Martin Joergensen

Tying in a feather and wrapping it … easy-peasy, right? Or maybe there’s more to it. This in-depth article looks at various ways to make a feather hackle.

Hackle or material guards help you keep stuff out of the way while you tie or varnish your fly

The Global FlyFisher has once again been moved to a new publishing system, and things have changed – but are basically still the same

What butt diameter monofilament suits what line weight when making knotted leaders?

When on social media of various kinds, you bump into some very talented people now and then. Belarusian Dmitriy Lesnov is one of those talents

There are a ton of situations where a backcast presentation will save the day. Here are a few good reasons to learn it – and how.

There’s a surprising number of fishing podcasts out there, but this one is slightly different than most

Those of us who have fished tube flies for ages have no problem understanding the principle, but if you're new to tubes, the simple task of attaching a hook to a tube fly might seem hard to figure out.

30 years ... thirty years, like three decades. That’s how old this site is, and that’s actually quite a feat.

A bit of stacker education and stacker philosophy is due, so here it is: quite a lot of information about hair stackers

... and then there's deer hair. And it can be many different things. It is not at all that easy to find the right kind for the many patterns with this fantastic material

Flies from Dutch Hans Weilenmann's 1998/99 project SFP - Smallest Fly Page - with size 32 patterns from all over the world

#32 Rusty Rat tied by Hans Weilenman - the man behind the project

#32 Royal Coachman tied by Jack Mickievicz

#32 Shuck Raider tied by Irish fly tier Arthur Greenwood

#32 Pink Sabalo tied by Andrew Lamborne

#32 Pheasantless PTN (Beadhead) tied by US tier Bob Petti

#32 CDC Olive Parachute tied by US fly tyer Chris Knight

#32 Blue Wing Olive (BWO) tied by US tyer Agust Gudmundson

#32 Ladybug tied by US tier Bob Kenly

#32 Once and Away (emerger) tied by Dutch Hans van Klinken

Notes for a #32 Wonderbody Parachute tied by Dutch fly tier Henk Verhaar

In this part of the series on different coastal conditions, we look at a common situation: water clear as gin and maybe even calm as a mirror. Not the easiest of fishing conditions, but adapting gear and flies to the situation helps.

This article teaches you how to do a proper series of step-by-step photos of a fly pattern being tied - also known as an SBS.

We challenged artificial intelligence to create a fly pattern. It went fairly well ... and then again … not quite well.

My shrimp patterns have always been pretty impressionistic. That was until I saw a video using some pre-made legs… then I dug into my stash, and a fairly realistic shrimp emerged

Coming up with new fly patterns is essentially like coming up with new dishes: it’s basically impossible. Everything is a variation of a variation of something that has been made before - even The Yarn Thief

How to tie the fly pattern that I "invented" in connection with a discussion about coming up with new fly patterns.

The online leader calculator has had an overhaul, and has been updated with several new leader formulas and a bunch of new features

This article covers how to use the online fly fishing leader caculator LeaderCalc for creating your own perfect custom made hand tied leaders

This fly is unbelievably small! It was tied by me for Dutch Hans Weilenmann’s project SFP or Smallest Fly Page. The pattern was tied once in 1998 – and probably won't be again!

I have covered lighting flies for photography in various articles, and mentioned Siberian Ramil Yamaliev’s gadgets before. Here’s another one.

A simple, small squid pattern aimed at all the fish that enjoy eating little, cute cuttlefish

The Global FlyFisher is in dire need of new and fresh content, and you can help! This article explains why - and what you can do.

Some 25 years ago, I experimented with what I back then referred to as "linked flies". Today they’d be called articulated, and I have taken the tying method up again.

Siberian Ramil Yamaliev makes a lot of things on his 3D printer - from fly reels to lamps. And then this brilliant dubbing brush twister.

Dron Lee is an innovative fly tyer from Malaysia.

