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What do Coco Chanel, Henry Ford & Barbless Flies Have In Common?

Was Henry Ford Fly A Fly Angler? I like to think that at some point in his life Henry saw the light and picked up a fly rod! He is famously known for his quote: "Any customer can have a car painted in any colour that they want, so long as it is black," When I was starting out on my fly odyssey, I didn't know the names of the insects which were hiding under rocks and flying around my head. There are days when knowing your sedge from your spinner makes all the difference ... When matching the hatch perfectly is what turns tentative refusals into takes. We believe in that - we sell flies for that & I fish that way too But, there are also days when knowing every Latin name still doesn’t help! What do you do then ... you reach for the fly fishing equivalent of Coco Chanel's "little black dress". TL;DR - Too Long; Didn't Read I know that some of you are pressed for time and save our emails to read later in the day, by this time our selections are sometimes sold out (I get lots of emails from customers pointing this out to me). I've put this section at the beginning, so you can grab your flies now - and save reading my musings for later, safe in the knowledge that you have already secured your "It's Just Black" Selection. This email is all about which flies to use when you've no clue what's happening! In this email, we are launching our NEW for 2025 "It's Just Black" Selection - a selection of 15 flies, 3 of each of five black fly bankers - they're all 'buggy' fish-catching patterns! All the patterns are tied using the very best quality materials on AHREX hooks - the best hooks there are. The "Little Black Dress" Syndrome Definition: A piece of clothing that can be worn in any situation and still looks like it belongs. The fly fishing world has its own "little black dress" equivalent, these are flies which don't look out of place in any scenario. We all love to follow the rules and "match the hatch" wherever we can. But ... There are also days when none of that matters. When trout are feeding mysteriously, sporadically - or not at all! That's when you need a backup plan that will (hopefully) outperform the main one. When the most effective thing you can tie on… is something small(ish) - and black.   But Why Black? It's simple really - Black is Versatile - Simple - Confident It creates contrast. It silhouettes cleanly. It works when everything else gets ignored. Flies stand out in low light and glare Matches nothing exactly, suggests everything vaguely Equally useful for both seasoned and newer anglers Designed for efficiency — not guesswork These are not the flies you reach for instead of matching the hatch. They're the ones you reach for when the hatch isn’t making any sense. Get the flies that work when the rules don't ... NEW for 2025 - The "It's Just Black" Selection The Barbless "It's Just Black" Selection is a selection of 5 styles of commonly used 'black' flies - which seem to produce results when nothing else does! These are for:  Match-the-hatch anglers who’ve learned that not everything can be matched  Minimalists who like one fly to do multiple jobs  Realists who know that conditions aren’t always textbook This isn’t about rejecting expertise. It’s about acknowledging the moments when expertise takes a back seat to instinct. For only £22.50, we are supplying 5 different styles of 'black' dry flies - In total there are 15 flies supplied in our eco-friendly packaging. These flies are great all year round, but work especially well for those tricky days when nothing else seems to work. All of the flies included within this selection are tied on the best hooks in the business - AHREX (see the individual fly descriptions below for more details). Our Barbless "It's Just Black" Selection is now available as a selection of 15 flies (3 each of 5 predominantly black patterns): The Black Dun - A classic version of this popular black gnat/midge fly. These have been tied with upright wings, which makes it ultra-realistic and helps it sit just right on the water - it also makes it really easy to see! The Black Griffith's Gnat - One of the best flies (and many anglers only fly) used in the late spring and summer months. Great in warm still conditions on rivers with a low flow, spooky fish and low levels. The Black Sedge - The smaller sedge/caddis usually do not create much surface action early in the season. But on a day with some sunshine to warm up the surface you will encounter small sedges/caddis everywhere. The Black Emerger - A fly put together by Niklas Dahlin. Designed with inspiration from a fly one of his friends created, the `Hairdresser´s Midge`. Tied to mimic the emerging midge with a slim body and white poly-yarn wing. The Black Head Palmer - Try fishing this Black Head Palmer as an emerger with no fly dressing first. It will float for the first few casts and then it will slowly sink under the surface, this allows you to see which method works best and which the fish are interested in on that specific day. Our "It's Just Black" Selection contains 15 flies in total and we are making them available to you today for only £22.50 (that's a 20% saving on buying the flies individually) - click any button or image in this email to see the selection of flies in more detail. As always we offer FREE Delivery on all orders for delivery within the UK. *** We only have 40 of these selections available, so if you would like one you will need to be quick! ***  Each of the Black flies included in our NEW for 2025 selection can also be bought individually for only £1.90 each, using these links: The Black Emerger The Black Griffith's Gnat The Black Sedge The Black Dun The Black Head Palmer *** Go on, you know you want to! *** Perfect Stillwater Patterns ... Daddy Dinkhamers ... We had a fantastic response to our email with our 'Almost' Barbless Daddies - thank you to everyone who helped us clear our shelves. There are still a few of the offending patterns remaining, if you want to grab your bargain flies today, click on any of the options below: Individuals - only £1.60 each Pack of 6 - only £9.50 Pack of 12 - only £17.50 F i l l  Y o u r  B o o t s ... Tight lines & make the most of this nice weather!

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What do Coco Chanel, Henry Ford & Barbless Flies Have In Common?

The Fly Fishing Equivalent of 'The Little Black Dress'

Was Henry Ford Fly A Fly Angler? I like to think that at some point in his life Henry saw the light and picked up a fly rod! He is famously known for his quote: "Any customer can have a car painted in any colour that they want, so long as it is black," When I was starting out on my fly odyssey, I didn't know the names of the insects which were hiding under rocks and flying around my head. There are days when knowing your sedge from your spinner makes all the difference ... When matching the hatch perfectly is what turns tentative refusals into takes. We believe in that - we sell flies for that & I fish that way too But, there are also days when knowing every Latin name still doesn’t help! What do you do then ... you reach for the fly fishing equivalent of Coco Chanel's "little black dress". TL;DR - Too Long; Didn't Read I know that some of you are pressed for time and save our emails to read later in the day, by this time our selections are sometimes sold out (I get lots of emails from customers pointing this out to me). I've put this section at the beginning, so you can grab your flies now - and save reading my musings for later, safe in the knowledge that you have already secured your "It's Just Black" Selection. This email is all about which flies to use when you've no clue what's happening! In this email, we are launching our NEW for 2025 "It's Just Black" Selection - a selection of 15 flies, 3 of each of five black fly bankers - they're all 'buggy' fish-catching patterns! All the patterns are tied using the very best quality materials on AHREX hooks - the best hooks there are. The "Little Black Dress" Syndrome Definition: A piece of clothing that can be worn in any situation and still looks like it belongs. The fly fishing world has its own "little black dress" equivalent, these are flies which don't look out of place in any scenario. We all love to follow the rules and "match the hatch" wherever we can. But ... There are also days when none of that matters. When trout are feeding mysteriously, sporadically - or not at all! That's when you need a backup plan that will (hopefully) outperform the main one. When the most effective thing you can tie on… is something small(ish) - and black. But Why Black? It's simple really - Black is Versatile - Simple - Confident It creates contrast. It silhouettes cleanly. It works when everything else gets ignored. Flies stand out in low light and glare Matches nothing exactly, suggests everything vaguely Equally useful for both seasoned and newer anglers Designed for efficiency — not guesswork These are not the flies you reach for instead of matching the hatch. They're the ones you reach for when the hatch isn’t making any sense. Get the flies that work when the rules don't ... NEW for 2025 - The "It's Just Black" Selection The Barbless "It's Just Black" Selection is a selection of 5 styles of commonly used 'black' flies - which seem to produce results when nothing else does! These are for:  Match-the-hatch anglers who’ve learned that not everything can be matched  Minimalists who like one fly to do multiple jobs  Realists who know that conditions aren’t always textbook This isn’t about rejecting expertise. It’s about acknowledging the moments when expertise takes a back seat to instinct. For only £22.50, we are supplying 5 different styles of 'black' dry flies - In total there are 15 flies supplied in our eco-friendly packaging. These flies are great all year round, but work especially well for those tricky days when nothing else seems to work. All of the flies included within this selection are tied on the best hooks in the business - AHREX (see the individual fly descriptions below for more details). Our Barbless "It's Just Black" Selection is now available as a selection of 15 flies (3 each of 5 predominantly black patterns): The Black Dun - A classic version of this popular black gnat/midge fly. These have been tied with upright wings, which makes it ultra-realistic and helps it sit just right on the water - it also makes it really easy to see! The Black Griffith's Gnat - One of the best flies (and many anglers only fly) used in the late spring and summer months. Great in warm still conditions on rivers with a low flow, spooky fish and low levels. The Black Sedge - The smaller sedge/caddis usually do not create much surface action early in the season. But on a day with some sunshine to warm up the surface you will encounter small sedges/caddis everywhere. The Black Emerger - A fly put together by Niklas Dahlin. Designed with inspiration from a fly one of his friends created, the `Hairdresser´s Midge`. Tied to mimic the emerging midge with a slim body and white poly-yarn wing. The Black Head Palmer - Try fishing this Black Head Palmer as an emerger with no fly dressing first. It will float for the first few casts and then it will slowly sink under the surface, this allows you to see which method works best and which the fish are interested in on that specific day. Our "It's Just Black" Selection contains 15 flies in total and we are making them available to you today for only £22.50 (that's a 20% saving on buying the flies individually) - click any button or image in this email to see the selection of flies in more detail. As always we offer FREE Delivery on all orders for delivery within the UK. *** We only have 40 of these selections available, so if you would like one you will need to be quick! ***  Each of the Black flies included in our NEW for 2025 selection can also be bought individually for only £1.90 each, using these links: The Black Emerger The Black Griffith's Gnat The Black Sedge The Black Dun The Black Head Palmer *** Go on, you know you want to! *** Perfect Stillwater Patterns ... Daddy Dinkhamers ... We had a fantastic response to our email with our 'Almost' Barbless Daddies - thank you to everyone who helped us clear our shelves. There are still a few of the offending patterns remaining, if you want to grab your bargain flies today, click on any of the options below: Individuals - only £1.60 each Pack of 6 - only £9.50 Pack of 12 - only £17.50 F i l l  Y o u r  B o o t s ... Tight lines & make the most of this nice weather! 

