I am a passionate Saltwater fly fisherman. I hope you enjoy browsing the blog and please also visit my Webshopwhere you will find many high quality materials for tying those Saltwater and Predator flies.
Pike season has finally arrived and there will be many keen fly anglers turning their attention to their local river, canal or Stillwater in search of these amazing creatures. Perch are also coming to the fore as a worthy target on fly gear too so don't neglect what is one of my personal favourite species. It goes without saying that the shop is fully stocked at this time of year in preparation for the tying side of things and our own team is producing some cracking patterns using our materials. Some of the team have already banked some lovely specimens recently too so watch out for more catch reports over the coming months.
Above is a great tie by David Warren using our Big fish fibre and Livebait dubbing with a little Sybai Saltwater Angel hair mixed in.A lovely pattern made by Steve Bewes using Stacked Big fish fibreA superb fly caught Pike by Irish Team member Jonathan Bartley.
I didn't get out much on the Fly during June due to the somewhat erratic weather patterns we had, however I did manage a few Ultralight lure sessions. I think there are quite a few Fly anglers that also enjoy a bit of Lure fishing and in my opinion it pays to keep your options open in order to keep fishing at times. Hopefully July will see me back out on the fly. In the meantime I hope you enjoy this months Vlog and there is a short film of one of my Sessions which was incredibly productive and hugely enjoyable.
Please consider subscribing to the channel if you haven't already as there will be plenty more content in the future.
For a while now I have been toying with the idea of a Video blog ( Vlog ). Having made a few short video's in the past of some of my sessions I wanted to take things to the next level.
I fish a fair bit throughout the year using various methods including Fly, Lure and LRF styles of fishing so I felt there was plenty of opportunity for me to create regular content and include all these methods. The style I fish is usually dictated by the current conditions, including tides, wind and Sea state at various marks around the Island. Being flexible and keeping an eye on the prevailing conditions keeps me fishing when if I were fishing just one style, I might dismiss going fishing altogether at certain times.
Now there are plenty of Vloggers out there, granted, but very few include Saltwater fly fishing and looking on You tube it's hard to find good video's relating to the UK Saltwater fly scene and I hope to include a fair bit within the Vlog.
Before proceeding I gave a lot of thought about what format I wanted the Vlog to take. Now I admit freely I am not much of a talker and more of a do'er, I consider myself an angler, first and foremost above all else, it's who I am and my whole life revolves around it. Therefore I wanted the Vlog to reflect how I see my angling.
Now I don't know about you but I love watching atmospheric, well filmed sequences rather than Go Pro / Action camera style video's. That's just my personal preference and I'm not saying there is anything wrong with filming that way, indeed you will see the odd frame or two shot on a chest cam, but I wanted to produce as high a quality Vlog as possible and so I have immersed myself into the world of filmmaking, spending many hours watching tutorials and studying methods and techniques in film making so that I might achieve my goal of producing nicely shot content for the enjoyment of others. And that is the shape that the Vlog will take, I will be doing a little talking but for the most part each edition will contain a short and hopefully atmospheric and inspiring film describing my fishing for that month.
So without further ado Please follow the link below to what is my first official episode of the Vlog. I did put up a pilot episode at the end of last month just to gauge reaction and as an experiment to see what the format might look like, If you compare the two I think you'll see that things are moving along nicely regarding quality and my skills as a videographer. If you enjoy the Vlogs please let me know by liking them and subscribing to the channel so you receive notification when each new episode is uploaded.
We have commissioned a nice range of Scissors bearing the Silver Scales brand, these high quality tools come in three sizes, a 4 inch standard blade suitable for cutting Hair and Fibre, a 4 inch and 3.75 inch with Precision tip blades for finer work such as trimming thread and accurate trimming of fine materials. The large ergonomic loops have been powder coated with the Silver scales blue colour which makes them more comfortable to use over uncoated handles and not to mention combined with the tastefully laser etched Silver Scales branding, they will look great on your fly tying bench!
At last Solarez have started producing a new handy bottle size, the 0.5fl oz ( approx. 15ml ) represents great value and as a precision applicator is also included it makes them the number one choice in UV Resins. Zero tack and low odour formula make it a market leader.
