An Little Bit Of A Cock-Up!

There are times in life where you have to make do with the hand you have been dealt! 

In the life of Barbless Flies, this is one of those times ... it's nothing serious, but we thought we'd look on the bright side and have a little fun with it.

For one day only - we're renaming our business to 'Almost' Barbless Flies - you will see why if you keep on reading ...

As you are receiving this email, you will be well aware that we only sell flies which are exclusively tied on manufactured barbless hooks - hence our company name!

We always pride ourselves on our timely information regarding flies and techniques, and on the logistics around ordering flies - we have to, as we are only a small family business and we cannot have fly patterns sitting on the shelves for too long.

That is why, when we receive a fly delivery from our artisan tyers, we eagerly look forward to opening it up and photographing the contents.

On this occasion - there was a slight issue ...

One particular pattern - the Daddy Dinkhamer - was tied on an AHREX FW500 Barbed hook with the barb's crushed down in a vice.

Not good ...

So - for one day only - we are now called 'Almost' Barbless Flies and in this email we would like to get the offending stock out of the door before our regular barbless flies start getting any ideas!

Here are the offending flies - as you can see, it's hardly noticeable (and if we didn't tell you, you'd probably never know), but they are not officially 'barbless':

As the weather is starting to warm up a little the main techniques employed on both Rivers and Stillwaters at this time of year are those which help you search the water to find where the fish actually are, the main one being the Klink 'n' Dink method (aka The Duo or New Zealand Style).

This Daddy Dinkhamer is the perfect 'klink' to your 'Dink' - especially in the early-season when bigger nymphs are used.

If you read to the very end of this email there's a handy hint's and tips section on how to perfect your Klink 'n' Dink presentation.

Our 'Almost' Barbless Daddy Pattern

Daddy Longlegs patterns are usually tied on size 10 or 12 barbless hooks with a slender hackle, this allows them to create a wake on the surface when retrieved - again another trigger point the fish home into (especially on Stillwaters at any time of year).

Early last year, just as the trout season was opening, I was sent a NEW Daddy Long Legs pattern to try - apparently, it had been cleaning up on the reservoirs and smaller stillwaters in the previous year, but I wanted to give it a go on a river, to see if it would be equally successful.

It was ...

This new pattern is a crossover between one of our most popular flies, the Dinkhamer, and a Daddy Longlegs ... introducing our Daddy Dinkhamer:

I was finding that in even the worst of conditions, this fly - teamed up with a standard Hare's Ear nymph (or a NEW Caddis Nymph - which we are releasing next week) tied to the dropper ring on the fly was tempting fish from all stretches of my local river - even the ones I would regularly walk past assuming that they were devoid of fish!

I was also finding that the fish were taking the 'daddy' pattern around 20% of the time, which was a little odd, as I was using these in April when there were no Crane Flies present!

 

These patterns really came into their own from August onwards, I was hooked on this pattern, and I knew that we must get stock of them for 2025 as they make a great searching pattern in the early stages of the season, as well as their regular success once we get into August.

We've just received them from our 'artisan' fly supplier and the tyings are superb, except for the 'cock up' with the hooks (see above)!

They have all been tied on the highest quality AHREX FW501 FW500 size 10 crushed-barb hooks and use a 9mm Hi-Viz orange foam post - capable of suspending even the heaviest of nymphs.

To give you the best possible value on these patterns - and to stop our regular barbless patterns getting any ideas - we've decided to offer these Daddy Dinkhamers at a vastly reduced price (20% to 30% discount - the more you buy, the more you save):

• Individually - for only £1.65 each (usually £2.05 each) a 20% discount
• Pack of 6 - for £9.50 (usually £12.30) a 24% discount
• Pack of 12 - for £17.50 (usually £24.60 ) a 30% discount
• If you would like more than 12 - please contact me for the best prices!

Click on any image or button above to view this stunning fly in more detail and choose your pack quantity - the discounts have already been applied - if you also have a discount code with us, you can apply your code to get an even better deal!

