2wheels1rod

North Country Tungsten Spider

Spiders are some of the most productive flies fished in rivers today. Especiallypopular at the start of the Brown Trout season (March/April here in the UK).They are a fantastic way to search a river, often fished in a team of two orthree. Towards the end of this email are some tips on Spider Fishing and also a link toa blog post we made on 'How To Fish Spiders'. Spiders (or Soft Hackle flies) are one of the most popular flies in rivers today,and for good reason - they are very easy to fish and a really effective methodwhen there is no activity on the surface. Usually fished in a team of either 2 or 3. They are a great searchingtechnique, especially in the early season when the rivers can be higher thannormal and there are no obvious hatches. Here's an example of a 3-spider setup: Continuing on the above theme, this week we are offering you a lovely set ofTungsten Spider patterns. Go on, treat yourself and be ready for the start of theseason! We have added our own flourish to these ones and topped them off with a 2mmsilver tungsten bead, to get them just that little bit deeper - quicker. Our Tungsten North Country Spider Selection, are a modern twist on someage-old patterns (some date back over 400 years). These are the exact samepatterns as our popular Spider and North Country Spider selections, but withthe addition of a 2mm silver tungsten bead at the head, allowing you to reachthose trickier fish in the deeper pools. They are great on the point of a team ofthree spiders and allow you to cover the full depth of water, all at the sametime! These original spider patterns were made famous by T E Pritt, and are greatfor early and mid-season trout. We have included 4 different patterns in thisselection: Moorgame & OrangeMarch BrownSpring BlackWinter Brown For more information and a detailed description of each fly contained in thisselection please click on any image or button. Our North Country Spider Selection includes the 4 different patterns above(designed to be used in all conditions throughout the early season), we aresupplying 3 of each tungsten beaded spider in size 14, all for only £18. *** All orders from Barbless Flies are shipped FREE of charge toanywhere in the world *** Q. I've always liked the look of spiders, but I've never fished thembefore, how do I use them? A. We're glad you asked: We wrote a nifty little blog post about spider fishing ... Spiders (or Soft Hackle flies) are one of the most popular flies used in riverstoday, and for good reason. They are very easy to fish and a really effectivemethod at the beginning of the trout season! Usually fished in a team of either 2 or 3, and sometimes even 4. They are agreat searching technique, especially in the early season when the rivers canbe higher than normal and there are no obvious hatches. TACKLE SETUP An ideal tackle setup for spider fishing is: Rod: 10’ 4wt with a soft tip is a good starter setup Fly Line: Any 4wt fly line will do, but one with a long taper is idealLeader: A 9' to 12' tapered leader (4X or 5X). Make sure it is well de-greased so it sinks easily.Leader Configuration: Typically start with a 2 fly leader which is around 5'long in total. This should consist of 2' to 3' tippet to your first dropper (6inches long) and then a further 18” to 36” to the point fly, see below. Use a small spider on the dropper and a larger spider/bead-head spideras the point fly. When fishing at close quarters use a furled leader for better turnover To find out more, view our blog post here. Tight lines.

The Funky Pheasant Tail

The Funky Pheasant Tail This nymph is tied to perfection (as is usual with any of Stan's flies) - andhe's been experimenting again! This is a slightly lighter pheasant tail imitationthan the previous Caddis ones, with some stunning colour combinations -topped with a variety of bead and collar colours. A great fly to try at this time of year - but you may want to give it a week or soas all our rivers are a tad full at the moment! Pheasant Tail Nymphs (PTN's) arenymphs used in all of our rivers and stillwaters, with grayling and trout of allkinds hunting them out. The PTN was originally devised by Frank Sawyer andthese are an update to the original versions - we hope he would haveapproved! Originally the nymph was devised to give a general impression of avariety of nymphs found in all types of water found in the UK. Let me introduce you to Stan's Funky Pheasant Tail Selection whichincludes 6 different colour combinations: Orange Funky Pheasant TailPink Funky Pheasant TailViolet Funky Pheasant TailPurple Funky Pheasant TailCopper Funky Pheasant TailSparkle Funky Pheasant Tail Each nymph is tied with a pheasant tail and wire body, sparkle hackle andtopped off with a coloured glass bead. These nymphs imitate a variety ofinsects found in both rivers and Stillwaters and should be one of the firstnymphs you use when searching any water. This Pheasant tail nymph is ideally used as a part of a multi-fly setup inany nymphing rig (and great for sight nymphing in shallower water). Don't forgetabout using these on stillwaters also (PTN's as a staple nymph in the Stillwateranglers box). These Pheasant Tail Nymphs are all tied on size 16 barblesshooks. The tying specification for these nymphs is: Fly Name: Funky Pheasant TailHook Size: N°16 Medium Wide Gape BarblessHead Composition: Coloured Glass BeadBody Composition: Pheasant Tail & Copper WireWeight: Medium - 0.04g We are only making these flies available as a selection of 18 (just click on anyof the fly images or buttons below to view more detailed images of eachindividual nymph). This selection of 18 pheasant tail nymphs is pricedat £36.00 - we do understand these are at the pricier end of the spectrum forflies, but the quality is outstanding. We only have 19 selections available for sale - I'm keeping some to usemyself! So you will need to be quick! Tight lines.

