Fly Fishing Blog - Sunray

Removing plastic from our sport & supporting environmental initiatives

AllThe Induced Take & Dry Flies

The Induced Take & Dry Flies

We all know about the ‘induced take’ when fishing with nymphs thanks to Frank Sawyer & Oliver Kite. It is also obvious that streamers must have movement applied in order to imitate small fish. ...

AllHeavy Metal Nymphs & Buzzers

Heavy Metal Nymphs & Buzzers

Whilst I much prefer the visual appeal of dry fly, it is sometimes necessary to get a fly down deep, particularly when winter grayling fishing or early season trouting. Also when sight fishing,

AllModified Euro Nymphing for Stillwaters

Modified Euro Nymphing for Stillwaters

Presentation is the main problem when fishing imitations of these micro-flies. If fishing ‘on the drop’ the flies must sink vertically (not swing in an arc, tethered by a tensioned tippet): to achi...

AllCatching Highly Pressured Fish

Catching Highly Pressured Fish

Over my nearly 60 years of fishing I’ve come across many situations where the fish have been very challenging to catch because they have become highly educated by heavy fishing pressure & frequ...

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AllMy Winter Grayling Setup

My Winter Grayling Setup

Although I prefer the dry fly there are many times, particularly in the depth of winter, when the only logical option is to fish with subsurface flies.

AllHow to handle the fish you catch

How to handle the fish you catch

How to handle fish properly. Thanks to advances in techniques including Euro nymphing/Czech nymphing & Micro Thin lines, plus the resurgence of the ancient technique of Tenkara, we are catching...

AllBarbel on Streamers

Barbel on Streamers

I must confess to be a dry fly addict, generally only turning to subsurface tactics as a last resort. I am also a light-line, delicate presentation addict so rarely fish with lines over 3 weight...

AllWillow Grubbers in New Zealand

Willow Grubbers in New Zealand

"One very hot, frustrating, day I noticed a couple of good fish sipping deep under some overhanging willow trees. Crawling behind cover to within a few feet of them I could clearly see they were fe...

AllAnts, my favourite patterns

Ants, my favourite patterns

When fishing the dry fly most of my fish come to 4 very basic patterns; a variant of Jack Tucker’s CdC IOBO Humpy, a simple CdC Shuttlecock, Marjan Fratnick’s F Fly & a basic Elk Hair Caddis ti...