Flicking feathers

Another old one I wrote for www.sexyloops.com I'm going on a bit of a ramble this week. But it's all connected, in my mind at least, to the idea of progress. I should probably start by saying that I'm no traditionalist whether in my fishing or my fly tying-anyone who watches my videos will know that. The thing is I'm always being asked why I still use varnish instead of UV resin, or don't move to the new super thin gsp threads that will make my tying easier. Actually I really like UV resins- I've tried most of  the brands on the market, and use them a lot for certain things. Any time I want to replace epoxy as a head or body material, for example, light cured resins are the obvious choice. They are cleaner, consistent while working, set up instantly and don't yellow. But there are also things that they don't do better than the materials we had before. They're not glue and it doesn't matter how many people call them glue. If you need an adhesive a...

  This bushy top dropper can be very effective around mayfly time, but is also worth having in the box later in the season too. To support my channel, join the monthly tying meetings 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 -12 Thread: Olive Uni 8/0 Tag: Glo-brite no 5 Tail: Hen pheasant tail dyed picric Rib: Oval gold tinsel Body: Golden olive seal fur Body hackle: Red game saddle dyed picric Shoulder hackle: Orange hen Flash: Orange crinkle mirror flash Head hackle: Grey partridge dyed olive

This wet fly is a good option for the often frustrating situation of trout feeding on pin fry, the palmer hackle helps hold it up in the water column and it appears translucent when viewed from below. To support my channel 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 -12 Thread: Olive Uni 8/0 Tail: Teal/gadwall or similar Rib: Silver wire Body: Pearl lite brite or similar Body hackle: Dun, olive or grizzle cock Accent: Orange hen Head hackle: Dun, olive or grizzle hen

  This little black and pink snatcher is an absolute killer for midge feeding trout high in the water column, it's just as effective on stocked rainbows as it is the wild loch browns. To support my channel and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Kamasan B100 size 12-14 Thread: Black Uni 8/0 Rib: Small oval silver Body: black seal fur Hackle: Black cock stripped on one side Head: Red ice yarn shredded into dubbing

  The Lifeboat Dun is a great dry fly option for fish that have become a bit selective during a mayfly hatch. It floats well, offering a realistic footprint & silhouette which is enough to tempt the fussiest of fish in rivers and still waters. To support my channel, join the online tying meetings and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Kamasan B420 size 10-16 Thread: Olive Uni 8/0 Tail: Golden pheasant tail fibres Rib: Oval gold Wing: Dun hen hackle tips Body: Natural seal fur Body hackle: Grizzle cock Front hackles: Green olive & Golden olive cock This pattern is for a danica/green drake imitation. Substitute colours/materials for other mayfly species. Patsy Deery's book "Irish Mayflies" is available from my amazon link https://amzn.to/3bRcZ3B

  Patsy Deery's Rollover Mayfly is a great choice for blowy days when the fish are up eating duns on the surface. It also makes a pretty decent dapping fly when the mayfly is on. Patsy Deery's book "Irish Mayflies" is available from my amazon link https://amzn.to/3bRcZ3B To support my channel get access to the monthly online tying meetings and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Kamasan B175 size 10-12 Thread: Rusty dun Uni 8/0 Rib: 4-6lb brown mono Wing: Mallard flank feather Tail: Cock pheasant tail fibres Body: Rear 1/4 pheasant tail, front 3/4 natural seal fur Hackle: Good quality grizzle cock

  The Lechlade Special is a large lead stalking bug for situations where you need something bigger that will really get down quickly. To support my channel and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Kamasan B175 size 8 Thread: Uni 8/0 Tail: Marabou Body: Lead wire Nail varnish Acrylic paints

  The firebird is a compact, fast sinking and highly visible stalking bug ideal for targeting fish lying in deeper margins. To support my channel and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Kamasan B160 size 8 Weight: Lead free BB shot Adhesive: UV resin painted fluorescent hot orange Body: Holographic gold flashabou Rib: Gold wire Wing: Holographic gold flashabou

 Here's another old one I wrote for www.sexyloops.com . You can head over there for the newer ones if you like. Last week I wrote about my worry at becoming over reliant on the rubber candy in my sea bass fishing around Tokyo bay.  On Monday Hawaiian Dave and I had another evening run, which gave me a chance to break my habit, so I stuck a 17cm hollow fleye on the 8wt.  I couldn't quite leave the silicon behind so although I didn't tie on a rubber candy, I put a 7.5 cm siliclone on the 6wt. Luckily the conditions helped quite a bit on that front. As the weather was quite calm, we were able to head off shore a bit to fish the LPG platforms and around some cargo ships sitting at anchor in search of bigger bass.  It's a good time of year for it too  being catadromous they head out to sea en masse with the inshore spots basically empty by Christmas. The big ones start staging off shore a bit earlier than the little guys as they pack on weight in preparatio...