The 2022 River Fly Anglers Almanac

Your Fly Choice Selecting the correct river fly: Is it just pure luck, or more of aninformed guess? It all started over 500 years ago ... with a pretty famous lady in these parts(Knaresborough, North Yorkshire) - she went by the name of Mother Shipton. As well as making traditional remedies, Mother Shipton had another gift. Shecould predict the future. It started off with small premonitions but as she practised, she became moreconfident and her powers grew. Soon she was known as Knaresborough’sProphetess, a witch. She made her living telling the future. After a long life, shedied in 1561, aged 73. Legend has it that she foretold the fates of several rulers within and just afterher lifetime, as well as the invention of iron ships, the Great Fire of London in1666, 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 'sooth sayer' before wehead 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 toallow us to make these decisions ourselves,and that's where this comes in ... The 2022 River Fly Anglers Almanac(100% ALL New Content for 2022) Successful river fishing is all about observation - carefully watching what ishappening all around you, and then translating this information into your choiceof fly and technique. As always there is no substitute for experience, but thereare a few short-cuts you can use to help you gain that experience quicker. Thisbook helps you with gaining experience (and knowledge) quickly. It identifies,for each month of the year, what hatches you should be looking out for andwhich flies to use to imitate the insects hatching around you. P.S. If you bought last years River Almanac, you're going to love this years - it'smuch bigger (with 40% more pages), showing all our new flies for 2022. It alsoincludes new tips, tricks, techniques and articles - and all for the same price aslast year. In fact, all of the content is 100% new - it's taken us the last 4 monthsto write it! Keep reading to the end of this email, as we have a really special offer forour loyal email community - for today only. This is a journal to accompany you throughout your fly fishing year. Somethingyou can annotate and make notes in, allowing you to refer back to in years tocome - helping you ‘crack the code’ on those difficult days. We’ve called it anAlmanac as it takes its inspiration from a few different sources, think of it as across over between: Old Moore’s Almanac - An annual publication that prophecies what willhappen throughout the year - only this one is fly fishing related. The Fly Fishers Entomology - A seminal publication from 1836 by AlfredRonalds, 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 Our 2022 River Almanac follows the river fly anglers year - starting in March2022 (ending in February 2023) - detailing the hatches and flies to use for eachmonth. Here's an excerpt from April:: Along with all the hatches and fly info, there's a whole host of other information,including season-specific insect info and even pages to jot down your notesand your catch return for each month. I'm a firm believer that each river has its own nuances as far as fishing (and thefish contained within it) are concerned, and that the most successful anglers onany given stretch of water are the ones with the most experience of it.Generally in life, there are no shortcuts, but there are ways to help yourexperience along a little quicker - and owning the 2022 River Fly AnglersAlmanac is one of them! We've even got a special launch offer for you: We are today launching our 2022 River Fly Anglers Almanac. It's 100% newcontent for 2022 and 142 pages long (40% bigger than last year), for only£19.99, including free delivery and quite a few freebies! You can see moresample pages by clicking on any image or button contained in this email. But wait, there's more ... We are including the digital versions (pdf & ebook formats) of the almanacfor FREE (normally £9.99) with any purchase today of the paperback edition,download instructions will automatically be emailed to you once you havecompleted your purchase of the paperback edition. Not convinced yet? Here's what some of our customers said about lastyears edition (and this years is even better) ... Happy reading.

The Ultimate Early Season Selection

Welcome to the run-up to the Trout Season. Here at Barbless Flies HQ we areeagerly waiting on the season to start - 1st April in Yorkshire, but we're beingkept busy with loads of new flies to organise and photograph.There’s great excitement this month with the beginning of the trout season onmost UK rivers. However, don’t get too excited, as normally the season startsoff very slowly with most of the action below the surface. Take a look towardsthe end of this email for some early season hints & tips.

