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Mavungana - South Africa stocks BUG-BOND

2012-01-25T07:01:00.001Z

I'm pleased to announce that Mavungana owned by Jonathan Boulton and his wife Sarah now stock Bug-Bond at their two branches in Dullstroom and Johannesburg (South Africa). This will give Bug-Bond users in South Africa direct access to the award winning material.

But the benefits aren't just one way... Jonathan offers spectacular guiding for Tigerfish on the Zambezi River during June and July. As you can see from the photo of Jonathan & Sarah these are specimen fish!

Visit the Mavungana website for information relating to the services they offer... oh and do mention BUG-BOND when you speak to Jonathan!

That's another destination on my "Must fish before,,,"

Preparing for the USA

2012-01-18T21:32:00.000Z

I guess my love affair with the USA started when I was 8 years old... Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon and he planted the Stars and Stripes... we were space age kids. Roll on a couple of years and my school friends all liked the new range of Japanese motorcycles coming into Britain... but I'd seen Evel Knievel on a V twin doing his daredevil riding... this was magic. I wrote to Harley Davidson in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the hopes of touching something Harley... the dream was realised for the 11 year old David when a package came through the post one morning with stamps from a far away country I opened the A4 sized envelope and there was a softbound book... The History of Harley Davidson and I still have the book! BUT the icing on the cake was the wad of motorcycle sales brochures from the Sportster to the Electra-Glide, they were all there... and each year until I was 18 they kept sending the brochures... I never did buy a Harley but my heart races when I hear that evocative engine note. Maybe maybe there is time!

So what has this got to do with fly tying? Almost nothing BUT I'm reminded of past events of this land of opportunity as I prepare for my trip to The Fly Tying Show in Somerset, New Jersey next week.

I'll leave you with a clutch of flies tied by my pal Pete Gray who lives on the Pharside of the Canal... look forward to seeing you guys next week!

Brad Buzzi... Deep EZ Sand Eel

2011-12-04T08:41:00.001Z

I had the great pleasure of meeting many fly tyers at the International Fly Tying Symposium in New Jersey in November last year... due to a variety of commitments I was unable to attend this November. I missed the genuine warmth that comes from this show... the welcome I had in the US was fantastic. My first welcome though was from Brad Buzzi of BuzFly Products who kindly offered to pick me up from the airport and take me to the hotel... Brad is a hell of a nice guy and a great flytyer.

Brad emailed me recently to say that he'd been using Bug-Bond as an epoxy replacement on his Deep EZ Sand Eels and some of his other fly patterns... he also said "I like the fact that Bug Bondcures quickly and gives you a consistent finish that is easy to apply anddurable when cured with the proper light".

I noticed on Stripersonline some time ago that Brad started to produce some great instructional videos and I'm honoured that he's chosen Bug-Bond to feature in one of his latest videos...

So click the link and watch Brad Buzzi of BuzFly Products in the US tie the Deep EZ Sand Eel.... thanks Brad and I'll be tying some of these for a mark I know in the UK!

Flybox & Bug-Bond: a marriage made at the vise

2011-12-03T10:35:00.001Z

I received a call earlier this year from Ian Christie who owns Flybox a company based in Scotland enquiring about Bug-Bond. Flybox has built up quite a following and justifiably so as they manufacture and distribute their own high quality materials and flies. Ian had been testing alternative UV products but they weren't hitting the mark for him and he asked to test Bug-Bond... I'm pleased that the tests Ian performed went well (not unexpected really) and that he found that Bug-Bond is the real deal! Ian has been using Bug-Bond on their flies since then and my does he produce a nice fly or two.... (or three or four!!).

This is a piece about Ian and the flies are a small selection of the images he sent me! Faultless tying!

Thanks for sharing Ian and for putting your trust in Bug-Bond...

"Passion for fly fishing seems to be genetic in our family – my grandfather was a fanatic, my father an enthusiast, and so it seemed perfectly natural that I followed in their footsteps. Highly involved in club fishing as a teenager, I first took up fly tying when I was around 15 years old and I’ve been hooked ever since. For me it’s very much a creative process, finding new materials, developing new patterns and coming up with deadly combinations that give you that much needed edge when you’re on the water.

In 2004 I took my passion to the next level and founded Flybox.co.uk which allows me the freedom to do what I love for a living. As a company we continue to push the boundaries in fly design and fly tying materials, specializing in synthetics. For me it’s about being at the cutting edge of the market, working with competition anglers to make sure they have the best flies and materials available to them.

It’s highly competitive at the top end of the fly tying market and I’m very lucky that I’m able to work with some of the best anglers in the country. I’m always striving to ensure that we are using the best combination of hooks, materials and the latest design techniques. Our designs, as a result, can seem highly unusual to those used to the more traditional fly patterns. However, at the end of the day, it’s catching fish that counts and they love to gobble up our patterns so I must be doing something right!"

Fly Fishing & Fly Tying Bug-Bond 2012 challenge!

2011-11-09T23:14:00.000Z

Who is up for a challenge?

I’m pleased to announce that BUG-BOND™ is the sponsor of Fly Fishing& Fly Tying magazine’s new competition… With a new format for the magazine it shouldsee some interesting submissions over the next few months. There are 4categories… the winner of each category will receive a BUG-BOND™ “Professional”kit, comprising 2 bottles of Bug-Bond, 2 Tip Kits and a BUG-BOND™ Professional UV light. Theoverall winner of the competition will receive a Regal Revolution vise , kindlydonated by Regal Engineering in the US. The vise in the photo for the eagleeyed has a medallion head… it will be a revolution head for the winner.

So how do you enter?

Well you have to hot foot it down to the news stand and pickup the December issue of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying magazine… it has the rulesand an entry form (photocopies are allowed).

No excuses… it doesn’t matter where you are on the globe…have a go.

Happy tying!

Bug-Bond receives innovation award

2011-11-05T08:55:00.000Z

Surprised, stunned and very pleased that Bug-Bond received an award yesterday. The readers of Total Flyfisher magazine had the opportunity to have their say in an online survey. Bug-Bond has received the award of Runner-Up in the Total Flyfisher 2012 Tackle Awards in the Best Fly Fishing Innovation category. We are the top fly tying material! Thank you to all that voted and who continue to support Bug-Bond whether you are a customer, retailer or Pro-Tying Team member... this is your award.

Thank You!

Hywel Morgan - joins the Bug-Bond Team

2011-11-03T08:19:00.004Z

It gives me immense pleasure to announce that Hywel Morgan one of fly fishing's personalities has joined the BUG-BOND™ Pro-Tying Team. Hywel is well known for his TV appearances and gave Bug-Bond its TV début this summer on Keith Arthur's programme "Tight Lines" (Sky Sports).

Not only is Hywel a talented fly-tyer, caster and fly fisherman, he can also convey this knowledge with a passion and humour that is highly infectious...

The smile says it all Hywel... welcome to the team!

I've included Hywel's bio here and by clicking the photo it will take you to his website where you will be able to find out more about his teaching and guiding services as well as his shop which include his DVDs, flies and essentials range.

Who is Hywel Morgan?

Hywel is the son of Welsh fishing guru Moc Morgan and perhaps unsurprisingly he was introduced to the pleasures of fishing at an exceptionally early age.

He first wet a line at just two and a half years of age and spent his early years fishing the Rivers Teifi and Ystwyth for wild brown trout and sea trout. Since then he has fished extensively throughout the UK, Europe, Australia and in the USA.

Casting...

Having grown up in his father's shadow, Hywel decided to make a name for himself and started competing in casting competitions.

He started at local country fairs, then progressed to the CLA Game Fair where for three successive years he won every event. As a result he was asked not to compete any more so that others could have a chance of winning... and all this before he was sixteen years old.
He then turned to the British Casting Association and started to compete at British, European and World casting championships. During this time he amassed the following titles:

World Games Accuracy Casting Champion

European Distance Casting Champion

European Silver Medallist (Accuracy)

14 British casting records

6 times All Round British Champion

Over 100 British Individual titles

World Record holder for multiple casting (66 rods cast simultaneously)

FISHING...

Having been successful in the casting scene, Hywel decided to return to fishing. He has represented Wales on twelve occasions (and has been captain for his country three times). Six times were at home internationals, where he was Top Rod on three occasions. The other six were at World Championships, where he captained the Welsh team to a silver medal in Ireland in 1995 and was a member of the silver medal winning team at England 2000. Individually he has been one of the most successful competitors from all the home countries, gaining results in silver, 4th, 7th and 10th places..

Consultancies...

Hywel has worked as a tackle consultant for numerous companies over the last eight years, helping to develop products for the British Market.

Television...

Hywel has presented programmes on fishing for Discovery Realtime, Horse and Country TV, Welsh TV channel S4C for a few years. He also has over 10 DVD titles on sale now. He has also made appearances on 'Record Breakers', the 'Big Breakfast' and has been a guest on Sky TV's 'Tight Lines'.

The Sandford Bullet... bite on that!

2011-11-02T22:35:00.001Z

My dear friend Chris Sandford designed the much vaunted "Bullet" in his sleep... how many of us design things in our sleep? Sleep is a time for recharging the batteries but so often I wake at night thinking "Ah!" Little wonder then that Chris designed such a catcher as this... so what does it represent?
FISH FOOD was the answer from one of Chris's chums...

A step by step can be found on the website of Chris Reeves... Chris R actually introduced me to Chris S. The link for the step by step can be found here on Chris's website... I spoke to Chris Reeves yesterday and if you aren't up to tying the fly yourself then he'll gladly take an order on... in fact he'll tie up pretty much what you want from trout to saltwater!

If you look closely at the fly that Chris Sandford kindly tied for me at the Burton Fly Fair you'll see that Bug-Bond has been applied to the head... just enough to ensure that the fly lasts more than just a couple of fish. That's Chris's addition since designing the fly and compiling the step by step.

Back to the "Bullet"... I have ordered all the component parts and will be having a go myself... but WHY? Well the "Why?" revolves around a need to tie something other than pike and saltwater flies... like a child I'm increasing my vocabulary! It also has something to do with the fact that I'm looking for a new water... a dictate from the bailiffs at my local water is that all pike under 7lb have to be killed. It is something I can't get to grips with... the pike is a great adversary "Mr Nasty" of the fish world... but I love them too much. Its OK to take the odd fish for the table but undertaking fishery management with no science behind it I find abhorrent... with roach being regularly caught at over 2lbs the pike are hardly having a major impact.

So... Have rod will travel!

Martie vanden Brand - fly-tyer and artist!

2011-10-30T21:28:00.000Z

I came across Martie van den Brand purely by accident... I was looking at some realistic shrimps that he had made and I then found out that he had been using Bug-Bond in the construction of the shrimps and also his other realistic works of art... and yes, without a doubt these are works of art! Martie like many other top realistic fly tiers are in a league of their own, not only creating museum quality exhibits but also fishable realistics. Some realistics are even used as Hollywood extras!

Some try and create debate through forums over the validity of realistics as to whether it is fly tying or not and unfairly call it model making... my personal view is that by having an appreciation of realistic tying and entomology or perhaps ichthyology, should help us to tie better (even if you don't personally practice realistic tying - and I don't) and it should also lead to better and more enjoyable fishing.

For those who don't have an eye on Facebook and wonder who Martie is and what he creates I have pleasure in being able to show you, with Martie's permission, a few photos of his creations and a translation of his own bio... enjoy!

"Hi, I create for several years various insects, sea horses, grasshoppers, beetles, shrimp, stick insects... This hobby started because I'm quite fond of detail. The very rare seahorse, the leafy and the weedy sea dragons are reproduced full size. To do this you often have travel to far away zoos to witness them in aquariums. I also made several grasshoppers, but 10 or 20 times larger than lifesize. Complete with all hair and legs like a real live creature in nature. I also make under water insects - stone fly nymphs... these are often up to 40 times magnification. You see for fun or interested enough for these exhibits, or possibly to buy for education please let me know. Thanks in advance for taking the trouble. Martie van den Brand"

Thank you for sharing your talent Martie and also for choosing to use Bug-Bond...

Sloopy Droopy Variant

2011-10-08T13:06:00.003+01:00

In the post today was a nice wee package! One Sloopy Droopy variant from the vise of John Weir... the exact pattern that took his 13lb Clare bass at the end of August... I'll be tying a few of these over the next week if I have a chance in order to hook up some late stayers! Thank you John!

Clare Bass - 13lb bass on a Bug-Bond finished fly

2011-10-02T10:21:00.005+01:00

At the beginning of September I posted about having caught my first Devon bass on the fly... I was chuffed! I then got an email from Bug-Bond user John Weir who lives in Ireland... not being boastful at all but wanting to share his success John gave me the link to his blog; and then said the fly contained Bug-Bond.

I opened the link which I'd actually seen a day or so earlier as Nick Hart had alerted the capture to me... all I can say is this fish is stunning and it is the fish of a lifetime... I guess the thing that will keep John going and many more of us is that there must be 20lb+ fish knocking around. Perhaps it also proves that bigger fish do eat bigger flies... it certainly didn't diminish my captures but increased my resolve to catch bigger fish!

The fish was taken on a mini Sloopy Droopy variant (original pattern by Joseph Manette)... a full step by step can be found on Andy Elliott's blog Chasing Silver,,, however, the fly that took the fish was tied by John.

I'd like to thank John for allowing me to share this significant achievement will you, his full account can be found in his blog Clare Bass

Congratulations John!

All photos have been reproduced with the kind permission of John Weir... the images are copyright protected by John...

Casting at Shadows...

2011-09-21T13:26:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I bought a copy of the "Casting at Shadows" DVD and today it arrived at my desk...

It is a record of Chris Cook's trip of a lifetime to Christmas Island. The introduction sets the pace of life in the Christmas Islands and is a bonus as some film makers concentrate on the sport and omit the environment they are filming in. As I watched the film I was immediately struck by the style of filming; Ben Marlow & Bradley Lucas have given us the quintessential Englishman (Chris Crook) with almost an air of Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient" as Chris stalks the flats. There is no whooping and hollering... Chris comes across as a quietly confident angler and the results speak for themselves... great bonefish come to hand, however, the film does get across the heat & frustration that flats fishing can provide at times.

The pace of the film increases as Chris hooks into a Bluefin Trevally and then on an incoming tide lands a GT of above average proportions. We then go offshore and get to call sharks! See and believe... One shark landed and Chris then hooks into a leviathan... a 3 hour fight with potentially a record breaking fly caught yellow fin tuna. There is no thrash heavy metal music in this film... if there was then I missed it as I was fixed on the fight with the tuna!

If you ever wanted a video of your own fishing trip this would be it... so many of us don't get the photos, don't get the video and would desperately love to fish this type of environment.

Bonus features included a slideshow of the fish caught - some of which never made the main feature but are no less impressive. There is also an interesting piece on the Christmas Island H bomb testing...

A very broad offering linked with good filming that will appeal to many... and if you are considering this trip of a lifetime I think watching this will seal the deal for you...