  This variation on an old stalwart is a great stalking bug that remains popular for sight fishing small still waters. Although white is generally the most visible, other colours can be used to good effect too. To support my channel and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Kamasan B175 size 12 Weight: Lead Wire Thread: Fl. white Veevus 10/0 Body: White Ostrich herl Shell: Wide pearl tinsel Rib: Silver Wire

This simple, compact stalking bug is a good template that can be adjusted in weight, size and colour to suit a range of water conditions. Easy to tie and easy to see while fishing it's a great option for stalking individual fish in clear water stocked fisheries. To support my channel, join the monthly online flytying meetings and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Kamasan B175 size 10-12 Weight: Tungsten or brass bead/lead wire Thread: Danville's flat waxed nylon- chartreuse Tail: White marabou Flash: pearl crystal flash  

  The "when all else fails" or W.A.E.F. is a true classic stalking bug used for targeting individual trout in clear stillwaters. It is also a good choice for sight fishing course fish like rudd, roach and crucians.To support my channel and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Kamasan B175 size 12-14 Thread: Black 8/0 Body: Lead wire Wing: White deer hair, marabou or yarn

  The Nomad is a very effective little lure that seems to work best on small stillwaters. It's great fished singly or as a point fly with nymphs on the droppers. To support my channel, get access to the monthly online fly tying meetings and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Kamasan B175 size 8-10 Bead: Brass 3.5mm Thread: Danville's 70 denier, chartreuse Body: 5mm chartreuse fritz Nose: Glo-brite no.5 floss

  Hedgehogs and sedgehogs are great fished both wet and dry. This green peter version is no exception. In this case I've tied large it with a bit of flash, in the tail to be more of a puller, which will work great on the point or top dropper. But omit the flash and scale it down and you'll have an excellent dry fly. To support my channel, join the monthly online fly tying meetings 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 B170 size 10-14 Thread: Olive Uni 8/0 Butt: Red seal fur Tail: Gold flash Wings: Light coloured deer hair Body: Olive seal fur

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...

  The Camasunary Killer is a great fly for loch style fishing for seatrout and salmon. Tied in smaller sizes it is a very effective fly for browns too. To support my channel , join the monthly online tying meetings and enter the giveaways, head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Stan Headley's book Trout and Salmon Flies of Scotland is available from my amazon link here https://amzn.to/2U7B13X Materials list Hook: Kamasan B175 size 6-14 Thread: Black Uni 8/0 Tail: Blue wool (royal blue or a lighter shade like kingfisher) Rib: Oval silver Body: Rear 2/3 same wool as tail front 1/3 fluo red seal fur (or wool) Hackle: Dyed black hen or cock

  This little muddler is a real fish catcher. More compact than the traditional whisky fly, this still causes plenty of disturbance but is more likely to elicit a positive eat. It's a wetfly that should be in your box. To support my channel, get access to the monthly tying meetings 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 8-12 Thread: Fire orange Uni8/0 Tag: Globrite no.4 Body: Silver or gold tinsel Rib: Globrite no.4 Wing: Fl. orange marabou Flash: Red crinkle mirror flash Hackle: Orange hen Head: Hot orange deer hair

  The Kate McLaren is a great fly in its own right, this muddler version just adds a bit more fish pulling power. Put this on the bob in a big wave and bring the fish to your team, even if they don't eat the muddler they'll often eat one of the other flies.To support my channel, get access to the monthly tying club and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Stan Headley's book Trout and Salmon Flies of Scotland is available from my amazon link here https://amzn.to/3wrxM4r Material list Hook: Kamasan B175 size 8-14 Thread: Black Uni 8/0 Tail: Globrite no.9 floss over gold flashabou Body: Black seal fur Rib: Silver wire Body Hackle: Black cock hackle Front Hackle: Red game hen Head: Ginger/brown or natural deer hair

