[Allan Liddle]

Won't be far wrong with that Andy (although i'd urge you use Partridge or Sprite hooks  )
Some gold head Hare's Ears with a bit of pearl in them also worth a swim.

[Andy Finlay]

Good point on the hares ear Allan.
What model hook would I be looking for? I’m always a bit lost with the different options available.

[Steven Sinclair]

Andy,

Excuse the c#$p pictures but these are the sort of nymphs I'll be throwing at them 




 

Steven.

[Allan Liddle]

Partridge Barbed:

K5AS Egg / Caddis Heavy (excellent nymph hook)
K4A Grub / Shrimp Down Eye (excellent emerger dry hook)
L5A Dry Fly Supreme (one of their best, brilliant all round hook for river dries, loch dries and loch wets)
G3A Sproat Wet (good general purpose nymph of loch wet hook)
G3A/L Wet Heavy Supreme (another of their best great heavy nymph and heavy wet hook)

Partridge Patriot Barbless:
K4AY Grub and Buzzer (excellent emerger dry hook)
K4AYSE Grub Straight Eye (excellent nymph hook)
CZ Czech Nymph (Another excellent nymph hook offering a more elongated curved shape)
SLJ Wide Gape Jig (best jig hook on the market)
SLD2 Standard Dry (best barbless dry hook on the market)

I use all of the above a lot along with the Sprite range of hooks which are barbed, limited range but very cost effective.

Hope this helps guys and all available from Fly Tying Company

https://www.flytyingcompany.co.uk/

[Allan Liddle]

Here's some of the hooks ready to go:

My wee donation to this years Wild Trout Trust Auction 2 dozen river trout flies including my favourites, dries, spiders and nymphs in there.
Nice wee wooden box thanks to Ed Gormley at the excellent Mill of Kellas Trout Fishery.

[Sandy Nelson]

Ah Hooks, the endless debate ...............

Since last year all my flies are tied on 2 hooks.

Daichi D900 and Fulling Mill 35050.

Both have proved to be the strongest hooks but still light enough for dry flies. Lots of hooks work, its mostly personal choice, but these are the ones i have complete confidence in, although the D900's do not seem to be available anymore fortunately i have a few years worth.

Sandy

[Steven Sinclair]

Seeing all the tying going on by you guys has spurred me on to get some fleas together for 2018.













 

Steven.

[Dave Robb]

I’m way behind.  Just bought a few from Ian Barr which arrived very quickly.  Only a dozen for now to see the quality.

http://www.iainbarrflyfishing.co.uk/shop/viewcategory.php?groupid=14

Very nice flies indeed, well proportioned on Dohiku and Fasna barbless hooks.

Only ordered yesterday so handy to know if flies are need at short notice.

[Eddie Sinclair]

Guys,

while Steven was tying his flees that he has posted here are some of mine that I have been tying at the same time. One side wets and hogs and the other side of the box is nymphs with a view to Durness later this year.

Eddie 

[Euan Innes]

Guys, these are affy wee flles! 
I spent the Christmas break making up stuff like these


and


The first one is tied on a streamer hook with the bend cut off and is around 35mm long. If you look closely at the rear just below the tinsel highlight you can see the small loop of nylon that the leader feeds through after it comes through the shank eye. Old skool Intruder 
The second one is a tube that has a total length of around 3.5" and the single hook "hides" in the tail.
I now have a whole box of these monstrosities that due to work I will probably not get to try more than once in the spring and probably will be a bit big for July!! 

Euan

[Allan Liddle]

Must admit I like the Old Skool Intruder style 

[Steven Sinclair]

Euan,

Out of curiosity what's the advantage of the old skool intruder vs a tube?

 

Steven.

[Allan Liddle]

Bigger lighter and waay more mobile fly Steven

[Hamish Young]

That's broadly true if you're tying with anything other than with plastic tubes Allan.

With decent plastic tubing you can easily create the same sort mobility and size as is possible and associated with shanked  intruders.

I'm looking at incorporating a tungsten head in some of my larger plastic tubes to help 'get em moving' a smidgen more and in an effort to resolve the one issue I've noticed with tube-based intruders..... and that problem is if the pattern is orientated (as in it has a defined top or bottom) tubes often develop a habit of not fishing as you intended. Now you could always adopt Ron Sutherland's 'mosquito' fins to a fly and to be fair I haven't actually tried them yet.... but incorporated into a tube-intruder with a defined top and bottom it should be possible to get them to 'swim' nicely.  I may actually have to try that out... for the craic.... 

For me that's the key, intruders are about action and mobility.  I'd suggest that it's in the smaller sizes that an intruder tied on a shank would come into its own.

H

[Steven Sinclair]

Cheers guys,

Plastic tubes was exactly what I was thinking I'd be fishing instead of these.

Oh and thanks for reminding me about Ron Sutherland. I had some of his Sutherland specials in my youth that had his add on bits that you didn't find in the shops. I seem to recall my dad saying they made all the difference. If I mind right he used to glue feathers down the flanks but it's been about 20 years since I last saw them. They may be kicking about in one of the old iron mongery boxes I'll take a look when I get home.

 

Steven.