By clicking the image above you will be taken to Chris's site where you can purchase the film in DVD or BluRay format.

BUG-BOND in "Hatches" Fall 2011 Edition

2011-09-10T13:53:00.001+01:00

Congratulations to Bug-Bond Pro-Tying Team member Rune Stokkebekk of Norway for his successful submission to Hatches Magazine... I'd recommend getting your own copy of Hatches to see first hand Rune's excellent article and tying sequences that includes Bug-Bond. Well done Rune!

Basstastic Devon!

2011-09-03T23:24:00.001+01:00

2 years ago I caught my first bass (4lbs but the size wasimmaterial!) it was on the lure and although it was one of those significantfirsts it wasn’t the goal I was looking for… it really had to be on the fly!Through various commitments I have had to wait until this year to connect.

If I turn the clock back 12 months I found myself in Devonfor a long weekend with my wife… an urge to fish and tip off saw me at a mark VERY early onemorning… the result was a blank.

Fast forward to last weekend… Devon for a week… and I fished4 separate marks on 5 occasions. It was last year’s mark that was fished twice…the result was 1 fish on day 1 and 4 on day 2! Result!

The key word is “watch”… Yes, watch what is going on aroundyou, swirls or bait fish moving, they are all tell-tale signs of movement fromunder the surface of the water… cast and retrieve… steady retrieve… stop andretrieve… feel the take and the shrimp fly claims its fish. Interestingly I preferred not to match thehatch but give the offering of the slower shrimp… would I have had more hitsusing a match?

The biggest fish was estimated to be 26.5cm… not big but itgets me off the blocks and I know what I’ll be concentrating on tying more of!Oh the Bug-Bond treated fly lasted longer on the back casts clicking on therock!

A cluster of creations from Fabrizio!

2011-08-26T08:13:00.002+01:00

Fabrizio kindly agreed to send me some flies build with Bug-Bond to photograph... his flies like many tied by the top fly tyers look great in photographs but when you have them in the palm of your hand... they are simply stunning. These flies may feature in Bug-Bond adverts over the next little while but I thought I would just share the group with you...

"Phrom the Bunker of the Phly Welder"

2011-08-23T08:08:00.004+01:00

In a land where the letter F is replaced by its phonetic friend Ph (why else is phonetic spelt the way it is!) I have to include two links which give access to a compendium of Phly Welding put together by Pete Gray on the forums of Sexyloops and Globalflyfisher. Love it or hate it Pete has started something... maybe the guys who sell thread and make bobbin holders may want to call him a heretic... but surely this is merely an extension of innovation which all fly tyers hold dear (sorry Phly Tyer)... perhaps Pete should be inducted into the Phly Tying Hall of Phame!

Someone out there should give him a book deal, as well as invites to international fly fairs and perhaps even an invite or two for after dinner speaking!

As ever Pete thanks for sharing...

Fish heads Gaja style...

2011-08-16T23:46:00.003+01:00

Fabrizio Gajardoni has been making his fish heads in epoxy since 2005... he has now turned his attention to making them with Bug-Bond... he says "I tie saltwater flies with my Gaja's Fish Head since 2005, now with Bug-Bond is so fast do this head......."

I think you'll agree that these are stunning little works of art!

Rune Stokkebekk (Norway) from Guideline joins the BUG-BOND™ Team!

2011-07-25T08:18:00.008+01:00

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Rune Stokkebekk from Norway has joined the BUG-BOND™ Pro-Tying Team. I've corresponded with Rune for quite a while now and I felt that as the interest in Scandinavia is increasing we needed to increase the team in that part of Europe... I won't bore you with futile scribblings I'll let Rune tell his story... BUT do watch out for Rune's video's on the net...

"I have been a fly fisherman since I was 14 (in 1988). A friend of mine got this fly tying kit for Christmas and it looked like a nice thing to do. At that time fishing was not a big hobby, skateboarding and skiing was the thing. But our family holidays often went north to the mountains which does not have much asphalt for skating. So I had to do something else, fishing it was. The first years of my fly fishing "career" I fished with worms and fly. As soon as I had fish on the worm I switched to the fly (the day was saved). So it went for a few years until I decided to let the worm stay in the ground and do a serious attempt to learn fly fishing for real. Since I was 18 I have been a dedicated fly fisherman.

I started to tie flies after books and articles in magazines and my youth heroes was persons like Staffan Lindstrøm, Lennart Bergqvist and Pål Krogvold. They are still my heroes in fly fishing and I am grateful of all the knowledge they have passed on to other fishermen.

I live in the south eastern part of Norway. At home most of my fishing is done in large and smaller lakes. After a couple of months I get tired of this and have to seek up running water. I spend 2-3 weeks fishing in rivers each year. The Norwegian winter is very long, a good cure is to take a short flight to Ireland. I have been over there every year since 2003. I love the great western lakes!

Fly fishing has become my profession too. I started to work for Guideline in 2006 and still do. I have my own website as well the address is www.fluefiskesiden.no and it have been there since 2000. I frequently write articles on fly tying for Norwegian magazines."

Welcome aboard Rune!

Peeete's Phlyz... more from the Penguin

2011-07-22T08:50:00.003+01:00

I received an email last week from my pal Pete Gray in the US... Pete has taken a break from fishing to tie up some eels using some lateral scales from Bear's Den (Ma) and encapsulating with BUG-BOND™ Original and curing it with the all new BUG-BOND™ Professional UV curing light to give an excellent Tack-Free finish (no overcoat required)... I think the results speak for themselves... these Phlyz are very cool! Just add stripers!

New Team Members and a Workstation...

2011-07-10T12:46:00.003+01:00

The BUG-BOND team increase by two at the BFFI... I'm pleased to announce that Skúli Kristinsson (Iceland) and Paul van den Driesche (Netherlands) have joined the Pro-Tying team. You couldn't have two very different fly tyers... both tyers produce excellent flies. Paul is well known for his realistic flies whilst Skúli's rows of immaculate salmon flies are legend!

At the BFFI Chris Reed set my Regal Vise on a workstation he made for me with a matching flystand... the brass hardware is courtesy of Riny Sluiter. If you want a workstation making contact Chris by emailing him direct at chrisreed@chrisreed.co I think you'll agree the workmanship is fantastic!

A Rogue Angel, the Lakes and a first on the fly!!

2011-07-04T19:42:00.007+01:00

I have such a lot to blog at the moment but you'll have to bare with me on this one... A rare weekend away with Janet (my wife) and one where I managed to get her to agree to fishing with me! Now it either goes horribly wrong or goes incredibly right... lets just say a few things fell into place.

Having decided where I wanted to fish we fished some place else as we had an access problem... I was the only one with waders! Short straw in place I scouted the water from behind high grasses... small trout fry shoals and there was a pike suspended in the gin clear water close by. I moved Janet to a different piece of bank and had her cast the fly rod for the first time... now ideally we would have done practice on a lawn. However, this was a "fait accompli" situation where it was learn on the job. Janet was casting... not pretty but doing the job! We'll work on technique with a lesson or two in the near future. I placed Janet by the lily pads and I moved up river to cast a line and quite soon I had an excited "what do I do now?" with foaming water at her feet. We netted a lovely fish that fought hard but was brought to the net quickly. Janet didn't wish to have her photo with the fish so your guide did the honours!

This was a special fish as I wanted Janet to have the honours in getting fish 50 on the BUG-BOND rod and it was her first fish on the fly as well. I was really pleased for her... it was a great start to the day!

We then moved down stream where we swapped a floating line on the BUG-BOND rod with the flashtail whistler for the Loomis with a Rio Striped Bass line and a Jonny King built Kinky Muddler... I put her on another mark and went to sort out my rod... I hadn't even touched the rod and I heard "I've got another!"... after a short fight the fish came to the net... it was now Girls 2 to Boys 0! I regained some honour by hooking and landing a fish soon after...

We cast some more dropping a couple of fish but called it a day wanting to ensure Janet enjoyed the day... I think she did!

I recall an e-conversation with K8 Taylor from the Rogue Angels blog where I said that I wanted Janet to experience what I do and K8 I did it... maybe took me a bit longer but we got there in the end. Another Rogue Angel is born?

PS fish are shown in reverse order... bottom image is Janet's first fish!

BFFI and BUG-BOND™ Sky TV debut!

2011-06-26T16:10:00.007+01:00

It’s been a week since the BFFI (British Fly Fair International)… and I’ve hardly had time to reflect fully on the weekend. BUT it was an excellent weekend. It is always good to catch up with friends and make new ones along the way and this was the first show that BUG-BOND™ had retailers in attendance. Pat Stevens of FlyTek and Neil Anderson of Angus Angling were flying the BUG-BOND™ flag and fly it well, they did. Both retailers sold out of their stock and also the reserve stock, the new BUG-BOND™ Professional UV light was introduced into the equation (the new light was an absolute knockout and really does set the benchmark in affordable high quality curing lights!). Only one bottle of BUG-BOND™ Lite from the reserve stock was left… credit also has to go to Ian Christie of Flybox who was knocking out his BUG-BOND™ buzzers on Neil’s stand like he was shelling peas!

The BUG-BOND™ Pro-Tying team was out in force and they were supported by a growing number of fly-tyers both on and off the main tying area using BUG-BOND™ (I am grateful to them for their continued support). I am also pleased to announce that Skúli Kristinsson and Paul van den Driesche have joined the team. Skúli is famous for his racks of salmon flies that in their boxes look like vast regiments of identical soldiers without a hair out of place. Paul on the other hand ties fantastic realistic flies… he presented me with a fishable wasp that was so realistic it flew away from Pat Steven’s FlyTek display stand! Paul thankfully tied me a second wasp… So a word to the disappearing wasp… “You are sorely missed… Pat will be at Scone and at Blenheim over the coming months so if you feel like taking up residence in your fly clip we’d be happy to see you!”

There are times when you are taken by complete surprise and I had two such occasions at the BFFI… one of the most revered areas of fly tying has to be the classic salmon fly and I was amazed when Bruno Pimpanini showed me a classic fly tied using BUG-BOND™… I had to have one of his flies and it will be framed and take pride of place on my wall.

The other surprise was from Chris Reed; Chris ties fantastic flies, however his main job is that of a cabinet maker. We’d talked about a tying station for a while and at the show he presented me with a fantastic tying stand for my vise and a matching fly stand. The brass holder for the vise is from Riny Sluiter… I cannot describe how well made it is and if you’d like a stand making let me know and I’ll pass your details on to Chris… it oozes quality! I might regret that I didn’t buy one of Riny’s new tube fly heads for the Regal… Riny, I’ll see you in Galway!

I have to thank Chris Sandford for giving me feedback on the flyers, banners and the new Pro-Tying team badges… they look fab in the flesh and stand out well in the photos of the show… they also did well at SIM in Italy with Fabrizio Gajardoni!

This week ended well with friend Hywel Morgan being interviewed by Keith Arthur on “Tight Lines” the weekly fishing programme on Sky TV. Thanks to Hywel & Keith for enabling BUG-BOND™ to have its first airing on television. This may be the first time that a UV cure acrylic for fly tying has been demonstrated on TV (certainly in the UK)… who knows! Click here for access to the podcast!

With a lot of help, support and acknowledgement from friends, customers and the tackle trade, BUG-BOND™ is fast becoming synonymous with fly-tying…

"BUG-BOND™ Professional" THE UV light!

2011-06-16T23:49:00.004+01:00

Straight off the production line and onto the shelf is a new addition to the BUG-BOND™ family!

BUG-BOND™ Professional is a new single emitter UV light that will appeal to the fly-tying fanatic, semi-commercial and commercial tyer. This is possibly the sleekest, smartest, smallest and cheapest to run UV light for curing UV cure resin available.

The BUG-BOND™ Professional UV curing light:

Utilises a Cree single UV emitter that provides consistent curing
Uses a single AA power cell. Tests have been conducted using NiMH rechargeable batteries and excellent results have been achieved. It will work equally as well with alkaline batteries if required.
Is constructed of aircraft grade aluminium and anodised to a Type III specification
Weighs in at a measly 74g, against the 12 UV LED light at 104g and (the now discontinued) Nightsearcher at 152g. These are weights taken with batteries included.
Is imported by Edwards Bonding Solutions who is the owner, designer and developer of BUG-BOND™ the first tack-free cure resin for fly-tying.

Although committed to providing a cost effective solution to enable the majority of fly-tyers to access the benefits of BUG-BOND™ I also have a commitment to produce a replacement for the acclaimed Nightsearcher that many tyers on the show circuit use. The ability to power a high quality light with a readily available and inexpensive power cell in most countries will give customers outside the UK and those who travel the confidence that they can cure BUG-BOND™ wherever they might be on the globe! Link this with the fact that most rechargeable packs of AA batteries are sold in units of 4 batteries this will provide the fly-tyer with an almost constant supply of UV light that will cure BUG-BOND™.

I am confident that the introduction of the BUG-BOND™ Professional UV curing light will keep the BUG-BOND™ UV cure resin family at the forefront of UV resin development for the fly-tyer and rod builder alike.

The BUG-BOND™ Professional will be available to view at the British Fly Fair International 2011 at Stafford Show Ground, UK during the weekend 18th & 19th June. It will then be available to retailers with effect from 20th June.

Fabrizio Gajardoni - joins the team!

2011-06-15T23:26:00.003+01:00

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Fabrizio Gajardoni has become a member of the BUG-BOND™ Pro-Tying Team. Fabrizio is one of those fly-tyers I admire who can turn his hand to any fly, be it wet, dry, salmon, pike, realistic or saltwater. A very talented tyer...

I include Fabrizio's own biography and photos of the man himself along with some of his recent Bug-Bond crab creations... If you are in Italy and visiting 8° SIM FLY FESTIVAL 2011Castel di Sangro (AQ) 18 e 19 giugno 2011 do find Fabrizio and say "Hello"

Fabrizio Gajardoni was born in Rimini, Italy.

He has been fly fishing and tying since 1982. He is an innovative creator of several dressing and he is known for his versatility with every sort of fly, from the dries to pike and bass flies, from nymphs to saltwater flies, from realistic to full dress for salmon.

He contributed with the Italian magazine Sedge & Mayfly and with the American Art of Angling Journal by P. Schmookler.

His works are described on the first volume of Fly Tyers of The World by Steve Thornton

Fabrizio also features on the CD Realistic Fly Tyers by the Canadian tyer D. Beamish. Recently he attended a couple of editions of the Fly Fishing Show in Somerset (USA). He participated in the Mustad Scandinavian Open from 1997 till 2003 where he won 2 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals in the various categories. His flies can be found on his website www.gajaflies.it

It's crystal clear!

2011-06-12T18:52:00.006+01:00

Each batch of Bug-Bond is test cured against the UV lights we have. The test is small microfibre brush dipped and then cured... once tested the brush is destined for the bin... until yesterday. I decided to photograph the cured Bug-Bond just to show how optically perfect it is... on the photo with the dust specks... that's rubbish on the lens... you can see that I took the photo outside. The background is out focus (in the bottom photo) but as we look into the cured Bug-Bond we can see what was on the table... can you see? As a clue look toward bottom left in the centre photo... click on it to enlarge it. Oh and I wiped the lens for the top shot!

