The Bend back streamer

Several months ago I chatted with Ken over at Pike adventures about his weedless flies he was tying using Bass worming hooks having the hook facing upwards then tying his materials onto the hook shaft...thus covering the hook point allowing him to drag the fly over thick weed beds.Then Ulf at 700 teeth gave a tutorial on the bend back hook fly which made a lot of sense. His only complaint was that at 1st he was missing a lot of hook up due to there being to many materials covering the hook. The last 4 months I have been testing this method here on Replot quite a lot due to the amount of rocks we have here,and I have to say Its quickly becoming my favourite way to rig my bottom patroling flies.

I've changed a few things with the design, like bend the hook eye down slightly which has improved the presentation of the hook. I've also discarded the filler material between the feathers around the hook point and have added bucktail at the front to generally hold the materials a little more compact. I only caught 4 pike with this rigged set up before the season finished here, but have been out testing this fly the last couple of weeks and not once have I had any unwanted snags on weeds or rocks. More testing will be done in the spring but You will be seeing more of this method from me in the coming months.

Fly Candy

Some new Low light 120 mm baitfish patterns for Denmark.Flash n slinky with a splash of red red arctic fox tied on at the front.

Easy ties

Feed em to the pigs Harold!!!

WARNING!!!!!! fowl language. Don't let your 10 yr old son watch this as I wouldn't want him to get the wrong impression about Darth Vader!

Fly Candy

Another Feathered fur streamer combining Black Slinky with Olive Ostrich hurl feathers,Black bucktail and red arctic fox fur all tied on to a tube.

Easy tie fly tutorial

Worth his salt

Every Pike fly-fisherman worth his salt takes full advantage of the Christmas Seasons time for cheap fly tying materials,probably more so than any other fly fisherman. I'm no different in fact I become the ultimate tight arse with regards to all things shiny n sparkly,Especially since the worlds bankers or should that be "Wankers" fucked things up for us and made our pockets tighter than a low flying ducks clenched sphincter. Anyway I have set aside €50 this month purely to buy up as much Xmas decorations that can be used on my flies as I possibly can. Yesterday while sniffing around one of the large supermarkets in Vaasa, I came across these 60 mm long Gold,Silver and holographic tinsel materials for 30 cents each.....So I bought €4,00 worth. Granted on Xmas eve these will have dropped in price to around 5 cents each as retailers try to eradicate unwanted stocks from their shelves,but I just couldn't wait.

I will hold back the urge until then being the tight arse I am, and have allocated some time on the 27th Dec to hit the shops for an hour to snap up any remaining stocks available but until then I may as well use what I got.

I'm a firm believer that less is more with regards to having flashy materials on my flies....but if your going to go the other way,why not take the piss & go the full hog and give those dark waters something to light them up with....I say!

Click images for a clearer view.

Baltic pike flies 2

Fly Candy

Last night I ran my fortnightly fly tying lesson with the fishing guides course in Vaasa and we tied up one of these feathered fur streamers. Once I get the CD from one of the class members I will post some images up.

Dai ties

Every now and then I come across some flies that I know I just have to have a set of, and these fantastic and exquisitely tied one inch perch patterns arrived yesterday in the post courteous of Dai Jones in Wales. Thanks for these Dai your an artist,they're stunning mate.Yours are in the post me old son. Shit! To say I'm chuffed as punch is an understatement.

Readers fish porn

England team member Mike Green sent me this image of him with his record popper caught pike. Thanks for this Mike,and looking forward to meeting you next May mate.

Squid muppet sliders

I've used tiny rubber muppets on my saltwater flies in South Africa which were extremely effective So when I saw these packs of rubber squid muppets the other day for 25 cents each I knew exactly where I wanted to put them. I tied on some Slinky blend, then some bucktail with a smattering of FFF Flash blend on to a tube and slid the muppet squid down over it. They are surprisingly light and I know they will bag me a pike or two.

Both of these are around 120 mm long

Tail loop guards

I'm sure many of you either know this technique or even use it on your flies already,but Here's a handy tip to stop that long tail of Raccoon fur,Rabbit zonker, Arctic fox zonker from wrapping itself annoyingly around the hook.

Make a loop with some strong mono,I've used weed strimmer chord here and tie onto the back of the hook or tube like so.

Tie on your raccoon strip or any zonker strip for that matter directly on top of the Loops tie on point.

