Capes and Hackles

Tools and Materials
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The types of cape which you will come across are cock and hen capes from domestic poultry.
Hen capes are smaller and softer with denser fibres , and are usually used for wet flies , nymphs and lures. The hackle fibres are more mobile in the water. They can be wrapped around the hook in the conventional [...]

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Essential Tools

Tools and Materials
Tools

Vice – Today you can buy an adequate vice for as little as £20, but you can pay hundreds.  Buy the best you can afford.

Scissors – You will need a pair of fine pointed very sharp scissors. Embroidery scissors are good. A good pair should last you for years as long as you don’t go [...]

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Palmered Hackle Alternatives

Techniques
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Palmered hackle flies have been popular from the early days of flytying and were a feature of many of the early salmon flies.
They still are popular with many of the traditional flies and are increasingly used on modern lures to impart movement on a fast retrieve, ie. Woolley buggers, Damsel nymphs  and Yellow dancers.
There are [...]

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The Sedge Fly

Intermediate Lessons
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This pattern sits better in the water and either static or moving it does behave like a sedge. I even found that when it was gunged up with slime and sunk it still caught fish. I suggest you tie some up in 10s and 12s and and keep them ready in your fly box. I [...]

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The Double Half Hitch

Techniques
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Those of you who have watched my flytying lessons will know that I favour the double half hitch for finishing off my flies rather than the whip finish. Do not be deterred from learning the whip finish either manually or by one of the various tools available.
I learnt my fly tying over sixty years ago [...]

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The Baby Doll

Beginners Lessons
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This fly originated in the very early 1970s and was attributed to a Brian Kench. It differs from earlier more traditional patterns in as much that there were no moving parts. Despite this it quickly found favour with the fly fishers of the day on the reservoirs and still waters, thanks mainly to the publicity [...]

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The Shipmans Buzzer

Beginners Lessons
Shipmans Buzzer

This fly pattern was originated by Dave Shipman over 20 years ago. The original pattern was tied using white antron to make the fly float on an even keel in the surface film, imitating the midge emerging from its nymphal shuck. In recent years, CDC., because of its excellent floating properties, has become more popular. [...]

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The Egg Fly

Beginners Lessons
The Egg Fly

Strictly speaking this is not a fly, something it has in common with many of the creations invented in recent years. However it does have its place in the fly box.
The origins of this fly can be attributed to our American cousins. It was designed to imitate the salmon eggs which get dislodged from the [...]

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Daddy Longlegs (Crane Fly)

Intermediate Lessons
The Daddy Longlegs [Crane Fly]

The crane fly is a land based insect which features in the fly fisher’s armoury because it is an ungainly flier and regularly finds it’s way on to lakes and rivers by accident. They usually appear about August time and can be quite an abundant food source for the trout either on the surface [...]

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The Woolley Bugger

Beginners Lessons
The Woolley Bugger

This is a lure which is equally effective in rivers and stillwaters, particularly for rainbows.
The most popular colours are olive, black, orange and red. Can be tied on longshank 8s, 10s, and 12s. For rivers I prefer a size 8 wet fly hook.
Early season on stillwaters a size 8 L/S olive fished on an intermediate [...]

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