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Flatwings - "the new black" in Denmark and Sweden. Are they really that good. Not too big for casting? For the trout? Will they twist? Are they better than other sand eel imitations? Are they better suited for pike? Kill your skepticism and take a

A realistic, perfect swimming shrimp imitation for both hot and cold water and a big variety of species.
The fly has many neat details and is a great upgrade from those quickly tied flies. It makes your fly box look great and keeps you away from the TV.

Without a doubt, dubbing tools and techniques are one of the things most likely to confuse fly tyers. With an explosion of new tools, comes an obvious question, how do you use all this stuff and why should I buy yet one more tool?

Five pairs of mono eyes dipped in epoxy for just around 5,50€ or 7$. It sounds like a good business opportunity, but as a consumer it just pushes you to make your eyes your self.
On a trip to Fyn this spring two Danes and an American-wanna-be-German made their own.

Tying flies not meant for fishing sounds odd to some but dragging others into the world of advanced techniques. Anders Ovesen takes us into his cave of threads and feathers and reveals some puzzles needed to tie da old school style. Hang on to this detailed description and fly to the 

This short video shows you how to whip finish with your fingers rather than using a tool. It's quite easy, looks cool and saves you trying to localize that whipfinisher on your messy tying table - that is if you are like the rest of us...

If you play guitar and tie flies...you are wasting some valuable tying material every time you change your strings. Old guitar strings have something to make flies land softly on the water and jig just enough to tease fish into striking. Learn from GFF partner Steve Schweitzer what to keep from old strings and how to tie

If you thought that silk lines, split cane rods and full dressed salmon flies was something people used a century ago, you may want to read this article about Niels Have who fishes his classical flies on a Phoenix silk line wound on a Hardy Perfect reel mounted on a Highlander two-hand split cane rod.

Having wrapped my share of thread over the years, I thought it was time to revisit a long held interest of mine - traditional salmon flies. My first attempt years ago was pretty disappointing, and I was hoping my skills had evolved enough for me to take that next step and produce a better result.

Martin has just received the ugliest flies he has ever seen in his life. And no, don't worry they weren't from a potential GFF contributor or a well meaning friend, but commercially tied. They just confirmed what he has always said: home tied flies are best.

Bob Kenly is reknowned for his radically different epoxy tube flies. This article recaps his experience with epoxy - and adds advice on coloring epoxy. If you want some truths about epoxy - and want to witness the death of a couple of myths 

Tube flies - like most other fly types - come in as many shapes and styles as you can imagine. This article merely scratches the surface in an attempt to list some of them. I also touches upon a few aspects of tying one tubes.

Have tube, will tie... but how to go about it? How do you actually manage to tie on a tube? Well, it's much like tying on a hook, just different. Learn to tie on plastic, metal, bottles, compound and rear tubes.

More information on tube fly tying tools than you ever thought you needed - from the lowly sewing needle to the full-blown several-hundred-dollar vise, and a lot in between. This article gives you essential knowledge about how to hold a tube - any tube - while tying on it.

Want to venture further into the world of tube flies? This list of material suppliers, tools, vises, DVD's, books and much more will give you links to many more hours of entertaining reading and viewing.

All kinds of tubes in an overview. Want to get an idea of the richness in the tube fly world? This is one place to look.

One evening when I was tying flies with a couple of friends, one of them, Nils, asked me to tie a muddler, just as a demo. I did. Luckily the other friend, Henning, was quick and caught these great pictures of the process.

If you think that a tube for a tube fly is a cylindrical piece of plastic, then you are in for a surprise. This article will present more tube styles than most fly tyers ever imagined, and probably teach even seasoned tubers a thing or two.

This is the first article in the GFF Tube Fly Theme: An introduction to the concept of tube flies and some arguments for using tubes rather than hooks. The article will give you a basic knowledge about tube flies and prepare you for the rest of the theme.

Tube flies are flies tied on a tube rather than a hook. But putting it that simple is almost a crime, because tubes have evolved dramatically over the last few years, and bottles, rear tubes, Shomakov tubes, FITS tubes and all sorts of new systems have seen the light of day.