Oh its the British Fly Fair International in Stafford next weekend... we'll give you advanced warning... we are really looking forward to the show!

Andrés Touceda - joins the Pro-Tying Team

2011-05-29T08:53:00.004+01:00

It has been a busy few months here and the Bug-Bond team is expanding... the first of our new team members is Andrés Touceda from Spain.

Andrés is an incredible tyer of realistic flies and has taken realistic fly tying to another level - and it is a great pleasure to give a long over due welcome to my good friend.

I have included some images of flies tied using Bug-Bond by Andrés and also a profile written by him...

"I had the privilege of practicing fishing since I was a child. I started fishing at sea with my grandfather. He took me, for the first time, to go fishing at sea when I was 5 or 6 years old. I started fly fishing 20 years ago. After watching some videos and reading some books about fly fishing, I decided that I wanted to try that way of fishing. My experience, by that time, fishing in rivers was very poor. I had fished in rivers just a couple of times and without much success. To learn fly fishing techniques was not easy. I remember that I spent the first season fly fishing without a catch (well I caught some trees on the way). I stopped fishing at sea as I put all my efforts and time in learning the new technique to fish in rivers.

My interest in tying started at the same time that my interest in fly fishing. Learn how to cast a line and how to tie a fly were my objectives from the beginning. I got into a fishing club were I was taught the first steps in both subjects. After some time, I had a lot of fly tying and casting books. I admired how fishermen tied their patterns so I spent a lot of time watching their imitations and studying their techniques for me to tie my own flies. The most deep I went into fly tying the most interest I felt."

Nymphs & the Golden Stone

2011-05-04T23:33:00.009+01:00

I received an email from Christophe de Pastors recently and am pleased that he's been using and is happy with Bug-Bond... Christophe's speciality is nymphing in the Pyrenees and sells his excellent flies via his website www.pyreneesnymphfishing.com This is what Christophe had to say in his mail to me...

"I was born in Pyrenees; a Frenchman on the border of Spain. I fly fishing for approximately 30 years in Pyrenees it was my uncle who introduces me to this fishing. Since then I am faithful to this (type of) fishing.

It enchants me and me made discover an extraordinary environment. I matched some years of championships in France... it allowed me to see some rivers and various manners of fly fishing.

When I was 10 years old I began to go up flies in this time it was very difficult because Internet did not exist. I began to sell a fly in 1999 in France and in Spain. I sell directly the fishermen, the contact pleases me with those a lot who know about what I speak.

...80 % in nymphs (Czech nymph) I use jig hook or larva of sedges a lot.. For the assembly I use the epoxy, (its) very to complicated to mix; since I discovered the bug bond I create much more effective assemblies and faster

This really is the product for creating one new generations of flies"

Christophe's Golden Stone is a fantastic piece of ingenuity using a stone fly to make a mould in Play-Doh and then fill with Bug-Bond and then cure... I've linked his photos into a Youtube video!

Thank you for sharing with us Christophe!

Dream Team win and support Help for Heroes!

2011-04-30T08:18:00.008+01:00

Yesterday's result for me yesterday was quickly followed with an email from Chris Sandford... it was another "Wow!" and success for Bug-Bond.

Chris and his Dream Team won the 'One Fly' competition on the River Test... fantastic news and really well done.
The press release follows:

"Dream Team Win The ‘One Fly’!
On April 28th, Chris Tarrant, Bob James and Chris Sandford scored the most points to take first prize in the ‘River Test ‘One Fly’ Competition organized by Simon Cooper’s company ‘Fishing Breaks’. All three contestants used Sandford’s signature fly ‘The Ducking Feadly’. (Rearrange the letters slightly to find out what the fly was originally christened during the 2010 ‘One Fly’!). Sandford also won his Lower Test region with the most points to a single rod.

Commenting at the prize giving he said “Broadlands is not the easiest fishery but I was lucky enough to have keeper Jon Hall as my guide. He can spot fish when us mere mortals are still gazing into the depths!

It was a great day, but most importantly we raised over £1000 for ‘Help the Heroes’."

For those that don't know the aim of the competition is to fish the same fly all day... with a coating of Bug-Bond the life expectancy of the fly is extended subtantially... almost bullet proofed infact!

A lot to carp about!

2011-04-29T14:01:00.007+01:00

It was too bright to concentrate on the pike today and having seen a nice pod of carp I tried a different tactic altogether... carp on the fly. I was rewarded almost immediately with a take on the second cast sadly I missed it. Third cast and it wasn't long in the water when there was a huge gulp and a swirl... I tightened into it and I was attached to a 10lb common carp! This was a special fish... a personal best but also fish number 40 on my home built fly rod (Harrison Lohric 9ft 9weight blank, with Bug-Bond securing all rod rings... no whippings on the rings just pure resin!). What a magic day!

Bug-Bond™ and a first Sailfish

2011-04-22T06:58:00.005+01:00

I'm always delighted to hear from Bug-Bond™ users of their catches... it doesn't matter what size it is either. However, I was exceptionally pleased to hear that Tom Gorman (one of our first overseas customers) had caught his first sailfish and Bug-Bond™ had a hand in the catch.

I had hoped to report this a year ago however, Tom's trip to Central America was blighted by a shortage of fish and spit outs. So, this report is all the sweeter! I won't replicate Tom's report here as it can be read on the Globalfisher website.

However, the additional great news is that Tom has used Bug-Bond™ to coat his popperheads to make them longer lasting and also uses Bug-Bond™ on all his fly line connections.

"The Sigler mega heads come in plain white . I coated them with pearl Sparkle-eze... then finished off the eyes and the rest of the head with a nice coating of Bug-Bond: bulletproof and super shiny . You slip the mega head over the shock tippet and seat them on the front part of tube which the fly is tied on...

I used Bug-Bond to cement several loop to loop connections on 10-14 weight fly lines for use in the salt , where you create a loop in braided monofilament, thread the end of the fly line up into it inch-worm style, and then cement it in several locations , with or without a nail knot to reinforce . You make a big loop at the top end (fly line to backing) and a small loop at the bottom end (fly line to butt section) of the fly line .

The alternative glues are UV knot sense, or super glue, but I found that Bug-Bond works better because it penetrates the braided mono with a capillary type action, yet leaves a nice smooth finish – better than UV knot sense – so that the connection shoots nicely through the guides" Tom Gorman

I had the words from Tom post trip to Costa Rica last year but no fish! This year I can match the words with the photo... a well earned catch.

Tom, many congratulations on the capture and release of such a wonderful creature, I am pleased that Bug-Bond™ was able to play its part. Thank you for sharing your moment with us.

Pete Gray - joins the Bug-Bond™ team!

2011-04-12T06:48:00.007+01:00

Over the last 7 months or so a fly tyer from the US has been playing with Bug-Bond™… nothing strange in that, as many from across the pond have chosen to use Bug-Bond™ the first Tack-Free light cured acrylic for fly tyers… the big deal is that this particular tyer has an affiliation with Tuffleye the first guys on the block. Pete Gray has been documented here humorously under the name of Two Hatz or McPhantom… Pete has pushed the boundaries of tying saltwater flies and was the first to publicly declare his hand with fly welding… correction “Phly Welding” (as Pete calls it) is an innovative method developed by Pete in constructing a fly without using thread to tie in the materials!

Initially Pete started welding with Tuffleye and then decided to conduct a back to back test of the Tack-Free products. Pete has been forthright with his comments and I was delighted to find that Bug-Bond™ had Pete’s support based on its Tack-Free finish. Pete now uses Bug-Bond™ as part of his armoury to Phly Weld… I guess the dilemma for Pete was that he was and is still part of the Tuffleye camp… torn between two materials and also a friendship that had been built with Dr Ned Lunt the creator of Tuffleye and now the new protagonist Bug-Bond™ and its designer!

Pete and I have emailed a lot; we met also met up in Somerset NJ at the Symposium and now subject each other to Skype! We have formed a great friendship – a similar anarchic sense of humour assists… and also a respect for Tuffleye team who broke the ground for the use of innovative light cured material in fly tying.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce that Pete Gray has joined the Bug-Bond™ Pro-Tying team… Pete’s unmistakable tying styles can be seen at shows in the US in addition to the select forums he posts on. Just in case you haven’t spotted him before he is instantly recognisable!

Competition time! Win a copy of Tapam - the movie

2011-03-30T22:48:00.006+01:00

Some might have seen April and soon to be in the May issue of Fly Fishing and Fly Tying the Bug-Bond half page display advert... the story behind the photo is that Theo Bakelaar used his Bug-Bond kit for the first time at the IFTS in Somerset last November and then with a fly he created at the show, caught this magnificent fish! The photo was taken by fellow fly tyer Harry Schoel both friends come from the Netherlands... fast becoming Bug-Bond's second home!

I have cropped the photo to give a mouth shot with the fly and what I would like is for folk to think of a caption and post their thoughts on the Bug-Bond face book page... and I'll announce the winner on 21st April...

What's the prize? Well my friends Daniel Goz and Jan Bach Kristensen have kindly given a copy of their fab movie Tapam. If you haven't seen the film or just the trailer you are missing one of fly fishing's top DVDs... I got infected by the tarpon bug last year... BUT irrespective of whether you like destination fishing or not this is the film!

So dream up a caption and enter the competition and win a copy of Tapam... click here to be taken to the Bug-Bond competition page... and do tell your friends and don't keep it to yourselves... get them to vote for your caption!

Oh and my final verdict is final and a pristine unwrapped version of the DVD will be sent to the winner... Good luck!

Click the top photo to enter the competition and the bottom photo to buy the DVD or the Blue Ray that is coming soon...

Hywel Morgan ties with Bug-Bond

2011-03-22T22:52:00.007Z

Hywel kindly dropped me an email this evening after having a play with Bug-Bond... So for all the trout guys'n'gals who feel neglected by my saltwater offerings here is Hywel tying a staple of many a trout... a buzzer. I might even have to try tying one myself! Thanks for sharing Hywel...

Veniard's Glo-Brite thread & Bug-Bond

2011-03-16T06:36:00.004Z

I was recently asked by a potential customer what the interaction was between Bug-Bond and Glo-Brite thread as his experience of other UV cured resins was that that took away the fluorescent nature of the thread. I had one spool of Glo-Brite and did the test and sure enough it did have an effect on reducing the glow... BUT when reporting back I was able to say that another Bug-Bond customer had supplied photos with Glo-Brite thread incorporated in the ties and they positively glowed... so what is the deal?

As fortune would have it I met up with Phil Varney at the Glasgow Angling Centre open weekend and mentioned this to him and Phil kindly arranged to supply 16 spools of thread for the test.

I spent a couple of evenings whipping a couple of layers of Glo-Brite on a size 8 streamer hook and then putting 2 coats of Bug-Bond Original over the top.

The results are that all the threads did well under 395nm wavelength of UV light and retained their fluorescent nature with the exception of Burnt Orange (6), Fl Chartreuse (10), Blue (14), Purple (15), White (16) these threads didn't do so well.

However, whilst writing the blog this morning I decided to try a 365nm wavelength light I'd forgotten I possessed! There was a significant improvement with those 5 threads with the exception of Burnt Orange (6)... Now what do fish see?

I'd say that it was a successful test and that Bug-Bond Original interacts well with Glo-Brite thread with few exceptions.

Sandford's Sinkhamer!

2011-03-09T20:29:00.002Z

I'm being playfully accused of ignoring the buggy end of fly tying by my pals who prefer the rivers looking for trout etc... My great friend Chris Sandford has obliged with this refreshing play on the Klink... Photographs and words from Chris. Grateful thanks.

Chris Sandford’s Yellow ‘Sinkhamer’.
(With apologies to Hans van Klinken)

Why do so many tiers want to alter a classic fly pattern that has caught thousands, if not millions of fish? Well, as a wise old angler once said ‘The fish haven’t changed over the years, only the materials with which we try and catch ‘em.’ Every year more and more tying materials come to the market and I must say, I find it interesting to try some of them on my favourite flies. Can a pattern be improved? You bet it can!

I’m a great fan of Hans Van Klinken’s ‘Klinkhamer’ and its many variations. Traditionally, the body material is tan or olive dubbing that initially holds hundreds of little air bubbles as it enters the water. This has the effect of making the body ‘fizzy’ and is a great fish attractor. The problem can sometimes arise, that on a fast moving stream, until the body takes on a little water and pierces the surface film, the fly may not always ‘sit’ correctly.

I’m lucky enough to fish a very fast moving stretch of the River Itchen. The fish sit in a couple of feet of water and if you want to catch one you better make sure your fly rides the water perfectly! As a New Zealand guide once said to me ‘Your first cast is your best chance mate!’ Now I’m not saying that I haven’t caught fish with my fly floating on its side, or that I don’t dampen the body of the fly to help it sink. However, I did spend time last summer working on a body material that would pierce the surface film as soon as it hit the water.

For some inexplicable reason, the Klinkhamer that the fish find hard to refuse on that particular stretch of the river, has a body of bright yellow dubbing. Towards the end of last season I was tying some buzzers and finishing them as usual with a fine coating of Bug-Bond, when the problem of how to get the ‘Klink’ to sink was suddenly solved. Tie the body using bright yellow thread and seal it with Bug-Bond! I use ‘Black Hare’e Ice Dub’ for the thorax area and Niche Siliconised Polypropylene Yarn for the wing. I give the fly at least 5 turns of black cock hackle and find that black and olive bodies also work well.

Try it for those spooky fish in shallow fast moving water and let us know if the ‘Sinkhamer’ works for you.

Chris Sandford. March 2011.

Theo "Goldbead" Bakelaar Part II

2011-02-27T08:47:00.004Z

I promised you Theo's Eelskin flies, well here are the photos of the flies that Theo sent me... and a picture showing that when wet these come alive and catch fish. The flies are a marriage of both natural and man made fibres and coated with Bug-Bond... inspiring and thought provoking. Thanks for sharing Theo!

Theo "Goldbead" Bakelaar - Joins the Bug-Bond Team

2011-02-07T08:18:00.005Z

I met Theo first of all at the Spring Fly Fair in Newark last year... well to be precise I watched him tie... but it wasn't until the International Fly Tying Symposium that we got talking. Theo had just bought Bug-Bond from Greg at Whitewaterflies in New Jersey and was quite taken with it. He tied flies with Bug-Bond at the show and then went out and caught stripers with them!

So I had a few emails with Theo a few weeks ago and he kindly agreed to join the team... Welcome Theo!

I'll let him give his own bio...

"The normal stuff is that : I’ am 63 years old and so on…..bla bla bla….and fish for blab la bla…. Don’t like that.

Yes, its truth I brought those Goldbead flies again in the world and it works great, you can find them in every flybox. A big bang.