Early Season Selection

Over the next few weeks, we will be bringing you some tried and tested flyselections, specifically for early season trout fishing. Helping you to get a startwith curating your early season fly boxes.We thought we would start off with one of the most popular selections we haveavailable: The Early Season Selection

Back In Stock - Bosnian Early Season Jigs | Barbless flies

Over the last couple of weeks, we've had quite a few deliveries of flies - we'regearing up, ready for the new river season to start - it's only a few weeks awaynow!Here are a couple of our most popular early-season nymphs which are nowback in stock again ... fill your boots.

Flies From The Dark Side

We've something for all of you intermittent Stillwater anglers this week. With themajority of the UK rivers now nearing the close - until March, the Stillwaters willbe more popular with anglers wanting their fishing fix.We are in a pretty fortunate position as a fly supplier - we get to see the trendsof which flies are popular at all times of the year. I noticed a big uptick in thebelow Stillwater flies over the last week - we also received lots of feedback fromcustomers saying they are working really well, so I thought I would dedicate thisweek's email to flies from the 'Dark Side'.There are certain flies, which in some quarters are very much frowned upon. Itis not our place to judge anyone, and as far as we are concerned, so long asthe fishery allows it, it's fair game. These flies seem to be unpopular with the‘stillwater purists’ but they undoubtedly work really well in certain situations.Here we aim to give you an idea of what these flies are and how to use them.

Bosnian Early Season Jigs

As we start to look forward to the opening of the river season - I know it's a fewweeks away yet, but bear with us - to have any success when targeting thoseearly season fish usually means one technique is king - nymphing.

Grayling Selection - Updated for 2022

As the Grayling season is drawing to an end (and the trout season getting evercloser). We thought that a few tips specific to fishing for late-seasonGrayling were in order: Plus, we have a special offer, for this weekend only: For ANY order which includes one of either our Updated for 2022 GraylingSelections or our Unbreakable Nymph Selections, we will include aFREE Haago Hand (or Toe) warmer. Never say we don't look after you! Take a look below for more information on the flies included in our offer: The Barbless Grayling Selection is a selection of 4 of the most popular styles ofweighted grayling nymphs, in total, there are 20 flies supplied in our eco-friendly packaging. All of these nymphs are tied using barbless hooks, in sizes10, 12, 14 and 16. This selection is available for only £22, click any button or image above to viewthe flies in more detail. Guaranteed Heavy Ceramic Nymphs You did read that correctly - we're guaranteeing these flies againstbreakages for 1 year! These flies are designed to be the point fly in a Czech/Euro-Style nymphsetup. We have had real success with these teamed up with our Polish QuillsMicro Jigs or Grayling Selection flies. We have two separate Unbreakable Heavy Ceramic Selections available foryou today: Orange Unbreakable Heavy Ceramic Nymph SelectionCopper Unbreakable Heavy Ceramic Nymph Selection Click on any button below to view these Unbreakable Heavy Ceramic Nymphs: Typical Grayling Leader Setup Grayling nymphs are fished just as you would any other nymph - just rememberthe golden rule "if you're not getting snagged on the bottom, you're notfishing deep enough". A normal river leader setup would be to add a short (12") indicator tippetsection to your fly line, to this add 1.5 x the depth of the water you are fishing oftippet (4x or 5x), then the nymph (or a team of 2 nymphs). If you want to go down the 'here's one I made earlier' route, then we've also gotyou covered with the best in the business - The RIO Euro Nymph Indicatorleader. These 11’ leaders are built out of a high-vis milky white tapered leaderwhich is hand tied to 22” of RIO's Indicator Tippet material. This givesmaximum visibility in all lighting conditions to make subtle strike detectioneasier. The leader ends with a tippet ring and requires you to attach you owntippet to properly match the water type. RIO Euro Nymph Indicator Leader TOP TIP: If using a team of 2 nymphs, try putting the heaviest on a shortdropper about 12" above the point fly, this will then allow you to fish bothnymphs tight to the bottom. Delivery News We use Royal Mail for all of our deliveries, we send all orders on the day theyare ordered. We have been made aware that Royal Mail are currentlystruggling with deliveries, to the point that some of the orders we are sendingout are arriving 10 days later (normally our Royal Mail24 deliveries are received within 2 working days of us posting them, and RoyalMail 48 deliveries within 5 working days). We have recently added the 'Special Delivery' option on our checkout page(which is at an extra cost), if you choose this, your order will be guaranteeddelivery by 1am the next working day (assuming your order is received beforenoon). What we can offer is - if you have not received your order within 10 days ofreceiving a fulfilment email from us (i.e. the one which says our fly fairies haveworked their magic and your flies are on the way to you), let me know and I willput a replacement order in the post to you (that way, it will double your chancesof receiving them!).Tight lines & stay safe.

