road trip to the BFFI

ROAD TRIP

 The annual British fly fair came around again and I was honoured to be demonstrating pike fly tying for nick at the deercreek stand and not only myself this year the destroyer was going to be tying as well, along with the totally bezerk andy saunders (he of stunning trooty type things) along with Christopher rawle doing seatrout flies and of course dai on tiers row doing his thing it was certainly a good line up for deercreek .

Myself and the destroyer were travelling down early evening on the Friday night so we can pick up alan (the destroyers other fishing companion) and Scott Kane who was tying on tiers row sowing of his skills with Clyde style patterns (and bloody good at them he is as well and it helps with the petrol costs splitting it between 4 people so a 4 pm pick up was arranged for me then everyone else after that, there was time for a quick fish and chips from the destroyers local before we headed off for the rest of the crew.

My overnight case packed and ready , fly tying wise all I needed was my vice threads and that was about it everything else was provided now …………cheers nick

Now you may notice a gap here between leaving the destroyers house and arriving at the hotel at midnight well that’s because it was carnage and I couldn't possible repeat what was going on down the m6 ….

I also had a box of various gliss and glint plus pike flies for display, always nice for folks to see the product and what can be done with it and there was a lot of interest thanks if you were one of the many I spoke too

So here an I set up and ready to go , last year I was tying from pretty much as soon as the doors opened till they shut so I knew it would be a busy day although last year I had only done the Sunday and not the Saturday so was looking forward to doing the full weekend and this year the stand looked great with lots more room for people to browse than last year and also enough room for 3 tiers to go at it at the same time now that’s value for money .

Andy saunders doing his best serial killer look

 A bit of a slow start but people tend to wander through quite slowly

 

Our glorious leader, as we like to affectionately call him breaking into a smile just at the back of him was a chap who made fly rods with some pretty nifty handles, I forget his name though 

 Check all the lovely capes behind me , these belong to castle feathers and they have a stunning range of capes some rare and some not so rare they sell on ebay just under castlefeathers if you want to check em out and lots of lovely gliss and glint plus on the other side of me …….

The destroyer occupied my seat for a while I think he was pretending he was me if the truth be 

Dai jones on tiers row well he was until someone shouted beer 

Nice to meet Dominic garnett he of fly fishing for coarse fish book fame really nice chap and wish I had more time to pick his brains regarding roach fishing but I had tying to do and dominic had his own stall to get back to

Busyness on the stand and as myself andy and the destroyer had a break rich Johnson his son oliver along with chis rawle to over the tying duties , young oliver is one to watch for the future as he makes some pretty mean flies already watch this space 

The very talented my rawe with some sea trout flies fascinating watching him work and nice to meet him also check out his box of awesomeness 

(below) Chris and rich being very neat and tidy unlike the pigs breakfast mess that me rich and andy left seriously we have some serious tidiness issues 

There was also some great tiers on tiers row 

Including scott kane who managed to tie the worlds biggest dry fly made from stolen manhole covers.

So with that the bffi 2013 came to an end and we had a blast, if you haven’t been before you really should go. Its great looking and buying stuff on the net seeing and being able to touch product is fantastic and the atmosphere is great, people are really friendly I do have one gripe though

1^st – zero mobile phone signal in the venue this is a major drawback not only for stall holders who want to use credit card machines but also for folks that want to use there credit cards , the nearest

Cash machine is in the venue next door and I did here quite a few people complaining about that

And for the tiers from over the world it’s great to be able to keep in touch with family while you are

 There, hopefully this will be looked into; in this day and age there really should be no excuse for this and im sure it would boost the amount of people not only attending but of dealers attending.

 Of course before we I left I went back to my touring rock and roll days by making the shape of a body under the duvet from pillows when the cleaner come in to do the room there never quite sure what to do in case either somebody is still asleep or has been murdered, I know petty but sometimes it has to be done.

