Highlander
Posted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 7:23 pm
When Ray decided on the historic swap a little while ago, I knew I wanted to do a Clyde style fly. Ray didn't mind despite the wing .
I didn't know which pattern to choose from and as some of you know, the Clyde and it's style of dressings doesn't have too many publications. Browsing through what books I have I found some pattern's that caught my eye, Murray Bluebottle, Cran Swallow, the Buss Brown.
After doing a bit of digging to get a bit of a background on these, I came across Alan Goodwin's little nook in the internet (and I'm glad I did). If you haven't been to his site www.thehighlanderway.com please do so, it's full of goodies. Anyhow, I wanted to know more about the Clyde, the area mainly. Through emails, Alan gave me the scoop on a lot of things "Clyde". We exchanged photos to be better acquainted and Alan wanted to send me a sample of flies so I could get a good look at proportions, materials etc. This was on Apr. 24th, a week passed with no package, Alan emailed me to see if I had received it and was disappointed that I hadn't. We assumed that it was lost to customs, or somewhere in the postal limbo.
Yesterday I got a small little package in the mail and it was addressed from Scotland. I couldn't believe it, I knew what it was right away without looking who it was addressed from! This is what was inside:
A handful of small Clyde style flies and some slightly larger patterns for loch fishing. All are gorgeous but there were a couple that stuck out to me.
What a lovely gesture, I told him I may have to get that Cran Swallow a bit wet . I probably won't though, these I'll keep a hold of!
Alan is a complete gentleman, he didn't have to do that at all.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.
I didn't know which pattern to choose from and as some of you know, the Clyde and it's style of dressings doesn't have too many publications. Browsing through what books I have I found some pattern's that caught my eye, Murray Bluebottle, Cran Swallow, the Buss Brown.
After doing a bit of digging to get a bit of a background on these, I came across Alan Goodwin's little nook in the internet (and I'm glad I did). If you haven't been to his site www.thehighlanderway.com please do so, it's full of goodies. Anyhow, I wanted to know more about the Clyde, the area mainly. Through emails, Alan gave me the scoop on a lot of things "Clyde". We exchanged photos to be better acquainted and Alan wanted to send me a sample of flies so I could get a good look at proportions, materials etc. This was on Apr. 24th, a week passed with no package, Alan emailed me to see if I had received it and was disappointed that I hadn't. We assumed that it was lost to customs, or somewhere in the postal limbo.
Yesterday I got a small little package in the mail and it was addressed from Scotland. I couldn't believe it, I knew what it was right away without looking who it was addressed from! This is what was inside:
A handful of small Clyde style flies and some slightly larger patterns for loch fishing. All are gorgeous but there were a couple that stuck out to me.
What a lovely gesture, I told him I may have to get that Cran Swallow a bit wet . I probably won't though, these I'll keep a hold of!
Alan is a complete gentleman, he didn't have to do that at all.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.