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- Herausgeber: Merlin Unwin Books
- Kategorie: Lebensstil
- Sprache: Englisch
This is a ground-breaking fly tying book. • It is the first to have a QR code/YouTube link for every single pattern demonstrated. You can now watch the whole process online then turn to the matching chapter in the book to find the recipe and follow all the step-by-step instructions so that you can tie your own fly in your own time. • It has an online link with the author – expert tyer Barry Ord Clarke – who you can contact direct if you run into any difficulties! He will respond to all questions. • The book's focus is on techniques: world-class fly tyer Ord Clarke demonstrates with crystal-clear photographs his own 'takes' on how to tie your own excellent flies – simply and quickly!
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Seitenzahl: 214
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019
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This book is dedicated to my father, Edward Ord Clarke, who died of a hard life shortly before my 16th birthday. Like any great father, he taught me to fish.
When I was about eleven years old, I recall a day trip to Bakewell in Derbyshire. We stood side by side on the bank of the river Wye, spellbound, watching a fisherman casting in a way I’d never seen before. I asked my father what the man was doing. ‘He’s fly fishing; we’ll have to try that one day,’ he replied. We ran out of time…
Dad, this book is yours.
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
by Marc Petitjean
I first met Barry in 2009 on the river Trysil in Norway. I was drift-boat fishing this beautiful wild river while he was taking pictures in the magnificent scenery. We became good friends and a few years later we worked together on my book CDC. Barry’s photographs made a great contribution to the book and I was proud to feature this great talent.
Now it’s my turn to praise him as a fly tyer, a fisherman and a photographer. It’s pretty rare to combine those three talents equally.
Barry was already a well-established professional photographer in England, long before moving to Norway and making fishing and flytying his living.
Barry is to flytying what a gifted multi-instrumentalist is to jazz: a man able to play the standards, to improvise or rearrange. Take for instance his CDC para-weld hackle: using the traditional para loop hackle as a starting point, he gives the parachute hackle a totally contemporary twist. Or his All Hackle Dry: with this pattern he makes a great innovation, mixing Japanese minimalism with a creative hackling technique.
In addition to his impeccable skills at the vice (he truly can tie every kind of fly), Barry shows a deep understanding of the materials, especially the natural ones, about which he speaks as both a nature lover and a hunter.
That’s why you will learn a lot from this book in which he reveals so many useful tricks and tips, in both his words and pictures.
And as if that wasn’t enough, Barry will also give you a ‘parallel’ masterclass via his YouTube channel, The Feather Bender.
Barry Ord Clarke: a true artist and virtuoso at the vice.
Marc Petitjean
INTRODUCTION
My childhood years in the early 1960s were spent in industrial northern Lancashire, where I was as attracted to water as I am now. All my time was spent with a split cane rod on the local canals and millponds that drove the wheels of the world’s largest cotton industry. Later in life, my chosen career as a photographer led me to London, where I was introduced to fly tying. Unlike most fly fishermen, I started tying fully dressed salmon flies before I even started fly fishing. Having been fortunate enough to have had an ‘Arts and Crafts’ art education, and a life-long fascination with birds and their plumage, fly tying came naturally.
The nature of fly fishing, for most of us, is such that once you have taken the first step and learned to cast with a fly rod and eventually landed your first fish, you gain instant membership to a very special international brotherhood without cultural or social boundaries. We all become members of the family of fly fishermen.
Our enthusiasm and hunger for knowledge within our sport and its related subjects becomes a vocation. Whenever and wherever we meet, by the water on a day in high summer, or around a table on a cold winter’s night, whether with old fishing friends or total strangers, we eagerly exchange experiences, techniques and sometimes even precious tips. If you are new to our sport, you truly have something to look forward to. You may find the technical language barrier a little difficult to begin with – not to mention the Latin! – but it doesn’t take long before you too are talking in tongues. No matter where you meet a member of this fishing family, you will always have something to talk about, with the conversation flowing easily from tackle, big fish, and destinations to, last but not least, flies and fly tying.
The second step, and probably most natural progression from fly fishing, is to fly tying. After the industrialisation of the fishing hook, and the labor-intensive manufacture of fishing flies, the production has moved to countries with cheaper labor. The days are gone when fly fishermen tied flies out of financial necessity.
The move to the fly tyer’s bench is motivated by sheer pleasure and, through fly tying, the fly fisherman can open previously locked doors and enter a whole new world of their sport, customising existing patterns to their own specific requirements, and in time designing their very own flies!
The first flies that a beginner attempts to tie are normally well-known patterns that have worked well for them. This is always a good place to start, as long as the patterns don’t require especially difficult techniques or difficult-to-source materials. Frustration at an early stage can quickly lead to dejection and the danger that your fly tying kit ends up in the attic, along with the windsurfing board and golf clubs.