 July Zoom Meeting The Patreon tying session will be on  Saturday 24th July at 23.00 in Europe, 22.00 in the UK, 17.00 in New York & 16.00 in Texas.   All supporters will be sent an invite to the meeting a few days in advance. As usual the video will be made available after the session. If you're interested in joining you can sign up at  https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers

This suspender buzzer is a great choice for those dull overcast days where the UV index is high, the fluorescent material really pops in those conditions helping the fish to pick the fly out.To support my channel and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Kamasan B170 size 10-14 Thread: Camel Uni 8/0 Floatation: Ethafoam cut to 2mm square strip Tag: Globrite floss-nos. 5, 9 &11 are good. Rib: Pearl tinsel Abdomen: Dubbing blend; roughly 50% hare's ear, 40% chopped Globrite & 10% clear/white antron Thorax: Natural hare's ear  

  As promised here's the video of how to prepare your own Orkney peach dubbing. The process is pretty easy and you can experiment with other colours or dubbing ingredients; this is how I prepare the floss for the hot hare's ear and skinny damsel dubbing mixes too. This is a suitable coffee grinder for home dubbing mixes at a reasonable price UK https://amzn.to/36iYfGQ US https://amzn.to/3jPAhen Orkney peach mix Globrite no7 & no 8 floss in equal parts Orkney peach flash blend Globrite no7 & no 8 floss, Hareline ice dub Fl shell pink & UV shrimp pink in equal parts To support my channel 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   Recently I tied up a batch of stalking bugs for a friend who's been getting the same order every year since sometime in the 1990s. After I finished it I didn't sit down at the vice for almost 2 weeks. It completely killed my motivation to tie, whether for myself or others. Previous to that I was tying a lot and putting out about 3 tying videos a week so at first I thought I had kind of burned out. But I don't think that's it, unlike many I thoroughly enjoy time at the vice. I even fairly enjoyed tying those stalking bugs, weird little things and not what I usually tie. Yesterday I realised what had caused my melancholy. Mutant fish. Having shared the videos in online groups, the facebook algorithm started showing me more and more "specimen" trout from small stocked fisheries in Southern England. If you're not familiar with stalking, it basically involves sight fishing for large (obese) pellet fed trout in small clea...

 

  Although it hails from Loch Watten in Caithness, the Watten Warrior is effective anywhere you're fishing wets for browns. To support my channel 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 8-14 Thread: Black Uni 8/0 Tail: Glo brite no 4'. Rib: Oval gold Body: Fiery brown seal's fur Body hackle: Fiery brown cock Head hackle: White hen

  Pete Wilkins is this month's winner and will get the selection of stillwater flies for June's prize. July's set will be some Saltwater flats flies. To Supprt the channel, enter the giveaways and get access to the online tying sessions, head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers or https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/flickingfeathers and sign up

  Billy Quail's yellow tip is a simple but very effective little fly for calmer conditions. Most effective in smaller sizes, it fishes particularly well near the surface when fish are on midges or small sedge. Of course you can adjust the tip colour, an orange tip is another good option. My suggestion is a washing line style set up of this and a different colour midge on the droppers with a dry sedgehog on the point. To support my channel, get access to the online tying sessions and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Material list Hook: Kamasan B160 size 12-16 (small is better with this fly) Thread: Black Uni 8/0 Tag: Glo-brite no 9 Rib: Fine copper wire Body: Pheasant tail Hackle: Greenwell hen tied sparse

  The Doobry is an excellent bumble style attractor pattern that is loved by both wild and stocked fish. Certainly it should be in your box if fishing the lochs of Western Scotland. To support my channel and enter the giveaways head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers and become a patron or support through paypal.me/flickingfeathers Stan Headley's book Trout and Salmon Flies of Scotland is available from my amazon link here https://amzn.to/3hvbBos Material list Hook: Kamasan B175 size 10-12 Thread: Black Uni 8/0 Tail: Glo-brite no. 4 or Fluorescent red wool Rib: Fine oval gold Body: Flat gold (brassy old gold if you can get it) Body hackle: Black cock Shoulder hackle: Orange hen Head hackle Black hen