Tying on many shows around the world to show my style of tying and love it to do with people, to share, discus and fish them. Tying many different styles with different materials, play with it and always looking for new things. I’ am a tier for fishing flies, easy and catchers.

Fly fishing started for me as a therapy for my work as a sports teacher in the State prison, worked there for 35 years and found out that in the nature, the hills, rivers and so on : there were no bars…..its makes me free, it gave me freedom. There was no one who jump in your back to shoot you or kill you. ( maybe a bear or shark ).

Like to work with people in tying classes or teaching them the beauty of fly fishing. Also writing about my trips for magazines or websites to share my experience.

And most of all……..like to be with all those funny crazy fly fishermen.

Playing with that Bug-Bond stuff gave me also some new ideas ……..that’s what I like about this crazy fishing world."

Theo has just sent me some flies which I'll photograph after my trip to Dublin this weekend... watch this space...

Total Flyfisher article... birthday bonus!

2011-01-23T17:06:00.004Z

January 2011 saw the February edition of Total Flyfisher hit the news stands and with it a 3 page article by Barry Ord Clarke... "Tie better with Bug-Bond" it was a balanced review by Barry and it was illustrated with some great images including a fantastic step by step!

The bouns was Steve Cullen's bloodworm on the front cover... that particular one was build with Bug-Bond according to Steve in an email to me.

All this in the month that we see Bug-Bond being on sale for a year and the start of our 3rd year as a project in hand.... a nice birthday present!

Again thank you to all those that have supported and continue to support Bug-Bond...

Erik Strijker - Nymph video

2011-01-21T09:12:00.002Z

Erik hasn't provided me with one link this week BUT two links to his step-by-step videos! Keep them coming Erik!!

Fly Fish Farm - Erik Strijker

2011-01-18T14:50:00.009Z

I met Erik at the Dutch Fly Fair last year and Erik has been using Bug-Bond on his flies ever since... Erik sent me a short step by step video showing Bug-Bond Lite in use. Enjoy!

Erik Strijker and Sandra Bruins organize fly fishing holidays at the "Giant Mountain" (Krkonoše) near the town Trutnov for beginners, experienced flyfishers and flyfishers with a physical handicap. They also organize two river clinics and one theme holiday a year.

Fly Fish Farm has his own Fishing Lodge that runs as a guesthouse. It is a renovated farm with everything in it.

Of paramount importance to Erik & Sandra is that they have sustainable fishing... do have a look at their website... organize that holiday and cure the winter blues!!

Off to a good start...

2011-01-13T08:16:00.004Z

Happy New Year! A bit belated but it has been rather busy here to say the least... this is a quick post to kick the year off... the ice has all but gone and I decided to go for a fish last weekend with a reworked pike fly based on a Riny Sluiter pattern. 4 colours of Finn Raccoon, 4 white saddle hackles, black Arctic Fox and Jungle Cock eyes...

Result 5 pike and 2 losses on the one very mobile fly that can be equally fished fast or slow.

Pause and hold and wait for the take... beautiful.

Christmas wishes and thanks...

2010-12-24T08:17:00.003Z

As Christmas fast approaches and the end of another year appears on the horizon I sit here quietly reflecting on the year that was whilst the rest of the house sleeps.

It has been a good year, an interesting year and a humbling year.

2010 saw the launch of Bug-Bond the first tack-free UV cure resin that was designed for fly tying. The launch followed 12 months of research and has seen two versions of the material launched this year with further products in the wings for 2011.

As a result of Bug-Bond I have had the honour of being invited into a great circle of fly tyers and have tied alongside the some of the world’s greats at the Spring Fly Fair in Newark, the Dutch Fly Fair, the British Fly Fair International and then the International Fly Tying Symposium in New Jersey… it has been a blast and I have made some good and true friends along the way.

The time of reflection is a time to thank a cast of thousands scattered across the globe for making this year such a great year. That cast includes every user, reviewer and supporter of Bug-Bond… there are really too many to name and perhaps to single out a few would be unfair.

My heartfelt thanks to all my family and friends who have made this year possible, a journey they have been on with me for almost 2 years. Thanks to those who have become good friends during the year, the Bug-Bond Pro-Tying Team and the retailers both here and overseas.

The biggest “thank you” is to every person who has emailed an enquiry, stopped by at a show to say “hello” and of course to those who took the plunge and decided to invest in Bug-Bond.

Users of Bug-Bond are scattered across the world and are to be found in over 30 countries across 5 continents.

Wherever you are I hope that you and yours have a peaceful and restful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Tight Lines for 2011…

Midlands Fly Fishing....

2010-12-23T17:57:00.004Z

Steve Yeomans from Midlands Fly Fishing contacted me recently with details of two killer patterns he has for targeting trout... both patterns that include Bug-Bond look like they get to the fish quick. Steve through his business Midlands Fly Fishing provides tuition and guided fly fishing in the heart of England for trout, pike, grayling and carp. Sounds like a plan coming on!!!

Click the photos to see the relevant blog entries for the patterns...

Steve, thanks for sharing these Bug-Bond patterns... I look forward to seeing some photos of fish that have follen to these flies.

Davie McPhail joins the team...

2010-12-22T23:27:00.003Z

I have great pleasure in announcing that Davie McPhail has joined the Bug-Bond Pro-Tying team... Davie is well known for tying at the Glasgow Angling Centre but probably more famous for his Youtube channel... since starting to use Bug-Bond in October this year he's done a number of ties using Bug-Bond... welcome to the team Davie!

Become a follower!

Finney's Flies & Operation Mark

2010-12-21T17:30:00.007Z

I blogged Lawrence Finney back in March or April I think after he'd used Bug-Bond on some of his woven nymph bodies. I met Lawrence for the first time at the Spring Fly Fair in Newark, Notts and was aware by the end of the weekend that his son had had a major accident in 2009... but I wasn't aware of the extent of his injuries from the motorcycle accident that has left him paralysed from the waist down nor the impact I suspect that it has had on the Finney family.

It is probably best left to Lawrence to explain...

"As some of you know my son Mark had a bad accident just over a year ago where he sustained massive injuries,

He damaged his lungs broke all his ribs and shoulder blades and tore open his Aorta, this alone left us with little hope of survival, when we were told that he had broken his back we realised his newly gained qualification as a lifeguard could not be put into practice again.

He has made a remarkable recovery and has returned to training at the gym to try his best to see if he can make some challenge towards a qualification in physical education as this has been his ambition."

Lawrence is selling fly tying materials to help provide for Mark's present and the future needs...

"All proceeds from these sales go directly to my son's fund, it is hoped to raise enough funds to enable us to finish building an extension onto our house so Mark can start to live a more normal life with space to exercise and to enable him to have some reasonable privacy that he so dearly lacks at the moment.

As a fly dresser myself I am deeply humbled with the generous response from friends and colleagues worldwide, the following is a list of what I have to offer . Once again thank you so much for your support"

The list Lawrence refers to is a materials list that can be found on Facebook... you can always contact Lawrence through his website... click the photos above and they'll go to Lawrence's site...

Now to the photos... these are framed flies that Lawrence and many tying friends have set up and will be auctioned through Facebook as well... a possible collector's items of the future or fly fishing ephemera that you might have bought anyway? Bid and win... enjoy it and know that you helped someone in the process.

Blasphemy Baitfish - Capt Chris Newsome

2010-12-05T11:32:00.006Z

This is perhaps the most appropriate day, it being a Sunday, to post photos received from Capt Chris Newsome of Bay Fly Fishing (Virginia USA) of his new fly he's called the Blasphemy Baitfish... I'm sure that this Bug-Bond creation will do well and I think you will agree these look really smart!

World Tuscany Open Fly Tying Comp 2010

2010-12-04T12:43:00.004Z

Barry Ord Clarke sent me these fantastic images of the ties he submitted for the recent World Tuscany Open Fly Tying Competition.

With places of 3rd, 8th & 9th in class Barry is to be congratulated on these great results with Bug-Bond built flies...

IFTS Part Deux

2010-11-28T15:13:00.006Z

Cool stuff abounds at the Symposium and I for one can see why so many people go back year after year... it is an enlarged family and one I am grateful to have been welcomed into. I met some amazing folk who tie flies that are just out of this world. I can't list them all... I'd just end up insulting someone.

However, I'll mention a couple of cool items...

Number one... the vise I tied on and brought home... Regal Revolution with the tube fly adapter and spare standard jaws. The vise is a WOW! Well built and user friendly, it will undoubtedly see me off this planet and allow generations after me to tie as well.

Number two... the much coveted Ekich Bobbin... WOW 2! If you think it is expensive I assure you that when you use it you'll see that it isn't expensive at all... the first time I tied with it I was astounded that a bobbin could have bells and whistles on it! And Faruk is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. Genius!

International Fly Tying Symposium

2010-11-27T22:01:00.003Z

This time last week I was in the US - Somerset, New Jersey to be precise! Chuck Furimsky had invited me to be part of the 20th Anniversary Show! Well WOW! I was made very welcome after the TSA pat down and the obligatory finger and thumb prints left at the airport.

One of the highlights this year that I'll reflect on in my next post... BUT the Phantom appeared as expected!! It was PHUN!!

Introducing the Phantom Phly Tyer...

2010-11-16T17:41:00.004Z

Isn't he or isn't he a member of the team... well look at this way, he's our version of BBC Topgear's "Stig". Highly talented and respected but prefers to cloak himself in mystery when using Bug-Bond... well that ain't strictly true as he's shown folk some darned neat tying of late... but we'll play along a while :)

Apparently I have to wear a sweater when I meet him... is that so he recognises me or is it cold in that cave?

So it will be the joining of forces at the weekend... watch this space.

Be seeing you soon Two Hatz!

The Falklands Flasher

2010-11-13T08:36:00.003Z

Back to who's fishing what and where... another Bug-Bond user is stationed in the Falkland Islands (not quite as far south as the Cape but close enough for it to qualify as the most southerly caught fish on a Bug-Bond built fly).

When I opened the email I was stunned at Matthew's sea trout catches... all done in daylight I believe and he's been kind eough to allow me to show the photos and provide the recipe for his "Falklands Flasher"!

"The recipe is:

Hook: B175 8 or 10

Body: Lead wire with Orange Holographic Tinsel overlaid with Pearl Mylar Tinsel encapsulated in Bug Bond

Tail: Orange Holographic Tinsel, Amber Krystal Flash and Orange Marabou.

Eyes: 3mm Real Eyes Plus encapsulated in Bug Bond

The name is: er… Falklands Flasher!

The fish are all caught in the main river systems of the Falkland’s (of which there are many), they are Sea Trout and Brown (although they are the same fish). Brown Trout were introduced into the Falkland’s in the 1940’s and thrive in the cold, pure, peaty waters. The Sea Trout ‘run’ twice per year, once at the start of the season In Sep and again in Feb – Mar."

The Bug-Bond Team.....

2010-11-06T07:47:00.007Z

The long awaited introduction to THE team... where they have a business or website I have linked these to their photo... click the photo and find out about the team member in greater detail...

Barry Ord Clarke (United Kingdom/Norway)

Born in England, Barry Ord Clarke is an internationally acclaimed and much published photographer and writer. He is a regular contributor to numerous fishing magazines world wide. He has also written, Co written and contributed to more than 25 books about fly tying and fly fishing.

Specialising in game fishing and hunting, his work has taken him all over the world, more than 40 different countries. He is also employed as a consultant to the worlds largest hook manufacturer, O Mustad & Son.

For the past 14 years Barry has lived in Norway with his family in the town of Skien, where he spends his free time fishing and elk & deer hunting.

Andy Elliott (Ireland)

I started my fly tying career four years ago after a trip to SEAi in Wexford
The majority of my customers are salt water fly fishers, a lot of my work these days is custom, catering for the more demanding salt water fly fishing guides
I supply guides all over the UK and Ireland, a few in Europe and recently had an order from Japan. My favourite aspect of fly tying must be getting a brief from a guide and working with them to produce a pattern that works in their fishing environment. Jim Hendrick blogged my work a few months ago...

“One of the huge benefits of working with a creative fly tier like Andy is his ability to build and then re-build flies according to specific requirements. Different materials behave differently at different times so it’s a constant process of fishing trial and error met with exceptional failure or success. Andy has an intuitive and artistic understanding of material relationships and behaviour and combined with my specific colour and movement emulation requests he has managed to produce the best bass flies I have fished with. I will continue to work closely with him on this adventure continuously searching for the Wexford Range - such is my confidence combined with hours upon hours of work, that at this stage of my bass fly fishing I will very seldom fish with any other fly other than one we have worked on together!” Jim Hendrick, Wexford

Simon Graham (South Africa/Finland)

Although born in England I grew up in Durban South Africa where I lived for over 25yrs and generally spent all my spare time as a saltwater fly-fisherman. I eventually moved back to the UK in 94 where I used it as a base for me to fund my fly-fishing and birding travels around the globe and have been fortunate to have fly-fished in several European countries as well as Australia, New Zealand, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Cuba & Russia. I became hooked on fly-fishing for pike during a nine month stint over in the Netherlands in 95….and the rest is history really!
In 2004 I moved to Replot island which is part of the Kvarken world natural heritage site found on the west coast of Finland where I now run my own pike fly fishing tours business called http://www.balticpiketours.com & have my own brand of pike & saltwater flies called http://www.balticpikeflies.com which I market throughout Scandinavia & the Baltic countries. I spend on average 180 days fly-fishing for pike and If I’m not out chucking fluff at pike I’m behind my vice where I spend between 8 – 12hrs a day especially during the winter months. Its safe to say that pike on the fly is an addiction which has slowly consumed my life to an extent that I'm never truly happy until I’ve caught my next one especially if it’s with a new fly I've tied. My blog http://www.pikeflyfishingarticles.blogspot covers all aspects of the sport especially my flies.

I run pike fly fishing and fly tying workshops and am heavily involved with the promotion of catch and release at schools and fishing guide courses around Scandinavia with regards to pike.

Ulf Hagstrom (Sweden)

It all tracks back to my father. If he hadn't brought me along with him on his fishing days when I was a child I would never have gotten this lifelong love affair with fishing.
Born and raised in Stockholm Sweden in the mid 70's I grew up fishing for Pike in the Baltic Sea. I discovered fly fishing late in life, never knowing what I missed until I met and became friends with some fanatic fly fishermen in 1997.
I am in love with adrenaline rush of dry fly fishing and in the magic nature of the Scandinavian north I am as close as I can be to heaven.
Fly tying for me is as big of a passion as fly fishing is. My approach is to try to tie flies that can lure the pickiest of fish and at the same time would look great framed on the wall. Initially I got inspired by fly tying masters like Poul Jorgensen, Gary Lafontaine, Hans van Klinken, Oliver Edwards and more, nowadays I find myself more inspired by studying the real insects in their own environment.
I have two clear divisions of my fly tying; the first is flies for trout and grayling with a realistic touch. My goal is to design patterns that would look just as good in a frame on the wall to the human eye as it would look on the end of a leader attracting the fish. My second passion in fly tying is big nasty pike flies designed to attract the fresh water "monsters" that patrol the weed banks of any lake.