On the other hand, if the beginner starts the fly tying journey with a couple of highly fishable patterns that are technically easy and enjoyable to tie, these can be the stepping stones to more advanced and challenging patterns, via which the novice fly tyer will eventually be able to tie all the flies he or she requires, and more besides.
This book is aimed at all flytyers, from those with modest experience to more advanced skills, and my aim is to give tuition in certain important elementary techniques, and in particular to share some of my favourite contemporary twists on old techniques. Many of the flies in this book use my own techniques and patterns which I have developed over 35 years of tying.
When learning to tie a new pattern, the techniques, the knowledge of a material’s potential and its limitations: these and many other considerations all have their place on the road to success. One of the key factors to this success is having available good tutorials. This book will give you the best detailed images available, for every step, from attaching the tying thread to the finished fly. All this is accompanied with a clear instructional text which will lead you through each of the patterns.
But what makes this book a first for fly tying is that each pattern is also supported by a Quick Response code which instantly links you to my YouTube channel and the right video for each and every pattern here. Here you can see how I tie them, before you start to tie.
Another possible first: you can also send me a personal question if you are struggling, via the comments box on the video in question on my YouTube channel.
This is not just a book of fishing flies, although the patterns included will all catch fish: this is a book about mastering fly tying techniques. Fly tying has come a long way in the last decade or so. Many tyers are now taking the craft to another level and are spending more time at the vice than on the water. Like a child in a sweet shop, fly tyers love to look at flies and have a real appreciation for a perfect fly box, where the examples of each pattern are identical, all lined up like soldiers on a parade ground. With the help of this book, a good deal of practice and a pinch of patience, you can master proportions, uniformity and perfection. The only restriction on your fly tying creativity will be the limits of your own imagination.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
I recommend that you start by scanning the QR code or using the link provided next to the dressing for each fly and watching the video, and familiarise yourself with the pattern. Here you can see me demonstrating any special procedures or techniques, and learn first-hand how I do it. Full instructions – see page 251. You can then turn to the book and follow the step-by-step instructions to tie at your own speed and leisure.
The book has been arranged in sections to give the reader the opportunity to locate the pattern or technique they are looking for with ease. I have not grouped the patterns alphabetically but by fly type (eg. mayflies, caddis flies, etc). For example, the section on mayflies has categories demonstrating mayfly nymphs, emergers, duns and spinners, all of which contain a multitude of techniques for tails, bodies, wings and hackles, etc.
If you are fairly new to fly tying, the opening chapters on materials and special techniques and tricks will familiarise you with some basics and help you get started. There are probably even a few things here for the seasoned fly tyer.
The index at the back of the book will tell you where to find particular patterns, techniques or materials. When you have located the page number for the desired technique, each pattern is listed with a recipe, recommended hook style, size and materials. These are listed in the order that I use them in the book’s step-by-step images and the accompanying video. This will help you plan each pattern and assemble your materials beforehand, for a more effective and enjoyable tying experience.
I hope that you, like me, are inspired.
Barry Ord Clarke, Skien, Norway, July 2019
TIPS AND TRICKS
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Save time by organising your materials
When I started tying flies, all my tools, materials and hooks were all stored in a shoebox-sized plastic container. Thirty-five years later they now require a 50m2 room solely dedicated to tying and photographing flies.
No matter how small or large your tying area is, try to give your materials a storage system that is easy to access, and easy to remember where things are. This dramatically reduces the time you waste searching for materials, which increases tying efficiency and enjoyment.
Watch video:
youtu.be/pQFNGQzVpy0
A little tour of my tying room with Barry Ord Clarke
Prep your materials before tying
When you intend to tie a half dozen or more of the same pattern, prepare all the hooks and materials needed for the number to be tied. I count out the correct number of hooks needed, then place them in a small plastic container, then prep the materials. Select all the hackles in the correct size and prep these by stripping off the downy section and trimming the stem.
If you are using hair, cut all the bunches required and clean and stack: these can then be placed in a simple hair holder ready for use. If it is tinsel or floss, cut it all to the correct length, and so on… When you have prepped all the materials, clear an area on your tying bench and lay the hooks and materials out in the correct order to be used.
Proportions
The correct tying proportions for a good-looking pattern will always be a matter for debate. Try to develop a system for your favourite proportions for each pattern: this is not only important for prepping your materials but even more important for attaining the correct symmetry and balance, which after much practice will make each fly identical to the last.
I always have a 30cm ruler on my tying bench, placed between me and the vice for easy access. In this position you can quickly measure materials to the correct length, when both tying and prepping. This will not only improve your fly proportions, getting wing, hackle and other materials to a uniform length, but it will also save you materials, by you cutting the correct length needed of tinsel or floss from a spool.