A high-visibility orange post and CDC makes this small dry perfect for your 7X tippet. Easy to tie, easy to follow on the water and a perfect choice when the fish are picky. Darryl Lampert from South Africa shows us one of his effective patterns.

Maybe you found the tandem worm too tandemnised and would be better of with a one-hook-only fly.Then the fly The Wiggling Jigging Worm shown beneath is a good alternative.

It is strongly inspired by the fly Sandiglen (The Sand Leech) originally tied by René Hansen.

Every year in March and April the rag worms emerge from the bottom to secure the next generation. They swim freely in the water, wiggling from one side to the other. Sea gulls feed on the from above and many fish species seem to focus on them from beneath.

There are thousands of shrimp patterns in the world, made from the same template. This pattern is a time consumer, but it makes it more interesting tying shrimp flies. The eyes, proportions and legs gives this pattern some kind of magic.

Awhile back, I received a shipment of hen necks and saddles from Whiting Farms. The saddles struck me with their intense colors and solid web, then necks with their stem length and shortish barbs. These feathers were perfect for the wet flies I was working on.

Tired of buying eyes, that make your shrimps look great? They are expensive and yet it is hard to find the color you want or the right size. It is not complicated and a good pursuit during winter time.
Make your own in all sizes and colors you want.

It has been a hot and dry summer in Scandinavia. Wasps have been a plague in many areas. They have been in every apple, every drink and every house. Some of them may have crossed a stream or river, winding up on the surface before continueing the rush. Some of them never left again.

Dutch Henk Verhaar finds that producing his own tools is just as satisfying as tying flies or building rods. Follow his small course in woodturning here and learn to turn hair stackers, bodkins and other beautiful tools in exotic woods

On a shelf in the shop was a little book that was propped open. It was Leisenring and Hidy's The Art of Tying The Wet-Fly and Fishing The Flymph. Inside, I found a treasure of patterns and some fishing instructions and I suddenly switched gears and began fishing these great little flies.

The principle of nymph-fishing with Czech nymph is short-distance fishing, practically under the tip of the rod. The flyline is hanging under the tip of the rod and its end often does not even touch the water level.

In the vise, this pattern may not look exciting, but when wet, this fly takes on a whole new personality! It's a simple pattern for complex trout. Be sure to read Steve's "Tips for the Curious Fly Tier" which explains how this pattern came about and

Made with only two materials, this highly effective caddis emerger pattern will take only minutes to tie and allow you to load up your fly box with the Global FlyFisher's hottest new pattern.

Framed flies can be pieces of art - both the flies and the framing. But creating your own framed flies is not that difficult. Follow these instructions and frame your first fly with few tools and few demands on routine and skill. You can develop it into art later.

German Jan-Ole Willers wanted to be able to clear his vise, tools and materials off the dining table for such unimportant events as lunch and dinner. That made him think out and build his own inexpensive portable fly tying bench. You can do the same.

Shiny tubing materials are widely used as body material on streamers. So is ordinary tinsel. Here is a new way of making glittering, but more volumnious, pulsating and living bodies for your streamers using Angel Hair or a similar material.

Painting eyes on streamers is nothing new, but as with any other tying procedure, there are some tricks that can help, and some pitfalls that should be avoided. This article shows you how to do it on-the-cheap with readily available materials.

Martin Joergensen writes: "I always wanted one of these tools. I have seen them used at fly tying shows and by a few tyers elsewhere, and found the tool to be an excellent companion for the lazy and sloppy fly tyer. Just my kind of tool!"

How many of your flies work both in salt and fresh water? How many of these actually look like something real?
The Deep Diving Shrimp is such a fly. Oliver Edward's allround Gammarus imitation works equally well everywhere you find this very widespread animal.

A fly tied for sea trout in the Baltic area. It proved to be efficient in other places too. Translucent and yet colored. Tie it in olive, rusty or tan and you can imitate any camouflaged mysis—and it will stand out from the crowd. Can be tied by seniors too...

Until now The Epoxy Miracle has given me quite a few fish and still is my favorite baitfish imitation. It is perfect under most circumstances.
But, sometimes it seems too small for the big sea trout, which come close to the South Swedish shore from January to March.