Grizzly hackle is something which most tyers use all the time and which we all take for granted, but in my eyes grizzly isn't nearly as appreciated as it deserves to be

This fly was originally a colorful bream fly from the southern US called Bead Butt or Jennifer Lopez. I transformed it to fit my needs and named my version Josephine Baker

Some of you may have noticed that it’s been awfully quiet here lately. Covid was here…

What to look for when buying coarser saddle hackle - for saltwater and pike flies, for streamers, for salmon flies or other uses

This emerger pattern uses CDC and foam to create the floating thorax that’s typical of emerging insects

I always loved the Red Tag. I have tied and fished this fly a thousand times, but tend to basically do it the same way every time. Not so anymore!

A bunch of pattern descriptions and materials lists for flies inspired by the Red Tag

Coty comes from a long line of bass anglers.

...as a fly tyer and flyfisher, that is. Other books influenced me as a person, but that’s a whole other story.

It’s been one and a half years since I started accepting donations to keep the site running, and the support has been overwhelming!

Danish fly angler and professional photographer Søren Skarby got an idea: to photograph fish like they'd never been photographed before

The renowned streamer aficionado site streamers365.com is shutting down, but GFF has "inherited" all its fantastic content.

I recently went through my large archive of images. Suddenly I had a whole bunch of fly images. I gathered them into a small gallery.

Nick Mayer's watercolors are large, colorful and stunningly beautiful. Read about his journey from his childhood sketchbook to becoming a full time artist.

A great looking and very catchy Danish sea trout fly, useful all year round in spite of the name.

A great and high floating caddis fly made with foam as a base material and a very simple and cool technique.

GFF gets too little press coverage, so I interviewed myself, and asked myself a number of intelligent questions and offered some equally brilliant answers.

The basic technique of wrapping thread over - and under - materials is a key to getting flies that will hold well

One key to durability in flies is to prepare a bit before starting - and choosing the right hook, thread and materials

How to tie flies that last more than a cast, a trip, a month... heck, even a year. We're starting a series of articles with some tips on tying durable flies – and keeping them intact.

The Kavik is a simple zonker-based streamer, well suited for a lot of different fish, and easy to adapt in color and material choice

Swiss/Norwegian tyer Fabien Moulin stumbled upon a seemingly new way of creating a parachute hackle and wing in one.

The March Brown is one of the all time classic fly patterns, the origin of which must go back almost centuries.

My venture into the history and legacy of the classic March Brown led to a whole lot of variations over the theme

So, the Global FlyFisher’s video section just passed 10,000 videos. And suitably enough the 10K mark was a Davie McPhail video showing how to tie a muddler.

I have a dried hare skin, which I have owned for as long as I have tied flies. A lot of flies and a lot of wisdom has come from that skin.

The number of videos on the Global FlyFisher video page is steadily closing in on 10,000!

The classical Danish coastal flies Magnus and Grey Fred have been an inspiration for many derivative patterns as well as hybrids. This is their story.

Renowned fly tyer and tying instructor Wayne Luallen presents a series of short videos, which will help you become a much better fly-tyer.

I purchased a purple dyed golden pheasant skin and thought I'd tie a Purple Omoe Brush… and then things happened.

Over the years I have collected a ton of flies, tied by all kinds of tyers. I have started publishing pictures of of these flies.

The CDC&Elk is a famous and efficient Caddis dry fly. This variation works for Baltic sea trout... and was actually inspired by the bonefish version of the fly

A really simple and easy little baitfish fly, which will work for a lot of different fish and can be varied endlessly

This 3D-printed contraption is a fly holder with built in light designed for fly photography.

Danish angler Claus Eriksen is the managing director of the Danish fishing shop Go Fishing. Claus has been fishing for many years, and has been influential in the Danish sea trout fishing community, contributing to many magazines, books and videos and originating many fly patterns for Danish sea trout, among them the (in)famous Pink Pig - Pattegrisen. Claus also speaks and makes presentations, and participates in political and organizational work and activities related to fishing.
You can follow Claus on Facebook.