Dougie Loughridge (Scotland)

I have been a keen flytier for the last 18 of my 33 years. Although I love catching any species on the fly, my main passion is for Pike. Like many tiers, I love experimenting and designing variations on fly patterns, particularly those baitfish and streamer patterns designed to catch this wonderful predator. Being a consultant for Fulling Mill and part of the Partridge International Pro-Team, I am very proud to be joining the Bug-Bond team.

Chris Newsome (USA)

Chris Newsome spends his days guiding anglers on the Chesapeake Bay of Virginia. When not on the water or enjoying time with his family, he can be found behind the tying table trying to create a better “mouse trap” for his anglers. Newsome’s efforts in fly tying seek to improve durability and fishability of saltwater fly patterns. His flies have been featured in numerous books and magazines in the USA. Chris declares, “Bug-Bond is changing my whole approach to fly tying. The skies the limit when it comes to incorporating Bug-Bond into more effective fly patterns”

Johan Put (Netherlands)

My name is Johan Put and I am from the Netherlands.

I am working as a development technician in the paper industry.

I am fishing from the day I can remember, I must have been 5 years old when I fish for the fist time.

The love for fishing and nature has been with me since.

I started fly fishing and fly tying in 1990. My passion in fly tying goes out to the realistic flies, including fishable and art flies, it is to me a big kick to recreate a bug as good as possible. In some flies I spent more then 40 hours of tying, but when the end result is finish it gives me a great satisfaction.

Every day I am behind the vise, spending many hours trying new stuff and try to improve my skills, tying is sometimes even more important to me then fishing.

Chris Reed (United Kingdom)

I do know that Chris a Cheshire born and bred flytyer started tying flies at the age of 12… he ties a variety of flies for fishing whether it is trout, salmon or saltwater destination fishing. An accomplished tyer and the first fly tyer to sample the Bug-Bond back in 2009 before it was officially launched.

Chris Reeves (United Kingdom)

I have been a fisherman all my life and a fly angler for nearly 25 years.
I began fly fishing at Barn Elms reservoir in West London and progressed via small stillwaters to the large reservoirs, becoming a successful competition angler
I then moved on to the challenge of chalkstreams before fishing further afield in many “destination fisheries” including Alaska, Chile, Argentina, California, The Bahamas and Florida. I fish for trout at least twice a week in the season and also hunt Pike on the local stretches of the River Thames.
I started tying my own flies some 20 years ago. I was self taught and quickly realised the value of good instruction and how scarce it was so became an Instructor under the S and TA STANIC banner, later becoming part of GAIA. Since then I have taught privately and also in Adult education at my local college.
My favourite flies are Chalkstream dries and Irish Loch flies but I love tying all styles and regularly tie Saltwater, Salmon and Pike flies too.
I am a member of the Fly Dressers Guild and chairman of the Surrey branch,
I have been a Whiting Pro team tier since 2005, I am a member of the newly formed e Partridge Pro team, I am also on the pro tiers team for Nymph head products of the United States and recently joined the “Bug Bond” team too.
I give regular talks at Fishing clubs and branches of the Fly Dressers Guild.
I have been guiding on Bewl water, Farmoor and to a lesser extent on the southern Chalkstreams, where I take anglers to the public stretches such as Wherwell on the Test and the Lower Itchen fishery. I also run or help out at corporate days on local waters.

Barry Reynolds (USA)

Needs no introduction to those who fly fish for pike. Barry has written a number of books on the subject and his film In Pursuit of the Waterwolf has left many inspired to go fly rodding for pike.

Chris Sandford (United Kingdom)

An actor by profession, Chris is best remembered for his numerous TV and film roles in the 60’s and 70’s, namely as Coronation Street’s singing window cleaner ‘Walter Potts’ and ‘Sid’ one of Tommy Steele’s mates in the movie “Half a Sixpence”.

In the late eighties and nineties, Chris worked in the sound recording production business and is one of Britain’s best-known commercial voiceover artists - selling us everything from bathroom cleaners to chewing gum!

Over the last decade, Chris Sandford’s name has also become synonymous with the world of fishing and his collection of vintage fishing tackle ranks amongst the finest in the UK. His knowledge of the subject is reflected in his regular articles in the angling press. He is currently enjoying great popularity with his column in 'Fly Fishing and Fly Tying'. He also writes for 'Waterlog' magazine for which he has twice been awarded 'Humorous Writer of the Year' for his wry comment on angling at large.

His international angling TV series, ‘Just Fishin’...with Chris Sandford produced in 2002, continues to enjoy regular airings on the Discovery Channel. He also appears regularly on Sky TV’s ‘Tight Lines’ featuring his fly-fishing and fly tying skills.

His first book, “The Best of British Baits”, which traces the history of artificial lures from Izaac Walton’s silk minnow through to the 1930’s, has become a bestseller among tackle collectors worldwide.

His recent book ‘A Wellie Full of Water’, chronicles ten years of his ‘Waterlog’ articles.

His new book ‘Flytyers Flies.The Flies That Catch Fish’ was launched in November last year. (2009) Medlar Press.

Similar to TV’s ‘Antiques Roadshow’, The Chris Sandford Vintage Fishing Tackle Roadshow is seen regularly at game fairs and angling exhibitions across the country, giving valuations and advice on vintage tackle collecting. This project raises money for SPARKS (SPort Aiding medical Research for KidS).

Steve Silverio (USA)

Tying flies since the age of fourteen on a “homemade rotary vise”, Steve has ventured into all forms of the fly-tying art. Known primarily for his innovative saltwater & large predator flies, Steve has developed patterns for many species from striped bass to sailfish and is constantly experimenting with new natural materials for his designs. Combining classic dressings with modern concepts, his flies are an amalgam of tradition and simplicity.
He regularly appears at various tying forums, local, regional, & international, and demonstrates his craft at various fly shops along the east coast. His Polar Pony flies are featured in the 2008 winter issue of Fly Tyer Magazine and two of his patterns have been included in a recent release, “Passion for Pike”, by his friend Ad Swier, a well known Pike fisherman, artist, author, and founder of the Dutch Fly Fair.
Currently, Steve is a member of Regal Vise Company’s developmental team and has cooperated in the design of their new in-line rotary model, the Revolution. He is also a pro staff tier for Regal, Mustad-Partridge USA and Bug-Bond.
Because I live in the Mid Atlantic area, I often fish for stripers, bluefish & false albacore; however I also am not far from good trout streams & smallmouth rivers as well as several fine lakes that contain largemouth bass, pickerel & pike. My three favorite species to fish & tie flies for are striped bass, pike & Atlantic salmon.
While I have no single favorite tyer, I have several whose inventiveness, style, clean lines & tying techniques I greatly admire. Among those are; Carrie Stevens, Bob Warren, Syd Glasso, Warren Duncan, Charlie Chute, Daniel Dufour, Kenichiro Sawada, Marcelo Morales, Bob Popovics and others.

You will note that I count a majority of salmon fly tyers among the names I list. I believe that the discipline of dressing salmon flies is the most challenging form of flytying and contributing greatly to the development of a flytyer’s skill, and for that reason should be pursued. A solid foundation of tying skills enables the tyer to experiment with new techniques that build on those of the past.
Essentially, fly tying provides the fly fisherman with a more complete experience of his unique sport, one which is based on originality & creativity. It is only natural then that the creative response to fly tying is to experiment with existing patterns, consider new materials and formulate original concepts that develop from experiences on streams, rivers, lakes or in the salt. Fly tyers are constantly trying to solve the riddle of how to get fish to respond positively to the bits of fur & feathers we eagerly offer them. It is in the very nature of the fly tying art to respond creatively to this desire.

Riny Sluiter (Netherlands)

I am from Kampen in the Netherlands. My homewater is a big river called the IJssel, I am also surrounded by many good waters in the region of Kampen.

I have been tying flies for several years now. I tie all kinds of flies, dry flies, nymphs, streamers, saltwater flies and tubeflies.

I am a regular tier at fairs; I also do workshops at home for flyfishing clubs and shops. In Kampen we have our own flyfishing club called The Kingfisher. I am in charge of almost all the activities. It's a job I thoroughly enjoy of doing.

BFFI 2010 Trick or Treat!

2010-10-31T21:47:00.003Z

I’d like to thank everyone for making my participation at the British Fly Fair International one of the most enjoyable events of the year. It goes without saying that the organising team headed up by Steve & Bridgette Cooper should be thanked by all for making the event run so seamlessly (backed of course by the show sponsors). It is always good to see and meet friends at the show BUT it is the paying public who came to the event that I would like to thank most of all. On Saturday I started tying at 9am and got up from my chair at 5.10pm… I didn’t even have a comfort break!

Sunday was a little quieter initially but then warmed up again with a number of the trade coming over to view Bug-Bond. Sunday afternoon’s highlight was a young woman who was interested in Bug-Bond and I had her change places with me and I had her tie a basic Thunder Creek using Bug-Bond… I never did get her name but she tied a lovely head on the fly and was another facet of the weekend that was different and made it for me! If you do read this please claim your fly as I have kept it…

It was a fantastic weekend… what a buzz – thank you all for coming and visiting me at the fair, YOU made my show!

Until next year in Stoke then…

(the photos are of a Bug-Bond sandeel with my Bug-Bond luminescent additive... very seasonal "trick or treat!!!")

Rod building with Bug-Bond

2010-10-27T10:51:00.003+01:00

Having built my first rod on a Harrison Lohric blank (9ft 9wt 4 piece) and having banked 13 fish to 16lbs with it I thought it useful to do a short video showing the process... proving it can be done without thread and a great solution to a rod repair needed on that fishing trip of a life time! Thanks to Will, my step-son for doing the production side of the video and looking after the Youtube channel for me.

Davie McPhail - Fry Pattern with Bug-Bond

2010-10-25T00:41:00.002+01:00

All I can say is watch the video... its fantastic and says it all! Nice one Davie...

Pharside of the Pond Part Deux

2010-10-16T22:28:00.005+01:00

I've frequented Stripersonline for a couple of years now and I find the saltwater ties refreshing and innovative and they happen to lend themselves nicely to Bug-Bond.

I had an email from Rick Fink yesterday and he has kindly allowed me to show his photo of a Fat Albert with baitfish and accompanying Bug-Bond fly, together with comments and the recipe... thank you Rick.

"Attached photo shows a BB SurfCandy after five Little Tunny. Holding up well so far, no loosening of the bond, no cracking.

I've tried various materials over the years for the wing including feathers, synthetics, and bucktail which is easiest, but PolarFiber wins hands down. The pictured fly is about 1 3/4in long size 2 hook. Depending on the size of the bait sometimes up to 3in. I use size 6 and 4 when the micro bait is present, finished fly 1 1/4in to 1 1/2 long.

Hook---Mustad C-70-SD
Body Braid for belly
PolorFiber for wing
Mylar strip or Flash-A-Bou for lateral line
stick on foil eye of choice
Mono thread"

I've also been playing with Thunder Creek patterns initially as potential for saltwater ties... but do you know what I think I may go after some trout with the pattern... and I might even try and target salmon with them. Although a relatively easy tie I'm becoming quite critical of my ties and am extremely grateful for the invaluable inside information on Keith Fulsher's pattern provided by Rich "Doc" Steinberger. More on this pattern over the coming weeks...

Pharside of the Pond with Peeete

2010-10-16T17:40:00.003+01:00

Saving the World
Phlying!

Catching
Welded
Welded
Not Welded
Not Welded

Whilst I’m gathering info together relating to the Bug-Bond Pro-Tying Team I thought I’d share a few images and words with you. As I’ve mentioned before it always gives me a buzz when I see flies tied by others or fish they’ve caught… especially when they tell me Bug-Bond forms part of that equation.

I’m going to blog twice today as I’ve a huge amount of info to put out there…

First up is none other than Pete Gray with all his phuzzie notions and out of the box fly tying… with the advent of light cured acrylics now being common place in fly tying Pete has pushed the envelope. “Phly Welding” is the new art form… place braid on the hook shank and then start spot welding your material on and create your fly.

I recently wrote to Pete and said that I’d like to put a profile up along with some photos of his ties… so a package was delivered to my door by two “suits” with dark glasses and ear piece communication… not to mention the bullet proof blacked out 4x4 that hit a quiet leafy lane in England on an autumn day.

The USB stick in the pack immediately downloaded the files onto my PC… of course they were encrypted… well nothing a couple of judicious blows of a hammer can’t fix! (Jack Bauer, eat your heart out!)

I was shocked, according to Pete I’ve violated his Federal Witness Protection Scheme… there are images I just can’t publish here... safe to say he was looking after all our best interests whilst in the USAF and he believes he can still “Phly”.

Latterly he can be found in his tying bunker at an undisclosed location breathing life into fish catching creations.

All the above is said with tongue firmly in my cheek BUT with huge respect for the man.

Thanks for allowing me to peer into those files and allowing me to see the unabridged Pete on the Pharside of the Canal… and here’s to an adult beverage in Somerset!

And Pete, keep whacking the home runs…

Tackle Trade World spots Bug-Bond!!

2010-10-15T10:31:00.003+01:00

Bug-Bond is getting noticed! This time Tackle Trade World has given Bug-Bond half a page in their news section following the very successful trials with the help of Harrison Advanced Rods in Liverpool, UK.

“My old friend David Edwards has been showing me his UV cure resin product “Bug-Bond” which looks like a clear epoxy but cures almost instantly with UV light. Primarily aimed at fly tyers, David has shown me that it may well have applications beyond that and he has been evaluating the use of Bug-Bond in rod building. I do not want to let the cat out of the bag, but can confirm that Bug-Bond has a lot of potential to the rod builder in that it cures quickly to a bright clear finish and I can therefore see it being used by both custom and production rod builders in the future.” says Dr Steve Harrison (Harrison Advanced Rods, Liverpool, 20th September 2010)

Bug-Bond International Pro-Tying Team

2010-10-06T23:07:00.009+01:00

Bug-Bond International Pro-Tying Team

Barry Ord Clarke (United Kingdom/Norway)
Andy Elliott (Ireland)
Simon Graham (South Africa/Finland)
Ulf Hagstrom (Sweden)
Dougie Loughridge (Scotland)
Davie McPhail (Scotland)
Chris Newsome (USA)
Johan Put (Netherlands)
Chris Reed (United Kingdom)
Chris Reeves (United Kingdom)
Barry Reynolds (USA)
Chris Sandford (United Kingdom)
Steve Silverio (USA)
Riny Sluiter (Netherlands)

Bug-Bond was officially launched in January 2010. During the first 9 months of this year the number of Bug-Bond users has grown across the world... there are now users in 20 countries across 5 continents.

In order to maintain and enlarge the profile of Bug-Bond across the globe it gives me great pleasure to announce that an International Bug-Bond Pro-Tying Team has been formed.

