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…
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