SA Fly Tyer 2017

[FlyCraft]

Great to have won the SA Fly Tyer of the year award. Thank you to Gordon van der Spuy and all involved in organizing the recent Expo and the competitions.

Below was the brief for the advanced category.

Tie the following:

1. A wolf spider tied Peter Briggs
style
2. A damsel fly nymph
3. A saltwater crab pattern
4. A silicone baitfish pattern
You need to tie two identical flies
of each pattern.

Entries will be judged on:

a. Technique
b. Balance and proportion
c. Effective selection and use of
materials
d. Consistency in tying
e. Creativity
f. Fish ability

Some pics of my entry.

[FlyCraft]

[Jason vL]

wow those look amazing. well done and congratulations.

[tombosis]

Well done Phillip!!

[FlyCraft]

Thank you for the comments all, much appreciated. The aim was to tie patterns with readily available local materials. I have indicated what hooks I have used. If the two flies are not exactly the same, it was done with intention, often when a fish refuse one pattern then show it something slightly different ;-)

Silicone Southern Mullet - SL12S 2/0 hook

Materials

• Bucktail tied hollow style
• Flash
• Craftfur
• Wool
• Silicone
• Eyes
• Tungsten Bead

The pattern evolved from Bob Popovics pattern – The Weedless Siliclone, where a longshank stainless steel hook is bent (bendback style). Apart from these longshank stainless hooks not readily available I wasn’t very happy with hookset and gape profile of these hooks, apart from the fact that it is also longshank.

The fly was mainly developed with kob in mind, where there are quite a bit of structure and weed. A tungsten bead in/on the underside (in the belly) helps with fly orientation, turnover in windy conditions and sink rate is improved. With lots of drifting weed during spring tides the fly also proved deadly and weedless when fishing for Leerfish. Instead of Silicone, UV resin can be used which makes the process easier and quicker.

Spawning Crab #4 Ahrex Nordic Salt hook

Materials

• Zonker Strip
• Tuff Chenille
• Burnt mono eyes
• Sculpting Fiber
• Grizzly Marabou
• Orange Beads
• Tungsten/Brass Beads conditions depending.
• Silicone/UV Resin

I have used techniques similar to a prawn pattern I tie, with the main focus to avoid trimming the fly when the legs are in the way (add the legs afterwards). The tungsten beads are “spaced” at the rear of the crab to aid orientation and sink rate. The grizzly marabou adds life when the fly is static and the zonker nippers have some mobility.

Damsel Nymph #12 Tiemco 113BLH Nymph

Materials

• Blood Quill Marabou
• Fishient Nymph brush
• Fluoro Fiber
• Burnt Mono
• Mallard or Egyptian Goose or Partridge
• Organza Ribbon

I prefer shorter shank hooks when tying damsel nymphs, oppose to the many damsel patterns tied on long shank hooks. The finer blood quill fibers are also more durable compared to the more fluffy fibers. The Fluoro Fiber adds stiffness (limits tail wraps) and is also a hot spot / trigger.

Wolf Spider #16 Hanak Klinkhammer

Materials

• Foam
• Poly Yarn
• Hackle
• Dubbing
• Pheasant tail fibers.

I wasn’t sure if the fly had to be tied exactly according to the Peter Briggs recipe and the only difference is that the foam is not folded over.

The foam abdomen was shaped by heating the foam with a lighter and then molding it with my fingers. I have also used a klinkhammer hook with a more prominent gape for the size of this specific fly.

[Gerrit Viljoen]

Mooi geluk!

[Booger Rose]

Jeez Phillip, great flies you tied! They look to good to fish with, so you can pass them in my direction and I will keep them safe for you. :biggrin:

No, really a great achievement on your side, the flies look yummie.

[Nepptune]

Those crabs are not average!

Very nice Philip... congrats and well deserved!

[FlyCraft]

Thank You All.

Have been toying with an idea for a crab pattern for some time, not that it is something new, but more a combination of what I have seen and has been around for some time.

[Korrie]

Met sy knypers gevou lyk die krap soos "een wrede wetter".