A tying station is a small, mobile board where you can set up your vise and your tools, making it quick and easy to move your favorite tying spot around: from the dinner table to the TV to the office to... the bed? This article gives you some ideas on how to make one yourself.

"I have severely neglected my day-to-day flybox for more than a year" writes GFF partner Martin Joergensen. Now he sets out to fill a box with hundreds of sea trout flies in preparation for the coming spring. He envisions rows of uniform and neatly arranged flies.

Tying instructions? Materials list?!
You must be kidding me!
The list is close to being an insult and it is almost ridiculous to tell you how to create this fly in more than a sentence. This little saltwater fly is soooo simple.

If you tie flies incorporating epoxy, you will probably have great benefit from a rotating drying rig like this

Advice on how to lay out a good classical salmon fly.

It all started when I had to toss my bottle of Pharamcist's Formula in the trash. Scanning the net for a suitable replacement, I found a husband and wife team that are producing a bunch of interesting products for fly fishers and tyers.

This fly is called Twospotted Fairfly. The two spots in the name comes from the bait, which it is supposed to imitate: the twospotted goby. Gobies are a common kind of fish in the shallow parts of almost all bodies of water.

GFF partner Martin Joergensen has let one of his favorite sports events, the bicycling race Tour de France, inspire a way of tying flies. He argues why tying many identical flies can be a good thing - and can be better than tying many different flies.

The C&F extended tube body tool is more than two darning needles in a fancy holder. If you - like Dutch Henk Verhaar - like doing it yourself, this might be worth looking into. The flies tied with extended bodies can become very realistic and still be simple to tie.

A recent tying binge left me with a few thoughts on how to tie a quicker and better blue-winged olive mayfly. The ideas aren't necessarily new, but they certainly are worth sharing.

Wooly buggers are one of the all time most effective fish catching flies. However, if you think you need heavy tackle and lots of lead to get them to work - think again. Peter Frailey tells about his "Baby Buggers", and how well they cast and fish.

This section of Tie Better will deal with rotary fly tying vices. I will try to explain what a true rotary vice is, what its advatnages are and how it can be used in different steps of fly tying.

A bunch of quite realistic flies by a bunch of well known and unknown international tiers. These fantastic flies are not super realistic imitations, but they certainly look real and convincing enough to fool both men and fish!

Comparaduns are one of the most versatile mayfly patterns in existence representing a low-riding mayfly to near perfection. However, many tiers shy this simple pattern due to the perceived complexity of tying the deer hair wings. Learn to master the technique with GFF partner Steve Schweitzer.

Harrison Steeve's story about a brand new foam material for terrestrials and many other flies. "You guys are crazy to spend so much time messing around with that loco foam." Needless to say the name stuck. Read the whole story here.

Make your dry fly dubbing in bulk quantities while washing your clothes! It's that easy! Harvest the fibers that come from you tumble dryer and prepare it for fly tying. Read the whole story by Steve Schweitzer here.

Epoxy is out! Hotmelt glue is in! When it comes to tying eggs and MOE blanks, this stuff is the new hot way to do it! Let our own Mad Scientist
teach you more...

Shrimp patterns are always fun to tie. These salt water imitatoins are easy to do and fish well. Martin Joergensen has once again pursued the art of imitating these salt water arthopods - this time utilizing his family's hair brushes!
Read the story and find the patterns here.

Prime Jungle Cock necks are rare to come by. Learn how 'upgrade' fishing quality JC necks in this article.

I'll warn you now; the hopper is my favorite pattern. It's big, I can see it, it's fun to cast and present it with a plop, I have fun tying them and the fish just adore the big, juicy, summer delight.

Classics in a classic way. These flies may look like something of today, but the concept of Wadington shanks is old as Methusalem. Danish fly tyer Niels Have has converted four classics to effective flies for early salmon and sea trout fishing. See the pictures and patterns.

As you probably know the egg was way earlier than the chicken. This article show you how to make The Cluster Egg Fly (pom-pom eggs) - a very popular type of fly for steelhead and salmon.