Winter Grayling

We've been working on a series of ideas for products to replace the MonthlySubscription Box we used to run, and here's the first of them for 2022, just intime for the really cold weather - at the end of this email we've also includedsome great tips on keeping warm on those really cold Grayling days.The series of products are called 'All You Need For ...' and the first of these forthis year is 'Winter Grayling':The 'All You Need For ...' series is aimed to try and simplify eachtechnique and de-mistify the secrets used to deploy it.

Lure Selection

Keep Warm & Keep Moving At this time of year Stillwater trout are at their peak, and what better way totarget them with an 'active' fishing method - lures. This method keeps you onthe move - and keeps you warm!With that in mind, we've put together a selection of the most popular lures (insizes 10 and 12), specifically for targeting those beasts of the deep - as mostfish will be holding station in the depths. These are ideal for your next trip out.Top Winter Tip: To stop your rod rings from icing up at this time of year, use aChap-Stick or Lip Balm and apply a light coating of it to rings. For more tipswhen fishing lures in Winter, see the bottom of this email.Defeating the cold is one of the main objectives when fishing at this time of year- so wrap up warm, take a flask and stop for a fly up on your way to the venue.Here we introduce to you our Barbless Lure Selection: Why Use Lures? A lure style of fly is not really imitating any specific life in the water (althoughsome could be said to imitate small fish), they are more used to arouse thefishes interest and they take it more out of curiosity/anger. To a trout thesepatterns seem very much alive when any action is imparted to them - thereforethese are fished quite actively. What Tactics To Use? Which technique you use depends largely on the depth of the water you arefishing: Shallow Water (< 10ft) - A floating line and long leader can be used - justremember to count down your lure and fish/retrieve it slowly. Short pulls,followed by large pauses to let the fly sink again. Deeper Water (> 10ft) - Go for an intermediate or sinking line with a shortleader - this allows you to present the lure at depth and any retrieve willpull the lure parallel to the Stillwater bed. These lure patterns should be fished as close to the Stillwater bed aspossible. Lures are ideal patterns to use in shallower water, close to weedbeds.*** See below in this email for many more hints and tips on fishing luresin Winter *** We only have a limited number (25) of our Lure Selections, so if ourprevious offerings are anything to go by, you will need to be quick off the mark! In total there are 16 flies supplied in our eco-friendly. packaging. All of theseflies are hand tied using barbless hooks, in sizes 10 and 12 and available as aselection (8 patterns, 2 of each pattern) for only £20, click any button or imageto view the selection in more detail. *** We've only 25 of these selections - so if you want one you will need tobe quick *** How to Fish Lures When fishing lures it's all about control and your connection with the fly. Ashorter leader helps you keep better control of the lure at depth and control howit fishes. When using sinking lines, start with a level piece of mono 3 to 4 feetlong - when in doubt, go shorter.There are 2 main types of retrieve employed when Winter lure fishing:the strip-pause-strip retrieve (do exactly what it says on the tin) andthe swing (cast out, let it sink and let any water movement take the fly - alwayskeep in touch by retrieving any slack line). Just remember to keep in touch with the lure, slow down any movement and tryto impart some action into it as the fly moves in the water. Tippet & Knots When fishing lures the main difference is the way the fish takes the fly -savagely! This means tippets and knots need to be up to the job. Youshouldn't be using any 5X or 6X tippets here - this calls for the big boys. Thelightest tippet material you should use is 4X. If you’re fishing a largerStillwater that has a bit of current and larger fish, it makes sense to step up to2X. This allows for the strength of the water and the savage strikes thatgenerally happen when the fish takes your fly. When using larger tippet diameters it is even more important to get your knotstied correctly and secure. Knots typically used to tie a lure to the tippet are: Orvis Knot Uni Knot Non-Slip Loop Knot The first two are basic knots that can be used for any fly fishing scenario (withthe Orvis Knot being the simplest and quickest to tie). The Non-Slip Loop Knotis ideally suited for lure fishing as the lure is secured using a loop - where it isfree to move and more movement can be imparted to it.Tight lines & stay safe.

