Flicking feathers

 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 . November's giveaway winner is Danny McGinty- the small stillwater selection will be heading to him soon. As we're entering the festive season, I've added some extras for Christmas.  There will be 3 prizes;  1 The usual selection of flies & a signed copy of Steffan Jones' Seatrout 2 A signed copy of Steffan Jones' Seatrout & the fly matters mug 3 A Sport Fishing Asia SPF 50 long sleeve T-shirt

 This is basically a zebra/mercury midge using an ice-blue wire rib and blue pearl glass bead.  I find this fly works very well in tailwaters and stillwaters, especially in winter. 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 2488 size 14-24 Bead: Blue pearl lined glass bead (I found these in an accessory making shop) Thread: Uni 8/0 black Rib: Ice blue semperfli wire

Another of my articles on www.sexyloops.com   It often seems to me that as anglers we probably suffer from some kind of delusional mental illness.  Now, I think this applies to conventional anglers as well as fly anglers but possibly more so to us...again and again you can hear, read articles or see videos where people assert with absolute confidence that the fish is taking a fly/lure because it imitates X prey species. Fair enough you might say, and I'd be inclined to agree in certain situations. For example, catch a midge feeding trout on a midge pattern that is the same size and colour as the naturals and you can reasonably assume that the fish "believed" the fly was a midge. But the tendency is, to my mind, over applied. Do daphnia feeders really think fire orange blob is a giant clump of daphnia? How about great lakes musky eating a firetiger baitfish? Or do smallmouth really think a boogle bug is a giant insect? It's impossible to truly know but I'm skeptica

 Another old  one I did for www.sexyloops.com Tales of the unexpected  A couple of weeks ago, I'd never have thought of swinging streamers as a viable option for carp on fly. It's almost the opposite of everything I've learned targeting carp on the fly; fishing blind instead of sighting targets, feeling the line rip out of your fingers instead of watching the fish to hit the eat before the fish spits the fly.  But last weekend I made a discovery while fishing for maruta, a sea running species of Japanese cyprinid. The run has been a bit late this year but they eventually appeared in numbers and blasted straight up the Tamagawa to spawn. The main way of fishing for maruta is a swung fly, similar to how you'd fish for salmon.  This year I caught a grand total of zero maruta, but on 2 separate days I caught multiple carp on a red streamer being swung on a sink tip. The first fish I assumed was some kind of fluke, then 2 casts after the release the line zipped away and anot

 Another old one from www.sexyloops.com With the cherry blossoms blooming all around Tokyo signalling spring, I've been tying a lot of panfish flies as I get ready for the warmer weather. I stuck a few pics and how to videos online and the responses have been pretty mixed. I'm not surprised that some of the flies have been divisive-some of them are, frankly, pure filth but I have been a bit surprised by how many people are dismissive of panfish as a target.  Yes the can be very easy to catch, and are abundant within their range, they're aggressive but they're not always stupid and they're beautiful little and sometimes not so little fish. Yes trout are pretty -the disdain for the bluegill comes mainly from trout anglers it seems-, especially small panfish-sized ones can also be very easy to catch.  For me there's at least as much angling skill in going along a bank on foot or in my zoomy bubble boat (float tube) identifying structure, making a nice presentation

Another old article from www.sexyloops.com  Now that spring is in full swing, the cherry blossoms are opening all over Tokyo and the carp  are mostly finished spawning it's time for me to start hitting the rivers in search of mud bones.  So yesterday I went to a river near my apartment to see what I could find.  This place is where I caught my first carp on fly about 10 years ago, starting my obsession  with the species and my 60 day a year carp habit that lasted till some time in 2017. Since  then I barely fished for carp and I definitely lost my edge.  Last year my return to carp was a humbling experience and it felt like 2 or 3 fish days were an   impossible task, let alone the 6-10 I had become accustomed to expect. So the question is  why?.... Well I lost my sharpness; being stealthy, getting close, reading fish and hitting eats  had all - predictably - deteriorated.  The last few months have been an interesting time as I've been re-honing my skills and  questioning things

  This super simple little fly is essentially a perdigon variant that is super quick to tie and catches trout everywhere. Try it in various weights or colour variations. 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: Jig hook 12-20 Weight: Slotted tungsten bead Threads: Uni 8/0 rusty dun/olive (use other contrasting colours you like) Tail: Coq de Leon Rib: XS coloured wire Abdomen: Lighter thread Thorax: Darker thread