Adjust bobbin tension
This is probably the most overlooked element of tying that will help with every single pattern you tie! Over the past 25 years I have held hundreds of fly tying courses and demos. In just about every single course I have students who have been tying with the bobbin tension so tight that they are bending the hook or breaking the thread every few winds! Or, on the other end of the scale, the tension is so slack that when released from their hand it un-spools and falls onto the table or the floor! What you need to achieve is a tension that has just a little resistance when you pull on the bobbin. If further tension is required, let’s say when flaring deer hair, this can be applied by using the palm of your hand as a brake.
Many of the new, more expensive bobbins have a built-in tension adjustment screw or slide, but the more simple bobbin designs are easy to adjust if you know how.
Firstly hold your bobbin holder as shown in your left hand and draw off a little tying thread with your right hand. This way you can determine if the tension is too tight, or too slack.
If the tension is too tight, remove the bobbin from the holder and gently open the spigot arms, forcing them slowly apart (see left photo on page 13). Don’t overdo this to start with, just a little at a time. Once you have done it, replace the bobbin and check the tension. Repeat until the correct tension is acquired.
If the tension on your bobbin is too little, remove the bobbin from the holder as before, and gently cross the spigot arms, forcing them slowly together (see right photo on page 13). Don’t overdo this to start with, just a little at a time. Once you have done this, replace the bobbin and check the tension. Repeat until the correct tension is acquired.
Magic Head hackle guard
This is a simple homemade tool that helps tame hackles and hair when whip finishing. Buy a pack of large Petitjean Magic Heads. If you are not going to use these for tying streamers, split the price of a pack with a tying friend.
Thread one Magic Head over your bobbin holder as shown on page 13. They also make great thread retainers for keeping all your bobbins in check.
Once all the required deer hair has been spun and packed, you have to make a whip finish.
This can be difficult with all that hair flying around, so just slide the Magic Head up over the hook eye. This will hold all the hair out of the way, for a trouble-free whip finish.
Hackle pliers
The majority of fly tying tools that are used on a regular basis become worn after long use. The small rubber sleeve around one of the jaws supplied when purchased becomes dry and eventually splits and rots. We have all experienced the common problem, when winding on a hackle: just at that critical moment the jaws slip, releasing the hackle stem, resulting in a good dose of frustration.
I solve this problem with some extra-fine glass paper and a couple of drops of super-glue. All you have to do is cut two small patches of sandpaper and glue them to the inside of the jaws.
Once they are attached, place a sheet of fly box foam, or similar, in the jaws, to apply a little pressure until dry. You can then trim the edges of the sandpaper to fit the jaws. This not only gives an excellent non-slip surface that securely holds even the finest hackle point, but the extra bulk of the paper increases the overall tension in the jaws, resulting in a tighter non-slip grip.
Watch Video:
youtu.be/nFHfAkiOvXU
Improving your hackle pliers with Barry Ord Clarke
Dubbing needle cleaner
A dubbing needle is a tool that I use on every single fly I tie. It’s also the tool that is most often mislaid amongst the clutter of materials while tying. In order to avoid this I have at least five dubbing needles of various sizes, all placed in a foam block by my vice.
I can also recommend a dubbing needle with a long handle and short needle. This gives you a better grip, and so much more precision when applying varnish.
The acute point of a dubbing needle becomes easily clogged with a build-up of varnish and head cement which you have to scrape off with a hobby knife. If you use an empty plastic hook box, filled with wire wool or even a normal Brillo pad, the days of clogged dubbing needles are over.
Once the box is packed tightly with wire wool and the lid securely in place, make a hole by pushing the point of your dubbing needle through the centre top of the box and down into the wire wool.
Repeat this three or four times, without withdrawing your needle completely from the box. Your needle is clean, highly polished and sharp.
Toothbrush
Once my toothbrush has foregone its usefulness in the bathroom, it is reincarnated in the fly tying room as a dubbing brush.
This is one of those simple tying tools that I have been using for as long as I can remember: just the right size, but large enough and bright enough to be found anywhere amongst the clutter of your tying table. A large, easily-held handle and short stiff bristles make it excellent for a wide range of fly tying tasks.
Hair clips & hair band spool retainers
These very inexpensive small hair ties are extremely useful, especially if you are tying large predator and saltwater flies. These little bands will hold materials in place thereby freeing up a hand to help with tying. You can store two or three of these bands on the main shaft of your vice for easy access.
They are also perfect for retaining spooled materials, keeping normally unruly tinsels, wires and flosses in check.
These small hair clips, costing only a couple of pounds for a packet of many, are extremely useful. They will hold the tying thread and materials out of the way, freeing up a hand to help with tying. You can store two or three of these clips on the main shaft of your vice for easy access.
