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Fly Tying Materials

Semperfli Yorkshire Grub Hooks Released

Dec 27th, 2011
by Andy.
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Semperfli Swimming Nymph Hook

Semperfli Swimming Nymph Hooks Released We tie flies using pretty standard nymph hooks, however one look at the real nymphs in action shows that they are highly mobile and their shapes are not always straight like the traditional nymph and grub hooks we use. This is why the Swimming Nymph hooks and the Yorkshire Grub hooks have been developed, to help you imitate nature and some of the real invertebrates that are in our waters. Try these for bloodworm imitations when fishing on the bottom of lakes and reservoirs or for Rhyacophilla when fishing for trout & grayling on wild, natural rivers. For a stunning Rhyacophilla simply use Semperfli Straggle String SF7250FL which is that stunning apple green colour of the Rhyac and hold tight! The Swimming Nymph hook allows you to tie more natural flies with deadly results.

Semperfli Weighted Czech Nymphing Hooks Released

Dec 23rd, 2011
by Andy.
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Czech Nymphing Weighted Hooks

Semperfli Weighted Czech Nymph Hooks Released When Czech nymphing quite often a heavily weighted fly is essential to hold bottom and allow the perfect presentation of the full team of czech nymphs. The Semperfli Size 8 weighted Czech Nymph hook is the tool for the job. Pre-weighted at 1.3gm (0.04oz) with a shrimp shaped body this is the perfect lead fly in your czech nymphing team.With its weighted body tying a czech nymph is very simple and you can match a natural shrimp or infected shrimp very easily using Semperfli Straggle String which with its’ uv flecks gives that leg like appearance to make a stunning shrimp imitation. The Weighted Czech Nymph hook allows you to tie more natural flies with deadly results. They come in a pack of 10 hooks per pack check them our here czech nymphing hooks

Sandy Dickson Tying The Foam Arsed Blob or FAB

Dec 18th, 2011
by Andy.
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Love them or hate them blobs are an essential piece of the reservoir and lake fly fishermans armoury. This is a simple fly to tie as demonstrated by Sandy Dickson of The Essential Fly. This simple fly is tied using Umpqua U501 Egg Fly Hooks Semperfli Blob Chenille Semperfli Booby eyes Semperfli Nano Silk

Strongest Fly Tying Silk In The World? Watch this amazing video

Dec 16th, 2011
by Andy.
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Nano Silk - Possibly the worlds strongest 12/0 fly tying silk

We are always looking at fly tying threads, we compare all the threads that come out with Semperfli’s Nano Silk which is by far our favorite thread, stunningly thin at just 12/0 but incredibly strong. Sandy Dickson and myself tested it when it was first made and we were amazed at the results, Yes we beleive it to be the strongest fly tying silk in the workd, we tried proving it by snapping a size 8 hook in the vice using this stunning 12/0 thread. We love Semperfli Nano Silk, a 12/0 incredibly thin fly tying silk which is virtually unbreakable, so we decided to do a little experiment. We got size 8 hooks in standard wire guage from a quality hook manufacturer, we twisted some Nano Silk around the hook , spun it then pulled. Even Sandy was surprised at the results, we managed to break the hook 3 times on the trot and had great fun proving that Semperfli Nano is amongst the strongest fly tying silks in the world. We love it for extra small dry flies as there is no build up from this stunningly thin 12/0 silk and for large Pike flies pull it tighter [...]

Umpqua Fly Tying Hooks Available In The UK

Oct 15th, 2011
by Andy.
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Umpqua Fly Tying Hooks Range

We are delighted to be one of the first of many retailers selling the Umpqua hook range in the UK. When we first saw the Umpqua hooks, with their range or dry fly hooks, nymph hooks, streamer hooks and saltwater hooks we were very impressed with the quality and strength. Stunning high grade carbon steel, chemically sharpened hooks with great micro barbs for easy penetration that can be flattened if you prefer barbless hooks. 50 top quality trout hooks at just £4.75 for 50 hooks! Better value than Fulling Mill, or any other manufacturer of hooks in the UK. However we then started to discover more about the Umpqua hook range that delighted us. To be honest at The Essential Fly we expected nothing less from Umpqua Feather Merchants, as one of the top companies in the fly fishing industry world-wide. However it was when we got our stock that we really started to appreciate the qualities put in by Umpqua Feather Merchants, we were used to the plastic boxed hooks from some fly hook  manufacturers, We  don’t know how often over the years we have spilled the hooks upon opening the annoying plastic box. We have used the plastic [...]