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The Fly Fishing Equivalent of 'The Little Black Dress'

Bosnian Maj Nymphs - Our 'Secret' Spring Nymphs

Our 'man in Bosnia' has been 'on the tools' once again - with some more very tempting nymphs - specifically tied for success in April and early May - when our water is just that little bit cooler. We try to plan all of our specialist fly selections at least 3 to 4 months in advance, when asked what we were planning for April, we wanted to do something a little different, so I asked him to surprise us and tie something which he would use himself, for trout in the earlier parts of the season when the rivers are still colder. His reply was "I will tie you some secret patterns, which are the first nymphs I try on any river here in April and May" - which had me intrigued, we had no images to go on, and because I trust his judgement I said, "go for it". The first time I saw these was when they were delivered to us on Friday - to say I was impressed is an understatement! Check out these Bosnian bad boys ... Our Bosnian Maj Nymph Selection contains 12 nymphs (4 different patterns, 3 of each in a size 14).  As we've only got 40 of these Bosnian Maj Nymph Selections available, we'll get straight down to the offer: Buy a selection of Bosnian Maj Tungsten Nymphs today for only £24; or Include one of Jeff Jones's stunning hand-made Oak fly boxes for an additional £36 - bringing the total for the fly selection including one of Jeff's stunning Oak fly boxes, to only £60. To view or buy our Bosnian Secret Nymph Selection, just click on any image or button contained within this email. Keep reading for more info and detailed images of the nymphs - you'll be glad you did ... I asked 'our man in Bosnia' to give me a little info about these nymph, here's what he said: "These nymphs are tied on an AHREX FW541 Curved Nymph barbless hooks in size 14, designed for excellent hook penetration and durability. The fly is weighted with a 3.5 mm copper tungsten bead, ensuring it sinks quickly to the desired depth. Veevus Stomach thread is used as a base for the body, providing a strong foundation and smooth surface for the segmentation. Over the thread, is wrapped Troutline Tapered Synthetic Quills (size M) to create a realistic, segmented abdomen. Four different colour of quills have been used: Light Olive, Olive, Red & Yellow. These specific quills create a variation in shade and contrast, making the fly more attractive in different water conditions. The thorax is covered with Veevus Flat Braid in black, adding a slight sheen and additional contrast to the fly. To create a natural, lifelike appearance, the legs are made from Hare’s Mask dubbing, which gives the fly a buggy, slightly spiky profile that enhances movement in the water. To enhance durability and add a natural 'wet look', both the body and the thorax (flat braid) are coated with Raidzap UV Resin and cured under a UV light. This not only protects the fly from wear but also gives it a slightly translucent finish, mimicking the natural sheen of natural insects. With its realistic segmentation, natural buggy appearance, UV-coated durability, and weighted design, this nymph is perfect for targeting trout in both fast and slow-moving water. The combination of synthetic and natural materials ensures durability while maintaining an enticing, lifelike look underwater." So what nymphs are best for tempting those early season trout? Usually, trout look to nymphs when feeding in the early season/colder water. These nymphs have been tied to fish as deep as possible, with 3.5mm copper-coloured tungsten beads - to keep your nymph where it needs to be, on the bottom. They are all tied on the best barbless nymph hook available on the market today - the AHREX FW541 Curved Nymph - perfect for all your early season nymphs. Our Bosnian Maj Nymph Selection contains three each of these 'Bosnian Bad Boys': Light Olive Maj Nymph - Size 14 AHREX FW541 - weight 0.37g Olive Maj Nymph - Size 14 AHREX FW541 - weight 0.37g Red Maj Nymph - Size 14 AHREX FW541 - weight 0.37g Yellow Maj Nymph - Size 14 AHREX FW541 - weight 0.37g Early season nymph fishing is more about finding the fish, so it's important to keep on the move and only pass your nymphs through a lane a couple of times - if there's a fish there they will usually take it straight away. Top Tip: if you are fishing in coloured water, use the Red Maj nymph. Coloured water usually means that the river is running higher than usual, this nymph is designed to stand out in coloured water and trigger a more inquisitive response. Generally, the water levels at this time of year are average to high, so he's added a 3.5mm tungsten bead to the superb AHREX FW541 Curved Nymph hook for that little bit of extra weight. Our selection of 'secret' Maj Nymphs includes 4 different patterns, with 3 each of the following Bosnian 'Bad Boys': Light Olive Maj Nymph - Size 14 AHREX FW541 - weight 0.37g Olive Maj Nymph - Size 14 AHREX FW541 - weight 0.37g Red Maj Nymph - Size 14 AHREX FW541 - weight 0.37g Yellow Maj Nymph - Size 14 AHREX FW541 - weight 0.37g These specialist early season nymphs are all tied on size 14 AHREX FW541 Curved Nymph barbless hooks. Please Remember: We've only 40 of these selections available, so if you want a set, you will need to be quick - Our Bosnian flies always sell out within a few hours of being released! Go on, treat yourself - you know you want to - at £24 for these selections, these will not hang around for long! Fishing in April can be very challenging, depending on which part of the British Isles you are located. Generally, the further South and West you are the better the fishing will be at this time of year – the North and Scotland always seem to lag a couple or three weeks behind the South of the British Isles as far as hatches and river fish activity go. Manage your expectations – You’ve probably been waiting for the first trip of the season for a while, and if you’re anything like me, thinking of nothing else but those first few (very rusty) casts! Don’t go expecting to ‘bag up’, once the season opens the water is generally still very cold and the fish less actively feeding. River choice is a key factor at this time, if you're lucky enough to have a choice of river, it’s always best to target the smaller streams where possible, you will stand a much better chance of success. It’s also best to time your trips to when you are more likely to see active fish in front of you – between 11am and 2pm. So, now is the time to act accordingly, have a nice and leisurely breakfast - a Full English is my preferred option - at a local cafe – got to support those local businesses. Arrive at the river for around 10:30 and get set up – always keeping an eye on the water for any movement. Early Season Watercraft – Searching for those early season fish is where watercraft comes into play more than at any other time of the year. Watercraft is the art of looking, listening and watching the water (and the environment around you) and then decoding the signals to give you an indication of what is happening, then using tactics based on what you see. A typical example of this is seeing a Wagtail on the riverbanks, these birds are notorious for arriving on the river just before an Olive hatch starts, if you see one – tie on an Olive emerger and wait! Early Season watercraft is far too big a subject to go into detail here. If you would like to read more there are a couple of fantastic books I would highly recommend - as we wrote them! FLY Series: Early Season River Fishing £9.99 FLY Series: Watercraft (How To Read Water) £9.99   Finally, Even though we are forecast for some nicer weather over the next few days, don’t let any bad weather put you off, so long as the water is fishable, ignore the conditions – some of my best early-season days have been when there’s a gale blowing and it’s about to rain. Tight lines & have a great day.

