The upstream presentation of traditional soft hackled wet flies on rivers is a subject close to my heart. It is a presentation method I favour, even though it is not a productive searching technique for trout and requires more effort […]
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Pearsall’s Gossamer Silk
03/01/2020
It is safe to say that for the past century a certain brand of silk thread has become synonymous with the tying of traditional north country spiders. I am of course referring to Pearsall’s Gossamer which after two centuries of […]
In his 1924 publication Fly Fishing in Northern Streams, Lieut-Col William Keith Rollo made no bones about being a “Wet Fly” fisherman in an age of “dry Fly” supremacy. And in this now largely forgotten slim volume, he reprints some […]
A Guide to Choosing North Country Hackles
02/03/2019
It goes without saying that to dress the finest of flies, you need the finest of materials. And now thankfully, with the growth of online retailing. An expanded choice of flydressing materials is for many of us but a mouse […]
Horsehair Casts
01/17/2019
A number of years ago I set out to dress a selection of traditional North Country spider patterns in the most authentic manner possible. With a degree of enthusiasm that bordered on insanity, I scoured the internet and fishing tackle […]
The Pilkington Flies & Flytying Collection
11/25/2018
Providence often takes a hand in the world of collecting vintage fishing tackle and fly-dressing materials. More often that not, valuable collections are split up, and dispersed around the four corners of the globe, without ever coming to form the […]
Arthur Ransome remarked that “Anglers, make fine old men”, and George Morrell, angler and schoolmaster comfortably fits into Ransome’s characterisation of a “fine old man”. A native of Darlington, and a leading light in the Congregational Church. George Morrell first […]
The Roving Angler
11/10/2018
I have a secret passion for angling books. Not the well-known classics of the chalk streams, or even the collectable masterpieces of the North Country. But moreover, angling literature of the interbellum period of the 1920’s and 30’s. When, it […]
North Country Bric-à-brac ?
10/31/2018
Although many vintage flytying materials are readily available for those with enough curiosity and desire to search them out. This combination of fly wallet and box, is an interesting curio that still intrigues
About Me
Flytyer, Angler and Author of The North Country Fly: Yorkshire’s Soft Hackle Tradition.
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Historic Wet Fly Tying & Fishing Chest Found in a BarnFrom Pearsall's Silk to rare feathers and flies tied to horsehair casts - a real life treasure chest.fishingdiscoveries.com
Flytyer, Angler and Author of The North Country Fly: Yorkshire’s Soft Hackle Tradition.
Recent Posts
- Fishing The Upstream Wet Fly in Pocket Waters03/23/2020
- Pearsall's Gossamer Silk03/01/2020
- W. K. Rollo - Fly Fishing in Northern Streams12/27/2019