I have been making my own intruder shanks from straight hair pins for a while, and they are easy to make, inexpensive and work really well.

This very buggy looking streamer-slash-stonefly-slash-nymph caught my eye. Such a fly should be able to catch almost any kind of trout

If you want to use the advantages of controlling twist in your tying thread, you need a bobbin holder that allows rotation. Not all do.

You won’t find many web sites, which have been running for 25 years, and I seriously doubt that any current fly fishing sites have a quarter century long history

The Global FlyFisher has long been on various social media, and is now on Instagram too

I got the crazy idea to convert some Danish sea trout and salmon flies to intruders. It worked out surprisingly well.

Tying tips and techniques in small,concentrated, quick-to-watch, easy-to-catch videos.

Plain and simple bead chain is one of the cheapest fly tying materials around, but very useful and a great addition to many flies.

A simple and very hard-to-sink emerger from Russian Dmitri Tseliaritski

My search for a great fly tying lamp may be over. This one is close to ideal for my purposes

Another year passed, and the Global FlyFisher still tugs along, quietly, continuously expanding, larger than ever, celebrating its 24th Christmas

A small gallery of images from November and December on the Baltic coast, showing the ambiance during these last months of the year

Another beautiful, full dressed salmon fly from Italian Stefano Farkas. This time a Green Highlander.

This little beetle imitation is amazingly lifelike. Using few and ordinary materials, Russian tyer Dmitri Tseliaritski makes it quick and easy to tie.

You can buy ready-made rod holders for your car, but you can also go the DIY way and get some excellent holders for a very fair price.

Why is it that some reels simply don't fit some rods? There is a standard of course... but not all manufacturers seem to follow it.

Recently Belgian Roland Henrion started focusing more on his art, and that made him a candidate for our fishy artists series.

I get regular mails from Italian master salmon fly tyer Stefano Farkas. A couple of his recent flies were special.

Australian Rob Meade's flies are totally crazy contraptions using foam in strange shapes, odd constructions, rubber legs, large eyes and lots of color. Flies just after my heart!

Christmas is here... just a few days until you can unwrap your presents. But you get one from GFF right now!

US artist Jason Bordash works as an electrical designer, but paints beautiful fishing scenes, fish and flies in his spare time. We asked him a few questions.

You probably noticed. Dutch Zwarte Piet is afoot, Danes drink glögg and the Germans go to Weihnachtsmarkt. Time to buy some presents for your favorite fly fisher!

Italian fly tyer Stefano Farkas regularly sends me pictures of his beautiful, full dressed salmon flies. Here's another batch from him.

This is my entry from the first ever Illustrated Pattern Swap in 1996. No idea what an Illustrated Pattern Swap is? Well read on and learn.

This is a report from a productive early morning coastal trip in Denmark. I was forced to get up early to be able to be home in time to watch Formula 1 on TV

This article in the series on fly patterns for particular coastal water conditions in the Baltic deals with the season upon us: winter.

Australian artist Trevor Hawkins works with pen and watercolor on high quality paper to produce his beautiful, mostly naturalistic - but also sometimes abstract art

Fur patches can be bought in flyshops, but there are many other sources for good fur - from furriers to roadkill.

This fly came about as a way to use some yarn that I bought on a small vacation with my wife when she was buying yarn for a wolf. Yup, a wolf!

I do not like bright shrimp flies. I do not like them Sam-I-Am. I would not like them here or there. I would not like them anywhere. Or maybe I would...?

American artist Casey Underwood does stunning and beautiful fish portraits using mixed techniques.

One of the big things in fly tying these days is articulated flies. Utilizing two hooks, shanks or some other technique, flies get two or more parts linked together resulting in movement and size.

Behind the somewhat strange name hides a somewhat strange fly originated by Danish salmon guide Marc Skovby. An good looking salmon tube fly that's both easy to tie and very efficient.