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Bosnian Maj Nymphs - Our 'Secret' Spring Nymphs

'Almost' Barbless Flies - A Little Bit Of A Cock-Up

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 & GraylingWater Types: Rivers & StillwatersLocation: All UKTying 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 setupTie 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)!

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'Almost' Barbless Flies - A Little Bit Of A Cock-Up

Perdigon Jigs: Your Early-Season Secret - Nygren's Secret Nymphs

An Inglespañol Creation This is quite a long email, so you may want to grab a brew before you start reading it! We pride ourselves on our communication - our emails take lots of planning - I always want to make sure that they are: Entertaining (hopefully), Educational; and Relevant That's why, when it comes to the planning stage (we always plan at least 6 months in advance for all our flies - due, in part, to the length of time it takes our guys to tie them!) I sit down with a pencil and a big notebook and start to jot down ideas. TL;DR - Too Long; Didn't Read I know that some of you are pressed for time and save our emails to read later in the day, by this time our selections are sometimes sold out (I get lots of emails from customers pointing this out to me). This email is all about the Perdigon nymph, a fly pattern specifically designed to sink fast, and catch fish - especially in the early stages of the season! These flies are all tied on one of the best jig hooks available (the Hanak H450BL). In this email, we are launching our Clear-Water & Coloured-Water Perdigon patterns, all available in sizes 14 & 16 (and 20's if you want to stock up on some stunning micro Summer nymphs). We are making them available as either individuals (including packs of 3 or 6), two separate selections or as a full 'Ultimate' selection. Click the button below to grab yours now: As you may imagine, I get through loads of pencils (if you're a pencil geek - I love using Blackwing pencils - quite expensive and very traditional, but I find the ideas start to flow as soon as I pick one up!). As a consequence of using a traditional wooden pencil, you need to have a good pencil sharpener handy. It was whilst using said sharpener and discovering where it was invented - an hour of my life I will never get back, thanks to YouTube - the idea hit me for the email you are reading now ... I'm sure that you were not aware the humble pencil sharpener was invented by a spanish guy - called Ignacio Urresti.  Just like the style of fly this email is concerned with - it is the product of a Spanish guys imagination, José Carlos Rodríguez - he took inspiration from a Catalan nymph devised by José María Cros and a micro-nymph tied by the renowned French angler Pascal Cognard. It is of course one of the most successful early-season nymphs when the water is a little higher than usual and flowing faster, The Perdigon: Our tyers have really out-done themselves with these - yes, they are some of the more expensive flies we sell - this type of quality is never cheap - but hopefully you will have the same excitement using them as I do when I reach for my Blackwings!  We've loads of info on the Perdigon below and I've also included a section at the very end of this email on how to get the best presentation in the early stages of the season when fishing with perdigon style flies. Perdigon flies were developed in the early 2000's by Spanish fly anglers and are usually used in fast flowing rivers. These flies have tungsten bead heads and thin bodies, made of thread and tinsel. They have a very slim profile, allowing a very fast sink rate compared with classic beaded nymphs. The lighter coloured (sparkly) perdigons are ideal for both very clear or coloured water. So what makes these patterns so special? We posed that exact question to Nygren (the designer), and his reply was -  "These are tied on strong Hanak wide-gape hooks, they sink quickly with very little disturbance and due to their bright bodies are perfect when fishing at less than 6ft deep - as the sunlight will 'activate' the coloured bodies. Their mass also allows you great feel through the line when fishing a single nymph - you should be able to feel the gravel on the river bed!" That was us sold on them, and we're launching them to you - our fantastic email community - today. These flies have been specifically tied for fishing in the water levels and flows we experience through the early season here in the UK and are ideal for both rivers and stillwaters. As well as the ability to buy each of the flies individually, We have three distinct selections for you to also choose from - to make it a really simple choice, we've taken the hard work away from you and pre-divided them by the type of water you usually fish - how good are we to you!: Clear-Water Perdigon Jig Selection £36.00 £45.00 Coloured-Water Perdigon Jig Selection £36.00 £45.00                                   Nygren's Ultimate Perdigon Jig Selection £99.50 £130.00   As you probably know by now, we're pretty geeky when it comes to nymphs! Here's the specification for the size 14 & 16 Perdigons: Size 14: Weight: 0.35g Hook Length: 12.6mm Hook Gape: 5.3mm Tungsten Bead: 3.3mm Size 16: Weight: 0.22g Hook Length: 10.2mm Hook Gape: 4.5mm Tungsten Bead: 2.8mm   Each fly has a red hot-spot tied in just before the Coq de Leon tail and is tied on a Hanak H450BL Jig Superb barbless jig hook. The colour variations we have available are: Black (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Copper (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Gold (with Gold Slotted Tungsten Bead) Light Pink (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Metallic Blue (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Metallic Green (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Metallic Orange (with Orange Slotted Tungsten Bead) Peacock (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Pearl (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Rainbow (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) These are not cheap flies, but we do have something to suit all budgets, how much I hear you ask - £2.25 for each individual fly (including packs of 3 for £6 or 6 for £11.25) or £36 for each selection of 20.  Our Ultimate Perdigon Jig Selection includes all 40 flies (i.e. both the Clear-Water & Coloured-Water Selections) and one of Jeff Jones's beautiful wooden fly boxes, and is £99.50 - a 30% discount on buying individually, but I hope you will agree that the quality is outstanding.  We only have 30 of each of these three selections for sale - they will never be produced in large numbers due to the time taken to tie/make each fly. As always, all orders are shipped free of charge to any location within the UK If you would like a set, you will need to be pretty quick off the mark!   Here are a few more images to really tempt you:   Go on, you know you want to! Fancy Something A Little Smaller ... Nygren's Micro Hot-Spot Perdigon Jig Selection £36.00 £45.00 As you can see from above, we're pretty geeky when it comes to our nymphs! Here's the specification for the size 20 Perdigon Jigs: Size 20: Weight - 0.07g Hook Length - 8mm Hook Gape - 3.6mm Bead - 2.5mm Slotted Tungsten Each fly has a red hot-spot tied in just before the Coq de Leon tail and is tied on a Hanak H450BL Jig Superb barbless jig hook. The colour variations we have available are: Black Copper Gold Light Pink Metallic Blue Metallic Green Metallic Orange Peacock Pearl Rainbow Our Micro Perdigon Jig Selection contains 2 each of the above colour variations (a total of 20 Micro Perdigons) all for the very reasonable price of £36 - which includes FREE delivery to anywhere within the UK.. Go on, you know you want to! The Perdigon nymph is designed to catch fish, at depth. Therefore it is important when fishing with Perdigon nymphs to follow these few tips to make sure the presentation of the nymph is as realistic as possible.  The key to fishing with any Perdigon style of fly is the make sure the fly is presented in the best way possible. Here are a few tip to allow you to get the most when fishing with this style of fly: Choose Your Water: This style of fly is particularly proficient when fishing small pocket water, i.e. lots of short runs where you need to get the fly down quickly. Fly Presentation Techniques - 1: To get the fly as deep as possible, as quickly as possible, you need to make sure the fly enters the water before your leader - to do this make sure to stop your rod tip much higher than usual. This will force the fly to enter the water first and also put the rod in the correct position to keep you in contact with the fly as soon as it enters the water. Fly Presentation Techniques - 2: For the fly to sink as quickly as possible, it needs to enter the water at its maximum velocity. To do this add a single haul to the final cast before presenting the fly - this will speed up your line and in-turn the flies entry to the water. Fly Presentation Techniques - 3: When fishing with a Perdigon, you need to present it on (or near to) the bottom,  when the fly enters the water it is usually better to lead the fly through the water - keeping in contact so you can detect any takes. The speed with which you lead the fly varies depending upon the speed of the water, but I usually lead it through just slightly slower than the water is flowing. Remember, that the water on the bottom will always flow slower than the water on the surface and you need the nymph to react as normally as possible.Perdigon nymphs are generally used in the faster stretches of water, due to their slim, smooth, profiles they sink very quickly. This allows you longer drifts each time you cast. However, using these flies will also allow you to fish those slower parts, which anglers usually pass by. Tight lines & have fun in the sun.          