Almost everyone has the right stuff at their tying bench to make a great batch of dubbing. But not many people know they have everything they need to make an outstanding seal's fur dubbing substitute. This dubbing is a viable replacement for SLF, angora goat and seal's fur, and the trick to making it is so simple it will amaze you!

It should be no secret that I'm a great fan of muddlers. These functional, characteristic and very beautiful flies that I connect directly with my favorite kind of fishing: night fishing for sea trout in the ocean. The technique used for tying them has always fascinated me, and although I do tie a lot of them, I still have a lot to learn in respect to spinning deer hair.

I've developed a habit instilled in me by my salmonfly tying mentors. When evaluating the salmon fly dressings of others, I look at the floss work first. It is a key characteristic that determines and shows the skills of the cream of the crop.

If you ever saw skilled tyers tie, you'll probably have noticed that many of them keep spinning the bobinholder more or less vividly every time the let go of it. If you didn't notice, try looking the next time you see a 'pro' tie.

The most important step in preparation is getting the right kind of hair. Buy your hair at a reliable source. Good spinning hair patches are dense and have little underfur. The single natural hair should be dull and light at the base, slightly waved at the root, and have a short tapered tan/black tip section.

Whip finishing without a tool is not at all difficult. Lots of people use and praise the whip finishing tool which comes in many variations.

This small section with advice on dyeing fly tying materials was made after a discussion took place on the European fly fishing mailing list. The text was put together from input from several people of this list: Graham Ward, John Davies, Pat Orpen and myself.

Let's look at a hook, and try to put the right terms on the right parts. This picture shows a hook (note that it actually is a rare vertical eye hook, great for this purpose).

When I recently reached the bottom of my last tube of Overton's Wonder Wax, I decided to try making my own instead of buying one of the newer commercial dubbing waxes. Like a lot of other tyers I had made my own dubbing wax years ago, but I didn't do it with a critical frame of mind.

Making your own or improving store bought dubbing. I recommend that all dubbing be passed through a coffee or spice grinder prior to using. The grinder tends to separate and air out the fibres providing a lighter product than would be normally accomplished by just using the blend out of the bag.

"...my hats off to the folks at Mustad for having the ability and willingness to make a change." GFF partner Bob Petti has had a look at the new Mustad Signature series and parts wth a Global Class mark for the new, improved and very consistently produced hooks - with a naming convention, which is a blessing to fly tyers.

Some thoughts on hackle ... or living with less than the best

You don't need to raise birds to get feathers for fly tying, but it's both easy and fun. Here's the story about how I have chickens for eggs, meat and not least feathers

The first rule of salmonfly tying is preparation... gathering your materials, laying them out and sizing up the situation.

Here's a quick and simple way to make your own dubbing wax if you don't have the patience or confidence to custom blend your own.

When I talk about hard hair I both mean hair that's hard - like squirrel and polar bear - and hair that's hard to tie in on the hook. We all know the problem: not only is squirrel wings hard as #"¤%&/ to place properly on top of the shank, but they also sometimes seem to fall off for nothing.

A way to palmer or body hackle

Dubbing must be said to be one of the most universal fly tying methods. Dubbing is mostly used for bodies, but will often form other parts of the fly as well. Using different materials and tighter or looser dubbing along with different techniques, can result in an amazing variety of body shapes and textures.

There is a story behind "The Garage". Not too long ago my wife and I were renting a two story house that had a tiny little room upstairs with no closet. Since we already had a spare bedroom for family visitors, this room was quickly claimed as the "Sports Room".

These eyes are actually quite easy to make, but can tease a bit if you want to do them both on the same piece of monofile -- which is the neatest way to do things.

How to tie a nice, even, ribbed tinsel body. Here's one way. The description assumes that you want a silver body. If you want gold, just replace 'silver' with 'gold' below.

You will see that many of the Danish saltwater flies - The Magnus, Bjarke and Grey Frede are prime examples - have bead chain eyes. These eyes serve two purposes: weight and imitation. The eyes will add quite a bit of weight in the front end of the fly and the beads obviously look like eyes. Their shiny surface even adds an attractive feature that will glimpse and get the attention of the fish.

George F. Grant's flies utilize some very special techniques.