This article covers a handful of books that I would recommend to the new fly-angler and fly-tyer - the angler who is dipping his or her toes in the fly-fishing pond for the first time

Russian Dmitri Tseliaritski's Narova foam dry fly is an easy and robust pattern template for terrestrials, beetles in particular

This is a 10 year old trip report that I happened to read again and decided to make into a small article.

This is a simple streamer, which was one of the first decent flies I ever put together myself. I still like it and enjoy tying it.

Raccoon – or Vaskebjørn – is a highly successful and good looking Norwegian sea trout fly.

The Baltic garfish or needlefish appears in colossal numbers each spring and is a great joy to target with a fly - and a delicacy to eat.

Italian Stefano Farkas ties some beautiful - and very large - full dressed salmon flies.

A lot of flies are tied on very short hooks, still featuring quite long bodies/wings to imitate small fish. This article looks into that style.

Snails can be surprisingly high on the trout menu, and a snail imitation can sometimes be a key to success - on stillwaters and ponds in particular.

Russian fly tyer Dmitri Tseliaritski from St. Peterburg ties some mean looking imitations. Here's an example of his foam wasps

The spring gallery this year is a simple collection of pictures of Danish coastlines. It might be simple, but the variation is amazing and almost endless.

So you thought you'd rediscovered the wheel, the deep plate and pre-sliced bread when you discovered articulated flies? Think again! Springulated flies is where things are going.

These three articles on tying thread were written by renowned fly tyer and deer hair equillibrist Chris Helm.

A simple tool to calculate trout condition (K-factor), length or weight from the two other numbers.

Just a week ago my good friend Jens caught what can rightfully be called the fish of a lifetime. Here's the story - and the fly that did it.

A material spring is a nifty little addition to your vise, enabling you to hold long materials like ribbing or hackles out of the way while tying in other materials.

There's so much extra paraphernalia that you can attach to your vise that you can totally block the access to the hook if you use it all.

This is a list of a few great books that are about fishing, but focuses on ambiance, adventure, philosophy, emotions, friendships - basically everything but catching that big one.

The Global FlyFisher has been on Pinterest for a while, and get quite a bit of attention there.

I have used my fingers and metal bulldog clips plus varying degrees of dexterity for hair hackle loops. I decided to try to make my own material clips for the purpose.

So another year has passed... and what then, did that year bring for the Global FlyFisher... and what about 2017?

This is the greatest little tool you can imagine for cleaning varnish off your bodkin or dubbing needle, and you can make one almost for free.

Making your own durable, fabric covered rod tubes that can hold several rods each is pretty easy

Most people need some light when they tie flies. Some people more than others. This article is about lamps to use over your vise and table when tying.

Looking for a cool, compact and cheap fly tying light? Look no further. This project will give you a nice light for about 10-15 US$

We always say that sea trout in the ocean are opportunistic and will take almost any fly. This pattern disproves that thesis

David Womack signed up for as many art classes as he could, but after just one formal painting class he realized that he had found his passion.

Fly tying material is often big, inexpensive pieces cut up and sold small at high prices. It's always worth looking around for alternative sources. You can find some really useful materials for almost no money.

A small baitfish imitation that swims in the surface and lures sea bass and other predatory fish hunting bait high in the water.

This list is a compilation of longer fishing videos and TV-shows about fishing that are actually worth watching. New and old. English and other languages. Fly fishing and not.

Hackle pliers are simple tools for a simple task: handling hackles. But there might be more to the story of these humble tools.

The major difference between almost any fly and an Intruder is the use of a shank and a trailing hook. This is about shanks, wires and stinger hooks.

A lot of flies - salmon tube flies in particular – use different discs or cones, and the market is full of them. Here's an overview of some of the many types.

This is the first part of a small series dealing with various coastal conditions in the Baltic. We'll look at flies for clear, but turbulent water. Lots of visibility, but also lots of turmoil – and food.

