland. The Hebrides, Uist's machair lochs in particular have some of the best wild brown trout fishing out there, mostly traditional wetfly, with dapping also being worth a go if you fancy something a bit different and exciting. There's nothing groundbreaking going in the box, the usual wets, snatchers, muddlers and hedgehogs mostly. Dapping flies, well you only need 2 or 3 patterns; daddies, loch ordies and maybe a tricolor or 2.  Really, whether from boat or bank,  these wild lochs are all about simple fishing, you often don't need much more than floating and intermediate lines. It's more about covering ground and finding fish.   I've almost stocked up on all my favourites, but was looking through some books and  online for some local patterns or a bit of inspiration. There are some fant

John Horsey's emerger is an excellent pattern for targeting midge feeders on reservoirs and lakes. Materials list Hook: Kamasan B100 size 10-14 Thread: Uni 8/0 Shuck: White marabou Rib: Fine wire Abdomen: Pearl tinsel or clear wrap Wing: Poly yarn or aero dry wing Thorax: Seal fur To support my channel , get access to the monthly tying sessions and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers

Another old one from www.sexyloops.com  written in Early 2020  My 2 fishing trips since the rules were clarified haven't been great, partly because I was too excited to get back on the water and partly because of other factors.  First day out I decided to go to a river that holds nice smallmouth with Hiromiki - who I'm starting to think might be my Jonah.  It's a tough river, but has regularly produced fish in the 22-23 inch range for me over the last few seasons. Conditions were great and I was feeling pretty good about things. Unfortunately, after covering a couple of hundred metres of river we rounded a bend to see a coffer dam and an excavator working away, and turning the water the colour of chocolate milk. Bugger. Out of the river and a quick walk down stream in search of some clearer water. All we found were more work sites, including a new bridge that's probably going to take more than the rest of the year to finish. Some of the new stuff might actually turn out