Basstastic Devon!

2 years ago I caught my first bass (4lbs but the size was immaterial!) it was on the lure and although it was one of those significant firsts it wasn’t the goal I was looking for… it really had to be on the fly! Through various commitments I have had to wait until this year to connect.

If I turn the clock back 12 months I found myself in Devon for a long weekend with my wife… an urge to fish and  tip off saw me at a mark VERY early one morning… the result was a blank.

Fast forward to last weekend… Devon for a week… and I fished 4 separate marks on 5 occasions. It was last year’s mark that was fished twice… the result was 1 fish on day 1 and 4 on day 2! Result!

The key word is “watch”… Yes, watch what is going on around you, swirls or bait fish moving, they are all tell-tale signs of movement from under the surface of the water… cast and retrieve… steady retrieve… stop and retrieve… feel the take and the shrimp fly claims its fish.  Interestingly I preferred not to match the hatch but give the offering of the slower shrimp… would I have had more hits using a match?

The biggest fish was estimated to be 26.5cm… not big but it gets me off the blocks and I know what I’ll be concentrating on tying more of! Oh the Bug-Bond treated fly lasted longer on the back casts clicking on the rock! 

A cluster of creations from Fabrizio!

Fabrizio kindly agreed to send me some flies build with Bug-Bond to photograph... his flies like many tied by the top fly tyers look great in photographs but when you have them in the palm of your hand... they are simply stunning. These flies may feature in Bug-Bond adverts over the next little while but I thought I would just share the group with you...

"Phrom the Bunker of the Phly Welder"

In a land where the letter F is replaced by its phonetic friend Ph (why else is phonetic spelt the way it is!) I have to include two links which give access to a compendium of Phly Welding put together by Pete Gray on the forums of Sexyloops and Globalflyfisher. Love it or hate it Pete has started something... maybe the guys who sell thread and make bobbin holders may want to call him a heretic... but surely this is merely an extension of innovation which all fly tyers hold dear (sorry Phly Tyer)... perhaps Pete should be inducted into the Phly Tying Hall of Phame!

Someone out there should give him a book deal, as well as invites to international fly fairs and perhaps even an invite or two for after dinner speaking!

As ever Pete thanks for sharing...

Fish heads Gaja style...

Fabrizio Gajardoni has been making his fish heads in epoxy since 2005... he has now turned his attention to making them with Bug-Bond... he says "I tie saltwater flies with my Gaja's Fish Head since 2005, now with Bug-Bond is so fast do this head......."

I think you'll agree that these are stunning little works of art!

Rune Stokkebekk (Norway) from Guideline joins the BUG-BOND™ Team!

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Rune Stokkebekk from Norway has joined the BUG-BOND™ Pro-Tying Team. I've corresponded with Rune for quite a while now and I felt that as the interest in Scandinavia is increasing we needed to increase the team in that part of Europe... I won't bore you with futile scribblings I'll let Rune tell his story... BUT do watch out for Rune's video's on the net...

"I have been a fly fisherman since I was 14 (in 1988). A friend of mine got this fly tying kit for Christmas and it looked like a nice thing to do. At that time fishing was not a big hobby, skateboarding and skiing was the thing. But our family holidays often went north to the mountains which does not have much asphalt for skating. So I had to do something else, fishing it was. The first years of my fly fishing "career" I fished with worms and fly. As soon as I had fish on the worm I switched to the fly (the day was saved). So it went for a few years until I decided to let the worm stay in the ground and do a serious attempt to learn fly fishing for real. Since I was 18 I have been a dedicated fly fisherman.

I started to tie flies after books and articles in magazines and my youth heroes was persons like Staffan Lindstrøm, Lennart Bergqvist and Pål Krogvold. They are still my heroes in fly fishing and I am grateful of all the knowledge they have passed on to other fishermen.

I live in the south eastern part of Norway. At home most of my fishing is done in large and smaller lakes. After a couple of months I get tired of this and have to seek up running water. I spend 2-3 weeks fishing in rivers each year. The Norwegian winter is very long, a good cure is to take a short flight to Ireland. I have been over there every year since 2003. I love the great western lakes!

Fly fishing has become my profession too. I started to work for Guideline in 2006 and still do. I have my own website as well the address is www.fluefiskesiden.no and it have been there since 2000. I frequently write articles on fly tying for Norwegian magazines."

Welcome aboard Rune!

Peeete's Phlyz... more from the Penguin

I received an email last week from my pal Pete Gray in the US... Pete has taken a break from fishing to tie up some eels using some lateral scales from Bear's Den (Ma) and encapsulating with BUG-BOND™ Original and curing it with the all new BUG-BOND™ Professional UV curing light to give an excellent Tack-Free finish (no overcoat required)... I think the results speak for themselves... these Phlyz are very cool! Just add stripers!

New Team Members and a Workstation...

The BUG-BOND team increase by two at the BFFI... I'm pleased to announce that Skúli Kristinsson (Iceland) and Paul van den Driesche (Netherlands) have joined the Pro-Tying team. You couldn't have two very different fly tyers... both tyers produce excellent flies. Paul is well known for his realistic flies whilst Skúli's rows of immaculate salmon flies are legend!

At the BFFI Chris Reed set my Regal Vise on a workstation he made for me with a matching flystand... the brass hardware is courtesy of Riny Sluiter. If you want a workstation making contact Chris by emailing him direct at chrisreed@chrisreed.co I think you'll agree the workmanship is fantastic!