So we tanked up the m6 looking forward to our favorite burger break just before the border of Scotland where we tuck into a couple of double Angus steak with cheese and bacon burger , this Goliath burger is all that’s needed for the final leg of the trip and before long the air changed (cheers from the back of the car) you really can smell the difference as you cross into Scotland the air is defiantly sweeter smelling although that soon changed as the 4 burgers started to work the system of the great unwashed in the car but that’s another story

Wee davy (scott kane) fell asleep in the back of the car never really a good thing with us lot and if it wasn’t the fact he woke himself up with his own snoring he may have been missing an eyebrow

so with that I got home and cracked open a late night beer and realised that in the morning I would have to settle back into the family life school runs and stuff back the next day I was back at the vice roll on next year

tight lines see ya in a couple of weeks for something really cool

mcfluffchucker

(a cave in scotland)

*ive had t

 Edit quite a lot of the trip because quite frankly I cant publish the exploits of some of us (andy saunders) but im sure you’ll get the idea and after meeting Mr Saunders I shall now be taking counselling for a very long time 

captain haddock rides again

CAPTAIN HADDOCK RIDES AGAIN 

so the planned trip was Friday last week and looking at the weather yet again it was looking slightly ropy with a steady 14mph westerly forecast but speaking to to Stevie the owner he said that a westerly wouldn't really affect the loch so it was all systems go , for about the 8th week running gear was placed in the hall (much to the annoyance of her who i cant utter her name before darkness and only if there's a priest to hand) flies checked a million times we were good to go.

we have a slight electric engine problem at the moment it only has one speed (fast) and no reverse bearing this in mind it took captain haddock an hour to get out the harbor as you can clearly notice the boat is going one way and captain haddock is facing the other

so eventually he gets to the loading point and we get the gear ready and the boat stacked , on the plus side the westerly forecast wasn't really bothering the loch to much and the sun wernt to bright plenty of cover and although it wasn't to good for subbuggin i was confident that fish would be caught today and hopefully the destroyers 1st double if all went to plan. 

fishery owner stevie came down to tell me there was no way i was going out on the loch looking like that , thanks for that gok .............always good for a laugh and a funny story is stevie no doubt he would be out latter with the motley crue to tell us how we should fish and where wed gone wrong he still catches more bloody perch than i do though

so with captain haddock facing the wright way we were off full of anticipation as this has been such a slow start to the year as if you follow this blog you'll know why , mother nature throwing all sorts at us on the days we were supposed to fish , but at least the fly boxes were full as we tied bucket loads on our forced days off  

and were off

the sun had come out again and our favorite corner was very still , i just had a feeling that the lucky unwashed hoorag was going to bring me luck today and bang 2nd cast pike banged the fly and it was season started and a much relived me

wasn't a beast from the deep but those that know me know that's not what im about i was glad to have one in the boat stunning creatures pike big small whatever they all fight like sink on the fly quite interesting as well the trace is an authanic wire trace which i had on all last year and is still good gotta love the stuff if you aint tried it click the link in the side menu and go get some 

and then i nailed another , hell they like those new flies id only last week got these new eyes from deercreek and was testing them out huh guess they worked then 

plenty of jack fun , love catching these on the fly so much fun and so dam sporting they never give up great fun 

lunchtime and the destroyer is obviously delighted to be getting leftovers . i had a healthy lettuce salad so was finished ages before he had and as we were sat quite close to a lovely looking ambush point i decided to stick on a small clouser type fly and have a quick cast while he was finishing his 8th doughnut 

and first cast i hit a quick one out got to love it when that happens , much to the destroyers disgust

the weather gods again were to throw a quick rain storm at us and the black clouds started to accumulate behind us so we know a quick soaking was imminent but we can deal with that as long as the bloody wind stays away , you know its funny that all action even knocks and bumps fade away a few hours before a quick downpour that will be that low pressure thing although ive caught fish in the rain before always just before a downpour it goes weird .....

