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”