You can now print great looking labels to use for your home made leaders when you pack them in bags

Many years ago we launched LeaderCalc, the spreadsheet that helps you dimension your leaders. It was last updated almost 10 years ago. It's time for a new version.

Intruders have been around for many years, but if you are new to this fly style, this could be a good place to start.

It's almost become a tradition that I do a springtime gallery every year, and once again I have been digging in the image archives.

Recent historical research into the first writings on fly fishing has revealed the origins of the double haul, by researches called the Ur-haul or the half haul

This is a classic UK wet fly for stillwaters. Good looking, easy to find materials, easy to tie. Why not tie it for the Baltic sea runs?

This is a new take on another new take on the classic British stillwater pattern the Cat's Whisker

Danish angler and photographer Susanne Worm has a keen eye for great images. I asked her our usual round of fishy questions.

Yes, this is an article solely about heads on flies. Why they matter and how to get them to look good.

For many years I went sea trout fishing on the Danish island Bornholm every spring with a group of friends. It's a great place to fish.

I found a 10+ year old fly in a fly box and liked what I saw. The reconstruction of the fly was named the Talisker Touchdown

The Fair Fly is in many ways a perfect zonker: large, very fishy looking, simple to tie. It's a very good sculpin imitation and an excellent large streamer.

A simple hairwinged streamer in old school Danish coastal streamer style... with a twist... literally... of copper wire

No, this is not about some novel way of catching sea trout or how to get a large Danish salmon, but about remembering to relax when you fish.

Another year with GFF has passed and it's time to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

A small image gallery with some images I seem to shoot quite a few of: flies resting on rod handles or reels with the fishing water as a backdrop

Slovakian Andrej Polcic is a journalist, photographer, film maker and guide – and an enthusiastic fly fisherman of course.

Daniel is a teacher whose spare time is spent fishing and selling fly-tying materials.

German artist Rosi Oldenburg now lives, draws and paints in Washington state in the US

The Global FlyFisher has changed! And in a major way. The content is the same but the look and the system behind is very different. We do expect some glitches in the beginning, so be patient.

I first noticed Travis' brilliant and colorful art on Facbook and we became online friends. It only took a very short time to realize that he was an obvious candidate for our Fishy Art series. I contacted him and asked my usual row of questions.

You might have noticed that the Global FlyFisher has been a little quiet lately. It's not because we're on vacation. We're working on a major site upgrade!

As the summer progresses and the days get brighter and the water gets warmer, Baltic sea trout fishing becomes a nighttime activity.

During the last 15 years or so I have joined a group of friends on two annual coastal trips here in Denmark. I wouldn't want to miss these trips for anything. Here are a few pictures from the latest two.

Taylor Rose Garman is a Massachusetts based artist. When her father originally asked her to paint a brook trout she obliged, but didn't really think too much of it. Now, when she can't fish or tie, she paints.

Lithuania based artist Arturas Merkevicius AKA Art Merk makes beautiful fly fishing themed leather art. We approached with the usual row of questions for fishy artists.

This is the true story of Klympen - a sea trout fly pattern, which I witnessed being created - and have seen evolve into something surprisingly far from the original.

The single haul is for beginners, double hauls are for the seasoned fly-caster, but the triple haul... now that's for the real hard core fly fisherman.

Here at the Global FlyFisher we try our best to protect and respect your privacy, and do not harvest any information about you or share information with others.

Damon Toney makes custom fishing tackle at Black Warrior Lures. He started by making jigs, flies, streamers based on the kinds of bait fish found.

What should you look for when choosing fly-tying scissors? Well, that all depends on a number of factors. This article takes an in-depth look at one of the fly tier's most important tools.

Danish photojournalist Soren Skarby only recently started photographing his favorite pastime: fishing. Before that he kept work and pleasure strictly separated.

Mads Schmidt Andersen is a Danish angler and fly-tyer from the island of Fyn

A few inexpensive items from IKEA and a little work, and you have a fine line tray.

