BFFI 2010 Trick or Treat!

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

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

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

Pharside of the Pond Part Deux

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

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!!

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

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.