Flies may be one of our lower priced purchases, but make no mistake how important they are. And I am not talking miracles here! There are plenty of anglers who seem to think that if they tie on the right fly at some point through the day that they will catch fish, but of course we need to put several variables together including depth and speed of retrieve if that is going to happen.
But what if you get it right and then the hook pulls because of a blunt point? Or even worse it bends due to poor quality forging? And how about the dressing, is it unravelling or poorly proportioned? If so there is a strong chance that you have just tied on a cheap mass produced factory fly! "But they are all factory produced", I hear you say. Well, yes they are and of course each one is tied by human hand. But, there are different grades of tier and therefore different grades of fly.
Iain Barr's flies may not be the cheapest around at a £1 a pop, (although if you buy 10 we give you 2 free) but what is for sure is that they are just about the best quality around. Just what you would expect from the worlds current number one fly angler! The flies are brilliant and I have to say that these days working as a guide and fly shop manager means I have very little time to sit at the vice. But I don't want to be passing rubbish to my guests and so whether its looking for a Chew Slab, popping off an Exe Valley Rainbow or sneaking out a wily Exmoor Brown Trout, more often than not it is one of Mr Barr's creations tied to the end of the tippet.
His patterns, many of them unique variations born out of 1000s of hours spent on the water have been responsible for many competition wins for both Iain, his team mates and in some cases his opponents too. So you don't get a much better pedigree! The Blobs are brilliant, so too are the Tanskis and of course where would we be without Cormorants? Then there are the huge numbers of Buzzers available (my personal favourites are the stealth range) plus some superb Diawl Bachs including a couple of amazing looking beasties for 2010. Top of the water does not get much better than the Harry Potter, although I like the Hoppers (legs back & down), Big Blacks, Big Reds and the Shipman's have just the right proportions. How can I mention Iain without talking about Crunchers? One of his own favoured patterns and available in a wide variety of variants, try the Gold Cheek, its mustard! Add Minkies, Neon variants, UV variants and an increasingly brilliant range of river patterns and its clear that the current world number ones flies are beginning to take the world by storm!
To celebrate that fact don't miss our brilliant buy 10 packs and we will chuck in 2 free offer!
