Skip to main content

Posts

Rattles

Rattles can be a great addition to predator flies. This is one of the best methods for attaching them to you hooks before tying you flies. It's easy and offers a durable solution that provides some protection even for glass rattles. It has the added advantage of creating an anti foul effect similar to a mono loop, and shrink tube is available in a range of colours allowing you to incorporate it as a hotspot in your flies too. To support the channel, get access to the online fly tying classes and enter the giveaways, head to https://www.patreon.com/flickingfeathers or https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/flickingfeathers and sign up.  

Kobberbassen

  The Kobberbassen is the easiest of flies to tie, but it makes a great gammarus imitation for coastal seatrout. If you target any species of salmonid in the salt, you should probably have some of these in your box, they just catch fish! 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. Materials List Hook: Ahrex Curved Gammarus 6-10 Thread: Fluo. red 140 denier Danville's Body: Copper litebrite or similar dubbing Rib: Copper Wire Amazon UK Hugh Falkus Seatrout Fishing: https://amzn.to/3rnRyxQ Seatrout Nights (John Gray): https://amzn.to/3RwiJRw Seatrout Books: https://amzn.to/3CouFjY Loctite gel: https://amzn.to/3bIw4qC Applicator: https://amzn.to/3AvHF6I Amazon.com Renzetti vise: https://amzn.to/3NQuvEq Tiemco ceramic bobbin holder: https://amzn.to/3IkDOeP Renomed scissors: https://amzn.to/3NL5oCT Loctite gel: http

Boiling Point

 Another old one I wrote for www.sexyloops.com Although I fish for carp year round, I usually expect things to have slowed down quite a bitby mid October. Certainly as the days get shorter the amount of good light is reduced which limits the sight fishing. Temperatures have usually dropped too, moving the carp to different parts of the river and slowing their metabolism. Not so this year. The ridiculous temperatures are keeping them active-it had already gone above 30 degrees by 11am on Monday! This week, after an earthquake left me stuck on a train for most of the night I didn't feel like going far so walked up my local stream after a lazy morning. I walked a few miles upstream and started at a weirpool that reliably holds fish year round. I got rigged up and immediately hooked a little fish on a backstabber. Moving downstream I started seeing a lot of fish moving near the surface and eating off the top. In October! The local council haven't been as aggressive in cutting the b

Baltic Special

The Baltic Special is a straightforward tie that became popular in Ireland for estuary seatrout fishing around the early 1990s. Possibly inspired by patterns fished on the Baltic coast, it is a decent imitation of a small herring and is very effective on its day. 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. Materials List Hook: Tiemco 777sp Thread: Fluo. red 140 denier Danville's Body: Pearl ice yarn or tinsel Wing: Ripple ice fiber; minnow mix topped with smolt blue Amazon UK Hugh Falkus Seatrout Fishing: https://amzn.to/3rnRyxQ Seatrout Nights (John Gray): https://amzn.to/3RwiJRw Seatrout Books: https://amzn.to/3CouFjY Loctite gel: https://amzn.to/3bIw4qC Applicator: https://amzn.to/3AvHF6I Amazon.com Renzetti vise: https://amzn.to/3NQuvEq Tiemco ceramic bobbin holder: https://amzn.to/3IkDOeP Renomed scissors

Sandstorm

  This simple pattern devised by Allan Overgaard is absolutely deadly for searun trout and other inshore saltwater species around the world. It's full of movement and suggests any number of small baitfish. 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. Materials List Hook: Ahrex trout predator light 4-1 Thread: Tan/brown Uni 6/0 Tail: Grizzly craft fur Body (rear): Arizona simi seal in gold shiner or similar Body (front): Grizzly craft fur Amazon UK Hugh Falkus Seatrout Fishing: https://amzn.to/3rnRyxQ Seatrout Nights (John Gray): https://amzn.to/3RwiJRw Seatrout Books: https://amzn.to/3CouFjY Loctite gel: https://amzn.to/3bIw4qC Applicator: https://amzn.to/3AvHF6I Amazon.com Renzetti vise: https://amzn.to/3NQuvEq Tiemco ceramic bobbin holder: https://amzn.to/3IkDOeP Renomed scissors: https://amzn.to/3NL5oCT Loc

Mulkkis

  This simple pattern is absolutely deadly for searun trout and other cold saltwater species. An out an out attractor pattern it pushes water and offers a solid silhouette making it easy for fish to locate it and eat it, alternatively it can be fished in conjunction with something more natural like a gammarus or kopperbassen in the hope that the fish will come to investigate the Mulkkis before eating the other fly. 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. Materials List Hook: Partridge attitude extra size 2 Tail: Rabbit fur Flash: Crystal flash Eyes: Easy shrimp eyes Body: Cactus chenille Amazon UK Hugh Falkus Seatrout Fishing: https://amzn.to/3rnRyxQ Seatrout Nights (John Gray): https://amzn.to/3RwiJRw Seatrout Books: https://amzn.to/3CouFjY Loctite gel: https://amzn.to/3bIw4qC Applicator: https://amzn.to/3AvHF6I

Blankety Blank

 Another oldie from www.sexyloops.com I blanked on Monday. Not because I had made some choice to try and target a specimen fish to the exclusion of more available targets or anything like that. It was just a pure, unjustifiable blank. Yes, yes there are all the cliches about "just getting out" or"it's fishing not catching", but in normal circumstances I expect to catch. Especially when I'm fishing for carp or smallies.. Which I was. Blanks aren't the end of the world and can often teach you something, sometimes they're actually a greater learning opportunity than success. This week I learned about not finding smallies. The river I was fishing is essentially a tailwater dammed every few kilometers, it's very clear and you can almost always see the fish you catch. Being october and they days getting shorter I was expecting to find the bass starting to move away from the faster shallower water into the deeper, slower pools. If they were I couldn'