Now available in 4 formulas including, Thin, Thick, Flex and the all new Medium!
These little guys generated a lot of interest on social media recently with numerous requests for a Video SBS on how to tie them. Primarily designed for our European Sea Bass but no doubt effective for a wide range of species anywhere in the world.
This beautiful material is proving to be very popular, you can create some wonderful flies for both Fresh and Saltwater Predators with it. It's light and mobile and very little is needed to create a good profile. Use it in it's own or in conjunction with other materials from our range, it works especially well with our Big fish fibre! Available in a great range of colours. Checkout the pictures below of some of the patterns you can create.
Having received several requests for an item of clothing featuring our Fly Life Logo we have commissioned some Stylish Beechfield Sandwich peak Caps with the Logo embroidered onto the front panel.
The Caps currently come in a Bright Royal Blue which we think offsets the Logo nicely. We are open to requests for other colours so Please let us know what colours you'd like to see.
From a practical point of view the Caps will offer protection from the Sun and Wind and even the odd shower. The dark under peak will also provide shade for your eyes and help you spot more fish when coupled with Polarised glasses.
One size fits all with an adjustable Velcro strap at the rear.
The following Step by step is for a really easy and fun to tie Baitfish pattern that uses barely any material making it super light and easy to cast and yet creates a great profile and movement! This fly will translate into larger or smaller versions depending on your requirements.
You will need:
Silver Scales Big fish fibre x 2 colours, Sybai Trilobal wing hair x 2 colours, a bit of dubbing, Veevus 140 thread, some flash and some eyes and a Sakuma 420 hook in your choice of size.
Step 1: Attach your thread about a third of the way along the shank from the eye of the hook. I'm using a 2/0 Sakuma 420 here.
Step 2: Add some dubbing to your thread, I'm using a bright orange and this will show as a hot spot if the fly is approached from behind hopefully triggering an attack!
Step 3: Build a Dubbing bump, the bigger the bump the more your materials will flare later.
Step 4: Take your 2 colours of Big fish fibre and cut off two lengths of each.
Step 5: Blend them by stripping out a few strands and laying them on top of each other.
Step 6: Tie in a short bunch 60/40 bias towards the rear of the fly, right in front of the Dubbing bump and cinch it down tight so the fibre flares up over the bump.
Step 7: fold the front bunch down underneath the hook and secure. Again cinch it down tight to the Dubbing bump so it flares.
Step 8: Add some longer strands of flash in your choice of colours to form a tail, Silver scales Flashabou is ideal.
Step 9: Now take your first choice colour of Sybai Trilobal wing hair and cut a short bunch, 3 - 4 inches ( longer if tying a bigger fly than me, or shorter if smaller ), and tie it in on top of the fly 60/40 bias towards the rear of the fly.
Step 10: Repeat underneath the fly with your 2nd choice colour.
Step 11: Now fold all the pieces back and secure down.
Step 12: Repeat the previous steps but use slightly shorter pieces of the Trilobal hair but before folding the pieces back split the forward facing pieces into two as below.
Step 13: Fold the split pieces back so they sit down the side of the fly forming the rest of the head and then secure with a thread cone in front of the material next to the eye, this will hold the fibre back keeping it in place and also give a nice rounded profile to the head.
Step 14: Now comb the Trilobal hair, blending the layers into one and shaping the head, note that a little of the fibre will come out in the comb, don't panic this is normal and loss should be minimal.
Step 15: Whip finish and add your eyes and finish the nose of the fly with some Solarez.
Two New products have just landed here at Silver Scales!
We have Supreme Wing hair and Superfine Trilobal wing hair, both from the Sybai Stable.
We really like this new material from Sybai! Supreme Wing hair ( below ), is the perfect material for all Pike and Predator flies, soft and supple with great movement. Fine translucent fibres mixed with a fine subtle flash blend to really make your flies stand out whilst at the same time give your flies a natural appearance. A little goes a long way with this material so don't over do it when using this fibre! Easily creates good volume and profile. Great range of colours.
Superfine Trilobal wing hair ( below ), Another great fibre from Sybai! Bulky heads are very popular on Pike flies because they create a great profile to get the attention of the Predator, pushing plenty of water. This soft voluminous fibre is a super fine synthetic and offers advantages over conventional natural materials commonly used for creating bulky heads. It sheds water easier than natural equivalents and also holds its shape better. You only need a very small amount of this material to create bulk so it goes a long way and is very good value! So easy to use and create the profile you need!
