Skip to main content
The Global FlyFisher has recently been updated to a new publishing system, and there may be a few glitches while the last bits get fixed. If you meet anything that doesn't work, please let me know.
Martin - martin@globalflyfisher.com

All content

This page simply lists all content chronologically, with the newest first. Use the pager in the bottom to navigate through quite a lot of articles, reviews, blog posts and much more.
All content | Without videos
There's 3284 items in the list.
2001
Date Title Body Image

Bob Kenly

Staff writer Bob Kenly - tube fly meister par excellence

Henk Verhaar, the Netherlands

Henk Verhaar was born in 1960, into a non-fishing family. He was trained as a chemist and currently works as an environmental toxicology researcher at Utrecht University.

The IQ shrimps

Both IQ and Orange shrimp are excellent Sea Trout flies. They are easy and quick to tie. I've used them as a secret weapon for several years now. Weather conditions will dictate the size of fly I prefer. You may tie these patterns on any type of hook, singles, double including trebles in small sizes 10 to 14. By Ismo Saastamoinen

Ismo Saastamoinen

Ismo on Ismo

Roman Scharabun

I received a mail from Roman, who's based in Alberta Canada, in December 1998. He wrote:

Martin Bowers

I often receive positive e-mails regarding Global FlyFisher. Often they contain generous offers like this one from Martin Bowers in Canada:

Chinook in the salt

The chinook is considered by many to be the prime game fish of the North East Pacific, with only the steelhead challenging that title.

The Mia Fly

Most dog owning fly fishers have probably combed their dogs and been struck by the fact that dogs' hair would make a fine dubbing material. Danish fly angler and photographer Mark Vagn Hansen did so with his dog Mia.

Preben Torp Jacobsen, Denmark

Preben's influence on Danish flyfishing and flytying cannot be overestimated. He was indeed the Grand old Man amongst Danish fly anglers. We are honered that he wanted to contribute to this site.

Hans Weilenmann

Hans Weilenmann is a well known Dutch fly fisherman and fly tyer on the international arena. His name keeps on popping up in all kinds of connections - including many shows all over Europe and the U.S.A.

Jim Hauer

"Martin, Greetings from Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.A. I've just discovered your page and am enjoying it. There is a lot of information."

The eel smelling shrimp

Jan Reniers has become famous for his different shrimp creations, his latest being a shrimp imitation with a shield of real eel skin, which, when wet, has the typical smell that attracts fish.

Picking hackle

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

Dyeing material

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.

Soeren Glerup, Denmark

Soeren Glerup is a member of the obviously very active group of fishers in Aalestrup Lystfiskerklub/Forening.

Supreme finish

"In many ways, it was a rod builder's dream finish." Bob Petti writes about Trondak U-40 Duragloss LS Supreme and hands out one of the rare Global Class scores of 6 in his review. He also looks at Trondak's U-40 Rod Bond, which 'only' scores a 5.

Mix your own dubbing

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.

Make your own dubbing wax

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.

Claus Bech-Petersen, Denmark

Claus Bech-Petersen is a Danish fly fisher in his mid 30's. He describes himself as being a fly fisher by dedication and a journalist by profession.

The Moyerfokker

A well worn, ugly, but nevertheless effective specimen of The Moyerfokker

Matuka swap

The Matuka will always be one of my favorite patterns. The style of tying (lashing the wing to the top of the hook by ribbing through the fibers of the feathers) lends itself to infinite possibilities.

Little bucktails swap

This swap has gathered a collection of patterns from diverse sources, including Maine regional favorites, patterns from the wider northeast, regional patterns from the West and from Alberta, and newly created patterns. They all share three things in common - hair wings, small hooks, and a tremendous attraction to brook trout.

Oatman swap

The idea of a swap of patterns originated by Lew Oatman came from interaction by the participants on The Streamer Board on this site. The swap was hosted by Bob Petti.

Hackle for streamers

One of the things most often asked by neophyte streamer tyers is what types of hackle are best suited for streamer wings. The short answer is... there is no single source best suited for streamer wings. The long answer... well... I'll ramble on about it for the remainder of this essay!

Blacknosed dace

This in one of several articles in a series being created as a group effort by members of the Streamer List to provide some background information on the species of forage fish we most commonly try to immitate with streamer patterns.

