We asked ESF reader Mo Graham to take a look at some of the fly tying goodies available from Fish On, tie a few flies and tell us all what he thinks
The good thing about fly tying is trying out new stuff, now none of the stuff I'm going to talk about is new, a hook is a hook, it's the nuances that matter.
First off I will point out that River Academy have rebranded their tying silk, it's now called 'Ultimate Tying Silk', such is the strength and fineness of this thread you can bind down materials without any build up, I find 2 turns enough, with 2 three turn whips to finish does the trick.
River Academy hooks are very good, in a black nickel finish, barbless and strong, they come in packs of 25. Every time I pick up a new hook I'm immediately thinking 'what sort of fly will suit this hook'.
The Nymph/Wet hooks reminded me of my favourite nymph hook, the B175 (I like strong hooks for large fish and heavy hooks sink quickly), these new hooks are slightly lighter, fractionally longer and go down to size 18, I can see these as my go to nymph hook in the future, no more crushing barbs. They are available in sizes 10 to 18. I also tied a nice parachute dry on an 18, the weight of the hook helps to sit the fly firmly in the film.
The Curved hooks are a good sedge/shrimp hook, again all the benefits of a strong barbless hook, great for Czech nymphs or pink shrimps. Available in standard sizes 10 to 14. Or if you want a lighter hook for sedge pupa they are available in light, sizes 12 to 16.
The Jig hooks are another nice hook if you're into tripping a team of nymphs along the bottom, these are available in sizes 14 to 18.
There will be a dry fly hook available in due course.
River Academy tungsten beads are well made and either countersunk or slotted, with the holes nice and small to suit barbless hooks. With a range of 8 colours and sizes 2/2.5/3mm in the countersunk and 4 colours in 2.5/3/3.5mm slotted there is something for everyone, although that said I'm a bit like Henry Ford at the moment every thing in black.
The Stripped Peacock Quills and CDC come from Polish Quills who provide very good quality materials, I've used the peacock quills before on dries and nymphs and really like the effect you can get by building a body of tying thread and then wrapping the quill in open turns so the thread peeks through, and on nymphs you can varnish the body for extra protection! They come in 11 dyed colours plus natural and are hand stripped so they shouldn't have the problems associated with chemically stripped quills, I strip my own natural quills by hand and believe me these are worth every penny with the amount of time it takes.
The CDC comes in a 5 gram pack of excellent quality plumes, the pack I have is a very nice dark brown, perfect for dry sedges, F flies and mobile nymph thoraxes.
I have tied up a few examples on all the hooks using all the materials, I do like a challenge and found everything of a very high standard, my only quibble would be that the Quills and CDC don't come in black! Black nymphs have really worked for me this season, a black nymph on a size 12 jig hook with a 3mm silver bead, fished under a strike indicator at various depths so it trips along the bottom has been the method if the fish weren't rising.
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