More Fly Patterns

Just another brief update to show a few of the fly patterns that I've been continuing to tye and gradually fill my box with!

Meddling with Muddlers

As a rule I tend to shy away from tying muddlers, as they are very fiddly and time consuming and to be honest they are a bit hit or miss as to whether they will turn out acceptable.

Oh! and another thing, they make a bit of a mess, as that deer hair gets everywhere which doesn't go down too well with Swmbo.

I find the trouble with Muddlers is that I never know when to stop trimming them as there is always some imperfection to be tinkered about with, then before you know it I will have cut far too much deer hair off and the fly is no longer going to be anything resembling a muddler, which results in the fly getting tossed into the waste bin.

However today I thought I would have a go at tying them as I could be doing with a few for next months fishing trip. 

I was actually pleased with these and actually started to enjoy tying them once I got the hang of technique of shaping the head.

I look forward to using these as I believe they will work really well on the Lochs for wild brown trout especially in a good wave which I will undoubtedly encounter on the Uists and Benbecula such is the weather in those parts.

Filling my box!

Those of you who read the Hillend Dabbler Facebook page will have noticed that I have been busy at the vice this week.

For those of you who don't do Facebook, here is some of this weeks work.

At the Vice Again!

After my trip to the Highlands last weekend by appetite has been well and truly whetted.

Tonight I have been at the vice gearing up for my trip to the Hebrides by tying a few trad wets in size 12s to gradually fill up my new box.

So much for me taking only one fly box to the islands! 

The Spey Dam

Today I went on my first wild  fly fishing trip of the season.  

I never thought it would take me until August to  catch my first wild trout of the year. 

My friend Scott and I arrived early this morning at the Laggan Hotel to a arrange our days fishing which we had pre booked at the loch of the headwaters of the famous River Spey which is commonly known as the Spey Dam! 

After paying our permit and picking up the oars etc for the boat we drove on up to the Loch. 

Once we were organised and got the engine clamped on we manoeuvred up the loch to prepare for our first drift of the day.

It didn't take long for Scott to catch his first trout which was fooled by a heather fly.

It was cloudy and overcast for the first couple of hours and as the day went on the weather got better an better with the sun making appearances more often. 

After numerous drifts Scott's tally of trout was mounting up and it wasn't until after he had caught half a dozen that I fooled my first trout of the day which took a Connamara Black. 

It was a bit of relief to get that first trout. As the day progressed I went on to catch six more which were fooled by the Doobry and the Loch  Ordie. 

I caught a total of seven trout while Scott went on to catch a total of eleven trout. The most successful pattern of the day was undoubtedly the Loch Ordie which took more than half of Scotts haul.

In conclusion there was a total of eighteen fish for the boat which I'm sure you will agree was not a bad return for day out in the Scottish Highlands surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery.

The Original Ballinderry

After looking through my book of Irish Fly Patterns I thought I would tie this fly as its a bit more true to the original pattern although looking at pics of original dressing it should maybe be more heavily dressed. I don't suppose it will make any difference to the troot. I imagine the only time you need to stick to an original dressing is for display purposes and the like. Far too much is made of sticking to exact original dressings for success with troot.

The Ballinderry (variant)

Im often inspired by Davie McPhail's tying demos on youtube especially traditional wet patterns. His latest fly tying  demo which I watched  today was no different. It was a variation of an old Irish pattern called the Ballinderry.

Therefore I decided to have a go at tying my version. I was quite pleased with my results. Im now gonna a tie another couple for my Hebridean box!

Finding my Mojo!

Fishing wise, this year has been a complete disaster for me. Somewhere along the line I seem to have lost my enthusiasm for fishing, especially at the local reservoirs which is strange as this year I took out a membership for the Clarkston Angling Club's Lily Loch too. I've only ventured out on the local club waters on a handful of occasions this season and have not been on any away trips to any of the wild waters up north either.

However I aim to get my flyfishing mojo back as I've got a fishing trip planned to Benbecula and the Uists next month and I'm starting to get a little bit excited about that. 

I'm also hoping to go on a road trip up north next week to a reputedly good Highland Loch with my friend Scott.

I have cleared out all my fly boxes and started afresh by tying fly patterns that I will actually use. Far too many times Ive went trekking over moorland and bog etc to reach lochs and lochans overburdened by the weight of my rucksack full of unnescesary fishing gear and boxes of flies that never see the light of day.

With all this in mind this week I've been back at the vice, that was something else I haven't been doing much this year.

However I've really enjoyed getting back to tying again especially traditional wets which is my favourite style of flies to fish and a method which will be fully utilised when I visit the Hebrides and hopefully be of good use next week at Lochaber.

I will keep you posted and let you know how I get on . In the meantime here's a few examples of what's been created at my vice recently.