if you have decent wet weather gear you can carry on fishing without to much of a problem although when you have a boat partner with the casting ability of a baboon you have to watch for low flying flies and imagine if the rain hadn't started and i hadn't put my hood up id have got that in the back of the head ,would have made a good picture though 

just after the rain had passed i got what was to be the biggest fish of the day just tipping the scales at 10lb a really thick fish took a size 2/0 portmore lightning and fought light a banshee just need to get the destroyer his first double now im sure it wont be long

the destroyer got into some fish though and although like most of the fish we had to the boat wernt massive by pike standards but and heres the big but , for me and indeed the destroyer it not about big fish i never have and never wanted to be a look at me big fish guy , we really dont care what size they are as long as they are on the fly , don't think these people you see with 25lb plus fish go out and catch one first cast oh hell no .........enjoy every single one you catch no matter what size as long as its on the fly that's all the counts 

the destroyer with a beautifully marked fish just got to love them

and hes into another pike fly fishing is a funny old game after a quiet spell the destroyer had 3 fish in 3 casts and i had the 10lb fish then it died a death well we had 14 fish to the boat altogether which i thought was quite a good day and finally got a start which felt really good  

for the love of the tug thats what its all about 

by the time you read this i will have been at the bffi with the other crazy's from the deercreek pro team for a weekend so expect a full report next blog 4 guys a bottle of Jurua whisky and a hotel room , it aint pretty folks ........heres a sample and this was on the way home 

see ya latter folks 

mcfluffchucker 

(a cave in Scotland)

its a monster

 BLOG POST NEXT WEEK 

stay tuned for tales of complete stupidity , bad casting practice , fish and a weekend road trip with the destroyer   

heading south for the BFFI this weekend 

we finally got out and fished last week

and we ate doughnuts and caught fish

mcfluffchucker

(a cave in scotland)

back in the cave

holy mother of god

ok so this is not fly caught but its such an awesome creature i just had to share this record breaking fish ive caught these fish to mid 20s in the Persian gulf so i know how hard they fight, truly an amazing predator thanks to international fishing news for the story 

Canadian angler Christian Loranger was trolling along the sharp drop-offs surrounding Christmas Island on September 23, 2012, when his musky plug was inhaled by a massive fish that tested both his tackle and wits for nearly two hours. A 39.55 kg (87 lb 3 oz) great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda), and potential new All-Tackle record, was the result of Loranger’s two hour battle. The current IGFA record for this toothy species stands at 38.55 kg (85 lb 0 oz).

THE PIKESABER STRIKES BACK

ok so ive had these rods for nearly 3 years now and ive still to be convinced to change to it something else , you know i got slatted by another pike blog at the it time a mr know it all who said basically how can you tell what its like and give it a glowing review after using just a few times well heres the original review this http://mcfluffchucker.blogspot.co.uk/2010/03/pikesaber-review.html

now i went on after the ice had melted to catch a shed load of fish on it (he must off missed those blog posts) and to this day its still going great , now the thing is im not mr technical im not going to give you a load of garbage about how the rod is made from the latest award winning material found on mars or the fact that it has a snazzy name and is a flys ball weight lighter than the model they put out 3 weeks ago , no thats not what im about i use what i like and if it aint broken well it dont need fixed .

ive been doing this long enough to know a good product i knew as soon as i got it out the tube and i still stand by that original review and the fact that im still using the things a little over 3 years later should speak volumes and below is a couple of very well known faces who also use them 

legendary muskie hunter and record holder brad bohen from http://www.muskycountryoutfitters.com uses them and features in his dvd 

vermont legendary guide drew price (yes he was on the telly with jeremy wade) also praises them highly heres his review http://dponthefly.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/pike-saber.html

 and course the man with the green skin vermont fly guys legend ken capsey never goes out 

on the big lake without his .

