James Fly Tying Page

Graylingtastic!

James Matthews

Over the next few months I shall endeavour to show you some bugs, nymphs and flies, call them what you will, that I feel no grayling angler should be without in his grayling armoury.

All the flies are proven fish catchers that I have fished extensively and friends up and down the country and to a certain extent, worldwide, have used with varying degrees of success, depending on season, weather conditions and techniques used. These are not just flight of fancy flies - some could be called realistic, impressionistic or generic patterns, and all of them work! To quote Oliver Edwards, 'Remember, it's the fly in the water that catches the fish!' Match the hatch and the river conditions and above all else, to quote Davie McPhail, have confidence in the fly and you're half way there

On the subject of realistics, this is a real bugbear, if you can excuse the pun. I always get a tad upset when people think that realistic flies don't catch fish, only fishermen! That is not the case. Although I'm quite happy to fish a gold-ribbed hare's ear, I'm a real fan of realistics. Enough said. I'm an avid stone turner, and any river I fish I always turn over a few stones, have a kick about and see what's under the stones. It's amazing how many people forget the basic principles of what fly fishing is all about, be it for trout or grayling.

You'll be introduced to some of the best tyings from some of the World's best flytyers: Davie McPhail, Steve Thornton, Oliver Edwards, Bill Logan etc., with maybe the odd slant of my own thrown in for good measure. I only hope I can do the masters justice! We may even throw in the odd dry fly just for a change, who knows?

Last but not least, I don't profess to have all the answers to catching grayling or any other fish, or to have the fly that will catch day in and day out throughout the season. That way we'd only need one fly in our fly boxes; I am continually searching for it though, and I'll let you know when I find it.

Tight lines, tight threads,

James Matthews, Ayr 2004

Follow these links to each of James flies

Part 1 Organza gilling technique By James Matthews to read more click on this link

Part 2 Hydropsyche larva using organza gilling technique

Part 3 Ammonite Nymph ( A must have for all grayling anglers ) up-dated! thanks James

Part 4 Peeping Cased Caddis

Part 5 Maximus The roots of this fly are firmly in Eastern Europe, specifically the home of Czech nymphing: the Jan Shiman stable

Part 6 All fish, especially grayling, have their little peccadilloes and one is the inability to resist this caddis imitation. It is a generic hydropsyche representation,

Part 7 Deer hair cased caddis by James Matthews

Part * The Scurr By James Matthews

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