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Perdigon Jigs: Your Early-Season Secret - Nygren's Secret Nymphs

An Inglespañol Creation - By José Carlos Rodríguez

An Inglespañol Creation This is quite a long email, so you may want to grab a brew before you start reading it! We pride ourselves on our communication - our emails take lots of planning - I always want to make sure that they are: Entertaining (hopefully), Educational; and Relevant That's why, when it comes to the planning stage (we always plan at least 6 months in advance for all our flies - due, in part, to the length of time it takes our guys to tie them!) I sit down with a pencil and a big notebook and start to jot down ideas. TL;DR - Too Long; Didn't Read I know that some of you are pressed for time and save our emails to read later in the day, by this time our selections are sometimes sold out (I get lots of emails from customers pointing this out to me). This email is all about the Perdigon nymph, a fly pattern specifically designed to sink fast, and catch fish - especially in the early stages of the season! These flies are all tied on one of the best jig hooks available (the Hanak H450BL). In this email, we are launching our Clear-Water & Coloured-Water Perdigon patterns, all available in sizes 14 & 16 (and 20's if you want to stock up on some stunning micro Summer nymphs). We are making them available as either individuals (including packs of 3 or 6), two separate selections or as a full 'Ultimate' selection. Click the button below to grab yours now: As you may imagine, I get through loads of pencils (if you're a pencil geek - I love using Blackwing pencils - quite expensive and very traditional, but I find the ideas start to flow as soon as I pick one up!). As a consequence of using a traditional wooden pencil, you need to have a good pencil sharpener handy. It was whilst using said sharpener and discovering where it was invented - an hour of my life I will never get back, thanks to YouTube - the idea hit me for the email you are reading now ... I'm sure that you were not aware the humble pencil sharpener was invented by a spanish guy - called Ignacio Urresti.  Just like the style of fly this email is concerned with - it is the product of a Spanish guys imagination, José Carlos Rodríguez - he took inspiration from a Catalan nymph devised by José María Cros and a micro-nymph tied by the renowned French angler Pascal Cognard. It is of course one of the most successful early-season nymphs when the water is a little higher than usual and flowing faster, The Perdigon: Our tyers have really out-done themselves with these - yes, they are some of the more expensive flies we sell - this type of quality is never cheap - but hopefully you will have the same excitement using them as I do when I reach for my Blackwings!  We've loads of info on the Perdigon below and I've also included a section at the very end of this email on how to get the best presentation in the early stages of the season when fishing with perdigon style flies.  Perdigon flies were developed in the early 2000's by Spanish fly anglers and are usually used in fast flowing rivers. These flies have tungsten bead heads and thin bodies, made of thread and tinsel. They have a very slim profile, allowing a very fast sink rate compared with classic beaded nymphs. The lighter coloured (sparkly) perdigons are ideal for both very clear or coloured water. So what makes these patterns so special? We posed that exact question to Nygren (the designer), and his reply was -  "These are tied on strong Hanak wide-gape hooks, they sink quickly with very little disturbance and due to their bright bodies are perfect when fishing at less than 6ft deep - as the sunlight will 'activate' the coloured bodies. Their mass also allows you great feel through the line when fishing a single nymph - you should be able to feel the gravel on the river bed!" That was us sold on them, and we're launching them to you - our fantastic email community - today. These flies have been specifically tied for fishing in the water levels and flows we experience through the early season here in the UK and are ideal for both rivers and stillwaters. As well as the ability to buy each of the flies individually, We have three distinct selections for you to also choose from - to make it a really simple choice, we've taken the hard work away from you and pre-divided them by the type of water you usually fish - how good are we to you!: Clear-Water Perdigon Jig Selection £36.00 £45.00  Coloured-Water Perdigon Jig Selection £36.00 £45.00  Nygren's Ultimate Perdigon Jig Selection £99.50 £130.00                           As you probably know by now, we're pretty geeky when it comes to nymphs! Here's the specification for the size 14 & 16 Perdigons: Size 14: Weight: 0.35g Hook Length: 12.6mm Hook Gape: 5.3mm Tungsten Bead: 3.3mm Size 16: Weight: 0.22g Hook Length: 10.2mm Hook Gape: 4.5mm Tungsten Bead: 2.8mm Each fly has a red hot-spot tied in just before the Coq de Leon tail and is tied on a Hanak H450BL Jig Superb barbless jig hook. The colour variations we have available are: Black (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Copper (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Gold (with Gold Slotted Tungsten Bead) Light Pink (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Metallic Blue (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Metallic Green (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Metallic Orange (with Orange Slotted Tungsten Bead) Peacock (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Pearl (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) Rainbow (with Silver Slotted Tungsten Bead) These are not cheap flies, but we do have something to suit all budgets, how much I hear you ask - £2.25 for each individual fly (including packs of 3 for £6 or 6 for £11.25) or £36 for each selection of 20. Our Ultimate Perdigon Jig Selection includes all 40 flies (i.e. both the Clear-Water & Coloured-Water Selections) and one of Jeff Jones's beautiful wooden fly boxes, and is £99.50 - a 30% discount on buying individually, but I hope you will agree that the quality is outstanding.  We only have 30 of each of these three selections for sale - they will never be produced in large numbers due to the time taken to tie/make each fly. *** As always, all orders are shipped free of charge to any location within the UK *** If you would like a set, you will need to be pretty quick off the mark!   Here are a few more images to really tempt you:   Go on, you know you want to! Fancy Something A Little Smaller ...   Nygren's Micro Hot-Spot Perdigon Jig Selection £36.00 £45.00 As you can see from above, we're pretty geeky when it comes to our nymphs! Here's the specification for the size 20 Perdigon Jigs: Size 20: Weight - 0.07g Hook Length - 8mm Hook Gape - 3.6mm Bead - 2.5mm Slotted Tungsten Each fly has a red hot-spot tied in just before the Coq de Leon tail and is tied on a Hanak H450BL Jig Superb barbless jig hook. The colour variations we have available are: Black Copper Gold Light Pink Metallic Blue Metallic Green Metallic Orange Peacock Pearl Rainbow Our Micro Perdigon Jig Selection contains 2 each of the above colour variations (a total of 20 Micro Perdigons) all for the very reasonable price of £36 - which includes FREE delivery to anywhere within the UK..  Go on, you know you want to!   The Perdigon nymph is designed to catch fish, at depth. Therefore it is important when fishing with Perdigon nymphs to follow these few tips to make sure the presentation of the nymph is as realistic as possible. The key to fishing with any Perdigon style of fly is the make sure the fly is presented in the best way possible. Here are a few tip to allow you to get the most when fishing with this style of fly: Choose Your Water: This style of fly is particularly proficient when fishing small pocket water, i.e. lots of short runs where you need to get the fly down quickly. Fly Presentation Techniques - 1: To get the fly as deep as possible, as quickly as possible, you need to make sure the fly enters the water before your leader - to do this make sure to stop your rod tip much higher than usual. This will force the fly to enter the water first and also put the rod in the correct position to keep you in contact with the fly as soon as it enters the water. Fly Presentation Techniques - 2: For the fly to sink as quickly as possible, it needs to enter the water at its maximum velocity. To do this add a single haul to the final cast before presenting the fly - this will speed up your line and in-turn the flies entry to the water. Fly Presentation Techniques - 3: When fishing with a Perdigon, you need to present it on (or near to) the bottom,  when the fly enters the water it is usually better to lead the fly through the water - keeping in contact so you can detect any takes. The speed with which you lead the fly varies depending upon the speed of the water, but I usually lead it through just slightly slower than the water is flowing. Remember, that the water on the bottom will always flow slower than the water on the surface and you need the nymph to react as normally as possible. Perdigon nymphs are generally used in the faster stretches of water, due to their slim, smooth, profiles they sink very quickly. This allows you longer drifts each time you cast. However, using these flies will also allow you to fish those slower parts, which anglers usually pass by.   Tight lines & have fun in the sun.

