Thursday 27 August 2009

so its official sub bugs continue to take over the world ken capsey chief tester in the states is going nuts for the things and its not only in the states they catch on both sides of the Atlantic when I'm on the phone to ken the conversation completely crashes into sub bug talk within Min's , how about this , what about doing that yea that's cool but what about if i add that and this and so this goes on for hours and at the end of it it usually comes good and we end up with some very cool ideas cheers ken your an inspiration buddy

so I've been adding new stuff to my main website at
I've started to add some trusted sellers of pike and predator materials on the site so you can click a picture and go straight to the product this is very much a work in progress so keep checking back on there .
I've also added a couple of new pages dedicated to all thing sub bugs (threes a surprise) well kens got some very cool pics on there of his bug catches including the picture below of his biggest pickerel to date on a bug and I'm pretty sure kens going to adding a lot more in the coming weeks the guys a fly fishin jedi also watch for some pictures of his fishing partner Brian who likes to hit himself in the back of the head with big epoxy flies way to go mate he he



so I've also added a page on using sub bugs to the website here you ll find the methods for fishing them here's the link http://www.spanglefish.com/pikeandpredatorfishingflies/index.asp?pageid=171437 of course the method is not set in stone you can tweek it to you own liking but have a look and get bugging




tight lines

Wednesday 26 August 2009

recived a mail from a blog reader called peter gander now pete has a blog over at petergander.blogspot.com check out his blog there is some great fishing paintings on there , an example of his work is below




i love this picture hope you enjoy this and his other work be sure to check out his blog

Sunday 23 August 2009

how i spent my sunday

so i was on the phone to ken over at pike fishing adventures this morning and we were just chatting about ulf hagstroms wiggle tails when ken said "you know it would be really neat to have one of those wiggle tails on your sub bugs" well red rag to a bull bang went something in my head and the cogs started churning well i needed to up the size for a start so how was i going to put a tail on these , well after 3 coffees and baning my head against a door i came up with an idea not just a tail but a massive flex able body


so i thought id use some nylon coated wire that i had kicking around not to limp not to stiff should be perfect , and of course necessity is the mother of invention i had to come up with a way of rigging the wire up to be able to tye material onto it , so 2 vices were employed and a couple of up turned hooks loops in the end of the wire over the hooks and job done


the second vice with thread kept out the way note the loop and split ring the loop will be cut off and split ring re used , the ring is used just to get a little bit extra length should you need it to reach the hook in the vice



so the completed body section the tail end is bucktail and pearl flashbou the body is white marabou with pearl flashbou tied in to give a body flash effect




so the finished fly with red deerhair head and a great bendy body

and i mean bendy this is pulled towards me and springs back to original body position but stiff enough not to get fouled up on the hook



the normal fly position 8 inch's of snotrocket snack
so a ten min conversation and with ken in the states and a new fly comes together , takes a while to do is quite fiddly but i think its worth the effort i will experiment with other colours and see what happens
cheers ken and ulf




Saturday 22 August 2009

new ideas

ok so last week i had my mate mr shelton up for a ouple of days fishing and as with these things the day before the off we were trawling through each others fly boxes as you do , well mr shelton had some great looking large flies so decided to do some of my own versions but just tweeked a little the results of are below enjoy




this fly is 8 inchs long tied on a 6/0 ex strong aberdeen the bulk of the material is tied halfway back giving a bigger body shape and tapperning down to the tail end ive used icelandic sheep hair for this one for maximum movement in the water with pearl flashbou for the underbody the epoxy head is really down to preferance and not needed if you dont want it , without the epoxy the fly will stay high in the water .


same principal for this one as above except ive used alien har instad of icelandic sheephair making a lighter fly that wont absorb water




again icelandic sheephair but ive used more on the back to give a bigger profile

the classic red and white pattern you really cant go wrong wth this colour what ive done here is added a white icelandic sheephair underbody then red on top , this has a large epoxy bubble head to get it down deep and stay there


same again with the icelandic sheephair but ive used 2 differnt shades of orange on this one and slightly more flashabou for the underbelly
enjoy
dave

Friday 21 August 2009

700 teeth.com



http://www.700teeth.com/


A full grown pike has about 700 super sharp teeth spread out everywhere in it's big mouth, it's safe to say that anything that get's into it's mouth will not get out of there! The only thing that stops pike from eating human is that we are a little too big!
Welcome to 700teeth.com, the only place you'll ever need if you are in love with fly fishing for northen pike like us! This place is created and maintained only to celebrate our love for this amazingly cool fish!
If you like big ass flies that makes it look like you have a small bird attached to your leader, big hard rods and amazingly cool strikes to your fly, well then you have landed right where you should be!



enjoy this great new site from ulf hagstrom in sweden

Thursday 20 August 2009

back in the saddle

well the pike fly fishing association had its yearly 2 evening session on the lake of menteith in scotland on monday and tuesday , the date had to be changed from our usual may date due to some problems on the lake but although no big fish came out we still had a great time despite the weather on the tuesday night august can be a bit dodgy when it comes to pike fishing but most people caught and we look forward to being there again next year and these events are not all about catching as many big fish as possible its also a great social event catching up with old freinds and making some new ones

the pike fly fishing associations members ready for the off




this really is scotch mist



scottish pike fight like no other pike absolute rockets



my freind and boat partner for the evening seb shelton contemplates a fly change



having it



one of the hot spots



finally a fly that they wanted

Sunday 16 August 2009

hey fellas ill be away for a few days so check back in a few

Photobucket

tight lines

Saturday 15 August 2009

i phone fly

was browsing around a site this afternoon and came across this pure class the i phone fly

