An enjoyable few hours at Lochter Trout Fishery with Brian, Robert and George tonight.

Quite hard fishing, but managed to tempt a few on dries :)

Should be no issues with this one *smiley-lol*

I’m always impressed by how they look underwater, this one decided to have a rest before taking off.

A few photos from Sandy's River Don post today.

Click on 'Quote from: Sandy Nelson' to view the full post.

So I managed a lovely evening .....

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Soon be time for the Scottish Game Fair 2024.

Who is going this year?

When nature does impressionist art (no filters)

The Grunter: a great fly tying step by step recently added by Magnus :)

A modern fly, devised and named by Grant Luke. The materials and tying techniques are more traditional.

Click on the photo to view Magnus's step by step guide to tying the Grunter.

Fishing with Dad on Lake Taupo in the 1970s :)

I never took my distance fly casting seriously, but just stepping up and having a go was always good fun.

Stoneflies everywhere today. All different kinds.
impressive insects, lots of shucks on the rocks



And on the reeds



Some different adults too, this one has me away to check my books to see what it is as its not the usual orange stripe one we see on the Don.



Definitely a member of the Perlidae family.
Pretty sure its the large pale stonefly Perla bipunctata

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Let’s play spot the fish,
round 1 .
The clear water makes these things fun. *smiley-tongue-out*

Great to see the Barrio Midge Tip line performing well in the review by Magnus Angus )

See the latest June edition of Fly Fishing & Fly Tying magazine.

The refurbished museum opened on Sunday here in Staffordshire.
Some fascinating stuff in there and it made me think - if we took modern technology and materials out of the equation, then not much has changed in the last 400 years.
Even then, in the mid 17th C, old Izaac and his mate Charles Cotton were using fly patterns known as the 'Dames Dozen' that were established almost 150 years before.
So, I'm looking for an 18' Hazel rod with a tapered whalebone tip and a spliced horsehair line. *smiley-grin*

This guy tried to photobomb one of my fish release shots from yesterday. So I went back and took a few of just him. This one came out really nice.

The Large Dark Olive aka LDO

Claret Shipman's Buzzer: a great fly tying step by step recently added by Magnus :)

An ultra simple fly for reservoirs and stillwaters. Shipman's fish well as part of a team, cast out into a wave when buzzers are hatching off in open water ........

Click on the photo to view Magnus's step by step guide to tying the Shipman's Buzzer.

Sneak Peek :)

A new fly line for the river - Barrio Troutstream - to be launched over the next couple of weeks.

I often wonder why we call them Brownies

Celebrating my much loved Barrio fly lines T. This is from August 2013.
The tee is still on the go; bit faded and decrepit; I can relate.



Taken on a Hebridean island loch, with a very distinctive shallow sand flat before it drops off. Bonus points for anyone who can name it!
Euan Innes, Hamish & I fished it once together, and Eddie Sinclair stood me up and didn’t fish with me the day I took this picture. I think he had whisky flu….

Get a drink - this is a long one.

This story starts with a phone call from a family friend named Gerald in early 2023. Gerald has been a good friend to our family and perhaps some of you who read this story will have a friend who is a bit like Gerald; someone you really enjoy catching up with and wish that you did so more often, but somehow seldom do. Gerald fits in this category, I really do enjoy speaking with him and I should have been in more regular contact with him for years.

Anyway, this true story is a bit about memories of days gone by, a bit about friends and family but is mostly about a wooden clinker-built fishing dinghy called Uncle Ray. Incidentally,...

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Fishing The Fly Scotland - If you are a member, then this is your fly fishing forum.

Simply dropping in to read the latest content? - Please take a moment to participate, post and reply!

This is your web space - make the most of it :z16

The Cruncher - a stillwater fly that can fish well on the river.

An enjoyable wander down the river for a few hours today :)

Nothing was rising, but this went on first for a bit of prospecting anyway - as it was well chewed from last year.



I gradually saw sense in the bright conditions and fished a couple of nymphs - not that they made any difference to the outcome *smiley-grin*

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The Wild Trout Trust Spring Auction is now live - March 15th-24th

There are 300+ items in the catalogue, see https://www.auction.wildtrout.org/categories

Trout season 2024 - it's getting closer :)

Handy wee emerger and easy to spot especially if you swap out the dun coloured poly yarn post for one of floro orange or pink.

Sprite S2100 barbless Buzzer with Semperfli 8/0 pale olive Classic Waxed thread and light olive Kapoc dubbing thorax.

The Barrio Midge Tip is back ..... hot off the machines in Redditch )

Love a March Brown and tying these with a single cdc feather makes for a really simple and effective body covering "shuck" especially if you leave a few fibres trailing.

Hare's Ear Spider: a great fly tying step by step recently added by Magnus :)

Fish as an emerger, just under the water surface. Works well early season when March Browns and similar upwing flies are hatching mid-stream.

Click on the photo to view Magnus's step by step guide to tying the Hare's Ear Spider.

Paul Procter: A solid early season trout taken at March Brown time ... not long now!

The March to the River Don on the first Saturday of the Salmon season falls on the 17th this year, meeting up from 8.30am for teas/coffees at St Andrews Church Hall, Inverurie.

The March to the River will commence at 9.30am, with piper Paul Malley leading the procession to the Don Bridge. Glen Garioch Whisky Distillery are sponsoring the event, and the Paton Trophy will be presented to Stuart Mathewson of Alford for the first salmon caught on the river in 2023 .

Speakers will include Inverurie Angling Association President - Steve Corsar, Aberdeenshire Provost - Judy Whyte and Director of Don District Salmon Fishery Board - Lorraine Hawkins.

The March To The River Don also signals light at the end...

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It's the British Fly Fair International (BFFI) near Stafford this weekend. Is anyone going?
I'll be there on my little WAFT stall. Be nice to see you there.
I'll be showing some flies recommended for wafting tied by James and Hamish.

Out for a pre season walk along the river this afternoon, what a cracking day for it )

Peeping Caddis using Straggle Legs and uv resin on the case.

Found a nice new silk that gives a proper Nude wrap. Perfect for clear glass blanks.
Quite a few of the raw silks have the tiniest hint of colour when finished. Fine on a coloured Blank but not on a proper clear glass. This one doesn’t *smiley-yippee*

More SLX lines coming off the machines in Redditch today :)

Bringing back the alternative option of the Mushy Pea Olive coloured head.

A step by step guide to fitting braided leader loops to your fly line.

See the forum post here: https://www.fishingthefly.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=6785.0

G'morning folks :)

Finally found d the original Furnace Gold article hidden away inside a folder I used to keep cuttings of all the magazine article flies in.

Trouble with memory is, you might think you're 100% correct but sometimes you're not, as is the case here with me and the Furnace Gold.

I'd forgotten that the body wasn't " solid gold" but open turns to give a segment body ( exactly same as a Pennell but with Gold, not silver.

So here it is, the original Furnace Gold, just have to go away and redo all those variations now 😃

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Barrio fly lines R&D back in the early days!

Measure, weigh, cut, splice - outside for a cast :)

The River Spey Anglers Association Fly Tying Fair 2024 is only two weeks away!

It's a great wee event this one and it is always good to catch up with everybody :z16

Who is going this year?

Out and about for a walk yestarday..