but you know its all down to personal choice what one guy likes another may not but im still loving it hey if you don't dig it that's cool but at least give it a try and don't knock a product till you've tried it ...........

life goes on 

ive had a real clusterfeck of a week this week to be honest im heading to turkey soon on a family holiday and my wife insisted i take a couple of fly rods ( how cool is she) i have already scoped out every bit of info i can find about the place im going so im looking to some mini species on the 3wgt ......but i digress somewhat 

my planned trip this week was scuppered due to my son not having the correct birth certificate for his first passport so i had to get the first appointment i could which was at 4.50pm the day before my wife had to go through to the passport office in Glasgow on the Friday to hand in the documents we got it done and the wife and kids should have them next week and if they don't well hell im still going fishing ..........(the saga of the documentation has been shortened greatly but it was somewhat stressful)

a massive shout out goes out to my boat partner the destroyer 

for being so cool about the whole thing next week pal

a little time on my hands

hit the vice for a couple of hours in between visits to various government offices of course so heres what came out of the cave 

small 3 inch bucktail baitfish with deercreeks new eyes epoxied heads , a very simple little fly but really quite devestating this one in a classic red / white combo with a little flash on the sides or top

and another favorite off mine an olive green with just a couple of chartreuse bucktail in the middle and a white belly topped with a lateral line of gold magnum flashbou , deadly and will catch anything that swims in fresh or salt water ........i feel a video coming on 

stop press

*today the 10th june i took up some red and white samples to a friend of mine and bugger me he sent me a text saying he tried one and caught 5 pike and 2 trout in 20 mins one of the fish took it as it hit the surface ...............well id call that a result 

i also had time to start getting a customer order together for his trip to lake of the woods for muskies, all he wants is topwater stuff more than happy to oblige on that one subbugs can take a while to make but i always get an immense hell yea feeling when ive done one they just rock , this one is 9 inchs of fast food for greens 

the head is really wheres it at with subbugs and the use of epoxy and heavy eyes is what give it the deadly action it has 

of course you really need a good pair of very sharp scissors to trim the heads , there are folks that use razor blades for trimming hair in fact i once bought a stonefly hair trimmer its was a curved bit of plastic that the blade fits into better than slicing your fingers open , myself i prefer to use scissors i find i have better control over the cut , but i think the blade would be really great for trout muddlers 

of course i do use blades as i have done for this monster muskie topwater fly you just cant cut big foam heads with scissors so i use a Stanley knife blade gets a good clean straight cut this fly really im going to do some smaller versions for pike soon these are killer

and an orange and yellow version with some gliss and glint in the back body , these flies are quite long at nine inches plus the material uses the action of the popper head to give the body a swaying motion and the back end witch also sink slowly when stopped a really great "action"fly 

you looking at me 

back in the cave and churning em out life is starting to get back to normal now and ive a few trips planned and projects on the go and im getting reports that one of my favorite saltwater spots is starting to produce so things are looking up could it be that summer is finally here .

big bad topwater musky annoyers job done 

a small review

ive seen advertised around lately dyed tip buckltail so i broke open my wife's credit card and ordered a couple just to see basically what they were like and they came in at a couple of pounds more expensive that normal bucktail , but the bucktail is actually really good quality so i didn't mind so much , im into small bucktail baitfish at the moment so i whipped up a couple of my favorites at the min , these are tied on 2/0 dai reki hooks

no heres the thing is it worth the extra money well actually no its not because although its a nice idea you could actually achieve the same thing with a permanent marker and the one thing i really didn't like was after i got it wet for the picture above the red stained my kitchen work top so id imagine it would do the same to a fly box or flies that were leaning against it in the box , not sure what the problem is but ill be keeping them well separate from other flies probably the last time ill buy it i think in future ill use permanent marker as this i know dosnt bleed .............

the musky wall of death

right the musky wall  is filling up nicely , i have a rather large order to do so id better get on with it ....later folks

mcfluffchucker

(a cave in scotland)