Italian artist Renato Rizzo draws beautiful, simple but still very complex and detailed black and white pictures of flies... with a lowly BIC ballpoint pen

This was one of those fish that staid glued to my inner eye for a long time. The largest pike I ever caught gave up a very good and pretty harrowing fight.

I'm not picky when it comes to fishing and any day I can catch 12-15 fish is a good day - even when the fish are humble roach.

I love pike fishing with a fly rod, and my first encounter with pike in the salt made a lasting impression.

I was among the lucky fly-tyers who managed to lay my hand on one of Lawrence Waldron's LAW fly-tying vises while he made them - and they could be bought at reasonable prices.

We're in the middle of the dampest, grayest, wettest, warmest winter I can remember for a long time, and I'm dreaming of spring.

As the year changed from 2014 to 2015, the Danish sea trout community suddenly started buzzing about squid. And I buzzed along and developed Martin's Mundane Squid, soon to become the Squid Plus Three

One was lead colored and slim, one was bright chrome and in perfect condition, bot both these south Swedish sea trout were memorable.

Looking back at 2014. The most popular articles and pages on the Global FlyFisher the past year looks much as it always does... with a few changes.

Moonfish are odd but fascinating creatures, and I have the honor of having been called king of the moonfish during a family trip to Florida.

I was never really taken by tarpon fishing. I've done it a few times and caught a few tarpon, but never felt the thrill that I see people get from fishing for these fish.

This was one of those days where things just worked out, and I took advantage of it and behaved slightly out of order.

Little jewels of the mountains, greenback cutthroats cruising along the shore, easily visible from the rocks and eager to take almost anything offered.

I enter the water... I enter another universe. My tube is a sputnik suspended in the space above a lunar surface of sand and stone. I'm the astronaut. The clear water is my vaccum. I turn on my mental time lock and make the first cast.

This is about a steelhead - a sea run rainbow trout. We don't have wild rainbow trout here, so all rainbows we catch are escaped hatchery or sea farm fish. And most are butt ugly. But not this one.

Oddly enough the first fish I thought of when I started writing this series was my most recent decent coastal sea trout, which I'm ashamed to say was caught more than four years ago.

In spite of having caught quite a few fish in my life, some stand out. Not the biggest, not the most spectacular, not the most difficult... just some...

Considering how simple the goal is: to get the thread through the tube of a bobbin holder, there's a surprising number of ways to do it.

Most people use a bobbin holder when they tie flies. In spite of being a simple tool there are some pretty advanced models out there. 

I have been fishing in the ocean from a kayak before, but these days my motivation is not mobility but rather immobility and my needs are different.

The DVD Rising Salar takes a different approach to doing a fishing video and we have talked the the three guys behind it.

Swiss photographer and fly-fisher Lukas Bammatter lives in Zürich not far away from beautiful trout and grayling waters with both fishing and photo opportunities.

Lodges are found on many fishing destinations around the world, but in Denmark they aren't common. We have talked to the owner of the first dedicated fishing lodge in the prime coastal seatrout destination in the world.

Irish Lough Conn is a huge lake full of wild trout and a very decent number of salmon. Fishing in it is free, and can be fantastic. And the Kelly Kettle was born on its banks.

The nerdy look at tying threads plotting their thickness, Denier and breaking strength in scatter charts to show correlation. There is none!

A large sortable table comparing more than 100 fly-tying threads.

I have been going on these fishing trips twice a year with a bunch of friends for more than a decade. These days it's more trip than fishing for me.

Inspired by Kim Sorensen's salmon fly the Munker I set out to make a sea trout variant for the salt

A very successful Danish muddler tube fly developed by Kim Sorensen for salmon and sea trout, particularly suited for slow water.

A crazy foam construction that looks very little like a mouse and a lot like an opera house

Danish writer and photographer

Caterpillars aren't the most common type of fishing flies, but like a good ant or beetle pattern they can be killers by an overgrown stream bank on a warm summers day.