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An Inglespañol Creation - By José Carlos Rodríguez

Tracing blue lines on a map to reveal hidden treasure!

Chasing Blue Lines On A Map   Morning. If you're anything like me (which I assume you are if you're reading this), then we've all opened a local map to trace the blue lines - for some reason I always find myself doing this in March - it must be due to the fact that here in Yorkshire the rivers don't usually open until the 1st April, and I can't wait! Have you ever noticed how the anticipation of an approaching fishing season often outshines the actual fishing? There you are, organising your fly box for the fifteenth time, studying river maps like they're ancient scrolls revealing hidden treasure ('chasing blue lines'), and telling your significant other "just five more minutes" as you tie just one more fly ...   I firmly believe that it's the anticipation of the first cast that keeps us all coming back - that moment when every pool potentially holds the fish of a lifetime and your back and/or knees haven't started complaining yet. If we're completely honest, our anticipation doesn't include cold fingers, surprise downpours, or those existential moments when you're standing, thigh-deep, wondering if fish are just an elaborate hoax perpetuated by fly rod manufacturers! Whilst we can't guarantee the fish will cooperate when the season does open - if we could, our sport would be called 'catching', rather than 'fishing' - we can ensure you're equipped with the perfect arsenal of flies. Which brings me to our completely redesigned and Brand NEW for 2025 Dry Fly Selection ...   When we first launched Barbless Flies - all the way back in 2014 - we started with just two selections of flies - a set of nymphs and a set of dries. Our initial aim was to put together separate universal selections of dry flies and nymphs which you could take to any water (be it River or Stillwater) in the UK, and be confident of catching a fish - no matter what time of day, or year. As the weather starts to (hopefully) warm up and the river season opens, fly anglers from across the country will be blowing the dust off their dry fly boxes and putting them to use in anger on our rivers and stillwaters. Our original Dry Fly Selection had not really changed at all since we first launched it all those years ago. Until now ... I'm absolutely delighted to tell you that we've completely redesigned our best-selling Dry Fly Selection for 2025. We've curated the NEW for 2025 Dry Selection with the best quality flies available - all tied using the highest quality materials, and on the very best hooks - AHREX. Which other fly retailers actually tell you which hooks they use? There's a reason they don't tell you. The one thing which hasn't changed in our selection is it still adheres to our original ethos - 'dry flies which you can take anywhere (at any time of day or year) and they will work' - with the added benefit that the flies are now all tied on AHREX's ultra-premium barbless hooks. Please Note: Our new Dry Selection features patterns that are so meticulously crafted, you'll want to frame them rather than tie them to your leader. Although, between you and me, they work much better in water than behind glass. Our NEW for 2025 Dry Fly Selection contains five patterns. Four of which variations you will find in virtually every anglers fly box: Elk-Hair Caddis - Al Troth´s legendary Caddis fly. The Elk Hair Caddis is one of the most well known and lethal Caddis patterns. You will generally find two kinds of flies to mimic the adult flies - high and low floaters, this fly is a high floater that will dance around on the surface. Give this fly some movement occasionally. We are supplying three Elk-Hair Caddis, all tied on an AHREX FW503 size 14's in our Dry Selection. Olive Emerger - An excellent emerger pattern, with a Z-Lon wing. This pattern is ideal to imitate the change from nymph to dun. We are supplying three Emerging Olives, all tied on an AHREX FW503 size 16's in our Dry Selection. Caddis Upright - A stage in the Caddis lifecycle which is often overlooked. Fish this fly free drifting. We are supplying three Caddis Upright's, all tied on an AHREX FW503 size 14's in our Dry Selection. Early Dun - This fly is a great generic imitation of the various Olive's which are commonly found in all rivers throughout the UK in the Spring and Summer months. We are supplying three Early Dun's, all tied on an AHREX FW503 size 16's in our Dry Selection. The fifth pattern in our selection is a little special, it's slightly underwhelmingly called - The Emerging Caddis: This fly is a very versatile pattern, great fished as a single dry fly on a dead drift or just tweaked a little to give a bit of movement. It sits right in the meniscus and is great when fished in a morning or early evening. We are supplying three Emerging Caddis, all tied on an AHREX FW503 size 16's in our Dry Selection. Our NEW for 2025 Dry Selection is now available as a selection of 15 flies (5 different patterns - see above - 3 of each). We are supplying all of these for only £22 - shipped FREE of charge to anywhere in the UK and supplied in our eco-friendly packaging. Just click on any image or button in this email to view the flies in more detail.    Go on, treat yourself for the beginning of the river season. These are the best quality flies available on the market today!   Other Dry Flies To Consider ...   Specialist Dry Selection only £20.00 The barbless Specialist Dry Fly Selection. To complement our NEW for 2025 Dry Fly Selection we have added this specialist selection of dry flies. These are designs which, over the last few years have proved themselves in the fish catching stakes. Some are generic patterns which represent numerous flies, all can be used in the Spring and Summer months to catch those most wary fish. These flies are all great imitations (all tied on barbless hooks - of course!). In total, there are 16 flies supplied in our eco-friendly packaging. All of these flies are tied using barbless hooks, in sizes 14 and 18 using the highest quality materials. When fishing with dry flies there is one key aspect that the fly angler needs to concentrate on - keeping them afloat! Keeping your dry flies floating on the water - not in it - is one of the main skills for effective dry fly fishing. Why not give this Top Tip a go and use the 'Elastic Band' method to remove water from your fly: Attach an elastic band to your vest/pack. Hook your fly around the elastic band. Holding the tippet, pull the fly to stretch the elastic band. Channel your best Eric Clapton/Jimi Hendrix/[insert favourite guitarist here] and twang the elastic band a few times with your free hand. This will shed all of the excess water from your fly! As a special treat, for today only, for each NEW for 2025 Dry Selection ordered we will include a 'special Fly Fishing' Elastic Band for FREE - they're not really that special they only cost us £1 for 50 and you can use them for purposes other than fly fishing! Tight lines & have a great opening day of the river season (whenever yours opens).                                                          

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Tracing blue lines on a map to reveal hidden treasure!

