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)”