Martie vanden Brand - fly-tyer and artist!

I came across Martie van den Brand purely by accident... I was looking at some realistic shrimps that he had made and I then found out that he had been using Bug-Bond in the construction of the shrimps and also his other realistic works of art... and yes, without a doubt these are works of art! Martie like many other top realistic fly tiers are in a league of their own, not only creating museum quality exhibits but also fishable realistics. Some realistics are even used as Hollywood extras!


Some try and create debate through forums over the validity of realistics as to whether it is fly tying or not and unfairly call it model making... my personal view is that by having an appreciation of realistic tying and entomology or perhaps ichthyology, should help us to tie better (even if you don't personally practice realistic tying - and I don't) and it should also lead to better and more enjoyable fishing. 

For those who don't have an eye on Facebook and wonder who Martie is and what he creates I have pleasure in being able to show you, with Martie's permission, a few photos of his creations and a translation of his own bio... enjoy! 

"Hi, I create for several years various insects, sea horses, grasshoppers, beetles, shrimp, stick insects... This hobby started because I'm quite fond of detail. The very rare seahorse, the leafy and the weedy sea dragons are reproduced full size. To do this you often have travel to far away zoos to witness them in aquariums. I also made ​​several grasshoppers, but 10 or 20 times larger than lifesize. Complete with all hair and legs like a real live creature in nature. I also make under water insects - stone fly nymphs... these are often up to 40 times magnification. You see for fun or interested enough for these exhibits, or possibly to buy for education please let me know. Thanks in advance for taking the trouble. Martie van den Brand"

Thank you for sharing your talent Martie and also for choosing to use Bug-Bond...

Sloopy Droopy Variant

In the post today was a nice wee package! One Sloopy Droopy variant from the vise of John Weir... the exact pattern that took his 13lb Clare bass at the end of August... I'll be tying a few of these over the next week if I have a chance in order to hook up some late stayers! Thank you John! 

Clare Bass - 13lb bass on a Bug-Bond finished fly

At the beginning of September I posted about having caught my first Devon bass on the fly... I was chuffed! I then got an email from Bug-Bond user John Weir who lives in Ireland... not being boastful at all but wanting to share his success John gave me the link to his blog; and then said the fly contained Bug-Bond.

I opened the link which I'd actually seen a day or so earlier as Nick Hart had alerted the capture to me... all I can say is this fish is stunning and it is the fish of a lifetime... I guess the thing that will keep John going and many more of us is that there must be 20lb+ fish knocking around. Perhaps it also proves that bigger fish do eat bigger flies... it certainly didn't diminish my captures but increased my resolve to catch bigger fish!

The fish was taken on a mini Sloopy Droopy variant (original pattern by Joseph Manette)... a full step by step can be found on Andy Elliott's blog Chasing Silver,,, however, the fly that took the fish was tied by John.

I'd like to thank John for allowing me to share this significant achievement will you, his full account can be found in his blog Clare Bass

Congratulations John!

All photos have been reproduced with the kind permission of John Weir... the images are copyright protected by John...