Craig’s Nighttime – a streamer fly for large trout at dusk and dawn

Craig’s Nighttime – an old classic New Zealand Streamer Craig’s Nighttime is an old classic New Zealand streamer fly. I initially found the pattern in John Veniard’s book: Reservoir and Lake Flies – a book I highly recommend. Years ago on a dark night this large darkish blue fly got me into a bunch of […]

Natural Beauty – fly tying photo essay

Fly tying materials up close. In this little film we explore the beauty and magic of some of the materials used in flies for trout, steelhead, salmon and sea trout. And there are a couple of flies in there, too. Lean back… and enjoy a moment of chill :0)

Peacock herl substitute – why would I want that?

One of my favourite fly tying materials is peacock herl. I’ve tied hundreds of flies using this classic material, and I sure will continue to do so. The iridescent sheen of peacock herl just adds something special to a wide variety of fresh and saltwater flies. Most often I use it as a body material, […]

5 new hot colors in Woolly Sparkle Dub

Our dubbing series has proven itself pretty useful, during the last season – and have been a main ingredient in lots of catchy flies. The first 7 colors were imitative and natural looking – and perfect for imitations of baitfish, insects, shrimps, leeches and other tasty morsels. Now we have added 5 hot colors that […]

Natural Sculpin Wool

Being a streamer fishing addict, I find myself fishing quite a lot with different kinds of sculpin imitations. Recently I have experimented a bit with a new fly tying material. I wanted something like the sheep fleece material, but finer in structure. Most of the sheep fleece I have in my possession is fairly coarse, […]

Hair hackle flies for sea trout

Last Christmas I received quite a few books on fly fishing- and fly tying. One of these was Hair Hackle Fly Tying by Gordon Mackenzie. Gordon has found his own rather unique style of fly tying, using hair hackling almost exclusively. Even though I really would not want to quit using feathers (being a traditionalist […]

Hairwing flies and squirrel tails

When I started fly tying more than 3 decades ago, squirrel tails were used in a lot of the fly patterns that first caught my eye. I tied some quill-winged wet flies as well – but, lacking tying experience, these pretty much sucked. The hair-winged flies, however, turned out right most times. I used a […]

Marabou flies – Confessions of a part-time pincher

I am a streamer fishing addict – and I like my streamers to live, breathe, pulsate and swim. Naturally I go for fly tying materials that will support this plan. Marabou is one of the materials, I just can’t do without. Now to assume that marabou is just marabou – is the fly tying analogy […]