Rod repair - it gets better!

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!

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

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....

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

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...

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

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!