I've been tying flies for over fifty years and have always liked the process of designing and tying a new fly, taking it fishing and catching fish. I enjoy experimenting with new materials and coming up with new tying methods to use them. over the years of tying many thousands of flies I've become sensitised to natural materials and now use mostly synthetics. I can still use some natural dubbing like squirrel and alpaca, but tying with hare and rabbit fur and some feathers is just too uncomfortable these days.
the flies featured on the fly designs pages use many non-conventional materials like organza, tulle, bracelet cord, shrink tubing and tungsten carp rig tube. these are combined with synthetic fly tying materials to make patterns which have internal and external structures and the translucency to mimic the natural prey that they are designed to imitate.
in the salt in Pembrokeshire
These days most of my fly fishing is done on the rivers of South Wales after trout and grayling. in the summer I'll spent some time fishing for bass and pollack on Gower and along the Pembrokeshire coast and fishing for carp with dry flies.
stalking dragon for carp
neon wookie saltwater baitfish
Much of my time on the water is spent on the river Taff. The stretch of the river near my home is an urban river flowing through the northern suburbs of Cardiff, but it's a very tranquil place to fish and more often than not I'll have the river to myself all day.
springtime on the taff
When I’m on the river I split my time between fishing and filming. All of my fly tying videos have fishing sequences using the featured fly . I also make some longer fishing films following the changing nature of the river through the seasons. Follow the link below to my YouTube channel to see what’s new.
a summer trout from the taff