Crafted for Your Waters: A Fly Concierge Service

Morning, I caught up with Jeff Jones (fly box maker extraordinaire) just before the recent BFFI, where he informed me that he was retiring - if you've never seen one of Jeff's hand-made oak fly boxes before, you're in for a real treat. If you've been a part of our email community for any length of time, you will no doubt remember that we did a range of really nice Mayflies in one of Jeff's boxes - they sold out within hours! On chatting with Jeff, he offered us the very last of his small fly box stock - which we gladly snapped up: Just as our conversation was ending, Jeff also mentioned that he had a really nice, but quite large, fly box - if we could do something with it. Too right we could ... fast forward a couple of weeks ... and Jeff's fly boxes arrived with us last week & they are stunning! We knew exactly what to do with his regular 'pocket sized' boxes - see our Fly Concierge Service further below - but, it took us a while to figure out what we do with the 'big one'. We've created a 'one off' and called it The Barbless Flies Vault: We've only one of these - and we're going to sell it - but it's not cheap! This mega fly box from Jeff is hand-made from oak and measures: 42cm Wide x 26cm Deep x 5cm High It's also stuffed full of dozens and dozens of our best flies - both Artisan and Bosnian. In total there are 500+ flies contained within the box (48 different patterns, with roughly 10 of each pattern - in all the right sizes). The fly patterns included cover the whole trout river season. Here's just a few of the 48 fly patterns which are included: March Browns Iron Blues Blue-Winged Olives Hawthorns Daddy Long-Legs Tungsten Nymphs Perdigons Bosnian Mayflies Regular Mayflies Beetles Shrimps Hi-Viz Klinkhamers Stoneflies We've only one of these - and we're going to sell it - but it aint' cheap! Our Barbless Flies Vault is on sale for the princely sum of - £750 - yes, you did read that right - s e v e n  h u n d r e d  a n d  f i f t y  p o u n d s  The Barbless Flies Vault contains 500+ of our premium barbless river flies (valued at over £800 themselves) and Jeff's stunning Oak compartment fly box (valued at £120) - when you look at it like that, £750 is a bit of a bargain! Full Disclosure: Jack and I originally only put this together to see what it would look like, with no intention of actually selling it. But, as the saying goes "you never know who's reading this", so if you fancy it, as a bit of a 'Brucie Bonus' I will even hand-deliver the Barbless Flies Vault to you - so long as you are within an hour's drive of Scarborough!   On the subject of Jeff's more pocket-friendly fly boxes ...   My recent long-form article over on our "The Fly Fishing EDGE" subscription platform about Fly Box Organisation seems to have struck a bit of a chord with lots of you - judging by the emails I've received over the last few weeks, all centred around two subjects: Saying what an easy way it is to organise your flies, whilst taking much less to the water; and Asking if we could make them available to buy through Barbless Flies The real difficulty with making the seasonal fly boxes available to buy is that rivers across the country have different fly life at different times of the year. This set me thinking, and re-ignited the idea of: Just like a Concierge at a hotel, there is no reason why we can't provide a personal service and curate sets of flies specific to you and the rivers you fish - all we need to know is which part of the country you fish in and we can do the rest. We have over 2,000 different patterns in the warehouse, so the flies themselves aren't an issue! So we are going to do exactly that ... We are starting with seasonal fly boxes for Spring & Summer - just like the ones I use myself. We did something very similar for a very good customer a few weeks back, he called me on the day he received his curated fly selection, his exact words were: "I just had to give you a call. The flies you sent me are fantastic, which is usual for you, but the box is out of this world (and I work with wood every day). I can honestly say that opening that box reminded me of just how I felt on Christmas morning as a kid." Thanks Philip, I love taking phone calls like that. Each one of Jeff's oak boxes will contain a minimum of 40 of our best quality flies, along with the box of flies you will also receive a document explaining which flies are in each box and information on how to get the best from each of the patterns. Here's how the process will work: You place your order for the seasonal curated fly selection through our website - you can click on any image or button contained within this email to view the seasonal selections (we are starting with Spring & Summer). Once you receive your order confirmation email, reply to it giving me the following details: your name, your order number and the location of any specific rivers you fish. You can also include any extra information which you think is necessary, i.e. if there are any specific restrictions on your water. I will do the research into the flies for your particular area and season. I will then personally put the full fly selection together and ship them to you. As you can probably imagine, this personal service does come at a little bit of a cost, £97.50 to be exact, but for that you receive: A minimum of 40 of our best quality flies presented in one of Jeff Jones's oak fly boxes (these easily fit in wader or vest pockets); and A document outlining the fly box's content and detailed information on each pattern included - all tailored to you and your river. Please Note: Due to the unique aspect of this product, it's not something we can just pre-make, pluck off the shelf and ship the same day as you order (like we usually do), there will be a couple of days delay in shipping these to you as each is curated and tailored to your individual area/river/season.   Please Also Note: I believe this is outstanding value when you consider the flies alone would be around £75 and the box £45, plus you receive a detailed run down of the fly patterns contained within your personally curated selection - and, I have to spend quite a bit of time researching the best flies for the job! If our Concierge service proves popular, we will extend it out to other selections, but to get us going we are concentrating on just seasonal boxes for Spring & Summer. If you have any questions etc on our Concierge Service please get in touch with me and I will help where I can.   Tight lines.                                              

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Crafted for Your Waters: A Fly Concierge Service

Early Access: Our NEW Feathersmith Signature Series Kits - only £20!

Morning. Before I start with this email - it's a 'fly tying' one, which I know some of you are not interested in - if that's you, please feel free to delete it immediately! If that's not you and you've even the remotest interest in 'rolling your own', then please - read on McDuff ... As a valued member of our email community, I wanted to release our NEW 'Signature Series' Fly Tying Kits to you first. We knew we were onto a winner after our successful soft-launch of the kits at the BFFI a few weeks ago. But first ... If you are a subscriber to the Fly Fishing & Fly Tying magazine, you may have seen our kits reviewed by Magnus Angus as a part of their 'On The Bench' feature in their April edition (which I received yesterday):   * Yes, we are going to frame it for all to see! Magnus's review was completely independent (and I've taken note of his - and others - comments about the background music which accompanies our videos!) It's always great to get some industry recognition with anything we do, so Jack and were feeling pretty chipper this morning  Now, back to our Signature Series Kits ... This series of kits came about from numerous conversations I've had since Feathersmith's inception - mainly centred around a few different points: Customers wanted kits that were a little different to what they would usually tie; and They also wanted the price to be lower with fewer flies So, we put our thinking caps on and came up with our NEW 'Signature Series' - essentially, these are all patterns which are real fish catchers and by playing about with the packaging - and supplied materials - we've brought them in at the right price point, with just the right amount of flies - each of our Signature Series of kits are priced at only £20, you can find out more details of the patterns included below. To bring the price down, while still offering outstanding value, we've had to use a little bit of lateral thinking - for example, each kit only makes use of standard black thread (which everyone already has), so we've not included it as a part of the kit. Please Note: As always, with any of our Feathersmith kits: Contained inside is also a link which will direct you to a secret page on our website where all the tying videos, fly history etc (including all of 'our man in Bosnia's' Fly tying tutorial series) can be accessed. One other comment which we've taken note of was that customers wanted a way of keeping their materials fresh (out of the way of any bugs which may eat the natural feathers/dubbings etc), so, all of our Signature Series kits are supplied in re-sealable bags - to keep your materials in the best possible condition. Enough of the pre-amble, let me introduce you to the kits themselves. We're starting our Signature Series lineup with three separate kits: The Quill Gordon The V-Rib Tungsten Nymph; and The Blue-Winged Olive Details of each kit can be found by either clicking the link below it, or on the image itself. The Quill Gordon     This first in our 'Signature Series' of kits celebrates a classic Catskill style pattern - The Quill Gordon. This pattern is perfect for targeting Spring and Summer Trout and is especially successful on the slower glides when Olive are hatching.   The V-Rib Tungsten Nymph     This second in our 'Signature Series' of kits celebrates a fly which catches fish in virtually ever water it enters - The V-Rib Tungsten Nymph. This pattern is a bit of a hybrid, in that it perfectly imitates those sub-surface hatches, but with a rubber-legged twist. It is a perfect pattern to use in the early (and late) season, just before we start to see the more regular fly hatches.   The Blue-Winged Olive     This third in our 'Signature Series' of kits celebrates a fly which is a staple on virtually every water in the UK - The Blue-Winged Olive. This pattern is a development of the popular 'spent' variant, which is especially successful when fished during (and after) the fabled 'evening rise' - and also really productive when fished first thing in a morning.   Try Our Other Feathersmith Kits! We've now built up quite a range of Feathersmith kits. We have you covered for the most successful flies no matter what waters you are fishing. Take a look at these two kits below. The Klink 'n' Dink is perfect for the early river season when searching the water for those elusive fish, whilst our Woolly Bugger kit is an ideal starter kit which produces a perfect fly for stillwater lure fishing and streamers on a river: *** Go on, you know you want to. Our Boxed Feathersmith kits are perfect to while away the hours whilst your waiting for the season to start, and at less than £1/fly they also offer great value *** Some More Nice Words About Our Kits!     But, I've Never Tied A Fly Before!   Don't worry, we've got you covered ... We know that our Feathersmith kits appeal to both the beginner and more experienced fly tyers, and since launching our first kits we've had quite a few enquiries asking if we could provide a 'basic set of skills' course to help those of you just starting out on this fantastic hobby. Kenan Haseta is a professional fly tyer and keen fly angler, he's a regular visitor to the Ribnik to test out his creations, he's also 'our man in Bosnia' and has been tying stunning 'one-off' creations for us for the last few years, his tying skills are second to none. We've asked Kenan a few times if he would share his experience and skills in video format - he's pretty shy and always wanted to be behind, rather than in front, of the camera. So we twisted his arm a little and he's agreed: Kenan has created a set of 'basic skills' videos for us, with detailed explanations of all the tools, vices, hooks, materials and how to dress a hook. Kenan's 'Fly Tying for Beginners' video series is available for FREE to everyone.   In the meantime, tight threads and have fun out there - our normal 'pre-tied' fly service will resume next week!                                          