The old aught system for tying threads (6/0, 8/0, 10/0) isn't really good. So the newer Denier system is much better, right? No, not really!

Somewhat an oxymoron - a fly that's a mammal - but still a fun fly to tie, and not least to fish when the large fish are tuned in on a mouse menu.

I have traditionally published a collection of images before the season to heighten the Cabin Fever, and this year's Casting Arm Blues also gets a stimulus package

Dutchman Rudy van Duijnhoven is a well known freelance photographer in the northern European fishing community delivering photos and articles to many European magazines and websites.

The global scope of GFF is once again confirmed as we present Montenegrian fishy photographer Nikola Novovic

We started accepting banner ads... and we stopped again.

We're breaking the oath that we have sworn so many times. GFF needs money and might soon start having ads.

US angler living and fishing in Europe

I've had a dog for close to ten years now, and he has been with me on almost every single fishing trip I've been on since I got him.

If you want to lie about your catches, you might as well do it properly. Here's a story about how not to do, and a tool to help you.

Fly rods are fishing rods built specifically for fly-fishing and are similar to any fishing rod in many ways, but also very different.

This article tries to explain in simple terms what it is to fish with a fly - fly-fish or flyfish.

This new section of small articles is aimed at the absolute beginner or the one who doesn't fly-fish or tie flies, and has no idea about the concepts of casting or fishing a fly.

A graphical overview over the twenty most visited sections on The Global FlyFisher in 2013.

A graphical overview over the twenty most visited sections on The Global FlyFisher in 2013.

Yes that's right! Our video channel has passed the five thousand video mark, and this article covers the state of this hugely successful section on the Global FlyFisher.

It's become kind of a tradition for me to do these yearly status posts when we get close to Christmas and New Year. So how was 2013 on GFF?

Am I dumb or what? Who would fish with a broken hook? Well, a lot of people do, actually. I do now and then, although rarely on purpose.

Make your own large eyes for pike and saltwater flies using inexpensive materials and a little time. Some adhesive marker dots, a handful of waterproof pens and some LCR and you can start your own stick-on eye factory.

This is in reality a declaration of love to the art and craft of tying fishing flies with lots of tips for the beginning fly-tyer.

A super simple and inexpensive home made tool to hold hackle and other materials while tying.

Inspired by some large, colorful saddles and an ordinary feather duster, this pike fly is voluminous and voluptuous, easy to tie and easy to cast.

Once a fish has taken your fly there's a number of different ways to react. This article will try to help you hook more fish by adapting your strike or hook set.

The debate about whether to use the right hand or the left hand on the fly reel is almost as old as fly-fishing itself. Let's look a bit rationally on the issue at hand...

Even though I consider sunrises and in particular sunsets as subjects more suitable for teenage bedroom posters than for fishing pictures, I have to admit that I have shot my fair part of them

In nature the marabou is a stork. In fly tying it's a very versatile and popular type of feathers from other birds than the marabou.

Canadian Silver Tip Fly Company makes printed fly-tying materials with a high degree of realism and can supply wings, shells and much more, ready to tie with. We asked some questions.

The fly-tying market is brimming with prefabricated materials, and Danish Easy Shrimp Eyes is one of the companies who are making them. We have talked to the guys behind the products.

With such a name a fly has to be good. And this one is. The Super Pupa is a killer pattern! Different, simple to tie, and very efficient.

The cradle of American fly-fishing in the Catskills and tube flies isn't something normally connected, but fly-tyer Richard Katzman ties tube flies to be fished in these hallowed waters.

While browsing fly patterns on the web I found this interesting and buggy looking Swedish Caddis pattern, and discovered that its history actually traced back to a GFF seatrout pattern.

This is an article about Don Gapen's original Muddler Minnow - a fly that is tied in countless versions and has inspired thousands of patterns, but only few that resemble the original

The soft hackle is supposed to be - as the name implies - soft. Soft hackle can come from many birds. Chickens, gamebirds like partridge, grouse and quail, pheasant and even crows and jackdaws.

