Bank holiday ties.

 Well first, the good news is my step by step section is back up and running, thanks to my good old mate Gareth(micro flies) Lewis. cheers mate, what would i do with out you.

Well i have been very busy over the weekend tying, they all went in the post this morning. do hope i get a bit of time this week, to get a bit of salmon and sewin fishing in. not been out much this yea,r what with the weather and flooding rivers all this season. but back to the tying, have put up some of the ties that i did this weekend just gone. plenty of the toucans still being asked for and going out, the Kinermony Killer flamethrower is going out in big numbers to. but my snake flies are still in very big demand,   

 Above 1" Toucan cone head tube,

 Toucan, tied on a Deercreek size 6 gold salmon single hook. great strong hook this one,Will be tying a good few of my flies on these for my BC salmon fishing trip.

And above, the Toucan on a Deercreek, gold double salmon hook size 6.

 Above a range of 11/2" tubes, these are another popular one for the sewin and salmon.

 The snake flies above, are a style that as been asked for a lot now. since i have started tying them, these are tied on 0.24" dia 7strand stainless wire. the wire is very flexible, and does not get cut on the rocks like hollow mono braid does. and these move a lot better than the mono braid, as it stays light in the water. it does not take on water like the mono braid,,

 

 Above, my glow in the dark snake fly, tied on braid. as some anglers still like the material,

 

 The one above, is a snake that has been fishing well for my mate. black wing/ throat hackle and strands of fine pearl flash, plus peacock pearl mylar on the body. he fishes middle range of the river Towy,

And above the Jambo, love tying deer hair. and great fly to fish when waking these, the takes can be out of this world. just love fishing them in the dark for sewin, but also work well on the salmon in the day.

 And the Kinermony killer flamethrower, all the colors in this fly just work.

 Above 1" tungsten tube, Krystal flash head.

 And this one,1/2" tied on a heavy brass tube and cone.

 And 1/2" Tungsten tube, with krystal flash head.

Above, more snake wire mounts, ready to be tied up.

Bala, North Wales Game Fair.

 Last weekend, I was tying at the north Wales game fair at Bala. I have been tying at this show from the start, this year was the third year. and have to say it gets better ever year, and a great show to catch up with a number of mates. that don't get to see enough, myself and my mate Gareth Lewis above. (very well known for is super micro flies) drove up from south Wales very early Saturday morning, and the satnav did give us a great look around on the way up. why do these things always want to take you the long way around, but will say it was a great look at the country on the way up.

 Above, my good old mate Emyr Breese, again a great tier of competition flies. i was very lucky to be tying and sitting between him and Gareth Lewis, i picked up a lot of great tips. tying these small trout and grayling flies, 

 And above, another mate and great tier of trout and grayling flies Louis Noble. top guy,

And yours truely tying on the weekend, i was tying salmon flies.  

 And above we have the one and only, Gwilym Hughes top guide in north Wales. and writer of the book the Angle of the cast, top read get hold of this book you will love it. i always stay with Gwilym when i go to this show, he and his lovely wife Sarah really look after myself, and also Gareth this year.

 Another North Wales buddy, Dylan great guy and tier.

 Another north Wales mate Paul, as you can see both in the photo laughing. as when i went to take photo, his thread broke.

 Above Trevor, an other top small trout and grayling tier. and also along side him Sue, who ties some nice saltwater patterns.

 Above, above the Cookshill stand. great materials.

 And above Christina Tooley of Chevron, and my mate Dewi Williams tying on the stand. great around tier but will say love is wet mayflies,

 And above John of Celtic fly craft, great materials again.

 Out side the tying tent, was the casting pool very popular venue over the weekend.

Above, two photos of Gwilym Hughes casting, single and double hand. later i will be putting up some videos of him casting,

Elvers and toucans

 I have not posted for a bit, just had my head in my tying room. thank god it's slowing down now, so hopefully i will get a bit more fishing in. i am really missing getting out on the river at night for the sewin, here are a few flies i tied up this week to send to a customer to fish the river Spey. he wanted these elver flies tied on copper tubes and snake flies, he saw them in trout and salmon back a month or two.

