What Trout Want!

As you may or may not know the title of this post is the name of a book by well respected flyfisher and Flytyer Bob Wyatt.

It's a book that I got just before Christmas and one that I am so late to the party with! So much so that everyone has probably grown up and stopped going to parties.

First published in 2013 it's Wyatt's second book and a follow up to his earlier work Trout Hunting.

Bob is a native of Canada but now resides in Scotland via New Zealand. Bob has a wealth of fishing experience in all three Continents and has shared that experience in the contents of this book. 

In this book Wyatt strips away all the conventional and traditional practices of fishing for trout that people like myself and others apply to our pursuit of trout.

Wyatt takes a no - nonsense approach to Flyfishing and the myths that surround it.  He also simplifies his flytying approach too with flies that are functional, simplistic and attractive to his quarry not the fisherman.

This book will change your views on flyfishing and will challenge your methods, practices and designs in flytying!

To accompany this book there are a couple of dvds available which I have had in my possesion for a good few years which were given to me by old Johnny Weir the one time owner of the sadly missed local handy angling shop here in Airdrie. 

The dvds are every bit as good as the book and displays Wyatt's flytying style obviously in a way that the book cant. 

Pictured here is my take on Wyatt's Deer Hair Emerger.

His writing has certainly given me food for thought towards fishing  and flytying and I Iook forward to applying aspects of his philosophy and principles to my approach in the forthecoming season!

Irish Mayflies

It's been a great Christmas Day here at the Dabbler HQ and I even managed to grab a little bit of time at my tying bench once all the family  presents were exchanged and Chistmas dinner was scoffed! 

As I sit here tonight enjoying a glass or two of wine I thought I would share with you the absolutely fantastic gift I received from my wife and son today.

As you may or may not know I have a great passion for angling and flytying books. 

One book I've been after to add to my library for a long time was Patsy Deery's " Irish Mayflies." I'd almost  given up trying to acquire a copy of it as everywhere I looked for it was sold out. I even contacted Patsy's son as I heard a rumour that he might have few copies of it but alas he got back to me to inform me that they'd all gone but he did take my details and told me he'd get back to me if any turned up.

To cut a long story short the book turned up today beneath our Christmas tree via Coch-y-bondhu books in Wales.

It's an absolute treasure trove of mayfly patterns compiled by Patsy Deery and photographed by Terry Griffiths. I've obviously not had much time to read it yet but did have a good look through it and managed to tie a few flies from it. I might give it a review in the future once I've digested the contents. 

In the meantime here are a few of the patterns from it.

Oh and I even found a new fishing jacket under the tree too which I was badly needing for next season.

Top two flies are Donald McClearn's Green Mayfly No.1.

Bottom two are A Carra May and a Silver Drake.

The Burton!

Last week I was contacted by Jim Boyd who has a very popular angling column in that famous old Scottish weekly newspaper The Sunday Post.
Jim contacted me to enquire about the origins and name of one of my  trout fly patterns that caught his attention, which I often upload to the socials such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Jim informed me that he would like to include this pattern in his next weekly angling column.
The fly which is featured in this week's Sunday Post is my variation of The Burton.
Its an old fly pattern that was once popular on  Loch Lomond for the sea trout.
I came across this old pattern in the much sought after book by Bill McEwan, "Angling on Lomond"
This pattern caught my eye a few years ago as I liked the colour combination and style, and reckoned it would work well for me on the Outer Hebrides, which it well and truly did.
I believe the original has a wing of cinnamon coloured  turkey flank combined with teal. However I didnt have any cinnamon turkey so substituted the wing with bronze mallard instead.
I've never fished Loch Lomond as it just seems so daunting. However  the big loch does have its flyfishing devotees who know the water like the back of their hand! And I've heard that some old boys still fish the Burton for the sea trout despite all the latest modern fly pattern trends!
The variation I tied was based on a photograph from the book.
However I did reach for my "My Go To Book" too, for all Scottish fly patterns: Stan Headley's Trout & Salmon Flies of Scotland.
Stan referenced a different dressing from the one pictured in what I reckon to be the authoritative book on the matter "Angling on Lomond"
Bill and Stan both do mention a cinnamon coloured wing combined with teal,  however Stan makes no mention of the front third of the body being blue he states black!
Stan mentions a dark furnace hen hackle and a pheasent crest tail  but Bill's photo states black hen and tippet tail .
I wouldnt get hung up about which is the true dressing of the Burton as the version I tied did catch me trout on a couple of trips to the Outer Hebrides.
It may be a somewhat old fashioned pattern but it does still catch trout! Lets be realistic here! How on earth could the passage of time and variations of fly patterns ever influence the natural instinct and behaviour of trout?
The version I tied is as follows:

Size 10 hook.
Back Uni thread 8/0
Dyed orange tippet tail.
Body in three parts.
Rear: amber seals fur.
Middle. Red seals fur.
Front. Blues seals fur.
Rib. Silver Wire.
Hackle..Black Hen.
Wing. Bronze Mallard.

Tying a Claret Bumble

So I'm having another try at making a flytying vid. Hope you find it both  useful and enjoyable!