Great customer story and feedback!

Oct 12th, 2011
by Ann Kitchener.
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Thanks to a customer who shared his story with us today…. “I generally tie most of my flies and had a fairly dim view of a lot of shop bought flies. They are generally bulky and quite poorly finished. Having suggested flies as a gift to my father in law this Christmas, I was happy to see that they were extremely well tied and actually caught fish. Needless to say, I ‘borrowed’ one… possibly two! We bought from you by the way.” He bought a range of flies from www.theessentialfly.com and we are very glad to have him and his father-in-law as customers!

National Flood Warnings

Sep 8th, 2011
by Ann Kitchener.
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The Environment Agency offers excellent online resources for monitoring river levels and issuing flood warnings.  Thought we’d share this with you as it may be helpful when planning your forthcoming fly fishing trip! No point in packing your fly fishing gear if the rivers are not suitable for fishing!! http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/31618.aspx

River in Flood

Sep 8th, 2011
by Ann Kitchener.
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Well we had hoped to do some kick sampling yesterday.  There we were, all kitted up and with our kick sampling tools ready and our photographer Si with us too for those ace photos we were going to take!  We were hoping to get pictures of the local entomology for our studies and for sharing with our customers.  That way we all know whats out there currently for our fly tying. So we headed off to the river Wharfe in Tadcaster North Yorkshire.  This is a beautiful river, really picturesque with a weir and viaduct over it -worthy of many lovely photos. Even the company dog Tess was excited about this trip! We knew it had rained a bit recently, but in all honesty it wasn’t that bad. But when we got to the river we were amazed!  To say it was in flood is a bit of an understatement.  It was at least 6 ft up – the weir was not visible at all apart from some ‘waves’ where the weir should have been.  It was almost covering the trees too! So, the trip we were all looking forward to had to be cancelled so we simply headed off [...]

Summer Sale!

Jul 21st, 2011
by Ann Kitchener.
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Just to let our Essential Fly bloggers know that we have today lauched our summer sale*!  Time to bag yourself a bargain and take advantage of the discount! Flies, leaders, tackle, lines – all products are eligible under the discount.  Time for some new gear maybe?  Go on treat yourself…..get to the site today *Minimum spend of £25 exc p&p is required to activate the 15% discount.

Truly International

Jul 19th, 2011
by Ann Kitchener.
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We are delighted to have customers from all around the world.  For us at The Essential Fly, it feels like we travel the world every day!  Just a quick look around the site to see who is on just now showed customers actively on the site now from, UK, Ireland, Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, America, Canada, Sweden, Finland and Denmark!  Wow that was a quick worldwide tour. These customers buy flies from us, but also accessories and tackle. Our fly tying materials seem pretty popular too! Its really not a problem for us to ship internationally.  However we are delighted too to receive emails/calls from anglers around the world with their news/stories/photographs and experiences – we can all learn so much and of course dream for a moment that we were there too….. Happy fishing everyone From all of us at www.theessentialfly.com

10% Discount On Fly Fishing Flies

Jul 5th, 2011
by Andy.
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There is an Independence sale running from Monday 4th July to midnight Thursday 7th July where you can get 10% discount with a minimum spend of £15 on fly fishing flies at www.theessentialfly.com. This is on all trout flies, salmon flies, grayling flies, saltwater flies and pike flies.

