The foundation of fly tying for any pattern begins with the hook. With all the new technology available these days, deciding which hook is best, for which pattern, can be confusing to the novice fly tier.

As a “Yorkshireman” born and bred, I naturally look for ways to save money when I am tying flies, that is to say that I do not skimp on the quality of the materials I buy, but rather make them go further.

When you tie many thousand flies per year saving a few millimetres of thread or tinsel here and there really adds up – ask any professional fly tyer!

It is a rare day when everything comes together, great weather, good friends and fantastic fishing. Even rarer are the days when your fishing buddies DON’T take the mick about your flies or technique, but there again it’s all part of the comradery I suppose and makes for a more enjoyable day.

I designed this fly after a really hot day in The Highlands last spring. Heather flies were starting to hatch in small numbers along with what I can only describe as needle flies. Slim black insects about 8mm long, rear swept wings and fine black legs. I had not seen these before but the wild brown trout were gorging on them as they blew onto the lochans we were fishing. Nothing in the numerous fly boxes we carried came close, so out came the vice as soon as we got home.

When I started fly fishing over thirty years ago, one of the attractions to the sport to me was the art of fly tying. Having the ability to create something from fur and feather that will catch Trout was a miracle to me. A good friend at the time who also taught me to cast, showed me the basics of the “black art” of building flies.