While I’m not sure my farming friends would be too happy at the animal husbandry on display by the dog early in the video, I’ve got to say I envy having this sort of wilderness fishing on my doorstep – anyone planning a trip out to Alberta this summer need only to watch this video to get themselves in the mood for some fine sport.

Just make sure you take a decent sized landing net!

Gray Ghost Streamer Fly

Streamer flies will be more familiar to North American fly fishermen, who use them to devastating effect in the large rivers throughout the continent, though they are increasingly becoming popular fished in a wide variety of locations, for a variety of salmonoid quarry, not least because the movement and flashes with such flies, fished at speed in a current, trigger the predatroy instinct in these fish well.

I do not profess to have much knowledge about Streamers, such as this “Gray Ghost” which is tied with excellent clarity by Sctosman Davie McPhail, but I know one thing: if a fly must first attract an angler, then this one will surely catch many an eye!

Here we have Davie McPhail’s instructional tutorial for fly-tyers wishing to learn how to tie this streamer fly – The Gray Ghost:

Blood Worm

The Blood Worm is a great little pattern for reservoirs or stillwaters, as it mimics midge pupae which is often found in such places, and is a staple foodstuff for the brown and rainbow trout.

This little tutorial video below will show you how to tie the blood worm.

You’ll need a hook with a curved shank for this pattern, which should be tied on a fairly small hook (think size 14-16) to best reflect the size of these beasties in the water.

This is a good pattern in the early season when there isn’t much surface activity – the video below is from Canada, so the blood worm pattern here is a little different from some you will see tied in the UK. It still proves effective. As ever, modify this pattern to suit your local water!

GRHE - Gold Ribbed Hare's Ear

Another day, another fly-tying tutorial video from the excellent David Cammiss – today we have the Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear (often abbreviated to GRHE for obvious reasons!) which is another ‘wet’ fly designed to be fished below the surface.

The gold ribbing adds ballast to the fly, making it a good top-dropper fly for you upstream nymphers in fast flowing water (don’t panic, there will be a tutorial on this soon!) due to the fact that this fly will sink fairly quickly. For the same reason, it can also be used as the point fly in a long-leader team of buzzers in a stillwater or reservoir for trout. This one also features a gold bead head, making it sink super quick for those deep days.

This versatile fly can also be inched along the bottom of the water, or dangled on its own on a slow figure of eight.

All techniques above, and more, will catch trout – making this a must have fly for your fly-box. Making the fly is almost easier than fishing it – and the tutorial fly-tying video below explains all you need to know about that!

This water is gin clear, and the fish seem to be readily receptive to a well fished fly. What more could you ask for?

In any case, if you can’t get there just yet, at least you can enjoy the video!

While it is rather flashily put together, you can’t argue with the fish in this video – it makes me itch to get to New Zealand and start fishing.

There is a section mid-way through which shows the contents of a monster trouts stomach – there are more than 5 mice in there: probably prompting the theme of this whole video.

I just love fly fishing videos and watching the tactics employed by fishermen around the world: love the casting techniques and the innovative ideas on display here. Most of all, however, the size of these rainbows and brownies is truly astonishing!

Trout fishing in New Zealand just bumped up a couple of spots in my “things to do” list…

Hope you enjoy the video.