I've been fascinated with spey flies for a long time. The first I had ever seen was a Purple Spey tied by Tim Purvis, which arrived in a swap of steelhead flies a bunch of us FF@'ers exchanged several years ago. The next was an Olive Spey tied by Juro Mukai in a swap of atlantic salmon flies.

I have to admit a particular fondness for woodduck flank. Ever since I was given my first baggie of feathers from a duck hunting friend, I was smitten. The color - the texture - the barring of the feathers.

A few early samples of Danish fly tyer Ken Bonde Larsen's cone head flies.

There are other ways than bead chain eyes to make eyes for a fly. Here are two ways: Copper thread and pearls and melted monofile.

Fly hooks for Scandinavian salt water fishing There are several considerations to make when choosing fly hooks for salt water fishing for sea trout.

A brand new way of tying tube flies. The usual way of weighting a tube fly is by using copper or aluminum tubes. This article shows a totally different approach

Hen hackles have long been the source of confusion to many fly tyers. Whether they are looking for wings for their dry flies or hackles for their wet flies, there seems to plenty of head scratching when it comes time to purchase the appropriate feathers.

More than 30 years ago I tied some of the North Country Flies on blind hooks. At that time Veniard Ltd. had them in their catalogue - but I had no silk-worm gut, so I tied them to fine monofile nylon.

There are many intended uses for this guide, namely as reference to ensure you have a fairly complete compendium as to what you will need to get started in flytying or to use when dropping the perfect holiday gift hint. But more importantly, it is meant for the budding fly tyer, in hopes that the years of wisdom gained through trial and error from myself and my tying buddies will steer the newcomer down the right path

Hook comparison charts are at best fickle or at worst too confusing and inaccurate to use. It is critical to remember that this chart does in no way list equivalent hooks but attempts to list hooks based on similar applications.

A bottom seeking fly for pike, bass, cod, pike perch, sea trout - even bonefish and many other fish.

Learn to tie a really classical wet fly hackle.

It is now more than a year ago since Mustad took over Partridge of Redditch. And I thought it might be of interest to you to have an update on the status...

Dyeing with picric acid yields colors between a gorgeous olive and an electric yellow.

Who would have guessed that a fly tied to fish the lakes of New Zealand would have such an impact all around the world?

The flies on this page are all well known patterns which have all been juiced up a bit - many with some modern materials, but all with cone heads.
By Bas Verschoor

I purchased a copy of Skip Morris' book on tying flys for bass and panfish and another of his books on foam flies. His books are excellent and I recommend them above all others for beginning tyers. The pictures and instructions are superb!

Choosing the right hair will make your deer hair flies - Comparaduns, EHC's, Muddlers, bass bugs - much easier to tie.

The gold bead flies that are now so popular, actually originated in the central part of Europe - more than 100 years ago.

Beads or eyes are added for one or both of two reasons: weight and appearance. The eyes and beads discussed here are made from metal: brass, steel, lead - even tungsten. This will make them heavy and thus add weight to the fly. The weight will bring the fly down and often give it a certain behavior - a diving or jigging motion. But it will also add to the looks of the fly, the most obvious case being eyes added to fish or fry patterns like streamers.

Why bother to clean your materials? Bugs, dirt and chemicals are likely on the material.

We have all read fly patterns that refer to quills, barbs, barbules, fibers, shafts, stems, vanes and so forth, but when we read these terms do we know what they have reference to? This article sets all these terms and many more straight.

Hooks do break occasionally. It's a typical error when night fishing: you trust that everything is OK at the business end and just cast away

The flies on this page all have one thing in common: they have a linked body. Many of us strive to add life to our flies - the sense of something living. This can be done by using soft materials or adding long tails like on zonkers. These are all fine techniques that work well. But something urged me to try something different.

When stacking materials it is important to consider it as consisting of more than just one process. There are several steps involved: material selection, cleaning and preparing, selecting the right tool and performing the stacking process itself.

In the most simplistic terms, a flytying kit must only have the tools and materials necessary to tie the flies you may use on a single trip or a single river. However, like most of us, a travelling flytying kit consumes more space than 26 high-schoolers crammed in a Volkswagen Beetle.