Ray | Friday, 27 March 2015
Covering for Ray today. I've been back in the UK for almost a week and so have almost recovered from jet lag. Although curiously I'm getting up in the mornings and going to bed in the evenings, which is highly concerning. It's approximately 20 degrees colder here than in Malaysia and of course I forgot to leave any clothes in the UK, because they're all in Hungary. But apart from that life is fantastic!
Anyway, it's been a while since I've had a decent working flybox. It was an unbelievably long time ago that I tied Operation Fluff, which was a hundred or so patterrns, http://members.sexyloops.com/members/index.shtml - that box was stolen when someone broke into my car. After that for a while I had a mobile tying kit on the stream, just to keep me fishing. And ever since then I've had bits and pieces... I almost had half a working selection in Montana and then I lost that box too!
On the otherhand one could argue that it hasn't been necessary too often either. I'm the jungle I've been using a Gurgler and not a lot else. In Saltwater I fish either a Clouser or a Crab! For Asp mostly I fish the Bunny-Cat. And for trout and grayling fishing in Bosnia and Croatia, a few deer hair caddis, some CDC and one or two nymph patterns in 16s and of course an Olive WB and white/olive double bunny.
But also I've been frustrated as hell at times too, arriving on the water to experience a hatch or fall which would have given fantastic fishing... had I only had the right fly. My only excuse for not having the right fly is that I've been trying to avoid winters and stay fishing. Rebuilding from scratch, which is effectively what I'm doing now, takes a month. But it is madness! After all, those times when you really need a particular patterns are the same times that when if you have it, you'd catch all the fish!
On the positive side I think it says quite a lot about my travel fly tying kit, that I should be able to tie virtually all these flies in one sitting. The only one so far that I'm going to have to find a work around in the Orange Booby. Stockings and polyballs are in Hungary!
Have a great day 
Cheers, Paul
