Its been a while since i did a blog post but i have been updating my fishing adventures on facebook and twitter, it seems these days that thats how social media has gone but my blog has always been my highlight for me and the ammount of people who contact me from it is mad..I have done write ups for Steve Cullens Total Fly Fisher which has been brilliant but i cannot stay away from the fact that my blog has got me places you cant imagine.
This season i have had probably the best seasons fishing in my life, i have met many new friends and even got to meet up with my mucker Mathew wright as we shared the most memorable two days fishing on the Derbyshire Wye and Lathkill.
As always in my fishing life i am still living and breathing the rivers , i am still searching for huge trout and grayling, some would say this is not what its about but even from the age of 8 years old fishing the river churnet with a legered maggot i have always had the amazing feeling of catching a big special fish, this is what drives me and always will.
On my previous post i caught the fish of a lifetime on a dry fly, will i better it? surely one day i hope..
i had a few people question if this fish was wild!! it was quite obvious to me, but speaking to Tim Jacklin of the wild trout trust summed it up for me, he said he would bet his house on it being wild, its a male (they only stock females) and the markings and the size of the pectoral fins says it all.
Even Warren Slaney congratulated me, he could spot a stocky from a miles away!
Anyway enough of my updates, here is a fly that has blown me away this season for many reasons but i would like to start with a new method that i have been testing.
I remember speaking to Stuart Croft about getting the right profiles on dry flys and he stated that we always have one problem... we have a piece of metal attached to our fly and this totally messes things up to a degree and there is no way out of it..
Yes he was right, i have always had the problem of finding a lightweight hook, the only ones on the market are the Tiemco 103BL, these are lightweight and do a superb job but they tend to snap on occasions especially when hooking a big nasty brown.
I often take a look in my local coarse fishing shop for different bit in there game and as i walked past the hooks i saw some of the finest black light gauge hooks i had seen.. but on closer looking i saw the dreaded spade end..
To put in plain, spade hooks are still used by the match men because they can be manufactured extra fine and sharper than a eyed hook due to not have to form a eye.
This gives tem the edge for better presentation and so it would me!!
I bought some and set out to combat the spade!!
This season i had made what i call a daytime spinner, without going into detail it was tied on a size 16 up to a size 22.. it has caught me so many fish but using a extra light hook would really send the fly into a proper profile on top of the water film..
here is the you tube link fly tying video and i explain all about my theories in the fly... LTD Daytime spinner
The hooks that i have been using are a Mustard 60200NPBLN that can be bought from any tackle shops.they are super light and strong and around a quid for ten...
So what does this super light hook do on flys? it makes them sit right ontop of the water film which is more like the natural on fully emerged drys and spinners alike.. Also using size 22 tiny flys you are able to see them perfectly as they are not sitting half in the film...
To tie the proper knot on a spade hook is a no go on a tied fly, there is always the option to tie the line on then tie the fly so its all made up ready but i think this would be too much pissing about..
I have come up with a method that is easier than tying a normal eyed hook on, and also gives a added bonus for presentation.
I simply just make up a clinch knot on the line, slide the loop over the spade on the tied fly, wet and tighten up!
If you do this with the knot pointing down the line sinks under the water film for a few inches giving a deadly profile.
The only downside of this method than i can see is on weak lines the spade might slice the line but as yet i have had no problems at all.
I have also started to use the tying method on eyed hooks too which again gives a deadly profile and sinks the first bit of line..
Below is a picture of a size 14 hook with some big line to show what i am doing...
Below is a spinner tied on a spade hook with the line for illustration
Please email me if you have any questions and i am always happy to help where i can to fellow brothers on the fly
Still Living the Dream
Are U ?
GP
This season i have had probably the best seasons fishing in my life, i have met many new friends and even got to meet up with my mucker Mathew wright as we shared the most memorable two days fishing on the Derbyshire Wye and Lathkill.
As always in my fishing life i am still living and breathing the rivers , i am still searching for huge trout and grayling, some would say this is not what its about but even from the age of 8 years old fishing the river churnet with a legered maggot i have always had the amazing feeling of catching a big special fish, this is what drives me and always will.
On my previous post i caught the fish of a lifetime on a dry fly, will i better it? surely one day i hope..
i had a few people question if this fish was wild!! it was quite obvious to me, but speaking to Tim Jacklin of the wild trout trust summed it up for me, he said he would bet his house on it being wild, its a male (they only stock females) and the markings and the size of the pectoral fins says it all.
Even Warren Slaney congratulated me, he could spot a stocky from a miles away!
Anyway enough of my updates, here is a fly that has blown me away this season for many reasons but i would like to start with a new method that i have been testing.
I remember speaking to Stuart Croft about getting the right profiles on dry flys and he stated that we always have one problem... we have a piece of metal attached to our fly and this totally messes things up to a degree and there is no way out of it..
Yes he was right, i have always had the problem of finding a lightweight hook, the only ones on the market are the Tiemco 103BL, these are lightweight and do a superb job but they tend to snap on occasions especially when hooking a big nasty brown.
I often take a look in my local coarse fishing shop for different bit in there game and as i walked past the hooks i saw some of the finest black light gauge hooks i had seen.. but on closer looking i saw the dreaded spade end..
To put in plain, spade hooks are still used by the match men because they can be manufactured extra fine and sharper than a eyed hook due to not have to form a eye.
This gives tem the edge for better presentation and so it would me!!
I bought some and set out to combat the spade!!
This season i had made what i call a daytime spinner, without going into detail it was tied on a size 16 up to a size 22.. it has caught me so many fish but using a extra light hook would really send the fly into a proper profile on top of the water film..
here is the you tube link fly tying video and i explain all about my theories in the fly... LTD Daytime spinner
The hooks that i have been using are a Mustard 60200NPBLN that can be bought from any tackle shops.they are super light and strong and around a quid for ten...
So what does this super light hook do on flys? it makes them sit right ontop of the water film which is more like the natural on fully emerged drys and spinners alike.. Also using size 22 tiny flys you are able to see them perfectly as they are not sitting half in the film...
To tie the proper knot on a spade hook is a no go on a tied fly, there is always the option to tie the line on then tie the fly so its all made up ready but i think this would be too much pissing about..
I have come up with a method that is easier than tying a normal eyed hook on, and also gives a added bonus for presentation.
I simply just make up a clinch knot on the line, slide the loop over the spade on the tied fly, wet and tighten up!
If you do this with the knot pointing down the line sinks under the water film for a few inches giving a deadly profile.
The only downside of this method than i can see is on weak lines the spade might slice the line but as yet i have had no problems at all.
I have also started to use the tying method on eyed hooks too which again gives a deadly profile and sinks the first bit of line..
Below is a picture of a size 14 hook with some big line to show what i am doing...
Below is a spinner tied on a spade hook with the line for illustration
Please email me if you have any questions and i am always happy to help where i can to fellow brothers on the fly
Still Living the Dream
Are U ?
GP
Nice Glen, been contemplating this myself although adding a loop of nylon into the tying. Reading your article it then begs the question whether you tie the loop on top or below? Whereas using your clinch knot idea you can dictate the tippet coming in from any desired angle. Thought provoking nevertheless;)
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