Here's a popper that was fashioned from that same rig. Click images for larger view.

Fly Candy

Baitfish in Electric yellow & Black. click image for larger view.

Musky on the fly

The Rattle n Hum tutorial

As I mentioned I am placing all the old tutorials in to this format and will be deleting the old ones as I go along. Just to free up space here on PikeFFArticles.

Fly Candy

These were tied on to tubes for a mate last week. Raccoon fur and Marabou hairline with a slash of flash thrown in.

Baitfish patterns

White Slinky fiber baitfish 120 mm long, with either Ocean Blue,Pink or Green FFF Flash for trim. This pattern will catch any number of fish in fresh or saltwater.

Fishing....a waiting game!

How many times has this thought gone through your mind?

Durex condom pike streamer (part deux)

Here's another Durex condom pike streamer I tied a few weeks back. Most of you have already seen the 1st one I tied earlier this year and read how effective it was. Yes not the most aerodynamic fly through the air....but bugger me, this fly catches pike. I have some new projects in the offing for the new year so stay tuned.

Winter/River pike flies

Cold water pike fly



River Pike fly

The Salamander gurglebug tutorial

Here's the tutorial for the Salamander Gurglebug as well as the new format I will be using from now on to present them. I've already started loading all the other tutorials up which will be available in a few weeks. View full screen.

Fish cant read issue 2

The lads at Dry fly Media have just published the second issue of “Fish cant read” and its another first class publication again, crammed with stunning images & articles . If you don’t already subscribe to it then click the link to visit the site and subscribe today. There’s even a top article from (Alex Landeen- Fat guy fly fishing) about Pike fly fishing articles and the Kvarken world natural heritage site, which I’m really stoked about.

Click the link or image to visit the Ezine. Let it load up. Then left click the mouse and drag & scroll the bottom right corner of the image to enter.

Fly Candy

Some Perch baitfish patterns tied with Slinky fibers on to tubes

Baltic pike flies portfolio

This is officially the 1st volume of the Baltic pike flies Story.Over the next six months I will be uploading all my tutorials in to this format for people to use but will also be working on bringing out a fortnightly publication which will cover tying tutorials, tackle,People in the sport and pike in the northern hemisphere that you can subscribe to. Anyway this is the standard of photography and quality of presentation you can expect.

Click the full screen mode

Fly Candy

This one I 1st tied a decent length of white raccoon fur to the back of the tube.Then palmered on a couple of marabou hairline feathers. Tie the foam head on and then placed around 20 strands of Flashaboy UV Purple between the foam and then glued together.

Pike on the fly in the USA

"The Scrat"

Scrat, a dogged & determined creature who stops at nothing in his quest for that perfect nut.Ive seen tarpon flies tied with all the materials towards the back of the hook and Robert Sorvik ties his muppets in a similar fashion. Anyway I've used slinky fibers with a few strands of FFF Flash for lateral lines. I tied a strip of rubber at the front of the hook on either side, then split them just to give a little extra vibration (whiskers) to the fly. As you gathered I've called this fly "The Scrat" due to its un canny resemblance to the animated creature.

Scrat - No Time For Nuts - kewego
Another exclusive episode featuring Scrat (from Ice Age).

Keywords: funny 3d animation humour scrat ice age fox no time for nuts

Video from yadayada

Fly Candy

A simple surface lure to tie, and cheap in the process due to very little materials.

Big Baltic Pike Porn

Foam flatheads

Here's a great alternative to using cork or any other popper head for that matter. Using foam on your hook or tube is not new by any stretch of the imagination. Most of us have tied a Gartside gurgler or something similar. Well here's a foam head I use which is easy to construct and has just one tie in point at the front. I've shown its placement on a hook but I tie these onto tubes which I do now with all my poppers. Read here why!

This foam flathead moves a lot of water and depending on how wide you make it depends on how much noise and water you want it to make & move.

Step 1
Cut a piece of foam like this

Step 2
Fold it over itself

Step 3
Tie onto the front of the hook near the eye.I like to place a blob of super glue under it just to keep it in place while I tie it down. The back lip can be super glued together although I don't bother with it.

Charlies musky angel streamer

Fly Candy

These are all around the 45 mm - 50 mm length and will be used next year for targeting Ide with in the Spring.I'm busy putting together a top notch all in one saltwater box set which will be available in the Baltic pike flies range in a few weeks once I've ironed out what patterns will be within it.