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Early Access: Our NEW Feathersmith Signature Series Kits - only £20!

Dry Flies Which Work Everywhere (All The Time) - The Specialist Dry Fly Selection

When we first launched Barbless Flies, way back in 2014 (see our original logo below) we started with only two selections of dry flies. Our initial aim was to put together separate universal selections of flies which you could take to any water (be it river or stillwater) in the UK, and be confident of catching fish. As the weather starts to warm (hopefully!) within the next few weeks, fly anglers from across the country will be blowing the dust off their fly boxes and putting them to use in anger on our rivers and stillwaters. Our Specialist Dry Selection has not changed at all since we first launched it eleven years ago. We've only given the patterns a slight tweak with updated materials to make them usable in even more fishing situations you may find when using dry flies: Our Specialist Dry Selection contains four patterns. Three of which you will find in virtually every anglers fly box: The Jingler - An imitation of the Large Dark Olive, this spider like fly is fished dry and sits just in the meniscus. Can be used in either early or late season, one of the new generation of flies. Our selection contains two each of sizes 14 & 18. Split-Wing Olive - With a slim quill like body and CdC split wings, these really do imitate the Blue Winged Olive and are ideal during afternoon hatches. With the wings tied in a slight 'V' formation, these sit just right on the water surface. Our selection contains two each of sizes 14 & 18. IOBO Humpy - One of the best named flies around - it stands for It Oughta Be Outlawed! The IOBO Humpy was originally designed and tied by Jack Tucker of Pennsylvania, USA. Very simple to tie (using a single CdC feather), floats like a cork and is deadly. Our selection contains two each of sizes 14 & 18. The fourth pattern in our selection is a very special one: The John Storey. This fly, named after a river keeper on the Ryedale Anglers Club, is a favourite on the Yorkshire rivers. Tied with a peacock hurl body, cock hackle and mallard wing sloping over the front of the fly. Our selection contains two each of sizes 14 & 18. Take a look at the end of this email for some tips on how to maintain the floatability - if that even a word - of your dry fly. Our Updated Specialist Dry Selection is now available as a selection of 16 flies (4 different patterns - see above). We are supplying all of these for still only £20, shipped to you FREE of charge in our eco-friendly packaging (if you're in the UK). Just click on any image or button in this email to view the flies in more detail.   Go on - you know you want to really   Dry Fly Boxes   If you're looking for somewhere to store your nice new dry flies, then look no further, as we have just received some stunning boxes from those fly box masters at Tacky Fly Fishing: The Tacky 'Day Pack'     Organise your flies by hatch, river, or season in one small package with the Tacky Day Pack. With room for 90 flies, their bi-directional slit design proves that sometimes big things do come in small packages. Headed out for a two hour twilight session after work? Grab the Day Pack and go. Holds up to 180 flies Original patented silicone anchoring technology Withstands extreme temperature range High visibility lid Strong, latchless magnetic closure Durable and tested for long-lasting strength Recycled polycarbonate box Patented design These boxes are easy to fit in a pocket or small pack, as they measure only: 5” x 3.125” x 0.75”. We've only a few of these, available now for only £19.99 - including FREE delivery -​ Grab one while you can.   The Tacky 'Double Haul'     Searching for one box to cover every situation you might come across during a long day on the water? Look no further than the Double Haul. With a massive 287 fly capacity, you’ll have plenty of room for a wide range of flies. Load one side with nymphs and the other with dry flies for an all-day-box that will keep you ready for variable hatch conditions. 100% recycled plastic box Holds up to 287 flies Original patented silicone anchoring technology Withstands an extreme temperature range Strong, latchless magnetic closure Durable and tested for long-lasting strength Patented design These boxes are easy to fit in a pocket or small pack, as they measure only: 7” x 3.75” x 1”. We've only a two of these (as they are pretty hard to come by), available now for only £34.99 - including FREE delivery - Grab one while you can. When fishing with dry flies there is one key aspect that the fly angler needs to concentrate on - keeping them afloat! Keeping your dry flies floating on the water - not in it - is one of the main skills for effective dry fly fishing. If you follow these steps you can be confident that your dries will stay afloat throughout the day: Only ever apply a gel/paste/liquid floatant to a fly that is 100% dry - i.e. it's straight out of your fly box and not seen the water that day. Applying this type of floatant to a fly that is damp will lock in the moisture and not allow it to float. Once you've had a fish, or your fly starts to sink, give it a squeeze between some amadou/a drying towel or piece of kitchen roll. Once you've removed the water and the fly is dry you can then freshen up the fly using one of the powder style floatants. Just brush the powder deep into the feathers and give it a blow to remove any excess. Top Tip: Use the 'Elastic Band' method to remove water from your fly: Attach an elastic band to your vest/pack. Hook your fly around the elastic band. Holding the tippet, pull the fly to stretch the elastic band. Channel your inner Jimi Hendrix and twang the elastic band a few times with your free hand. This will shed all of the excess water from the fly!   Tight lines & happy twanging.              

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Dry Flies Which Work Everywhere (All The Time) - The Specialist Dry Fly Selection

Fly Choice: Pure Luck or an Educated Guess?