Organise your tools
Over the years I have acquired many tools, but only use a handful on a daily basis. Keep your tying area free of these never- or seldom-used tools, making your tying bench tidier and more efficient.
Take a look at your tying bench and select all the tools that you use for just about every fly you tie: scissors, bobbin-holders, whip-finisher, hackle plier etc, and put these to one side. Then put on the other side the tools that you use only occasionally. What you are left with should be tools that you can put away in a box to be retrieved for the very rare occasions when they are needed.
There are many tool caddies and racks available to help organise the essential tools at your vice, but if you use a little imagination you can find ingenious ways of storing your tools efficiently and creatively.
I probably have a larger selection and stock of hooks than the average fly tyer, but no matter how large or small your collection, keeping your hooks organised will help you locate the style and size that you require for each pattern with ease.
MATERIALS USED IN THIS BOOK
Antron yarn
A synthetic yarn that consists of parallel strands of trilobal Antron thread. Sold on a card in as many colours as it has applications. Great for wing cases, parachute posts, body silk…
CDC
CDC, short for Cul de Canard or Croupion de Canard, was first used as a fly tying material in the 1920s in Switzerland. In more recent years the Swiss perfectionist Marc Petitjean has been responsible for popularising the use of this material. All birds have these feathers, but the best for fly tying come from ducks. The feathers are located around the gland that produces preening oil. This highly water-repellent oil is collected on these small feathers, and the bird uses the oil to dress and waterproof its plumage. Without preening oil, the bird would drown. The small CDC fibres catch tiny air bubbles that work on dry fly and emerger patterns. With weighted nymphs, the tiny bubbles resemble the gasses emanating from splits in the nymphal shuck when in transition. Besides its excellent floating properties, CDC is extremely aqua-dynamic, pulsating with life in the water. And a CDC hackle will collapse under air pressure while casting but, as soon as the cast ends, the hackle opens and falls perfectly back to its intended shape.
Coq de Leon
These are spade hackles from the roosters of rare breeds of domestic fowl that originate from the region of Leon in northern Spain.
Flor de Escoba
The feathers have remarkable colouration and, in the traditional Spanish patterns in which they are used, are not wound onto the hook as a normal hackle. Instead, bunches of the fibres are bound onto the hook and then splayed with the tying thread to obtain a radial hackle effect. The speckled plumage also make excellent tails and caddis wings. The feathers have become more easy to obtain in recent years as their popularity within fly tying has risen. In their finest form the feathers have a stiffness and glasslike translucency that come from birds bred at high altitude on a soil which is rich in chalk. The quality of feather is also affected by the time of year they are harvested from the birds. The feathers come in two different types: Indio, which are solid and plain coloured; and Pardo which are mottled.
The traditional names given to the Flor de Escoba colours are:
Indio
Negrisco (black); palometas (white); rubion (natural red); palteado (silver grey); acerado (ash grey); avellanado (brownish grey); perla (pearl grey); claro (light grey); oscura (dark grey).
Pardo
Flor de Escoba (dark background with reddish brown spots); sarrioso (light brown background with pale russet brown flecks); corona (fallow deer background with pale russet brown flecks); aconchado (conch shell); langareto (mottled in distinct yellowy lines); encendido (flushed with red); medio (medium-shaded and stippled); oscura (dark shade); crudo (immature indistinct mottling).
Roe deer hair
During the darkest, coldest months of the year with the shortest days, the roe deer adopts its thickest, most dense coat. With up to a metre or more snow on the ground for several months, and often with temperatures in double figures on the wrong side of zero, this is when the roe needs the extra insulation. This hair is thick and spongey when squeezed, with a good amount of underfur for extra insulation and a noticeably more fatty/waxy feel to the touch. The diameter of each individual hair has also increased, containing larger air cell honeycombing than at any other time of the year, creating optimal flaring of 90 degrees when compressed under the pressure of tying thread. This makes it perfect for spun deer hair flies. This late-season hair can be spun, packed and clipped into almost any desired shape, so tightly that it doesn’t resemble deer hair at all.
Hackle
Hackles traditionally arouse the greatest passion amongst fly tyers. Cock/rooster capes of particularly good or rare colour and those with sufficiently short barb length to enable small dry flies to be tied have always been prized. In the 1960s and 70s it was a common complaint that good dry fly capes were scarce – to the extent that many of the ‘traditional’ natural colours were virtually unobtainable. Dyeing and other methods such as blending two hackles were used to replicate difficult colours specified in old patterns.
Things have improved dramatically since then, due to the efforts of specialist breeders and modern techniques of fowl husbandry. Many traditional colours have reappeared in quality that far exceeds anything that was obtainable in the past. These developments come at a price however and the tyer will have to pay for top quality cock cape or saddle from the best-known American ‘genetic’ hackle farms.