Gammarus Selection | Pimped Shrimps

Pimped Shrimps This week we are turning our attention to one of the most overlooked flypatterns - the humble shrimp (or Gammarus to give it its correct genus)!Gammarus (or the freshwater shrimp) forms the basis of the Trout & Grayling'sdiet. They may not be the main food source every day but they do make upover 70% of the annual diet of both the trout and grayling.The freshwater shrimp is usually found in all our UK rivers throughout the fullyear, making a shrimp/gammarus/scud pattern one of the first to try when thegoing gets tough - especially at this time of year.Freshwater shrimp are much more abundant in waters with higher pH values(for this read - chalk and limestone streams). As a part of the Riverfly Partnership's Monitoring Scheme on a local NorthYorkshire beck, it's not uncommon for thousands of freshwater shrimp to becaptured in a short 3-minute kick sample. These shrimp are a fantastic indicatorof how healthy the river is - as they are very sensitive to pollution. Why Use Gammarus shrimps? Simply because they are the most common invertebrates in the water at allpoints of the year, wild trout and grayling diets will consist mainly of shrimps.Therefore it makes sense to at least have a few in your box, especially duringthe months of high weed growth (Spring & Summer). These scuds work equallywell on both rivers and stillwaters. During the Grayling season and once the river trout season opens, it isessential that you have a selection of shrimps in your armoury - these are themost common invertebrates in the water at all points of the year - but especiallythe spring and early summer. What Tactics To Use? These patterns should be fished close to the river bed (hence the integratedbead to weight the fly), and dead drifted (shrimps do not swim against the flowof the river). These are ideal patterns to use in shallow water, close to weedbeds. See below in this email for many more hints and tips on fishing withShrimp patterns. Gammarus shrimps are found in virtually every river in the UK (andEurope) and are present all year round - just turn over the nearest rock whenyou are next on the water and take a look. They make up about 70% of thetrout and graylings annual diet. We only have a limited number (25) of our Gammarus Selections, so if ourprevious offerings are anything to go by, you will need to be quick off the mark!In total there are 16 flies supplied in our eco-friendly. packaging. All of theseflies are hand tied using barbless hooks, in sizes 14 and 18. These shrimps areonly available as a selection (4 patterns, 4 of each pattern) for only £20, clickany button or image to view the selection in more detail. *** We've only 25 of these selections - so if you want one you will need tobe quick *** Gammarus Shrimps Behaviour: Shrimps do not like really bright daylight - the become docile when it's really bright. Fish with them during lower light levels - when it's overcast, dawn or dusk, this is when they will be more active Shrimps are very good swimmers (but their sense of direction isappalling), they swim in really short bursts (often around in circles), sothere's no need to worry too much about presentation, just make sure youfish them on the river bed. Shrimps need to be fished as close to the river bed as possible - in deeper rivers try a sinking line with a short (4ft) leader. On shallower rivers use a floating line and longer leader. How to fish Gammarus Shrimps: Try casting around gaps in any weed beds and to the heads of pools which are just below the weed Gammarus shrimp love weed, rocks and silt Try using 2 x Gammarus shrimps of different colours (one bright & one dark) on droppers spaced 2ft apart Cast these above the target area, let them sink and then track them back downstream Keep in touch with the shrimp at all times by raising your rod tip as the fly comes back towards you I usually fish these using an indicator (as my nymphing skills still need a bit ofwork!). Typical Nymphing Leader Setup Shrimps are fished as you would any other nymph - just remember the goldenrule "if you're not getting snagged on the bottom, you're not fishing deepenough". A normal nymph leader setup would be to add a short (12") indicatortippet section to your fly line, to this add 1.5 x the depth of the water you arefishing of tippet (4x or 5x), then the shrimp (or a team of 2 or 3). In Other News ... I received a very excitable call early on Sunday morning, telling me to go andbuy the Sunday Telegraph and look at page 12 - I finished my coffee and didjust that. When I opened the page - there I was staring back at myself - all veryweird!A local photographer asked if they could come to our shop and take somephoto's back in early December - we happily agreed - the next thing youknow we're in the paper! I'm just glad that the flies take centre stage and I'm abit blurred out!Tight lines & stay safe. P.S. Remember to get your 10% discount and use your code.

Innovative Scuds

The Bacchus Bug Selection

Barbless. Clothing