Each member of the team brings with them an enviable level of expertise whether their speciality is trout, salmon, pike, saltwater or realistic fly tying.

The team has an international flavour and will be promoting Bug-Bond at fly fairs/shows across the globe, through magazine articles and of course the Internet. Many of the tyers run their own angling related businesses and I have pleasure in being able to return the compliment and support their ventures by highlighting their businesses here.

Over the course of the next week or so I will introduce the team members to you via the blog and their details will be available on the Bug-Bond website.

The USA and more....

2010-09-30T08:11:00.007+01:00

Wow! September has been a great month with a lot going on... it kicked off with a 2 page feature in Trout Fisherman including a step by step and a review by Robbie Winram... I was over the moon with his comments.

I then brought together the culmination of 12 months research and work on rod blanks and built and fished a 9' 9# where all the rings were attached only with Bug-Bond (no thread)... 13 pike up to 16lb on the Harrison Advanced Rods Lohric blank... that is a seriously nice stick! I have named the rod "Zero" as in Zero Thread Technology (very tongue in cheek BUT I have proved a point... Bug-Bond is versatile!!)

As I've previously blogged Pete Gray provided some kind words about Bug-Bond...

In the background Steve Silverio has been fighting the Bug-Bond corner, Steve is a thoroughly nice guy and a great tyer I have huge respect for him and his talent... I hope to be posting a bit about Steve and his ties in the coming weeks...

So what's the big news I hear you ask... Well as of yesterday stocks of Bug-Bond went on the shelves of http://www.whitewaterflies.com/ . This is a major step for Bug-Bond and removes a major stumbling block in our progression in the US market. I've had huge support from the US angler but potsage costs inhibited some from purchasing the product. Not anymore!!

With the kit, Greg Becker the owner of (Whitewaterflies) has tied up a few patterns which should give inspiration to those that wish to throw away the epoxy and the varnish... thanks for the images Greg.

It won't stop there tho' I have a second retailer in the US that will come on stream in 7 days time or so... who will it be?

Thank you all for your support and watch this space...

Phun on the Phringe with Pete...

2010-09-25T10:20:00.006+01:00

This week top fly tyer Pete Gray (USA) who usually ties in the UV Phree Zone, as he likes to call it has decided to tie using UV cured acrylics... for "Phun"

Pete is a great and much admired fly tyer, who leads the way... he's not a follower... many who see his ties on Stripersonline are constantly WOWed by his technique and dare I say it, his genius...

His comments on Stripersonline were short and to the point...

"Used with the "tip kit" its application is much more precise and the cured results are much more tack free than the sort'a almost tack free other stuff..."

"Bug-Bond hit a home run... CCG hit a Ground Rule Double..."

...and in an email to me “David, If given the choice between Bug-Bond and CCG, I'd absolutely go with your magic voodoo acrylic WITH the "tip kit"...Over the MOON!” Pete Gray

You're "Over the MOON!" well that makes two of us Pete... and thank you for allowing me to reproduce your comments and images.

The Ducking Fedley!

2010-09-15T08:17:00.005+01:00

“Dealing with emails that come into the office is never a chore as they are mostly fishing or Bug-Bond related and like most, I enjoy a good fishy tale. One such anecdote with supporting photos was sent to me by Chris Sandford. Chris has very kindly allowed me to reproduce part of his email along with the photos so that I may share it with you (Chris, it is much appreciated. Thank you).

The unexpurgated version will be found in his soon to be published article in the Autumn issue of Waterlog magazine (http://www.waterlogmagazine.com/ do have a look at their website and consider subscribing to this quality journal).

Chris told me that although they didn’t win the one fly event, they didn’t do too badly and more to the point the Bug-Bond flies lasted the whole day… and by the look of the photo, Chris’s fly looks as if it could be fished again the following day and probably many more.

The excerpt from Chris’s email follows…”

“A week before the ‘One Fly’ competition Bob (A Passion for Angling) James called me and asked if I’d like to be part of the ‘Dream Team’ with him and Chris Tarrant....and would I mind tying the flies!

I knew that many parts of the Test were still quite coloured so I decided that I would give the team a choice between bright and heavy and fairly traditional and heavy! But I would do my best to make all the flies indestructible. It’s amazing how much damage can be done to one fly in just one day’s fishing so I gave them all a severe ‘Bug Bonding’!

On the day I presented Bob with the choice of the flies. “Your three ‘indestructibles’” I said. He looked at them carefully and asked ‘Which one are you going to use?’ I pointed to a small, tungsten headed, flash back bug on a size 14 hook. ‘Me too’ he said ‘What’s it called?’ ‘No idea’ I replied, ‘I only thought of it yesterday!’ Bob’s guide inspected it closely and muttered ‘Looks ****ing deadly to me!’ So that, we decided, was its name. The ****ing Deadly’!

One of the funniest moments related by Bob later in the day, was when the camera team covering the event filmed him landing three fine Trout on my fly. When asked by the director what the fly was called Bob had a lapse of memory and looked to his guide for help. Without missing a beat he said ‘Oh yes…that one…it’s ‘The Ducking Fedley’!

Cheers… Chris”

Size doesn't matter... but it helps!

2010-09-07T22:54:00.004+01:00

You sometimes get that feeling in your water that the day is going to be good... not often as we would like BUT I just had to leave work early today.

1600 hrs and I was away from the desk and by 1700 hrs almost at the lake... My hollow tie was deployed in several marks but all failed to attract... BUT I knew I was in the wrong place! As the sun started to dip I decided to go to a mark where I'd lost a reasonable pike previously and decided to play hardball... I knew that I'd scored in this mark with dark flies... black or olive and decided to use one of my pal, Simon Graham's ties. Simon has become a great pal over the ether and we occasionally phone each other to chew the fat... I look forward to tying along side him at the BFFI in October!

I have digressed the tube fly... very wet at the moment is an olive raccoon tail, gold flash and brown raccoon head with a gold conehead... I armed it with a Sakuma Manta 2/0...

I cast into a mark where I'd had a loss earlier this year casting beyond the lilies and bringing the fly back on both sides of the V... Nothing was doing. However there is another slot in the lilies 6ft away but a difficult cast... more a back cast between the shrubbery and cast to the open water but then cast it onto the corner of the small lily pads... hopping it over the top of them and then dropping it into the water. Second cast and as it just dropped into the water a bait fish went vertical and with a boil of the water I was in...

Boy did this fish run for open water... a strong fish that I was keen to subdue quickly and get back in quickly... My newly built rod, a self build Harrison Lohric 9' 9# was perfection itself and at no point did I feel out of control...

So between my pal Simon Graham and my friends Steve Harrison and Mike Helliwell at Harrison Advanced Rods I banked a personal best at 16lb...

The photos are from the phone again... and thanks to the lad who took the photos!

72 inch Tarpon... its a kinda magic!

2010-08-08T17:48:00.007+01:00

I've been so busy with Bug-Bond recently and a well earned holiday has been and gone... I arrived back a week ago... some exciting stuff in the pipeline... But here is the holiday report!!

I spent an age tying a variety of saltwater flies destined for the UK shores and pattern wise I was generally happy with them BUT it is quite difficult to score in the UK waters in comparison to other waters around the globe... especially if you are new to SWFFing (pike being my thang).

So a family holiday in the Caribbean was a potential solution and had me tying a hell of a lot more flies... the final death throes saw me getting a few flies from Oz at UKsaltwaterflies and my pal Dougie tied a few flashtail whistlers up for me as well... just to try!!

I did a lot of homework and with the help of a UK based forum member I was able to tap into the local knowledge... he having relatives there.

Over the course of the 10 day holiday I was able to go out on a local boat and hookup some Bonito/small tuna... the local fare tho' had to be the very obliging horse eye jacks that never failed but the bigger jacks were moving offshore even whilst I was there... so by the end of the holiday I was getting battered by smaller fish... I did have a superb follow off a couple of bones but I ran out of water... the area doesn't really have flats.

All the above were taken on a combination of shrimp patterns, poppers, bush pigs and candies that I've posted on forums and facebook over the last few months...

THE highlight of the 10 days was being told of a secret location for tarpon... now my downfall here is that I'd only tied two pukka tarpon flies one a Marquesa Sunrise (a copy of Brian Gent's) and a Black Death... on my 3rd/4th day I found myself with a local who was spinning for jacks, he and I worked together spotting fish for each other. I saw a shadow of about 3 or 4ft and my local angler shouted back to me "tarpon"... I tied on the Black Death and put out a couple of casts to no avail... some 15 or 20 mins elapsed and I saw a group of 3 similar sized fish and cast well in front and let the fly sink a little... I then started to strip and frankly to my disbelief I had 3 big eyes and mouths turn for the fly and I stripped quicker... then next thing that happened had me gob smacked and trembling afterwards, the water erupted and my fly was buried... line went thru the rings at a rapid pace and my inexperience got the better of me... the tarpon jumped... but it wasn't a 4 footer but based on the local estimate given to me it was a fish of about 6 foot and they said that it was in the order of 120lb... in the morning sun at about 0630 I saw the biggest slab of silver I have ever seen in my life... these are tremendous fish... needless to say I was bust off, my impunity treated with disdain by this magnificent fish. This was the biggest fish I have ever been connected to... even for the very short period of time I had with it!

I saw a tarpon of a similar size the following day but fluffed the shot completely... I had numerous follows from other smaller tarpon but no hits... next time I'll major on tying the Black Death and a lot of them!! They wouldn't touch the Sunrise even though they would follow it.

Here are a few snaps from my hols... proving that some of my flies work :D sadly none of the tarpon BUT a memory etched on my mind indelibly for ever... and I'm firmly caught by the bug of wanting to land a tarpon...

As a footnote... the vast majority of fish were released... obviously the Bonito/tuna weren't and there is an expectation by the locals for fish to end up in the pot... they couldn't get to grips with me putting fish back... they'd take what I would term relatively small fish for the pot. I even got adept at losing fish off one particular popper ;) when fishing in front of one family... a further comment on the size of the tarpon - having done a bit of research this evening a 6ft tarpon is guesstimated at somewhere between 100 and 120lb... I'd be quite happy with the lower estimate!

Stonefly - just an awesome tie!

2010-06-20T23:18:00.002+01:00

I can't believe that the Dutch Fly Fair was 3 weeks ago... it seems an age away, yet just like yesterday. One of the people I had the pleasure of meeting was Johan Put... a great tyer and full of fun.

Johan had a terrific stand of realistics at the show and he decided that he wanted to become a Bug-Bond believer... this is an excerpt from an email I received from him tonight together with the attached image:

"I bought the Bug-Bond on the Dutch Fly Fair, but have to wait until today before I can test it.

So today was the test day, first made some baitfish to practice and it works great, no more messing around whit epoxy and have a lot of waste which always happen to me.

Then the big test for the wing cases of the stonefly, normally it take me about 30 minutes to create them and them let then dry over night for the best result whit the soft body.

Now it took me about 10 minutes to create and can use it directly.

I put some very tin layers on the nymph tool to built up some nice realistic wing cases.

Now I can show people how I made the wing cases on shows and tying demo’s.

The legs are broom bristles how are thicken up on spots also whit the Bug-Bond.
And the eyes are to.

So the Bug-Bond has proved it self to me, I have some more ideas but to little time.
You be hearing from me again whit some new bug bond flies." Johan Put - Netherlands

All I can say is the fly is awesome... usually I take the link out of the image or click it to the Bug-Bond site... however, for this fly click the link and just see the attention to detail... WOW!

Silverfishfly Steve Silverio mentions Bug-Bond

2010-06-08T23:19:00.000+01:00

I met Steve at the Dutch Fly Fair and enjoyed a few beers with this great tyer. He used Bug-Bond during the fair and then kindly mentioned it during his lecture on tying a clouser pattern fly.

Rod repair - it gets better!

2010-06-06T18:51:00.003+01:00

Bug-Bond was orientated around fly-tying... that's what I designed it for but I was also very aware that it would have other uses.... back in February, Steve Harrison of Harrison Advanced Rods documented it on his blog that I was developing it into product to replace epoxy on rod rings... I've had a play with various whip finishes on blanks but had to do one in anger today on my 9' 8/9#. I'm not a rod builder and don't have a turner... this was by hand... perhaps a bit too much juice but for an emergency repair for fishing this week it is fine... the big thing is it only took 4 minutes! Oh and sag free in 3.5 seconds when you first apply the UV light...

Landing the big one!

2010-05-20T21:44:00.004+01:00

Well it has been almost a fortnight and it’s been quite full on!

A week last Monday I had a call from my pal Toby Merigan of Funky Fly Tying Products to ask whether I’d seen the June issue of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying (FF&FT) magazine… in a word I hadn’t and a call to the magazine had a copy winging its way to me by special delivery.

Hectic was the word – I’d planned a fishing trip to leave Friday and the magazine hit the news stands that day but subscribers already had their magazines and the enquiries had already started to come through… I delayed my early start to fulfil some orders before I left… in addition I needed new waders and boots for the trip! Doh! I had to go to two shops one for the boots and one for the waders. I really need a PA for this business…

So what am I going on about? Magnus Angus of FF&FT has reviewed Bug-Bond, not only that BUT it is a 2 page review… I am naturally over the moon. For those that don’t know FF&FT is THE magazine and Magnus is THE reviewer… get a good review off him is like getting a smile from Gordon Ramsay after he’s been over your kitchen and it’s OK! During the review process there has been a lot of to and fro between Magnus and me and apart from knowing that he liked the product I had no input into what was being written.

Interestingly I had a conversation with Mark Bowler the editor of the magazine and he said that he couldn’t believe it when Magnus said he’d written a 2 page article on an adhesive.

My thanks go to Magnus for his kind review and the magazine which celebrates its 20th Anniversary in June this year… I can’t think of a better issue to be in than the anniversary edition…

The flies in the review were from a selection of flies from the Flickr photostream re photographed by Magnus. So the published tyers without any credit in the magazine were Lawrence Finney, Chris Reed & Brian Gent… thank you and thank you to the tyers who provided flies that weren’t included.

It is also fitting that the magazine article has been published now as Bug-Bond in its final format has been tested for a full 12 months… I’m pleased to be able to say that an original sample of the material was cured yesterday a year on without any issue… and it still cures tack free!! A sample of Bug-Bond that was cured last year and that has been through the dishwasher, the oven at 200ºC and lived outside in rain, hail, snow and shine is still going strong without discolouration!

A big thank you to all that have supported me and the concept of Bug-Bond during the last 12 months…

Barry Reynolds endorses Bug-Bond

2010-05-05T22:52:00.005+01:00

Photos courtesy of Barry Reynolds

The internet is a great device for moving information and folk who know me, are aware that there are a number of e-pals who have influenced my pike fly fishing. One of those e-pals is Barry Reynolds. I’ve read Barry’s books cover to cover and watched his video so much that I can recite it and play out the fights in my mind… oh to be able to fish Alaska and Saskatchewan!