Smelt

The "king of baitfish", the American Smelt is the inspiration for the vast majority of New England Streamer patterns. Though there are a number of smelt species throughout the world, it's the Atlantic Rainbow Smelt that populates New England's waters, and is the one most-commonly immitated.

The Rangely style

The Rangeley Style of streamer tying is the style used by Carrie Stevens to tie her famous Grey Ghost pattern. This unique features of this style of tying are that the wing components are assembled and glued together before attaching to the hook, and that the wings are not mounted on top of the hook shank but slightly down the sides of the hook shank.

Tying on hard hair wings

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.

Toilet ring dubbing wax

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.

The Salmon Fly Proportion, Design & Layout Guide

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

Raising chickens

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

Hook anatomy

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).

Roddy MacLeod, USA

Roddy MacLeod hails from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia where he's been a lifelong resident. Husband and father of two (Katie and Donald) he finds rare moments for fishing.

Fish in puff pastry case

A perfect entree that can be spiced as you please - even quite untraditionally.

Conranch Hackles

With over forty years of experience behind him, and a flock that's almost a half a century old, Dennis Conrad knows how to grow hackle. GFF Rating: 5

Mustad hooks

"...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.

Marvin Nolte, USA

Marvin Nolte is a master of the classics and the tyer behind The Grainger Collection

Streamers Of Bill Edson

Undoubtedly, most fly fishermen will relate the name Bill Edson with the Dark and Light Edson Tiger streamers that bear his name. They are prominent in streamer lore, fly catalogs, fly wallets, and with just cause - they have been exceptional fish takers from their inception.

The Moor Fly

This one of the really genuine Danish flies for sea trout in the streams. The Moor Fly (Hedefluen in Danish) in some fishers eyes work magic and can at times be the most dominating fly on certain Danish sea trout streams.

Opossum Shrimp

An imitation well suited for inshore fishing.

Omoe Brush

Ken Bonde Larsen's now-classical Danish sea trout pattern.

Squirrel streamer

This small streamer is as neutral and ordinary as can be. It's a small trout fry pattern, that can be used in fairly clear water in spring and autumn. Retrieve in short, fast jerks.
2000
Date Title Body Image

Atlantic conversions

Although the subject of this article may seem like heresy to dedicated tyers of classic atlantic salmon patterns, I thought it might be a fun exercise this winter to adapt some of these classic patterns to New England streamers. It was indeed a challenging and enjoyable tying experience.

Book column November 2000

Fly fishing obsession, does it exist? "The final question is; should any man turn his back on ambition, profit, security, and a parking place in the city, just to pursue a fish!"

Preston Jennings' flies

Preston Jennings was one of those rare individuals who saw things differently than most folks. It would certainly be in our best interested to learn more about his work and his thoughts on color separation when we design our own flies. Bob Petti shows you a few patterns in the Streamer Section.

Chris Edghills salt water patterns

A selection of saltwater patterns from Chris Edghill

Marabou swap

The second streamer swap to have originated from the forums on this site, Doug Saball's Marabou Streamer Swap was a great success! The theme for the swap was that participants would contribute an original or established streamer pattern which used marabou for the wing material.

Beginner's Guide to Flytying

There are hundreds of books for the beginning flytyer, many of which are published by material manufacturers or tool manufacturers to 'lure' you into buying their wares.

Sculpin

This forage fish feature (say that 5 times fast!) is a the third in a series of articles being created as a group effort by members of the Streamer List. There are over 300 species of sculpins, most of them are salt water or brackish water occupants, but several are found in North America.

Chris Edghill

I have fished from the time I could walk down to the beach only 20 feet from our house, but at the age of six I was taken by that long rod my uncle put in my hand one cold day in Scotland.

Since you got this far …


The GFF money box

… I have a small favor to ask.

Long story short

Support the Global FlyFisher through several different channels, including PayPal.

Long story longer

The Global FlyFisher has been online since the mid-90's and has been free to access for everybody since day one – and will stay free for as long as I run it.
But that doesn't mean that it's free to run.
It costs money to drive a large site like this.
See more details about what you can do to help in this blog post.