 Above the copper Blue JC Elver tube, 

 And above the Elver snake flies,

And above the Elver snake fly

    
 Half inch cone head Toucan cone head, 

 3/4" inch cone head Toucan, 

 And above the set of Toucans, this fly has been going out all year. i have now tied up 3500 of them,

 And did spoil myself this month, i had this new snake vise made for myself.

Close up of heads of vise, and my take on the Green highlander.

More Salmon flies.

 Still been tying salmon flies, this is one small order to go to Scotland. the top fly is the Kinermony killer flamethower, a Scottish fly tied by one of the spey gillies. it was shown  in the July Trout and Salmon magazine, and have to say like the fly very much. it has all the colors for a salmon fly, and will say have had a lot of orders for it. will be fishing it on the river Towy salmon for sure, 

 The set of six flies that was my first order, 

 This fly above, is one i have been using for a few years. and glad to say it has caught a few salmon and sewin,

 And as you can see by the flies above, the tyne Toucan is still in big demand. tied on 3/4" copper tube. and size 8 doubles. 

And above the full lot, i have tied many more flies over the last month. but not had the time to post a lot. trying to get out my orders plus a bit of fishing which has been very hard work this season.,

A few salmon snake & waddington flies.

 With all the heavy water we have been having of late, i have been tying up some large flies for fishing the flood water. and these snakes i have been tying up, are on a new material it's a wire base and great for these snake flies. as well as being flexy it keeps your snake fly straight, so i can tie up a snake as long as 8" inch. but nice and light to cast will be tying up some nice sandeel patterns soon for the bass, just seen the weather forecast and looks like the jet stream is on the move north. fingers crossed, we will have some nice weather for the sewin at night and the bass fishing.
the color above is great combo for the salmon,

 Above, black and blue, great for fresh salmon and sewin.

 Again, black and red, great combo.

 Above, the snake flies, and at the bottom. a 6"inch bass fly,

 Again, a waddington 13/4"inch. great color combo. 

 Above, my take on the Rapala fire tiger. a great colorfor both sewin and salmon,

The four i tied up today, for fishing the river Towy tomorrow.

Very happy,

 Some time back, i tied up some flies for  fly fishing &fly tying magazine. they had a competition for the best tied fly, they had 4 parts grayling & trout, salmon & sea trout, salt water and pike. i tied up my GP Shrimp pattern for the salmon & sea trout section, and for the salt water section i tied up my Killer shrimp. i only went in for the two sections, and will say i did forget about the competition till the magazine came though the letter box yesterday morning. and in it was the results of the competition, so will say a big well done to Hubert Janevzek for winning it. i did not win any thing but i was very happy to see the the judge had picked out the two flies i tied up for it,  and printed them in the August magazine and made some very nice comments about my flies.  

 Above is the write up on page 17.

A above close up's of my GP SPEY SHRIMP left , which has fish very well for me on the sea trout. and has caught salmon for me to just under 17lb and salmon to my customers to 23lb, plus my KILLER SHRIMP bottom of page. that has caught grayling / trout/ bass and sewin, in sizes to match the fish. was very happy what they did stand out that much the the judge's put them in print and some great comment about them. i will put up some better photo's of them when i can,

A nest of snakes, and a swam of flies.

 This week, i have still been tying up lots of my snake flies, plus some salmon flies. just as well as the river in my area are all running very high, and the rain is still coming in very heavy and for all the coming week. just hope the fish will be in the rivers as the come in to fishing conditions, above are some of the patterns of snakes. top left my glow in the dark snakes, i tie them with a glow in the dark bead tied in above the hook. you charge the bead up with your torch and the give off a light glow, the others at the bottom are my spey snakes.

 Pink spey snake fly,

 Silver doctor spey snake fly,

 Black spey snake fly,

 Above more snake flies, normal patterns that i tie.

As you can see, the Tyne Toucan is still flying high. lots still asking for this fly and the reports coming back to me, it's catching a lot of fish.  

 Above some of the salmon flies i have tied up, these are on the way to swim a few rivers in the states.

And above, more snake mounts, ready for the next batch to go. i have also been playing about with a new mount for tying up Scandinavian style salmon flies, which will be on there way to Norway and Sweden. soon as i get them tied up will post them,