Anyway I digress. During an e-conversation I mentioned Bug-Bond to Barry and as he has no affiliation with competing products the discussions went further. I am very pleased to announce that Barry Reynolds endorses Bug-Bond. Barry has kindly provided photos of his famous Gen X Bunny flies now tied with Bug-Bond. He has also kindly allowed me to quote the content of an email from him.

“Hi David!

I sat down over the weekend in-between fishing and tied up some mini Gen X Bunny flies (still one of my go to pike flies) they suck to cast but catch pike like hell…… I’m impressed with your product to say the least! While this was not a full blown tying session for the flies I did tie gave me a chance to get familiar with the product and the best way to build up the head. I love the ease and quickness of Bug-Bond and the clarity is incredible! I hope to get time to sit down and tie some of larger baitfish patterns this week! Even with my limited time to tie this past weekend what few flies I did manage turned out great with your product. I need to play more and experiment on some of my other flies. I will say this after tying those flies I compared them to other flies I had tied before using other epoxies and finishes and without a doubt your Bug-Bond stands out as the “CLEAR” winner!

Talk to you soon,

Barry (Barry Reynolds, Colorado)”

Loss of a big girl....

2010-04-30T14:01:00.003+01:00

What an interesting day... up very early... almost the time before I went to bed! Half a tank of petrol later I was at a new water... rarely fished for the crocs and I'd been told that it would have to be a "dawn raid" so as not to excite the silver fishermen too much. Tales of a monster lurking beneath the depths are legend...

I decided to set the same team up as last Friday and explore the margins with the orange baitfish and then the depths with the bucktail Hollow Fleye. Initially I was going un-rewarded even though I could see swirls and bait fish jumping. I decided that a particularly weedy area might hold and gave it a go... I searched this mark for a good 15 minutes... she had to be here then my line locked up and pulled... and then the water boiled like a witches cauldron... in the midst of this the murky water fell away as a head the size of a shovel appeared. I damn near choked... this was going to be it.

With one shake of her head she left my fly intact and went for the depths... some suitable cussing occurred as I flailed the water attempting to tempt her back. In the words of the erudite Mr Homer Simpson... "Doh!"

I skirted the lake with the feeling of elation I'd found a pike... deflated that I'd touched lucky and lost the biggie! Ah well there's always next time. I had a play in a couple of other marks and satisfied myself with a couple of jacks... better than blanking!

Pike & Eumer tube flies

2010-04-25T07:52:00.002+01:00

My great e-pal Simon Graham runs both PikeFlyFishingArticles blogspot (see side bar) and also has a shop BalticPikeFlies.

As many will know there is a good deal of synergy between us and I have been a long time admirer of Simon’s work and his blog…. Albeit his Friday choices are somewhat suspect :D Not even after 10 pints and 2 in the morning!

One of the things that Simon does that has intrigued me is the use of Eumer tubes… particularly the teardrops… if you go onto any website and look at the kit available it is confusing to say the least… what to buy??

I therefore decided to leave it up to Simon; he knows my style of tying so I gave him the amount I wanted to spend and left it up to him. 4 days later a package arrives and I’m like a kid in a candy store… a couple of phone calls to Finland and an email from Simon with links to the Eumer site and I was ready.

I tied a couple of patterns which I was sort of happy with and set the kit aside whilst I contemplated how I would use them… a week passed and I decided to tie the orange baitfish… orange under black is a great saltwater colour here in the UK… so I’m led to believe so I’ve been tying flies like this in readiness for my first full season on the salt! The advantage is that it is my “Go To” pike colour… so they won’t be wasted.

The orange fly is: Orange Icelandic sheep in the tail with SF Blend, two reverse ties of orange bucktail with a veil of SF Blend over and a black slinky over wing… Orange 6mm tape eyes from FunkyFlyTying and encapsulated with Bug-Bond – all set on a 15mm Eumer Tube.

The second fly is a multi-coloured bucktail hollow tied and was tied under the instruction of a new e-pal Andy Elliott… Andy is a semi-commercial tyer who supplies some of the best guides in the UK and Ireland with his flies. So Thursday evening sat at the PC I was instant messaging Andy and he provided me with an instant step-by-step in photo format and the Hollow Fleye pictured is what I came up with. It is simply different coloured bucktail tied on a 22mm teardrop and Bug-Bond at each stage of the tie.

So grateful thanks to both guys for their considerable input into my tying!

Tying fishing flies no matter how great are nothing if you can’t fish them and importantly catch with them… that’s the purpose… I appreciate that for some tying is an art form and I am truly in awe of some tyers especially those who have the patience to tie traditional Salmon patterns.

I am really very fortunate that I have a lake not far from me that I can test my patterns on… and in testing these potential saltwater patterns I still use knotable wire… as I’m bound to hook up into a croc or two.

So Friday morning I decided to head off… Orange baitfish on the floating line and the Hollow Fleye on the intermediate…. Both flies were armed with Sakuma Manta 2/0 hooks. 6am to 8.30am and the fishing was spot on… the two pike without the rod in the photo were caught on the Orange Baitfish whilst the other two were caught on the Hollow Fleye… So two patterns I’m happy with for the pike at the very least.

As a footnote: spawning on the lake finished 3 weeks ago but a couple of the fish were showing heavy love making marks… guess that’s what happens when you only get the opportunity once a year!

Rainbow...

2010-04-18T10:32:00.002+01:00

Sometimes it is good to just get out fishing... this greedy 2.5lb Rainbow fell to a black pike deceiver! Pretty good eating I have to say!!!

Bug-Bond EZ Squid on HDTV

2010-04-10T23:11:00.004+01:00

If you'd like to see this being tied in glorious HD click here to go to the Bug-Bond Group on Facebook... this will be the place to see more ties made with Bug-Bond...possibly the first light cured resin to cure with a NO TACK surface that is specific to flytying...

Optically perfect, resistant to yellowing, flexible - won't shatter, cures fast and doesn't have a sticky surface... Solvent FREE!

Bringing Pro-Tying to the amateur!

Jackpot in Mexico with Paul Procter

2010-03-30T22:48:00.010+01:00

I’m grateful to Paul Procter (AAPGAI Master casting instructor, Orvis fly fishing consultant and Orvis endorsed fly fishing guide) for allowing me to show these photos (please don’t copy them- they are his!).

So what’s the deal? Paul became a Bug-Bond user shortly before the trip he was hosting in Mexico at the beginning of the month. I was asked how quickly I could get Bug-Bond to him and the answer from me was “Next day!” I can’t remember whether I rang Paul or he rang me but suffice to say he was happy with the material… so in addition to tying flies up with Bug-Bond he repaired old epoxy flies by cracking heads off and replacing them with Bug-Bond.

The above photos are an indication of the species they hooked into and all those photographed were taken with Bug-Bond built flies…

I’ve sneaked in and taken the glory as he hasn’t had chance to update his blog yet… it’s worth reading as is his website… and if you fancy going on one of his hosted trips here or abroad I’m sure he’ll be happy to accommodate you!

http://paulprocter.blogspot.com/

http://www.paulprocterflyfishing.co.uk/

http://bug-bond.moonfruit.com/

Pike Pike Pike

2010-03-18T21:00:00.004Z

It is good to get out and catch fish... since the birth of Bug-Bond I've been doing less fishing BUT getting out and getting into one does blow the cobwebs away!

This one was 3rd cast in! Taken on a tube fly version of my favourite pattern... you'd never guess would you?

Newark Spring Fly Fair

2010-03-10T19:28:00.003Z

I've never been on the other side of the table on tyers row before... what a fantastic experience!

It gave me the opportunity to meet up with some fantastic fly tyers from across the globe and to see what everyone else is tying. Over the course of the next few days I'll post up some photos from the weekend... or maybe into the Flickr photostream and put a link here.

It was a combination of late nights and early mornings and the craic was good... a few relevant photos today... Lawrence Finney and one of his nymphs and Dylan Hooley aged 11.

Lawrence tied one of his tazer wire nymphs and came to me to have Bug-Bond applied to the back and to the body... click on the link and you'll see just how encased it is!

Dylan Hooley... his parents Stuart and Vicky own Fly Only and Dylan is one of the nicest kids you'll come across, a great credit to his mum and dad. The salmon flies this lad ties are out of this world and it is great to see such aptitude and application in someone of his age. I swapped one of my sand eels for a shrimp that he'd tied at the show... now here is a dilemma. Do I fish it or do I keep it?

I'll fish it!

And now for something completely different!

2010-02-25T20:02:00.003Z

Recently I had the great pleasure of meeting Chris Sandford... a week or so on Chris kindly sent me a couple of photos of bugs that he'd tied using Bug-Bond. It gives me a great buzz to see flies of such small proportions having Bug-Bond applied to them. It makes a terrific change from my pike and saltwater ties!

A word from Chris tho' "please don't take the photos and use them elsewhere... they are copyright protected" and I really appreciate the fact that he is happy to allow me to share these photos with you... if you'd like any detail with regard to particular bugs I can ask the question for you.

Kinky Muddler result!

2010-02-19T15:43:00.003Z

Tying flies is all very well BUT it is completely pointless unless you are going to fish them or have them fished!

Last night I decided to tie up a pattern I'd seen on a US based forum - it is by a talented tyer called Johnny King and the fly is called a Kinky Muddler... I had a little play and this is a very imperfect first attempt at this tie... I used white for the underside and the top wing a combination of shrimp, pink and black marker pen with a little blue flash... as I say it was a play... craft eyes were bonded in place.

So this morning I woke to a hard frost and decided a trip to the trout fishery was not on! Too cold... so I went for a mooch nearer home... To cut a long story short I had a follow and then a boil from a bigger fish behind the fly and then a cast that resulted in this jack... nice to have the string pulled.

All shoaled up!!

2010-02-15T21:44:00.001Z

Yup! and they are done!

Sand Eel for a fly swap...

2010-02-15T06:40:00.003Z

Suckered in again... said "Yes" to a fly swap! Though I enjoyed tying up these guys. Tied on Tiemco 811s size 4... White bucktail overwrapped with Mirage tinsel... fluorescent red tag and pink, lavender and chartreuse bucktail topped with 4 strands krystal flash and 8 fibres Turrels olive crinkle hair doubled over. Wapsi 5/32 eyes and Bug-Bond to finish!

Deesox meets the 35lb Black Fin Tuna!

2010-02-07T20:30:00.003Z

It is amazing how things happen… I’ll skip the infomercial bit and get to the good bit.

On one of the UK based fly forums I was in communication with a chap who goes under the name of Genty or Gentytheshrimper… Brian is his real name. I had offered to drive over and see Brian with a few fly tying supplies and within a couple of hours I was at his front door.

We had a chat over a coffee and he had a look at the flies I’d tied and then we went into his tying room. OK, guys! A cave is a cave but this den was fantastic. Not only is Brian a seasoned and well accomplished fly fisher and fly tyer, it appears that in the midst of rural England there is a Yankees baseball fan!

The thing about fishing is that we all have a common interest and it is very easy to feed off each other. I spent 3 hours with Brian and came away from his house totally buzzing with ideas… a message via a forum that we are members of revealed that after I left he’d put 18 hours in at the vise… I assume that he’d fed and watered himself in that time and maybe had a knap… But do you know what… it wouldn’t surprise me if he’d done a straight 18 hours such is his enthusiasm for fishing.

It was a real privilege to have the opportunity to meet Brian… and I sat down at the vise today to try and recreate his minnows… not a patch on his but it is a start!

Thanks Brian… the Sand eel is for you!

The other photo is Brian with a 35lb fly caught Black Fin tuna… I live in hope!

Tube Fly Simpleclones....

2010-02-04T23:16:00.002Z

After playing with the Simpleclone I decided to do it on a tube and restrict the amount of Bug-Bond to a bit more than a comb thru'! Lavender, pale blue and yellow bucktail over white Icelandic sheep with a twist of Angel hair thru' it... 10mm Rainbow Funky Eyes finish it off!

Simpleclone and Clouser ties with a twist

2010-02-02T22:41:00.008Z

I read Steve Farrar's SBS on the Simpleclone which was I believe a rework of Bob Popovic's Siliclone... which has now been reworked by Bob as Flex Fleye... that's a mouthful!

OK... so I get the tag end of some Icelandic fleece (white) and tie it per Steve's instructions... then orange bucktail overwing and yellow underwing reverse tie and Steve Farrar's Orange Blend along the flanks again reverse tie... biro over the end and loose tie to keep the shape.... remove biro and apply Bug-Bond... and "Yes" it ain't the greatest tie... it is the first one, so excuse me, please... BUT you can squeeze the heck out of it and it'll come back for more! Doesn't crack or split!!

The Clouser is on a tube the difference here is I've used minimal thread to tie it - in fact some very fine white spectra from Riny Sluiter. First off get the B&Q beadchain and set it on the tube and put a drop of Bug-Bond over the centre of the chain an cure it... that is now solid to the tube... no chasing the eyes around the tube and trying to position them! A 3 second cure is all it takes! The body is next, Bug-Bond the Mylar to the tube and then wrap to the eyes... go on tidy in so used the spectra! Now... Bug-Bond over the mylar... a rotary vice helps here as you can spin the vice and you have an even coating... UV on and job done...

Catch in the white slinky as the under wing... drop of Bug-Bond and that's on... Over wing was chartreuse Turrell's crinkly something or other and drop of Bug-Bond... job done... again the prototype and the blob was a wee bit bigger than I wanted as I was trying to kick up the wing... I'll also go slinky fibre for the over wing... Pink tag is next... and finally because those beadchain eyes are likely to rust in the salt stuff I've given them an encapsulation with Bug-Bond... and you can't twist the eyes off the tube... and the bonding is discrete.

So what were you doing this evening?

PS... you'll notice speckling over the eye... it ain't bubbles it's a dodgy Orvis eye!

PPS... I hate the way you put paragraphs in and the darned blog doesn't recognise them unless you write it in Word and then paste in!

For snapper in the Hauraki Gulf!!

2010-02-01T21:36:00.005Z

Mike Ladle kindly introduced me to Alan Bulmer in New Zealand who decided to take the plunge and order Bug-Bond. I received a great email from Alan today... He's allowed me to post the picture and a couple of quotes...

"The top fly is a “Hair ball” and the bottom fly is a “Featherweight”. They will be used to target snapper in the Hauraki Gulf instead of soft plastics. Fished on drop shot tackle with braid they should be deadly"

"Bug-Bond is a revelation. 15 seconds after application and curing with the UV torch and the resin is as hard as Japanese arithmetic. It is without doubt the sexiest fly tying accessory that I’ve ever played with. No need for a fly rotator to allow the two pot epoxy to cure. Just apply and set. Stunning! The opportunities for this product are limitless"

Alan Bulmer of Auckland, New Zealand

Alan's fantastic fishing reports from New Zealand can be read in Mike Ladle's Blog (see the side bar)

Fat Jack first of 2010!

