The Sandford Bullet... bite on that!

My dear friend Chris Sandford designed the much vaunted "Bullet" in his sleep... how many of us design things in our sleep? Sleep is a time for recharging the batteries but so often I wake at night thinking "Ah!" Little wonder then that Chris designed such a catcher as this... so what does it represent?
FISH FOOD was the answer from one of Chris's chums...

A step by step can be found on the website of Chris Reeves... Chris R actually introduced me to Chris S. The link for the step by step can be found here on Chris's website... I spoke to Chris Reeves yesterday and if you aren't up to tying the fly yourself then he'll gladly take an order on... in fact he'll tie up pretty much what you want from trout to saltwater!

If you look closely at the fly that Chris Sandford kindly tied for me at the Burton Fly Fair you'll see that Bug-Bond has been applied to the head... just enough to ensure that the fly lasts more than just a couple of fish. That's Chris's addition since designing the fly and compiling the step by step.

Back to the "Bullet"... I have ordered all the component parts and will be having a go myself... but WHY? Well the "Why?" revolves around a need to tie something other than pike and saltwater flies... like a child I'm increasing my vocabulary! It also has something to do with the fact that I'm looking for a new water... a dictate from the bailiffs at my local water is that all pike under 7lb have to be killed. It is something I can't get to grips with... the pike is a great adversary "Mr Nasty" of the fish world... but I love them too much. Its OK to take the odd fish for the table but undertaking fishery management with no science behind it I find abhorrent... with roach being regularly caught at over 2lbs the pike are hardly having a major impact.

So... Have rod will travel!

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...

Casting at Shadows...

Yesterday I bought a copy of the "Casting at Shadows" DVD and today it arrived at my desk...

It is a record of Chris Cook's trip of a lifetime to Christmas Island. The introduction sets the pace of life in the Christmas Islands and is a bonus as some film makers concentrate on the sport and omit the environment they are filming in. As I watched the film I was immediately struck by the style of filming; Ben Marlow & Bradley Lucas have given us the quintessential Englishman (Chris Crook) with almost an air of Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient" as Chris stalks the flats. There is no whooping and hollering... Chris comes across as a quietly confident angler and the results speak for themselves... great bonefish come to hand, however, the film does get across the heat & frustration that flats fishing can provide at times.

The pace of the film increases as Chris hooks into a Bluefin Trevally and then on an incoming tide lands a GT of above average proportions. We then go offshore and get to call sharks! See and believe... One shark landed and Chris then hooks into a leviathan... a 3 hour fight with potentially a record breaking fly caught yellow fin tuna. There is no thrash heavy metal music in this film... if there was then I missed it as I was fixed on the fight with the tuna!

If you ever wanted a video of your own fishing trip this would be it... so many of us don't get the photos, don't get the video and would desperately love to fish this type of environment.

Bonus features included a slideshow of the fish caught - some of which never made the main feature but are no less impressive. There is also an interesting piece on the Christmas Island H bomb testing...

A very broad offering linked with good filming that will appeal to many... and if you are considering this trip of a lifetime I think watching this will seal the deal for you...

By clicking the image above you will be taken to Chris's site where you can purchase the film in DVD or BluRay format.

BUG-BOND in "Hatches" Fall 2011 Edition

Congratulations to Bug-Bond Pro-Tying Team member Rune Stokkebekk of Norway for his successful submission to Hatches Magazine... I'd recommend getting your own copy of Hatches to see first hand Rune's excellent article and tying sequences that includes Bug-Bond. Well done Rune!

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!