As a Baltic sea trout angler you can never get enough shrimp patterns, and this one was tied as a result of access to some really fine mallard feathers.

The name of this renowned fly is Europea 12 - with an a in the end - oftentimes just called E-12. It's a true European classic, a great caddis imitation and even easy to tie.

Learn what to look for when buying feathers for dry fly hackle. How to choose the right saddles or necks and get the most and the best feathers for your purpose.

There's absolute nothing original or innovative about this fly. On the contrary: it's super simple and has probably been tied in a gazillion variations before. It was inspired by some nice mallard feathers brought to one of our fly-tying and fishing trips.

In this chapter of our series we look at what to look for when buying deer hair for fly tying. Get the right material whether you are going to use it for caddis wings or for spinning bass bugs.

What to look for when buying bucktail, a cheap and easily accessible and very useful fly tying material. Learn how to get the best quality for streamers, saltwater patterns and pike flies.

Too much about airplane food... and too little about fly tying and fly fishing. An ancient pattern from the Illustrated Pattern Swap year 2000.

Some might consider it a bit mad or even crazy, but when Danish Niels Have ties full dressed, classic Jock Scott salmon flies, he ties them by the dozen... and then he fishes with them!

Shrimp flies are very much en vogue in the Baltic region, and keep on getting more and more complex. This one is simple and dead easy to tie - and still a very good imitation.

This article will give some tips on buying tying materials, and go through different groups of common materials like hackle, bucktail, skins and other fly-tying supplies.

I honestly don't remember exactly how many years ago I started tying flies, but a rough calculation says about 30 years. A lot has happened since then - luckily!

Canadian Yves Laurent does beautiful wood carvings of fish and other animals - and flies. His work is meticulous and detailed and even the stones are carved in wood!

Finnish photographer Pasi Visakivi has been interested in photographing from very young age but is still learning new important things almost every day.

The Mickey Finn is one of the all time classic streamers. Simple, beautiful and fairly easy to tie - and a catcher.

The Streamers 365 project has delighted streamer aficionados worldwide by delivering a new and beautiful streamer photo online every day. We have talked to Darren MacEachern, the man behind the project.

Sam MacDonalds art may at first glance look like paintings, but is actually 3D sculptures made from metal, with a very particular character that lends itself very well to fish and underwater subjects. We confronted him with our usual questions.

This is the über simple lightweight guide to taking pictures of your flies - finished flies or for step-by-steps - even with your phone!

AKA Peeete's Welded Wide Body Tunnel Hull Pheather'n'Phlash Tube Phly. The name is complex, but the fly is simple, showing how to build a large baitfish imitation with few and easily accessible materials - and Pete Gray's neat welding technique.

A mail ticked in: "One of our clients thought that Adriano Manocchia's art would be a nice addition to your art gallery section." And true enough. Manocchia's beautiful, almost photo realistic art would certainly be a nice addition to our Fishy Artists series.

A weird and futuristic construction from the archives. Really easy to tie... eh, make... uhm... construct... Metal, plastic and glue.

It has been a while since I did a Merry Christmas post on GFF, so I thought I'd make one this year. A few pictures from this year and a handful from earlier.

Michael Jensen is a Danish writer and photographer whose images are widely used in fishing books and magazines. Michael is a very creative person who has also written children's books and short stories and not least he's an avid rock musician.

UK artist David Miller has long been on our wanted list for the Fishy Artist series, and now we can feature some samples of his impressing art and some answers to a few questions.

We haven't ever done any of these traditional Christmas articles before. Lists of stocking stuffers are very common everywhere, but this is the first ever on GFF. We have spotted 24 new and classic Christmas gifts for the angler, fly-tyer or just outdoors person.

Harsh shadows from a bright source like the sun are usually not very welcome in our images, and we often jump through hoops to avoid them. But how about making the shadows a part of the image, and maybe even the most important part?