The Cellar dwellar streamer

The Cellar Dweller Streamer from Richard Strolis on Vimeo.

Here's another creation from Rich Strollis called the Cellar dwellar streamer that could be modified slightly for us predator nuts.

Visions "Big Daddy" fly line

Not all rod manufacturers develop lines specifically for a certain rod,but with Vision they have. In conjuction with their "Big daddy fly rods", they've also braught out three seperate lines called the "Big Daddy" fly line range. This doesn't mean to say you'd need to have these lines running through the Big daddy's eyes, as a similar line with equal weight ration would probably suffice. It would just mean thought that you have a rod & line perfectly balanced for the job in hand.

Big Daddy is a line which is designed for both big and air resistant flies. It has a short, 8,5meter head with very aggressive front taper giving you really good turnover of bulky flies. The low stretch core, combined with super slick grooved coating with built-in Teflon, transfers the casting energy in the best possible way and gives a clear advantage hooking hard headed fish firmly even at long distances. The short and heavy head is easy to handle and shoot but at the same time the thicker running line gives you an opportunity to aerialize longer line without collapsing your cast. These lines are available with 19g, 21g, 23g and 26g head weights in full floating, full intermediate and full sink 3 densities. I had the opportunity to cast and fish with the 23gr Intermediate during the the last 2 week of fishing last season and I was very impressed with it, although I would have liked a little longer time on the water for me to make a better assessment. If you are going to be chucking flies of around 120mm 160mm then the 23gr would be perfect. For those that chuck longer or heavier weighted flies, then the 26gr will do the job admirably.

Visions "Big Daddy" pike rod

If there is one thing I know, and that is the staff at Vision do a lot of pike on the fly, and are damn good at it too. This was evident when they won the tournamnet I put on last year. Here is a proper fly fishing company that knows what is needed when developing a pike fly specific rod. Vision Big Daddy rods are great choice for casting the big, air resistant flies. Their powerful medium fast action is forgiving and pleasant when casting but they have brutal power for fighting the monster size pike.

As a four piece rods they are easy to pack when you’re traveling. These 9 foot rods are made for line weights #8 (recommended head weight 19g), #9 (recommended head weight 21g) and #10 (recommended head weight 23g). These rods are not recommended for conservative anglers because of their bold colour which comes in a kinda olive green with yellow trim. Vision have also developed "Big Daddy" lines for this 4 piece as well, but more on that tommorrow. My Baltic pike tours will have a couple of these for clients to test while out on my boat this coming season & I'm also seriously considering stocking this rod and their lines in my fly shop from the spring.

Fly Candy

My Replot stinger was probably my favourite fly to fish last season so I've tied 30 or so more up for myself and visiting clients this coming season. I just wish I could write more about fishing than show flies all the time. Anyway I've just acquired a new HD Hero and will be filming a lot this coming season and going through many of the techniques that work well for me here on the Baltic. Am sure these flies will feature throughout!

Funky fiber fly Candy

A while back I was sent a batch of Funky Fiber through the post by "Funky flytying" owner Toby Merigan. Even though I prefer naturals over synthetics, its alway nice to try and tie with different products. Funky fiber is a lot courser than say Mirror image and so I found blending different colours together a tad more time consuming & tricky. The upside is that its extremely light and water retention doesn't even become a factor when casting flies with the stuff.





I'm sure at some stage in the up and coming season I'll be flapping these out on a stretch of water somewhere around the island. Anyway click the logo or links to visit funky fly tying webshop!

Tubing it!

Some great tube flies from Nuclee-r flies.

Fly Candy

These are a mix of Mirror image and slinky fiber. White slinky for the under belly, while I blended olive with varying amounts of misty black for the main body section. Total length 140mm


These are another variation but entirely tied with Mirror images this time. I added a small sprig of olive raccoon then red arctic fox for its chin area. Total length 140mm.

Tools of the trade

Here's a new floating line from A Jenson. The Pike Specialist flyline is designed specifically for pike fishing, where it is necessary to cast big bulky flies with accuracy. With the aggressive bullet front of the line, you feel great control even when making short casts. The full length of the head is slightly high, which will load the rod deep, to push big flies a long distance. The front taper ensures that your fly will turn over even in windy conditions, with an almost delicate ease. The Pike Specialist is a 2 colored flyline, with a contrast colored runningline. This helps during casting, as you will easily detect the ideal loading point of the line for long casting. Both ends has our slim welded loops.

Mike Small's Flies

Here'a great example of what a pike/musky fly should be doing for you under the water. This is why so many of my flies I fish with have trailing tails of microbarb saddles,Icelandic sheep hair,Tinsel flash, Feathers and sometimes goat hair. Although its Dan Small giving the demonstration,His brother Mike is the architect behind these flies which were developed last spring and come with names such as "The Lollypopper $17,95", "The Vampire $24,95" & "The Rainbow leech $27,95" and can be baught from their shop "Dan Small outdoors".

Fly Candy

Another of these hybrid bangers this time tied in grey n white with grizzly microbarb added throughout the tie.

I'm looking forward to fishing these this coming season.

The Hangtime

Click "HERE" to visit a PDF tutorial for a fly called the hangtime by a chap called Brad Bohen.

Fly Candy

Was recently asked by a french fly company to tie up a range of different coloured Rattle n Hums for them to sell in their shop. To be honest I've been meaning to add something similar to my shop for sometime and after seeing how well these came out I most certainly will. Once they've been tied I'll let you know the companies name and where you can get some of these from.This on has an orange slinky striped tail ,a sprig of yellow bucktail collar and fluoro yellow raccoon head.

Sea blue slinky striped tail with a turquoise collar and raccoon head

They wanted a perch pattern so I used electric yellow/white/olive and black slinky for the tail. Marked some stripes. Added a yellow collar of bucktail with an olive raccoon head.

This one has a black slinky tail with a fluoro yellow bucktail collar and chartreuse raccoon head.

This has a striped shrimp pinked slinky tail. White bucktail collar with black raccoon head. Allthough I strictly limit the number of wholesale accounts I service, I occasionally accept new ones. If your shop is looking for top quality pike or saltwater flies to stock in your own specific colour range then contact me.

Survival all the way!

bear grylls - born shit eater from twobob.tv on Vimeo.

Read recently that a young lad survived a horrowing experience in sub arctic conditions purely from watching Bear grylls survival programs. Lets hope it wasn't this one he watched.

Warning!!! this is not for the faint hearted and certainly not for the younger generation!

Pike prints

Found another great T-shirt print the other day from Dixieshirts.net

Fly candy

Some more fury flashtails for the new season tied with raccoon bodies and xmas tinsel flash tails.

Gold/silver tinsel with a grey/chartreuse raccoon body.

Holographic tinsel tail with pink/grey body

Gold tinsel tail with olive/brown body

Silver tail with white/turquoise body

Fly Candy

Had some oversized mylar tubing lying around and decided to use some the other day and came up with this fly. To be honest I'm not sure what to make of the stuff and I'm sure its going to be mullard rather quickly once mike gets hold of it. Still as long as it catches me a fish I'll be happy with the end result.

I started by tying on a decent sprig of red arctic fox tail fur then added a tiny sprig of fluoro yellow craft fur to the trailing hook. Then added a length of thin flexible wire to the mainhook.Slid an extra small eumer tube over it and then attached that to the trailing hook. Then slid a short length of the mylar tubing down over it and tied it to both the trailing hook and main fly hook. Palmered on two burnt orange marabou hairline feathers then added a small collar of red UV Polar chenille. Total length 200mm. With a large foam head I can fish this like a popper with a floating line or either sub surface with an intermediate. Click images for larger view!

Baltic pike flies "The Ultimate collection"

Balticpikeflies.com ultimate collection from Simon Graham on Vimeo.

Made a video presentation the other week for Balticpikeflies.com Also added another 55 new flies to the shop.

Fly Candy

Some more surf candy going to a good home. Have used these same simple designs for many years to great succes especially when I lived in Durban. The only difference then was I used 5min epoxy instead of bug-bond.

Catch & release

Pete over at "Fishing Jones" blog ran a great post today about correct fish handling & Catch 'n release....if you looking for some lunch time reading then click either the link or the image!

Pete Gary's dual tube 2

I've been slacking on the tube fly front so far this winter. will have to get my finger out my arse soon as the days are getting longer and spring is just around the corner........only three & a half months to go! *****

Andy Elliot

Another outstanding fly tier that I've come to admire, respect and draw inspiration from over the last couple of years is a chap called Andy Elliot from Ireland. This guy ties some of the most insane, practical saltwater flies for Sea Bass (Stripers) around.

His minimal use of materials to produce life like fish catching flies has been something I've been able to incorporate into mine this last year to great success.

He's recently started up a new website called "Chasing silver" which he says is a work in progress, but is starting to be filled with some fantastic step by step tutorials and stunning imigary of his work. He supplies many of the guides in the UK & Ireland with his flies and he says his shop will re-open in May once he's finished his stint of Chemotherapy he's presently undergoing at the mo,but I'll let him explain all the details which you can read about through his other blog " Cancer, Chemo & Circumnavigation"


Thanks for letting me use some of your images Andy. Hopefully someday in the near future, I'll get to meet you at a tying event somewhere in Europe and have a beer or two together.

Fly Candy

Another of those hybrid bangers tied onto the new new Universal predator 4/0 hooks by Partridge of Redditch. This is a combo of white and grey bucktail with a number of red/brown microbarb saddles added to give the fly not only some extra length, but some extra movement as well. Am so looking forward to seeing this fly hit the water in the Spring!

Readers fish porn

Regular visitor to these shores Frenchman Jerome Servonnat from the StCroix flyrod pro team sent me this image the other day of him holding what is at present his PB snotrocket (1,04 m - 11kg). For all you frenchies out there he runs a blog called the PCB FISHING TEAM
Congrats & thanks for this Jerome.....nice one brotha!

Fly Candy

Recieved a batch of the new range of Universal predator hooks from Partridge yesterday which I'll talk about towards the end of the week. Anyway I tied a couple of these hybrid bangers up last night on to them in a variety of different colours.

The difference with these is I used cream microbarb saddles instead of icelandic sheephair & Goat hair to extend the body. I've also decided that this will be the 1st fly I chuck once the ice has melted in the spring.

I added a couple of small sprigs of bucktail to the underneath of this fly which I don't do with my original bangers and also added a splash of red arctic fox for the gills and Bug-bonded a couple of eyes on which will give extra longevity to the fly. Total length 140mm