*** We do have quite a few of these and we're expecting them to sell out very quickly (especially at this price), so if you would like some you will need to be quick. Why not stock up for the year, as we will not have them at this price ever again! ***

 

Please Note: The standard and quality of these Daddies is superb and they will hold up a 4mm tungsten beaded nymph easily - perfect for those early (or late) season forays!

*** Go on, you know you want to! ***

On the subject of the Klink 'n' Dink technique ...

A week or so ago, we noticed a massive jump in hits (and sales) on our Feathersmith website. On further investigation, we discovered that those nice people across at Fly Fishing & Fly Tying magazine had kindly uploaded a video review of a couple of our kits - The Klink 'n' Dink kit being one of them:

We've based our Klink 'n' Dink kit around a really successful fly fishing technique which is used all around the world as a method to catch fish when you cannot see any rising, the Klink n Dink (or Duo or New Zealand Style). Essentially it's a way of fishing both a dry fly and a nymph at the same time, allowing you to search all areas of the water - to find the fish!

To fish this method requires a specific dry fly - one with a tippet ring tied into the tail, this allows you to suspend a nymph under the fly without compromising the hook point on the dry fly, even when using barbless hooks

Our Feathersmith Klink 'n' Dink kit is suitable for:

Target Species: Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout & Grayling
Water Types: Rivers & Stillwaters
Location: All UK
Tying Difficulty:
   Klinkhamer - Intermediate (full video step-by-step instructions provided)
   Red-Neck PTN - Easy (full video step-by-step instructions provided)

Our Klink n Dink kit contains enough materials and hooks to tie 40 flies:

For the Klinkhamer:

• Hooks: AHREX FW525 hooks (10 each of sizes 10 & 12)
• Thread: Semperfli White Nano Silk
• Dubbing: Peacock Dubbing Mix
• Post: Z-Lon White & Orange
• Hackle: Grizzly Grey
• Body: Pheasant Tails
• Tippet Ring: 2.0mm
• Tippet Ring Fixing: Fire Line Black 0.30
• Pre-Tied Sample Klinkhamer

For the Red-Neck Pheasant Tail Nymph:

• Hooks: AHREX FW501 hooks (10 each of sizes 16 & 18)
• Thread: Semperfli Black Nano Silk & Feathersmith Red 8/0
• Dubbing: Peacock Dubbing Mix
• Tungsten Beads: 2.0mm & 2.5mm Nickel Colour
• Body: Pheasant Tails
• Body Rib: Gold Wire #34
• Pre-Tied Sample Red-Neck Pheasant Tail Nymph

 

Contained inside each kit is a leaflet which will direct you to a secret page on our website where all the technique information and step-by-step tying videos can be accessed.

This method is the best way to search a water when there are no obvious signs of fish activity, its especially successful in the early parts of the river season.

Essentially it is a way of fishing a dry fly and a nymph at the same time. When using this method I always use a ‘Dinkhamer’ fly, this is a klinkhamer style fly which has a small tippet ring tied into its tail.

The tippet ring on the dry fly allows you to tie your nymph to it and fish using the klink ‘n’ dink method (a bit of a sticking point normally when using barbless hooks, as usually the tippet is tied to the bend of the hook). You can use the same rod, line and leader as you would when fishing a dry fly.

Typical Leader Setup

Tie the Dinkhamer to your leader as you would for any normal dry fly setup
Tie a length of tippet to the tippet ring - I generally use 1.5 x the depth I want the nymph to fish at.
Tie your nymph to the other end of the tippet.

On a River:

Cast upstream and fish it just as you would a dry fly. Watch the Dinkhamer for any signs of a take on the nymph - or the Dinkhamer itself. Always try to fish in the seams of two different speeds of water, this is usually where the fish will be, just in the slower water.

On a Stillwater:

Start to cover the water using the fan cast method and fish this setup just as you would a dry fly. Watch the Dinkhamer for any signs of a take on the nymph - or the Dinkhamer itself.

Please Note: When fishing big and bushy patterns (like the Daddy Dinkhamers), use a slightly heavier/stiffer tippet than you would normally use - it will reduce the amount of twist in the leader as these flies are fairly big and wind-resistant.

 

Tight lines & enjoy your early season (I know I will)!