Your Fly Choice Selecting the correct fly on a River or Stillwater: Is it just pure luck, or more of an informed guess? It started over 500 years ago ... With a pretty famous lady in these parts - she went by the name of Mother Shipton. As well as making traditional remedies, Mother Shipton had another gift. She could predict the future. It started off with small premonitions but as she practised, she became more confident and her powers grew. Soon she was known as Knaresborough’s Prophetess, a witch. She made her living telling the future. After a long life, she died in 1561, aged 73. Legend has it that she foretold the fates of several rulers within and just after her lifetime, as well as the invention of iron ships, the Great Fire of London in 1666, and the defeat of the Spanish Armada. "How does this relate to fly fishing?" I can hear you shouting at your screen. Well, we shouldn't need to consult a 'prophetess' or 'soothsayer' before we head out to the river - although you can if you think it would help! What we really need is something which will help us gain the knowledge to allow us to make these decisions ourselves, and that's where our River & Stillwater Almanacs comes in ... Our Almanacs Successful fly fishing is all about observation - carefully watching what is happening all around you, and then translating this information into your choice of fly and technique. As always there is no substitute for experience, but there are a few shortcuts you can use to help you gain that experience quicker. These books help you with gaining experience (and knowledge) quickly. They identify, for each month of the year, what hatches you should be looking out for and which flies to use to imitate the insects hatching around you. Please Note For 2025 our Almanacs have not changed from the ones we published in 2024 - we took the decision last year to separate the Almanac and Diary sections, if you did buy one of our Almanacs last year (thank you), you can now purchase the 2025 Diary/Catch Return section individually by clicking here - they're only £3.99. We've taken on board feedback from previous issues of our Almanacs - the main negative being that the book was too big to carry around with you. One other issue we found was that we were essentially writing a variation on the same theme each year - as weather conditions and insect hatches don't alter much from year to year. So, last year, we made two very important changes: We made them physically smaller - it is A6 (4.1" x 5.8") rather than A5. We've kept the font sizes the same and doubled the number of pages!  It now fits nicely in your pocket or glovebox. We made the Diary/Catch Return portion a separate book in itself (which is supplied FREE OF CHARGE with either Almanac). This means that next year, you only need to replace the Diary/Catch Return (at £3.99) to keep a record of your adventures. Doing the above has allowed us to cut our production costs, meaning we can pass these savings on to you. When you buy either our River or Stillwater Almanac you also receive the 2025 Diary/Catch Return Book free of charge. These are journals to accompany you throughout your fly fishing year. Something you can annotate and make notes in, allowing you to refer back to in years to come - helping you ‘crack the code’ on those difficult days. We’ve called them Almanacs as they take their inspiration from a few different sources, think of them as cross overs between: Old Moore’s Almanac - An annual publication that prophecies what will happen throughout the year - only this one is fly fishing related. The Fly Fishers Entomology - A seminal publication from 1836 by Alfred Ronalds, the first to detail river fly life from the angler's point of view. A Moleskine Diary - As used by Van Gogh, Picasso & Ernest Hemingway Both of our River and Stillwater Almanacs follow the fly anglers year - starting next week (March) and ending in February - detailing the hatches and flies to use for each month. Here's an excerpt from the River Almanac for March: I'm a firm believer that each water has its own nuances as far as fishing (and the fish contained within it) are concerned, and that the most successful anglers on any given body of water are the ones with the most experience of it. Generally in life, there are no shortcuts, but there are ways to help your experience along a little quicker - and owning A Fly Anglers Almanac is one of them! We are today re-launching all our fly fishing Almanacs (we've just had them reprinted). They're both 140 pages long and we have two different editions for you to choose from: Paperback Edition - only £12.99; or Digital Edition (a pdf download) - only £5.99 You can see more sample pages by clicking on any image or button contained in this email. Not convinced yet? Here's what some of our customers said about our Fly Anglers Almanacs ... Happy reading.   P.S. If you want to find out more about Mother Shipton, you can click here. The image and text used to describe her above were taken from their website, why not take a look?  

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Fly Choice: Pure Luck or an Educated Guess?

The Fly Fishing Forecast: March Edition

  Morning, Firstly, I'd like to thank all of you who supported us and bought one of Luke's rods over the weekend - we sold all of our allocation, it really means a lot to us and will hopefully mean than when Luke has something new, we will get first dib's on them! As we are now nearly into March, the wether will (hopefully?) start to warm a little and Stillwaters will really start to come into their own - usually rivers take a little while to get going once the season eventually starts. In this weeks email, I will be taking a look at the things to consider when approaching a Stillwater in March - I will also suggest a few different style of fly patterns to use - and we've some more silk lines available! Fly fishing on still waters in March can be a bit of a challenge - the water’s still pretty cold, and the fish are generally holding deep and not willing to chase food. Here are some tactics to help you improve your chances: Understand the Conditions Cold Water = Cautious Fish - In March, the water remains cold and oxygen levels may be lower, meaning fish have a slower metabolism. They tend to conserve energy and feed less aggressively, so your presentation needs to be extra subtle. Gear and Fly Selection Weighted Flies - Choose heavy nymphs or streamers that sink quickly. This is essential for reaching the deeper waters where fish often reside in cooler conditions. Long Leaders - Use a longer, flexible leader to allow for a natural drift. This minimizes any erratic movement that might spook any cautious fish. Strike Indicators - If you’re fishing nymphs, a strike indicator can be a useful tool to detect those subtle strikes when the fish are feeding sparingly. Casting and Presentation Techniques Slow and Steady - Since the fish are less active, a slow, controlled drift is critical. Avoid jerky movements; instead, let the fly settle naturally along the bottom. Use any wind to your advantage and let it move your fly line and leader naturally. Pause and Twitch - Occasionally, allow the fly to sit for a moment before a gentle twitch or lift. This mimics natural prey behaviour and might trigger a feeding response. Accurate Placement - On Stillwaters where there is less current to carry your fly, your casting accuracy becomes vital. Aim for drop-offs, weed beds, or underwater structures where fish are likely to be hiding. Location and Timing Target Deep Water - Focus your efforts on deeper pockets of water where the sun’s warmth might slightly raise the temperature. Fish tend to congregate in these areas during the colder months. Midday Fishing - When the sun is highest, even a bit of warmth can make a difference. Aim for midday sessions to capitalise on the slight increase in water temperature. Look for Structure - Identify natural features like submerged humps or underwater ledges. These areas often hold fish because they offer both shelter and food opportunities. Final Tips Be Patient - In March, you may need to work harder and be more patient than in warmer months. The key is to adapt your approach to the fish’s reduced activity. Dress for the Weather - Staying warm and comfortable will help you focus on your technique rather than the cold, allowing you to fish longer and more effectively. By combining the tactics of - using heavier fly patterns, ensuring a subtle presentation, and targeting the right locations - you should be as well-prepared as possible. But ... Which Heavy Nymphs? The first place to look for heavier fly patterns are all those which include tungsten as an integral part of the fly. The very best using 'javi' style teardrop-tungsten beads: We know these are not cheap flies (Javi beads are so expensive - they do give you the equivalent of 3-times the weight of a standard tungsten bead), but you will be astounded at the quality - we can guarantee you will be climbing those trees to retrieve them! And ... Which Heavy(ish) Lures? We are in a pretty fortunate position as a fly supplier - we get to see the trends of which flies are popular at all times of the year. About this time last year, I noticed a big uptick in lures & attractor patterns - I've also received lots of feedback from customers saying this style of pattern are working really well at the moment: The Mopster It is thought by some that the mop fly is used to represent blooms of daphnia (very small plankton like animals which trout feed upon in stillwaters), however we are not really convinced by that, but the mop fly is very successful in its own right – that’s why you will see it in every competition Stillwater anglers fly box (where allowed and in the right sizes) – because it just works. We are more of the belief that the mop fly is a fly pattern that acts similar to a lure, in that fish are naturally inquisitive and are attracted to anything which enters their world and causes a bit of commotion. By customer request, we've added some new colour variations for 2025: These flies seem to be unpopular with the ‘purists’ but they undoubtedly work really well in colder weather. Below I aim to give you an idea of what these flies are and how to get the best presentation when using them. Please Note: These flies work equally as well in flowing water - especially when the levels are higher and the water more coloured. Please Also Note: These flies will be delivered in plain packaging - so even the postman will not know you have them!  We are making our Artisan 2025 Mopsters available individually - at £1.95 each - just click on the button below to grab yours (before we run out). These might seem expensive, but they are all tied with the highest quality materials on branded hooks (AHREX FW541 size 10) Go on, treat yourself - you know you want to Did Someone Mention A Silk Line? I'm sure that at some point in your fly fishing odyssey you have contemplated using a silk line, if so: Read on McDuff ... What better way to get the most from your dry fly fishing than with a silk line, especially when said line is made right here in the UK, Sheffield to be precise, by a guy called Ian. These silk lines have been designed and made with a 'fine tip' which effectively means they have a very thin 'built-in' furled leader, so you just attach a level piece of tippet to the end. Ok, so why should I use a silk line then? We're glad you asked: They have no memory - completely limp There's no stretch - improved hookups They are denser than plastic fly lines and therefore much thinner, and thinner lines mean much less wind resistance They float better than plastic fly lines - they float on the water surface, not in it making liftin gline off the water much easier You get 3 lines in one - When fully greased it's a floating Line, grease everything except the tip and you have a midge-tip line, don't grease it and you have an intermediate/sinking line They can last a lifetime - so long as they are cared for and stored correctly a silk line can last a lifetime - and indeed will get better with age We've just received a parcel here @ Barbless Flies HQ - direct from Ian in Sheffield and it's full of DT5 and DT6 silk fly lines - all in the 'straw' colour.   Tight lines & have a great day.

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The Fly Fishing Forecast: March Edition

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