Saturday
The annual British Fly Fair International 2010 was again held at Trentham Gardens in Stoke over the weekend and put on a fine display of all things fly-tying.
This is a great event for catching up on what new materials are available and stocking up on a few supplies...I normally end up leaving with far more than I planned! I managed to resist the temptation of walking away with a new vice but I'm sure its only a matter of time.
This event also gives you the opportunity to watch some of the elite fly-tyers and quiz them on some of their techniques. For me 'tyers row' is what makes the show special with Dave Wiltshire & Andy Baird demonstrating some extremely eye-catching flies, its was also nice to put a face to a few people I met from the Flyforums.
Andy Baird - Master at the art of micro flies.
Seasoned favourite at the show - Oliver Edwards
Next year's event sees a change of venue to the County Showground Stafford and will now be earlier in the year in June.
Sunday
I couldn't resist rounding the weekend off with a little Grayling fishing on the superb River Clun. Warm temperatures, little wind and the most stunning Autumn colours paved the way to a very productive few hours.
The warmer temperatures had spurred on some flies to hatch which led to a few fish coming to the surface, although a change to dry fly with a small nymph below proved that the majority of these fish were out of season trout so it was back on with the tungsten bugs to get down to where the Grayling were feeding.
Out of season but fighting fit and in beautiful condition
With the clocks going back one hour it all seemed to end too early but the drive back home gave me time to try and think of a possible new Grayling fly to tie up using my new stock of materials!
