It was all down to Kate!

I havent done very well at Hillend this season for a number of reasons! Firstly, I didnt wet a line until mid June and secondly I havent spent any real amount of time fishing at the Loch. 

However last Sunday I spent a right good few hours with my mate Iain up at the Loch. We both caught trout! Just the right size for Iain's smoker. 

Successful flees were Kate McLaren Snatcher and standard Kate.

I Lost count of the amount of takes we had too. Im putting it down to the barbless Black Pennell which I had on the point! Also dropped a couple too! We called it a night when it got dark and the Coos got out our way in the Boathouse Bay!

Experimenting!

For me the beauty of flytying is that we can add our own twists takes and tweeks to standard fly patterns!

The old saying that "nothing in flytying is new" may indeed be true. However  It's a real pleasure to persevere and try at least to try and come up with something original even though we may find out at a later date that's it's been done before!

I'd say that most modern day patterns are variations of something that's been created before. I call it flytying evolution!

I was at the vice today and came up with these three flys incorporating a butt in a shade of bazooka joe pink which I'm sure our flytying forefathers of the Victorian age would never had  thought possible to be utilised in the creation of a trout  fly pattern!

I have to say that I have noticed modern day trout flies with the inclusion of pink. However it's not a colour I have in my trout fly box.

So with this in mind this is a bit of experimentation for me and something I'm looking forward to casting at my local Loch before this season is out! 

On the Bumbles!

You may of course be aware that the bumble style fly is a very successful pattern to have on the top dropper of a team of flies when fishing traditional Loch style from a drifting boat. 

Ive often thought of bumbles to be of Scottish or Irish origin however its surprising to know that they originated in England, Derbyshire to be exact! 

Although they may have derived from south of the border, I've been busy at the vice, tying them for next years trips to the Highlands of Scotland! 

The Doobry

The 2020 season is not quite finished yet but I'm already busy @ the vice tying various patterns for the highlands and Islands of Scotland for next year! 

Tonight at the vice, amongst others I tied up a couple of fresh Doobrys for my box!

It's a great pattern to tie and an excellent fly for Scottish Highland wild brown trout!

These ones in the pic are tied on size ten hooks however they are also useful on a size 12 too which I also added to my box!