Clyde Flies in Watercolour book

Today my book arrived... Clyde Flies in Watercolour.

As I’ve mentioned before, it’s not intended to be taken too seriously or as a definitive collection of Clyde flies. I’m sure those with far greater experience and knowledge will spot the occasional inaccuracy or artistic liberty here and there — and that’s absolutely fine.

At its heart, this is simply a photo book I created for my own enjoyment.

You’ll notice from the accompanying image of my collection of Clyde fly books that mine is undoubtedly the rarest of them all  as only one copy exists.

That said, I’m really pleased with how it turned out, better than I expected, in truth. The process has been a learning curve, and as a result I’ve already produced an improved second edition, with the first serving as something of an experiment along the way.

I hope you like it.

Scottish Game Fair 2026

I'm delighted to be tying at The Scottish Game Fair this summer at Scone Palace!

Pop over and say hello if you’re there — I’ll be tying mostly traditional loch style wets and their variations.

Check out the link below for info on all the tyers and for everything else that's going on at this wonderful annual event.

Scottish Game Fair Flytying Demos

River Clyde Flies in watercolur

For a while Ive been thinking of putting together a photo book of the fly patterns that I tie.

After thinking long and hard about a theme for the book I decided to put together my own photographs of the River Clyde and my Clyde-style flies, which I have blended into a series of watercolour-style prints with the assistance of AI.

It’s not intended to be taken too seriously as a difinitive collection of Clyde flies as I’m sure those with far more experience and knowledge of Clyde flies will spot the odd inaccuracy or artistic liberty here and there but that’s absolutely fine.

At the end of the day this was simply a project about having a bit of creative fun and producing something that I found very rewarding.

The book will be with me very soon and I will share on here in the future. In the meantime I hope you enjoy the prints on show especially the few that I have highlighted in this post.

Please leave some feedback if you dont mind.

From vice to published print

I was absolutely thrilled and delighted to have one of my articles published in the most  recent issue of the FF&FT magazine.

For anyone who enjoys fly tying, FF&FT has always been one of those magazines that you read with admiration. It is full of talented tyers, writers and beautiful photography that inspire you.

To have my own work included in its pages is something I feel genuinely proud of.

When I first saw the finished article in the magazine, it was hard to describe the feeling. There was a mixture of excitement, pride and disbelief. 

Fly tying has always been something I have enjoyed for its traditions, creativity and craftsmanship, so to have my thoughts and work recognised in such a respected publication meant a great deal to me.

It was also very rewarding to think that other fly tyers might read the article, take something from it, or perhaps even be inspired to try the pattern for themselves. 

Having an article published has given me even more enthusiasm to keep tying, learning and writing. I hope it will not be the last time my work appears in print, and I am already looking forward to future projects.