Check them both out in the shop and view the great range of colours available in both materials!
Sybai are renowned for their unique products in the fly tying world and these two are no different!
https://www.silverscalesflytying.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_9179.jpg We are currently running a promotion on the superb Sybai Saltwater Flash hair with 20% off a pack.
What superlatives can I use to describe this outstanding material? Simply Stunning!!
Check out the close up detail pictures!
A fine crinkled hair with a flashabou type flash pre blended in for you. Think wing n flash!
Approx 6-7 inches in length.
Soft, supple and with superb movement in the water.
The minute you get your hands on this material you will want to tie with it!
Perfect for flashy Pike and Saltwater flies.
Generous hanks so you will be able to get several flies from one pack.
Use on its own or in conjunction with other materials.
https://www.silverscalesflytying.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_0695.jpg Many Products are back in stock along with a few new one's!
The ever popular Sybai Ghost hair ( below ) is back in stock with plenty of colours to choose from. This super fine, translucent synthetic hair has many uses for both Saltwater and Pike Patterns.
Our own Silver scales Preyfish fibre ( below ) which is hugely popular is topped up with all colours now available again plus a couple of new one's including Steel blue and Salmon pink. Supremely versatile and again suitable for both Saltwater patterns and Big Pike streamers.
One of our new materials is the Crystal Minnow hair ( below ), this one is going to be great for smaller predator flies. A clear flash and super fine micro fibres combine to create a Crystal like glint to this lovely material.
We have also increased our range of Eyes, Two new 3D eyes in the form of Holo Silver and a 3D Pearl that looks absolutely stunning! We have also added Flat Holographic eyes and some superb looking Neon coloured Zombie eyes that are already proving very popular! All available in a range of sizes.
Plenty of new products in addition to the above are being added in the next few weeks so keep popping back in to check and see what's new from Silver Scales!
https://www.silverscalesflytying.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/IMG_0586-1.jpg Here at Silver scales we're always on the lookout for new products to bring into our range. We recently came across such a material that really caught our eye.
Crystal Minnow hair is a very unusual product and as far as we know exclusive to us here in the UK. Consisting of a unique blend of microfibers and a clear tinsel flash, this is a very eye catching fibre. The clear tinsel gives the appearance of many tiny Crystal like glints throughout, hence the name. We feel that this fibre is more suited to smaller baitfish patterns if you want to use it as the sole fibre, and it should make great Surf candies and Saltwater patterns, however there is no reason you can't add small amounts to larger Pike and Predator flies to add to the overall attraction, especially if you don't want too much flash in the fly and would prefer a more subtle sparkle. Overall we think this a beautiful looking material and with a little imagination some great looking and highly attractive patterns can be created from this Hair. 10 great colours to start with, many of which are Hot 'UV', and we all know how effective UV materials can be in Predator flies!
Check it out in the shop : https://www.silverscalesflytying.co.uk/product/crystal-minnow-hair/
Silver Scales regular Customer Louis Chancellor recently found some opportunist success using our Vibro shads and a few bits of end tackle from our range.
Louis told me:
'I was hiking with my girlfriend in the German Black Forest, so no serious sessions, just 10-15 minutes here and there in forest lakes and streams etc. Only a little UL travel rod and pocket tackle box, but I usually got a bite in the first few casts. Jack pike, perch, trout and chub. Great fun on a little rod though!'
'I was using a Silver scales vibro shad in green pumpkin, on a Silver scales #6 weedless worm hook, 3.5g SS texas weight, SS 8lb braid mainline and 8lb seaguar leader...'
Sounds like you had a great time Louis and a very good example of some really enjoyable opportunist angling! well done!
If you would like to send us a catch report like Louis then please email us at fishonflies@outlook.com and we'll post it up for you.
All colours of our superb and ever popular Preyfish fibre are now back in stock!
A superb material for tying all kinds of Baitfish patterns for both Pike / Predator and Saltwater. Soft and mobile, sheds water incredibly well making even bulky flies light and easy to cast!
