Hywel Morgan - joins the Bug-Bond Team

It gives me immense pleasure to announce that Hywel Morgan one of fly fishing's personalities has joined the BUG-BOND™ Pro-Tying Team. Hywel is well known for his TV appearances and gave Bug-Bond its TV début this summer on Keith Arthur's programme "Tight Lines" (Sky Sports).

Not only is Hywel a talented fly-tyer, caster and fly fisherman, he can also convey this knowledge with a passion and humour that is highly infectious...

The smile says it all Hywel... welcome to the team!

I've included Hywel's bio here and by clicking the photo it will take you to his website where you will be able to find out more about his teaching and guiding services as well as his shop which include his DVDs, flies and essentials range.

Who is Hywel Morgan?

Hywel is the son of Welsh fishing guru Moc Morgan and perhaps unsurprisingly he was introduced to the pleasures of fishing at an exceptionally early age.

He first wet a line at just two and a half years of age and spent his early years fishing the Rivers Teifi and Ystwyth for wild brown trout and sea trout. Since then he has fished extensively throughout the UK, Europe, Australia and in the USA.

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Casting...

Having grown up in his father's shadow, Hywel decided to make a name for himself and started competing in casting competitions.

He started at local country fairs, then progressed to the CLA Game Fair where for three successive years he won every event. As a result he was asked not to compete any more so that others could have a chance of winning... and all this before he was sixteen years old.
He then turned to the British Casting Association and started to compete at British, European and World casting championships. During this time he amassed the following titles:

• World Games Accuracy Casting Champion
• European Distance Casting Champion
• European Silver Medallist (Accuracy)
• 14 British casting records
• 6 times All Round British Champion
• Over 100 British Individual titles
• World Record holder for multiple casting (66 rods cast simultaneously)

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FISHING...

Having been successful in the casting scene, Hywel decided to return to fishing. He has represented Wales on twelve occasions (and has been captain for his country three times). Six times were at home internationals, where he was Top Rod on three occasions. The other six were at World Championships, where he captained the Welsh team to a silver medal in Ireland in 1995 and was a member of the silver medal winning team at England 2000. Individually he has been one of the most successful competitors from all the home countries, gaining results in silver, 4th, 7th and 10th places..

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Consultancies...

Hywel has worked as a tackle consultant for numerous companies over the last eight years, helping to develop products for the British Market.

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Television...

Hywel has presented programmes on fishing for Discovery Realtime, Horse and Country TV, Welsh TV channel S4C for a few years. He also has over 10 DVD titles on sale now. He has also made appearances on 'Record Breakers', the 'Big Breakfast' and has been a guest on Sky TV's 'Tight Lines'.

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!