James Blake - Retrograde

JAMES BLAKE - RETROGRADE from martin de thurah on Vimeo.

So many kids today grow up without hearing music from a full frequency-range source. It's such a shame... James Blake's latest is on tonight's Friday night shakedown playlist, followed by:

Atoms For Peace - 'Ingenue' from Trim Editing on Vimeo.
 

It's Tuesday, season opens Friday

We're looking good for the mildest start to the season for maybe a decade... albeit, things can change suddenly.

Water levels are spot-on, maybe even a touch low so I'm hoping for surface drifts all day Friday. Added a few generic nymphs to the fly box last night, in #20 down to #24. Would usually avoid a two-fly rig in the interests if simplicity, but will partner with the #20 CDC & Elk in the top corner if things get tough.

Just a half dozen RPE's on Partridge K14ST #20's and I'm good for the whole of March...

Winter & Spring

Tied a few random flies for open day next Friday, just to keep some options open on stream.

The scud is tied on Partridge's new CZ barbless hooks, it's an oversized #24. The light wire version looks good for emergers. 

The Mekon-midge pupa is on a TMC 2488 #26, with a cloudy glass, seed bead 1.5mm, x-small UTC wire and a Niche Midge Wing bud. Cute bug.

The Umpqua hook range is good value, and their 3X long curved nymph hook goes down to a true #24.

Thinking of late Spring, and carrying the footprint idea over to the spent spinner. I reckon this #24 would be relentless at last light.

#24 stuck-in-shuck midge

Hans has covered Wayne Luallen's design a treat recently, and I noted his #18 - #26 size guide.



I have Daiichi 1120 in #24 and Mustad C49S down to #28. Part of the dressing may have to give to get down to a TMC 2488 #30. We'll see, there's a few months to go before this size and style of fly become bread and butter.

Hook: Varivas 2200BL-B #24
Thread: Benecchi 12/0 tan
Shuck: two strands lemon wood duck + three strands Niche shuck yarn
Abdomen: base layer of thread, and light brown marked rib
Wing: natural CDC puff
Hackle: Whiting Midge saddle, brown

Really keen to tie some with a black abdomen, x-small silver wire rob and light dun hackle to match the local midge swarms that emerge throughout the day in late Spring.

Pre-season walkabout

As every season closes, I make a mental note to get out pre-season to check the condition of the secret burn. Sunday was the first such walkabout in a long time. Roy showed me a few new pools, the middle image is a peach. The stream was running a little high and clear, and an iPhone camera added colour to a pretty grey couple of hours. There's good structure and weed growth throughout the half mile stretch we studied. I took a mental note of some incredible undercut banks and eddies. The foliage is stripped back this early in the year; by April this will be lush, come July some of these pools will be near impossible to reach.

When Roy first showed me the burn maybe six years ago, it was on the understanding I didn't share it with anyone I wouldn't trust with my wife. Of course the iPhone plots location data, so here's an inside track on where you can find this special place:

#22 midge pupa

Hook: TMC 200R #22
Thread: UTC 70, black
Rib: UTC x-small, silver
Collar: Peacock herl
Wing bud: Niche Shuck Yarn
Head: 1.5mm gloss black bead

We don't really know what to expect as the season gets underway on 01-03-2013, after three major floods during the close season... How eggs, and latterly small fry, can survive such violent conditions is beyond me. Gut feeling is we'll have to drift low in the column, at short range... not something I do very well.

Wintering gathering

About forty, maybe more of us got together in  Ned's (The Maypole Bar, Holywood) last Saturday for a pre-season gathering. The day was organised by Stevie Kennedy as a prelude to the Killyleagh Fly Fair which takes place 29th/30th June this year. Many of the same tiers, punters and sponsors were there to enjoy a very informal day.

The #32 Baetid spinner below was tied on the day, using a slip of Medallion Sheeting passed on by good friend and hardcore fly collector, Ian Gough. It's a great material, stiffer than Clear Wing and easy to handle.

I also picked up a selection of the new Partridge hooks in #24's and will be tying with them in the coming weeks.

Just five weeks to go and the season opens... 

#20 Footprint dun

Hook: Partridge SUD #20

Thread: Gudebrod 10/0 tan

Tails: Moose hair (six strands tied in, four clipped)

Abdomen: Stripped peacock herl, olive

Thorax: Roman Moser Trico dubbing

Legs: Moose hair (from tails, split when forming thorax)

Wing: Medallion sheet

It was Hans Weilenmann that I saw using natural material for the legs, rather than microfibbets as per Oli Edward's original.

Season's Greetings

... and very best for 2013 and beyond.

Mustad 277 BWO #32

It was at BFFI 2011 that Hans Weilenmann issued me with a Mustad 277 #32 hook. I'm not sure how long they've been out of production but the last I heard, folk were buying single hooks for $10 a piece and that was some years ago. The 277 is a perversely small hook (shank length is sub 1mm), and it's taken the last eighteen months to work out how best to approach tying a fly on one. Mats recent post over at Tying and Fishing Tiny Flies inspired me to deal with business.

It was fun, but I'm not sure I'd want to do this again... I've nothing left to say, the SBS is simple enough to follow: