Jig fly tying video

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Steve Bewes shows us how to tie his brilliant Jig fly!

Thanks Steve!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpuh_OrcUvc&feature=youtu.be

Oh My!

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Whenever I see Pete Kennetts flies my immediate reaction is Oh My!

Pete simply ties such beautiful flies, the profiles are perfect and you can imagine the movement created by his style of tying. Pete mostly ties Jig flies but these are tied using Dumbell eyes to help keel them.

Of course Pete uses some of our materials in his creations including Big fish fibre and Preyfish fibre.

I think you'll agree they certainly have the Wow factor!

Jig flies for Perch

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A method that is becoming more popular is the use of Jig flies. This involves tying fly materials onto a jig hook rather than a conventional un-weighted hook. The benefits are that it adds a small amount of weight to the fly which aids casting, especially in areas where your back cast may be restricted and it adds an exaggerated jigging motion to the fly which, it seems, Perch absolutely love! You can also use Jig flies on a conventional lure rod so if conditions aren't right for fly fishing or you simply have no back cast at your favourite Perch spot you can still use a fly to catch them..

Interest in this Hybridised method is growing due to the benefits mentioned above.

Silver Scales Pro Team member Steve Bewes recently helped a friend discover how deadly Jig flies can be when he tied a few for Mark Jennings who is a Bailiff on the PAC controlled section of the Lancaster Canal. Mark bagged 3 Personal best Perch over 5 trips on them with plenty of smaller specimens.



Steve ties his winning flies on Silver Scales round Jig heads in 1 and 2 grams on size 2 hooks which you can find on our sister Lure site Here, with a mixture of materials including Silver Scales Preyfish fibre and Solarez thick and thin along with Sybai Angel hair and some hackles.



I think you'll agree it's a great looking fly and the Perch certainly seem to agree as Mark will testify!

Why not give Jig flies a go and maybe you can reap the same rewards...

Nice Ties

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Some nice ties by Pro Team Member Pete Kennett. Pete tied these using a variety of materials.

Sufix Nano Braid review and test

If like me you have a love / hate relationship with Braid then you might want to take a serious look at Sufix Nano Braid.

Over the years I have used several of the other big name brands of braid for both LRF and my normal Bass fishing with soft plastics. Some have been ok with odd niggles and some have been simply diabolical and not fit for purpose!

For a long time I switched to a Fluorocarbon mainline for the Ultra light stuff as I was so fed up with the problems I had suffered at the hands of the braid I was using, and for a time I was happy with the performance. But Fluorocarbon does has have it's limits too and being relatively heavy compared to braid I found it was costing me fish when swinging through on the tide and hampering the presentation which needed to be very precise. So I bought a well known braid to try again and yet again it gave me problems. It was incredibly weak and lacked any form of abrasion resistance so I binned it!

About this time I had taken on an account with Sufix and decided to have a look at the Nano braid with a view to making it a stock item. The first test went very well and I had a bumper session with the fish. I suffered none of the problems of old and the Braid performed exactly as it should. To say I was happy is an understatement, more time with the lure in the water instead of un picking wind knots, no dodgy weak knots at the leader and the abrasion resistance is simply outstanding, something which is high on the priority list for saltwater lrf / ultralight. Further sessions have only served to reinforce my initial findings as well as discover more benefits. The Nano Braid is incredibly smooth casting and soft, the sensitivity is exquisite and every little tap and vibration is transmitted through the Braid to the rod, I have suffered zero wind knots and the pink colour of the braid facilitates better tracking of the position of the lure even in low light and into dark..

Another benefit of the Braid is the price, it sits in the middle ground, it's not cheap nor is it expensive. I believe it represents excellent value for money given it's outstanding performance. Get spooled up with it today and I bet you won't look at any other braid again. You certainly won't be re spooling every five minutes due to wind knots or lack of abrasion resistance!

Below: The Nano Braid performed beyond expectations on initial testing and led to a bumper catch of Bass and Pollock for me.



 

 

Iain's unexpected red letter day

How often do you plan a Bass trip, or any species for that matter salt or fresh water, and then look out the window or study the weather forecast on the Internet and then decide against it because ' everything's wrong'?

Iain Mortimer tells us of such a day when conditions were 'not right' and yet he still found success...

Iain's story:

"I used to regularly fish bass competitions but these days it’s very rare and generally only those good natured get togethers that happen to have a prize and so can loosely be called competitions.   In reality though they are just an excuse for a load of likeminded people to get together, share some laughs and hopefully catch some fish.   Among those in the know such occasions are called ‘bumbles’ as it’s just a load of people bumbling about on someone else’s marks.

 

Such an occasion saw me setting the alarm for 0345 this Saturday so that I could collect a good buddy and head off down to the Weymouth area for a day of fun and fishing with a competitive edge.   Now I have to say that with blustery north easterlies, clear bright sun and scorching temperatures over daytime tides under other circumstances we’d probably have cancelled our plans to spend time with the family. After all, why go to all the effort when it was highly likely nothing would be caught, by anyone, at all. Not in these conditions unless mackerel showed up!

 

Rolling up at 0630 we proceeded to check out the mark as we geared up and noted how crystal clear the water was, another bad omen in the conditions and so we cheered each up other with stories of blanks as we headed down the water.  With the blustery swirly wind even my beloved fly rod stayed in the car as it would be lure fishing all the way. 7am, 8am, 9am, 10am without a twitch, swirl or any sign of anything fishy.   We heard of one missed take, and one wee schoolie being caught and that was between around 10 anglers. “See told you” we said to one another, “we must be mad, how long will we give it?”. You know the kind of conversation but continue we did.

 



 

As we continued to work our way along the beach there was a nice mix of clean ground into deeper water and rocky outcrops and fingers of rock over shallower water. Great looking ground but for the conditions!   However, at one point the rocky fingers ran parallel to the beach, natural dry stone walls would be a good way of describing them. I guessed that as the tide was ebbing the bass would run along the 50yard wide gullies picking off any gobies that had to cross through them to avoid being stranded as well as searching out the sandeels that surely would be present over the clean sand in the gullies. I therefore decided to put on a long, slim paddle tail and cast it as far as possible which should just about reach the furthest ‘rock wall’.   A few casts later and just as the lure dropped into the gulley the rod hooped over.   Success at last and although only a wee sub 40cm bass it went on the ruler for it could be a winner before being safely returned.

 



 

About 5 minutes later, exactly the same happened with an almost identical sized fish at which my fishing buddy congratulated me on my skill and prowess, at least I think that’s what he meant!   Stupidly though, on the next cast I let the lure sink to far in the rapidly shallowing water and it was claimed by the rocks.   Even worse, by the time I’d tied on a new leader and lure it was so shallow that I knew I’d be bumping rocks on the retrieve but with little time left and no one having a sniff of a bass on surface lures I decided to stick with it.       After another 20 minutes the tide had dropped to a level that was making fishing nearly impossible and so I decided one last cast was in order.   The lure negotiated the furthest rocks unscathed, came across the clean ground with no interest, reached the nearest rocks and snagged up almost instantly before line screamed out against the tight clutch.   That’s no snag my mind slowly realised and my little brain quickly caught up it became apparent that this was no wee schoolie as a number of runs were made.



 

Eventually though the bass was beaten and having graced the beach was measured at 62cm and 5lb 6oz.   That turned out to be the winning fish and I even added a 4^th after lunch on a different mark in amongst kayaks, boats, snorklers and a heaving beach!

 



 

 

Now this isn’t really about the competition but it reminded me of a few facts. How easily we convince ourselves that the conditions are wrong, it has to be quiet, the tide needs to be at this time, there’s only one state of tide that’s worth fishing and so on. However, as this trip proved to me again, fish can be caught at any time if we simply stick with it and think about what we’re doing. Lure fishing is about so much more than just casting out and retrieving and although my buddy blanked (luck also plays a part!) we had both learned a lot and had a load of fun.   I will also add that the knowledge shared by those who knew the mark also played a large part in my success and that’s bass fishing because half the battle is knowing where bass are likely to be and that part was given to me.

So next time you have the opportunity to go fishing but the conditions are rubbish, go fishing. You might just get a surprise..."

Chris:

Inspiring stuff there Iain! a great day in the end and worth the effort, and as you say it just goes to show how quickly we can talk ourselves out of going fishing simply because convention tells us it isn't right. I for one am as guilty as anyone for that.

Thanks for a smashing Article and some great pics Iain!

Maverick Mullet Bass fly Step by Step

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Here is the Step by Step for a very effective Mullet pattern fly. The way it's tied creates a very 'kicked out' hook angle which I have found promotes good hooking. The fly has a narrow head on profile which creates a darting side to side action, but has a deep side on profile to catch the Bass' attention! Overall length on a size 2 hook is 3"  I have found this to be a good all round size.

Materials Needed:

Size 2 - 1/0 Sakuma 410 Stainless steel hook - your choice what size you want to tie on, I tie these on a size 2 so adjust material length according to bigger or even smaller hook.

Veevus 140 Thread in white

Silver Scales Preyfish fibre White, Baitfish Grey, Red.

Silver Scales Silver/Gold eyes 6mm - 8mm ( again depending on fly and hook size ).

Sybai Pearl Angel hair.

Solarez Thin.

Yellow Sharpie permanent marker.

Step 1.

Lay down a thread base from the eye to the barb of the hook. Tie in a thin 1cm piece of Red Silver Scales Preyfish fibre. This will be the Gill/hotspot.



Step 2.

Take a half pencil thickness of Silver Scales Preyfish fibre in White and cut a piece approx. 5cm long, tie in with a few wraps as below so that the piece facing backwards is slightly shorter than the forward piece.



Step 3.

Invert the hook and tie in a slightly shorter 4 cm piece as in previous step but this time but this time leave the forward facing piece slightly shorter than the rear facing piece.



Step 4.

Return the hook to normal position and fold back the two forward facing pieces and tie them down as in the picture below, add some glue for security.



Step 5.

Take a piece of White Preyfish fibre the same thickness but slightly longer than in step 2. It should be long enough so that the rear facing piece overlaps by a cm or so and the forward facing piece, when folded back overlaps by another cm or so. ( See step 7 ). Also add a few strands of Sybai Angel hair in the same way. Tie in as below with a few wraps.



Step 6.

Invert the hook and tie in a short 3cm piece, keep the lengths equal this time though for folding back.



Step 7.

Fold back forward facing pieces and tie down as in Picture below. Add glue for extra security.



Step 8.

Repeat steps 6 and seven, increasing the length of the fibre on top and keeping the same length underneath. Your fly should start to look something like the picture below. Don't forget to add a few strands of Sybai Angel hair as you go.



Step 9.

Take a length of Baitfish Grey Preyfish fibre and tie in on top of the hook as previous steps., BUT! this time reduce the length of the forward facing piece.. This is going to help shape our fly.



Step 10.

Invert the hook and tie in another short piece of White fibre. Return the hook to normal position and fold forward facing pieces back and tie in adding glue for security. Once done, repeat this step again reducing the length of the grey piece on top again but the same length of white underneath. As in pic below. Fold forward pieces back and tie down again.



Step 11.

Now we are going to change to a different tie. We are going to tie in short pieces of grey on top and white underneath 'x' style at 45 degrees across the shank of the hook.



Step 12.

Fold the pieces back and tie down.



Step 13.

Repeat step 12.

Step 14.

Now tie in another short piece of grey fibre on top and white underneath BUT! This time tie them in normally NOT at 45 degrees as below.



Step 15.

Fold back and make your final tie in adding glue for security. Whip finish and trim thread.

 



Step 16.

Remove the fly from the Vice and give it a good comb, spreading the fibres out evenly. Begin trimming carefully along the back and belly of the fly.



Step 17.

Shape the fly as you go, take your time and try to envisage the shape you want, taper the fly towards the tail as in the pic below.



Step 18.

Eventually you should end up with something close to the picture below.



 

Step 19.

Return the fly to the Vice and add your eyes.  Once your eyes are glued in place take some Solarez Thin and begin applying small amounts to the nose of the fly, top and bottom, let the resin run down into the fibres and around the back of the eyes. Set the resin with the torch. This will add extra security to the eyes and help give the head a more solid shape which creates the darting side to side movement that this pattern produces.



The finished fly.



 

The Maverick Mullet

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My most successful pattern for European Sea Bass this year. Tied from Silver Scales Preyfish fibre.

I call it 'The Maverick Mullet'.

Why 'Maverick'?

...

Well it's tied in a different way to most conventional flies of this style, leaving the tail fibres longer to add movement, the Hook is at a very aggressive kicked out angle which I've found improves the hook up ratio and the head is tall and narrow and is built up with Solarez thin, this helps to give the fly a darting side to side swimming action. Nose to tip of tail it's just three inches long, yet has a fairly deep side profile for it's size creating the impression of a worthy meal and being very easy to cast at the same time.

A Step by step will follow via the blog.



 

Toothy, stripey, greedy, lady, ‘salmon’ by Iain Mortimer

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Iain

 

Toothy, stripey, greedy, lady, ‘salmon’

After a previous days 3.45 am start and 9pm finish chasing bass there was only one thing for it. Yep, get up even earlier at 3am to try and catch a salmon from the famous River Test with an offered start time of first light due to the unseasonably hot weather. Now salmon fishing can be tough at the best of times but in relatively warm water, in hot and bright conditions it was going to be harder than ever but then since when was salmon fishing easy! Even knowing that it would be a warm day, I was still amazed to see that it was still 18oC at 3am according to the dial on the car and so it was really nice to get to the relative cool of the river bank bang on first light. The river looked to be in perfect condition which being spring fed, is one of the big advantages of a chalk stream at a time when salmon fishing on the Avon was suspended due to water temperatures exceeding 19oC.

I decided to start with the fly rod which was a single handed #7/8, coupled to a floating line, 10’ of leader and a salmon ‘nymph’. These nymphs are in fact more like dog nobbler trout lures and with there still being plenty of water I had been advised by the water keeper to tie some up with double 5mm tungsten beads as in the photo. They are very simple to tie with mine consisting of a marabou tail, flash of choice (I love the silver scales charteuse magnum flash) which is tied in to create a strip of flash either side of the tail (pearl crystal flash is also good for that) and a double strand for a flash back over a body of black ostrich herl. Finally I swap to a hot orange or red thread to create a slim hot spot behind the beads. A quick coat of varnish or Solarez thin UV gel to seal and protect the thread and your done.

Now these are beasts of a fly even with just one bead and so are not for casting at any length because get it wrong and it’s like a bullet hitting you! Instead they are for use close in around the very large flow diverters that have been built either side of the river to create deep scour holes in which the salmon lie up. So with just a few inches of fly line beyond the tip you flick them out using a mini roll cast to 2 or 3 feet above the end of the diverter – they are heavy enough that you can even throw them out!. Let the fly sink to the bottom and then slowly lift to the surface, hold for a second and then let them sink this time a few inches further downstream. You repeat that sort of sink and draw until you’ve got to the tail of the scour hole. Flick out again a bit further out and repeat. 5 -10 minutes on each scour hole and move on. Now that might sound a little boring but there is nothing more exciting than at times seeing a salmon and stalking it to induce a take or when fishing blind, to suddenly see a big silver torpedo rising up behind your fly. Heart stopping stuff! The first fish that I saw was a very big wild brownie that would have been near 3lb but I forgot the rule to always let the nymph hang at the surface for a second before lifting off. As a result that fish shot up from the bottom, went for the fly as I lifted off and so if course missed before just as quickly disappearing back into the depths. Kicking myself as my heart pounded I decided I was pleased that it was just a trout that brought me into focus rather than a very elusive salmon. A few minutes later I moved on to find nothing at the next hole. At the third though, on the first drop a large grayling grabbed the fly as soon as I started lifting it and gave a very good account of itself. That fish was around 2.5lb and swam off strongly. Not a personal best but very nice none the less demonstrating that while these big lures may seem out of place on a chalkstream, even the delicate ‘Lady of the Stream’ can’t resist.

Having worked my way down the beat and back to the hut I’d had no other fish other than some more bog trout that refused the fly at the last second, I decided on some breakfast and coffee while I planned my next assault. Having had some interest but no salmon I decided to try an orange nymph tied in much the same way but more reminiscent of an Ally Shrimp salmon fly. Now black is generally the best colour by far and so this was for my own interest to see what would happen. The result, nothing, nada zilch! Not a single fish even looked at it and so again having returned to the hut some three hours later but by now hot and sweaty in the near 30oC lunchtime heat, the nymph was quickly replaced by the black variation once more. While munching my lunch I also decided to set up my spinning rod which I’d swap between a black Flying C and a red bodied No4 Mepps allowing me to fish more of the river. My first fish to the nymph was a perch, then another perch and then a greedy chub! Great fun on the fly rod but not exactly what I was after. I then reached a broader part of the river and decided to work each flow diverters first with the nymph and then swap to the lure rod before moving on. That resulted in a jack pike of around 3lb and a very nice perch of 2lb 12oz – a personal best for me and so was I was genuinely very pleased to have caught it. Back at the hut and still no salmon.

 

With the heat and brightness of the day I repeated the exercise a couple of more times but by 7pm I was hot, sticky and very tired after the previous long day and so I decided to call it a day and savour a few cold beers in the garden. My final tally was one toothy jack pike, 5 stripey perch, a greedy chub and the lady of the stream. Not quite the salmon I was after but given the conditions I enjoyed the diversion and if I’m honest, I did end up targeting the perch. Sometimes in fishing though you just have to adapt from the original plan and if willing to do so great fun can be had even when the target species isn’t playing ball! Can someone out there remind what a salmon looks like...