2010-01-31T15:05:00.004Z

It has either been the weather or I've had other calls on my time recently and yesterday was the first real occasion I could get out fishing.

Up at 0630 and to the lake for 0730... clear and frosty morning with a stiffening breeze... I was glad I put on the extra woolly pully

I set up two rods - the Harrison has the Cortland 333 Pike Pro WF10F and the Loomis a Rio Striped Bass WF9I.

Mark 1 is a difficult cast an easy to get hung up on the trees and with the wind blowing into the trees running parallel to my cast I had to aim out into the lake for the fly to be taken to its intended landing spot. My favourite pattern on board... orange & yellow bucktail mix on the Rio Inter I cast dangerously close to the reeds and overhanging trees already cluttered with waggler floats! The wind albeit difficult aided getting my fly to a part of the water that I usually have difficulty getting to... the potential for hanging the fly on vegetation is high!

I decided with the wind strengthening to cast a little further up wind and allow the fly to drift into position whilst it dropped in the water column... short pulls and pauses following by long pull a 6 count a long pull and a 6 count and SNAG. Strip - Strike and I'm in!

In all honesty it was so lethargic it was like pulling in a plastic bag... it only started to go berserk in the net! It was a cold day and he was more than happy to flash back into the depths...

2010's account has been opened!

Life's a bench!

2010-01-29T14:53:00.003Z

I'm going fishing tomorrow! I couldn't care if it snows, rains or chucks hail down in bucket loads - I'm going fishing!

I spent last evening playing with some fly designs and they are now on their way to a recipient to take on his trip to the Caribbean - lucky devil... some are plays on variations I've done in the past and others - well who knows if they'll work.

A tyer that has impressed me is my e-pal Simon Graham... Simon's ability to build flies both in the traditional style to the down right anarchic is both intimidating and inspirational. I enjoy looking at his Fly Candy and going "Wow". It's like trying to compare a Renoir with a Picasso half the time! I thought that as a lot of folk may never see him tying there should at least be a photo of him on the net in action.

I was talking to my pal Steve Harrison from Harrison Advanced Rods today and said to him that since I started on the trail with Bug-Bond I'm fishing less BUT with tyers like Simon and Andy Elliott where their flies made with my product are catching fish... that's a BIG buzz.

But I'm still going fishing tomorrow!

Hey you could stir fry these boys...

2010-01-24T20:51:00.004Z

Well I got my new toy on Friday and I gave it a road test over the weekend...

The toy? Oh, a Griffin Montana Mongoose rotary vise (the cam model)... Nick Granato from the States said the 'Goose was good and he wasn't wrong... the tip with the reel oil was a good call... I've never had a rotary before and this made all the difference!

It was a bit of a baptism of fire as I had to tie 12 flies for the UK Saltwater Fly Forum January swap... I decided to do the shrimp pattern... broadly happy... number 12 was the best by far!

All tied on Tiemco 811s... 3mm seed eyes on 40lb mono - dipped in Bug-Bond and cured. Danville's shrimp floss was used along with a grizzle hackle, two strands of pink funky krystal, pink funky fibre and bucktail feelers... Bug-Bond shell back to finish!!!

I'm off for a well earned drink!

An independant review...

2010-01-21T20:04:00.004Z

I posted apart of an email from Andy Elliott a commercial fly tyer from Northern Ireland... However, he's now posted a review on a few fora around the net... here's the link to the review on the UK Saltwater Fly Forum.... it includes taking a Bug-Bond built fly and casting it on a 9# rod with a t14 line against the side of a house... read the article to see how he gets on...

For the record Andy is a customer of mine and he's not received any payments for writing the article.

What they say... "It's a fantastic product!"

2010-01-16T15:10:00.005Z

Images sometimes speak louder than words... but may be you need the words as well or how do you know something works?

Andy Elliott is a commercial tyer known for his Bass flies and you'll see his work crop up in Jim Hendrick's blog Probassfisher Andy also sells his ties via his own website http://www.chasingsilver.org/ .

Andy approached me early December about Bug-Bond and we had a bit of dialogue over the ether and I sent him a few samples of cured material and then did a little job using Bug-Bond which he was happy with (sadly I can't tell you what as it is something new that may feature in some of Andy's ties!).

I'd like to thank Andy as he has kindly agreed to allow me to include in my blog an excerpt from a recent email he sent me relating to personal ties for the start of the trout season...

"I have been tying some quill bodied nymphs and snatchers for the start of the trout season (for my use)... normally I would apply 3 coats of varnish to the quill body then wait for it to dry before finishing the fly , but with the Bug-Bond its one coat for a perfect glass like finish ..so easy and saves so much time and in my opinion the finish is far superior

Producing glass like heads on trout flies ... simple with Bug-Bond .. one tiny drop spread around with a bodkin .. zap it with the light... instant result

Weighted nymph bodies ... easy ...wrap the lead , coat of bug bond . Zap it with the light ..job done and that lead will go nowhere

I'll be ordering a few more bottles next week

I really hope this takes off for you ... it’s a fantastic product

Andy Elliott”

The first time an individual uses Bug-Bond you do get the Eureka effect and when I'm trying new projects with Bug-Bond that comes out of conversations with tyers like Andy and Simon, I still get it!

Purchasers of Bug-Bond are buying one of the most advanced UV cure resins available...

Bug-Bond possibly the UK's first specific UV Cure Resin for Fly Tying

2010-01-14T19:28:00.007Z

My fishing escapades have taken a back seat with all the winter weather we are having at the moment... the lakes are iced up but a thaw is just around the corner!

But I've had other things to occupy my mind at the moment with setting up Bug-Bond the new UV cure resin... and I'm pleased with the responses I've had from users.

The possibilities are endless with this material and Simon Graham from Finland is already testing another material which he's getting on famously with. Bug-Bond also has a semi self levelling attribute which I played with at the weekend. I coated the popper sealing in ultra-fine glitter and am pleased to be able to say that there aren't any brush marks from the coating process.

Bug-Bond is an entirely more flexible coating than folk might imagine... where the user defines when the material is cured... you have control!

Tactical Pike Fishing - Book Review

2010-01-10T17:32:00.006Z

Over Christmas I was able to set aside time to read books… due to a busy schedule I find it difficult to sit down and read. It is a great shame that books don’t feature as much in our lives as they should following the advent of the internet and all the information it holds.

There is something about a book though, it is tactile and you can see the work that an author has put into it and they are measured on that work – cover to cover. The other beauty is that there isn’t any hyperlink distraction.

So Christmas lunch out of the way and the snow piling up outside I set about reading Tactical Pike Fishing by Mike Ladle and Jerome Masters. I have a tendency to scan a book first and see if it interests me and then sit down and read it… I did have a flick through it and thought instantly that this book shouldn’t disappoint. I am used to reading Mike Ladle’s work as I avidly read his blog and check it for updates on a daily basis. Mike has been one of the biggest influences on my fishing since my father put a rod in my hand at the age of 5 and I don’t say that flippantly.

I suppose the fear of being a reader of an author’s blog is that when you come to read the book it is just the same information regurgitated in a different way… this isn’t.

This is without a shadow of a doubt a defining book on the life of the pike. Sure there have been famous anglers who have written books about piking but this is a no nonsense book free of dogma and ego. Above all this is an insight into a scientific study of pike. This book has been written by two eminent scientists who are also anglers and who know a lot about fish and their environment.

Radio tagging pike, wading in flooded river plains and 8,500 separate tracking logs of pike set this book apart from the rest. This book assists the reader in ascertaining pike movements year round… how far they travel, their effect on the ecosystem in which they live and what they feed on and when.

The book is well illustrated not only with photos of pike but graphs showing the results of scientific study.

The last section concentrates on methods that are employed to catch pike and piking tales… this marries very nicely with the scientific element of the book and puts the science into practice.

Whether you are the most experienced piker in the land or a complete novice this is the book for you. It will ensure that you better understand your quarry and it will get you thinking about it as part of an ecosystem and not just in isolation. I firmly believe that this book should be in every serious angler’s bookcase.

My fishing results are proof of the Mike Ladle approach to fishing and the methods employed by Mike have enabled me to gain a great degree of satisfaction in my hobby. My final thoughts…

Ignore this book at your peril!

Tactical Pike Fishing by Mike Ladle and Jerome Masters is published by Crowood Press £19.95 ( and worth every penny!)

The Shrimp with no name...

2009-12-30T14:57:00.003Z

I've been playing with Bug-Bond again! I seem to be playing with the new material more as I get emails from Simon in Finland with photos of his creations... so to the vice... the big impetus is that I said I'd do a fly swap at the end of January and I chose a shrimp!!

I decided to have a play and see what I could come up with on the tube and here we have it... I've named it the "Strawdog Shrimp"... what do you think? Unless anyone else has the same tie out there.

Happy Christmas to one and all.

2009-12-24T14:16:00.003Z

Wherever you are have a great Christmas... and every good wish for the New Year....

Baltic Pike Flies tie with Bug-Bond

2009-12-22T23:15:00.006Z

That Eureka moment hit again this week... after putting Bug-Bond through its paces, Simon Graham from Baltic Pike Tours emailed me some photos. I thought I would share the photos that Simon provided me with following his first steps with Bug-Bond... the surf candy derivatives really show the material off. I appreciate Simon's kind words about Bug-Bond and look forward to seeing more of his ties.... they'll all feature on the Bug-Bond site as they appear in my in box. Many thanks Simon for having the courage to use Bug-Bond.

Over the coming weeks I'll start imparting tips & tricks... for instance - how to get the perfect shell back... and this trick you can't do with epoxy!

I would also like to mention that Bug-Bond is not a rehash of any other light cured fluid sold with fishing or fly tying in mind... it is brand new product and a lot of time, resource and investment went into bringing Bug-Bond to the market

Bug-Bond - the secret is out!

2009-12-16T23:39:00.008Z

As I approach Christmas I start to reflect on the year that was. Economically for the world hopefully we are starting to get out of the R word that Sir Alan Sugar hates.

For me it has been a great year as far as fishing and the development of a new product for the fly fishing market is concerned. I got back into fly tying in 2008 and wanted to find an alternative to epoxy resin that could be sourced here in the UK and would be available for the European market…

Much research later I have a product that can challenge the way we have tied flies for years… it is really exciting. I am aware that change takes time but those that have tried the product have been impressed.

So what is the big deal… well the big deal is an optically perfect and tack free, light cured resin. There is minimal wastage… in fact almost zero when it’s used with the correct applicator. Where you would apply three or four coats of varnish this is one coat and it is done… Resin heads on pike flies can be done with relative ease as well… great time saving.

I have tied my flies with Bug-Bond exclusively since May and I involved Toby Merigan (who has launched FunkyFlyTying.co.uk) as a tester and he’s been very pleased with the results… I was talking to him yesterday evening and he’d just finished fishing for grayling, having had a great day catching fish on bugs tied using Bug-Bond. Chris Reed who was one of the tyers at the BFFI 2009 last month took to it immediately and in a busy weekend schedule tied 59 flies for me for a photo shoot for the website. Simon Graham who runs Baltic Pike Tours and has the brilliant blog PikeFlyFishingArticles gave a fantastic review (click here to read it).

There will be exponents of epoxy resin who will throw their arms up in horror… however, for me it is about having options, alternatives and additions to what is available. Yes, some products may replace others over time but I’m not that naïve or arrogant to expect epoxy resin to have a long and happy retirement. The argument that light cure products are expensive as you need a curing light doesn’t hold water either as you need a drying wheel to get the best out of epoxy resin. Let’s live alongside each other and compliment each other as well.

From feedback I’ve received from tyers on the other side of the globe it would appear that Bug-Bond may have a significant edge over others in its peer group, the research has paid off.

I’m now looking forward to Christmas… to having a bit of a break over the festive season before hitting the trail in 2010. To bring Bug-Bond to the market has involved many long hours of research and testing. Hopefully those that use the product will find it as enjoyable to work with as I have. I’ll leave you with an unsolicited quote from Toby.

"Bug-Bond is the Holy Grail. It makes tying and finishing flies so much quicker than normal epoxy or varnish” Toby Merigan of FunkyFlyTying.co.uk

Salty tube fly part 2

2009-12-13T18:44:00.003Z

I decided that the fly really needed some eyes... and that little extra something!

Salty flies for next season

2009-12-13T00:32:00.004Z

Tactical Pike - Mike Ladle: Busted at Xmas!!!

2009-12-09T23:28:00.002Z

Undercover photo of the cover!

Have you ever had a sneak preview of your Christmas presents? Mmmm... me too! Well this Christmas I've got on my list Mike Ladle's new book Tactical Pike Fishing. My wife ordered it and it arrived in the office today... guess what? I flicked through it and it looks a storming read... you wouldn't expect less from Mike.

I think I've been busted tho' as the envelope was opened along with the bubble wrap! Honest I haven't read a single word... that'll be when the parents and in-laws are chatting and the kids are fighting on Christmas Day. Me in the study and the book... BLISS!

I'll report back on Boxing Day!

Rainbows but no crock of gold...

2009-11-29T13:19:00.003Z

I’ve been working hard as usual and with various commitments I’ve found little time to fish.

Yesterday there was a break in this awful weather we are having at the moment and a trip over to the in-laws gave me the ideal opportunity to mix a visit with a four hour session at a trout fishery… I’ve caught rainbows there before but nothing had given a particularly gutsy fight.

I’m always on the look out for that OTHER species and the odd perch wouldn’t go amiss either. With this in mind I’m always geared up expecting to catch pike and am therefore not surprised that the fights that ensue are rather short lived.

I decided to set up three rods, floating line, intermediate and a pike sink tip. The three rods all had differing styles of fly. The intermediate was set up with a fluorocarbon and titanium leader with a Fastach lure clip courtesy of my fellow piking pal, Dougie Loughridge. I.m not sure on the titanium but the Fastach clip is the business and I’ll be ordering these off Dave Lumb this week! Could save a lot of wire…

So with the floater set up with a small perch fly I bought from the BFFI do a few weeks ago I set forth covering the water… 3rd or forth retrieve back I allowed the fly to hang close to me momentarily and BANG… fish on… initially I thought it was a pike based of the ferocity of the take… but soon all was revealed… a nice enough rainbow.

I changed rods and played about with the black deceiver on the sink tip… nothing doing, so back to the floating line… within a couple of casts I had a beauty of a rainbow that didn’t want to come to the net at all… I did half think that old Esox might have been happy with a bit of livebait on the end of the line but nothing was doing.

The fish was netted and released after a brief pause to get its breath back.

I had a miss on another mark on the lake and a few follows… nothing major but a nice afternoon all the same.

Tube flies... what's with it?

2009-11-20T23:08:00.006Z

I've been working hard on a project and still am... I'll let you in on the secret over the course of next week. In the meantime...

Following the British Fly Fair International 2009 a couple of weeks ago I decided to start tying some tubes!

So a pike fly and perhaps some salty patterns for next year... the pike pattern was a hit with a pike taking the fly at my feet... sadly not hooked... but they work!