Friday 14 August 2009

Thursday 13 August 2009

just popping out

was chatting to ken over at pike fly fishing adventures about poppers and decided to have a go at making my own out of some of the brilliant foam he sent me here's the first ones



quite pleased with this one similar to bobs bangers the foam Ive just rolled into a tube on the hook and filled with hot melt glue I've no doubt this will catch fish



not the prettiest of flies but a bugger to get the right head shape i want this to spit water as it is stripped across the surface the more noise the better i think this will be a great fly for our European bass as well



more like a crease fly than a popper this but being made with foam i think it will make a great dying fish either on the surface or on a sinking line bobby style



big bad and very light this 8 inch fly should make some crazy action on the surface and a lot off noise ,

these are really only prototypes i still need to refine them a bit shape wise but i think I'm on the right track enjoy

urban predators

canals criss cross the UK providing thousands of miles of fishable water many a child take there first steps on a life time fishing adventure catching small roach and gudgeon on canals with cheap rods and a handful of maggots .

in Scotland there really isn't much in the way of canals in fact there is only 4 canals in Scotland From the majestic Caledonian Canal in the Highlands and picturesque Crinan Canal in Argyll and Bute, to the recently restored Forth & Clyde and Union Canals in the Lowlands, Scotland’s 137 mile (220km) of canals have pike in them possibly with the exception of the crinan canal I'm not sure on that one i know there is trout in there and runs of salmon bizarre on a canal

the union canal Edinburgh


fishing opportunity's on the canal are great if your a roach angler there is millions of the little buggers in there and there not always that easy to catch



pike and perch are also present in the canal but not to great sizes despite the amount of bait fish in there but get it right and you can have some great fun with small jacks on poppers



since the joining of the union canal with the forth and Clyde canal via the falkirk wheel there there seems to be more species getting into the system like carp and bream would kinda cool targeting carp in the summer on a fly rod but Alas in Edinburgh itself i cant really see that happening

for me the canal is a great place to test out new flies to see how they do in the water i mean its only ten Min's from my house

Slateford Aqueduct

The Water of Leith is crossed by the Union Canal on this fine aqueduct, one of several on this canal. Beyond is the more recent railway viaduct.
The Water of Leith is Edinburgh's hidden river, often flowing through deep gorges. It is remarkably clean and carries the fauna of an upland river. Dippers and Kingfishers breed in the city centre and are often seen. The trout fishing is good too. i have heard of people pike fishing on the river but not 100% sure there is pike in there but i suppose somebody could have put small jacks in from the canal above may be worth a walk along there to see if i can spot any .

Wednesday 12 August 2009

what a great idea


what a great idea this was on mouldy chums blog so decided to have a closer look brilliant and simple idea to test flies before you hit the water unless your lucky enough to live next to a lake there is some great video footage of this in action over at there site below

http://www.tubeflytech.com/Tube_Fly_Tech/TFT_Swim_Tank.html


i guess some people may stick fish in here as well


fly in action



thinking about it how about a small jack pike in the tank yea baby , so head on over and check out the site some brilliant stuff on there , i think they are only available in the USA but I'm sure they will make there way over to Europe at some point



the same company has a great website with some pretty neat fur products which even if you don't tie tube flies this fur would make a great material for normal pike fly hooks so click the link below for a look at there site and have a dig around as threes some great product for the predator angler on there

http://www.tubeflytech.com/Tube_Fly_Tech/TFT_Home.html

tight lines all

Tuesday 11 August 2009

crazy time again

nothing to do with fishing for a change

an into to the Edinburgh fringe this stuff rocks



crazy time again yup sure is Edinburgh becomes a place for crazys in the month of august some of the fringe can be great some absolute garbage you cant walk more than without some fucker chucking a flyer for some show at you and the only reason you'd take a flier for a show is just to spend a couple of extra seconds with the hot chick giving them out( checkout the webcam on my blog in the afternoon for craziness)



oh for the love of god not another Elvis act you'd think they would learn nobody wants to see you your not funny and do you really think that your being original every year they come Elvis impersonators who actually sound and look more like shriek in a leather jacket than Elvis i mean just check out these 2 jokers below yawwwwwnnnnnnnnn guys if you want to see an original Elvis act check the video at the end of the post



Edinburgh bin me are on strike just know but the Edinburgh city council have bought in a private cleaning company to clear up the mess in the city center er hang on a min i know its tourist season and the festival is on but what about the poor fuckers like us who actually pay council tax who haven't had there rubbish lifted for 3 weeks oh of course we don't matter because the tourists don't come up were we live so stuff the locals come on get a grip because in the next few days I'm going to deliver my rubbish in person to the council offices where i pay my council tax which goes towards rubbish collection ill then send them an invoice for getting it there so there



OK rant over time for some original Elvis stuff well its a cross between Elvis and led zep enjoy and don't take life to serious .......back to fishing stuff tommorow

Sunday 9 August 2009

helping buddys

well been a bit busy what with working this weekend at my other job and helping my buddy ken over at pike fly fishing adventures to sort his blog out a bit but still managed to get a couple of big 9 inch boyant flies done just really into these and sub bugs at the moment enjoy.........




Friday 7 August 2009

help

went out in the garden this morning and i think i have a bug problem