Cape Grading With Grizzle Necks / Grizzly Necks For Dry Flies

Jun 12th, 2011
by Andy.
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Grizzle Grade 1 Neck

So what is the big deal over grizzly necks or grizzle necks for fly tying? Grizzle necks have superb banding makes superb hackles for dry flies. There are Chinese capes and Indian capes HOWEVER these are not generally considered as dry fly hackles in the professional fly tying market. Grizzle capes and grizzle saddles are graded by their ability to tie small dry flies. The greater the number of tiny dry flies a grizzle neck will produce, generally the higher the price. The most desirable characteristics of a grizzle neck include correct colours, soft fine stalk, short barb length for very small dry flies, high barb count and requires fewer turns of the hackle to produce superb dense hackling. Ignoring colour as you can purchase grizzle saddles dyed in many colours, dyed grizzle necks range in colour from pink to olive, yellow to orange. So really the first question to ask is “what flies will I be tying in what quantity and what sizes?”. The production fly tyer will have a different answer to the average home tyer. Typical experience of fly tyers in general is that small dry flies sizes below #20 are very rarely produced in and the [...]

Whiting Necks & Whiting Saddles – Understanding the Colors Of Fly Tying Feathers

Jun 10th, 2011
by Andy.
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Fly Tying Whiting Saddle & Whiting Neck Colours When first starting fly tying we often can get confused over the colours, yes black is easy, what is cree, furnace saddle and many of the other colours that are mentioned in many of the fly tying books? Whiting saddles and Whiting necks produced by the Whiting Farms company like Metz produce stunning fly tying capes. The colour chart below should help for those new into fly tying understanding the colours of “chicken feathers!” that we tie flies with. Demand for fly tying capes, fly tying necks and fly tying saddles is at an all time high due to the fashion in 2011 of using feathers in ladies hair! Grizzle saddles and necks are in limited supply. We are lucky to have limited numbers of Furnace Saddles, and Furnace half saddles, Bronze half saddles, Dyed grizzly golden olive saddles and some stunning dyed grizzly necks. However there is no doubt that for fly tyers there are going to be extremely limited supplies of fly tying capes, fly tying necks and fly tying saddles Whiting Farms – Cape, Saddle & Packaged Products – Color Availability Chart skip to… White-Dyed Colors | Grizzly-Dyed Colors [...]

Rotary Fly Tying Vice – Fish Bamboo

May 10th, 2011
by Andy.
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Essential Fly – Fish Bamboo Rotary Vice Now Available at Just £119.50 A superb rotary fly tying vice at just £119.50 in leatherette storage bag. There have been improvements made since we first got hold of this vice with metal knobs for tightening this vice has a gallows, height extender C Clamp for desks and pedestal base. We loved this vice once we got hold of it, indeed we now use it at shows in preference to the Marc Petitjean Fly Tying Vice as the heavy pedestal base does not move. As standard the rotary fly tying vice comes with: hardened stainless steel vice head suitable for large to micro hooks size 24! Vice height extender Gallows C Clamp Heavy Desk Pedestal Leatherette storage bag We have used this vice for tying everything from midges to large tube flies.

Enrico Puglisi EP Fibres Alternative Released

Apr 20th, 2011
by Andy.
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Predator Fibres – Fly Tying Body & Winging Material Our Alternative To EP Fibres from Enrico Puglisi Having an action between MARABOU and BUCKTAIL our Predator Fibres are an alternative to Enrico Puglisi’s EP Fibres but much more cost effective as you would expect from The Essential Fly. Predator Fibres are available in 16 colours in 18 inch strands they are perfect for imitating large baitfish as well as 1” to 2” baitfish whether tied on hooks or tubes for saltwater or freshwater fishing flies. Another great use of Predator Fibres is as winging material for Temple Dogs or other salmon flies, because it does not absorb water the flies will cast well and give great movement in the water every time. The fibre has a slight ‘kink’ to it allowing you to give the fly some bulk without having to use excess material. THEY DO NOT ABSORB WATER. Use your imagination and there is no limit to the flies you can create with Predator Fibres. Synthetic, translucent long tapered tail fibres – Predator Fibres are equally as delicate as traditional feather fibre but infinitely stronger. Predator Fibres are available at just £3.99 or USD $6.50. Check out the full range [...]

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