paul whillock

Hey Guys Glad you liked the scorpion. If you read the description provided in the database? it describes how the last section (the actual sting section) was the final part of the fly to be tied and, had to be completed in hand as there was no way of keeping the fly in the vice. What the description did not say, was how difficult this process was! If you can imagine trying to negotiate 2 small sections of Chenille and the bobbin around 8 legs, 2 claws and the hook point . . . . you will no doubts get the picture! Each of the legs were 2 Natural Tan Japanese Nymph Legs that were first bent to shape and then bound with 2mm strips of Raffene. Afterwards, I coated each leg joint with ‘Lureflash Featherweld’ (though any fly tying varnish would suffice) and than after colouring the legs with Brown and Yellow Edding Markers, I varnished everything with a very fine coating of matt varnish. I have a number of ‘set in stone’ rules relating to what ‘is’ and what ‘is not’ allowed in realistic/art fly tying, the hook eye rule is amongst those rules and on this fly (the Scorpion) the hook eye had to remain. I like using materials that are readily available to all fly tyers and feel the same as you Guys; Raffene is quite an underrated material . . . and also a cheap material too! Later on, I will try and produce a few extra illustrations detailing how Raffene can be used to create Legs and Bodies etc. If they are of any use to you Guys you are more than welcome to them. PS: Hey Thom, if you wish to reserve a copy of the book then reserve via my website in fact, try and visit it in the next week or so as I should be uploading an image of my Spider. Hope you like it. Speak soon My very best regards Paul Whillock www.paulwhillock.com

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by paul whillock: Scorpion

Hey Thom I personally use Edding Waterproof marker pens to colour my Realistic Flies and a combination of Kurecolor Markers, Prismacolor and Edding Markers on my Art Flies. Like you, I originally experienced a great many problems with colours that would "Bleed" after the fly had been introduced to the River and so, I moved onto the above brand names. Apart from the waterproof benefits of Edding, another advantage is the density of ink in these pens . . . . the Black is really Black! I know there are times when dense ink may spoil a fly; on one of my small Stonefly Nymph patterns, I hit the upper surface with Black Edding and then immediately after with a yellow Edding, before the ink dries . . . . wipe your finger along the upper surface quickly. The 'smudged' transparent effect looks quite realistic without taking forever to produce. My very best regards Paul Whillock www.paulwhillock.com

Hey Guys Glad you like the Mayfly. If i told you how many tying hours it took me, you would have me taken away in a straight jacket!! Suffice to say, it took a lot of hours. The image was due to be used elswhere in cyberspace and, i deleted the hook from the image in Adobe CS for the benefit of the viewer. At the moment it is attached (rather crudely) to a section of 4mm brass rod, this method allows me to trasport the flies without damaging them. I also have a Dragonfly, Beetle and, a Scorpion which you may like to see. As soon as i get the images taken of those i will upload them. Although not a true fishing fly, the Scorpion I tied turned out OK, I quite liked it myself . . . . . . hopefully you Guys will enjoy seeing it too? My very best regards Paul Whillock www.paulwhillock.com

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by paul whillock: Ephemera vulgata

Hey Guys As Graham pints out; my suggestion of contributing the frame to a Local TU Chapter is flawed insomuch as it isolates all the other good Chapters. Perhaps then, we could all suggest a few 'good causes' that would benefit from the sale of the frame and then, at the same time as drawing the "who ties what" tickets from the hat, we could also draw one of the suggested beneficiaries from said hat?? Alternatives would be to ‘Poll’ for the favoured cause ie. TU Chapter, Scout Group, Cancer research . . . .the list is endless and lets face it, a "Good Cause Donations" could be made once or twice per year as an ongoing charitable effort? If we allocated 3 months to tie the allocated fly (baring in mind the suggested fly may not be our strongest pattern) then theoretically, a nice frame could be finished in time for a Christmas or Thanksgiving presentation. Food for thought Best regards Paul Whillock www.paulwhillock.com

Hey Guys. I would be honoured to join in but please, only if there is enough room for me. Maybe poll the Guys and see how many are willing to jump on board? My very best regards Paul Whillock www.paulwhillock.com

Hello to all It seems as though I have been working like a team of galley slaves recently and as a result, my own posts dried up here about a month ago. Since then I have not had a chance to chime in periodically that was, until last night. I browsed a few posts and was amazed at some of the flies you Guys are tying!! Seriously, they are more than just impressive . . . . how long have you all been tying realistically?? One of the posts that surprised me was the Golden Stonefly challenge, the level of imagination and creativity you all seem to possess is quite amazing. From your replies, it would appear that some of you are more comfortable with Nymphs whilst others with Adults etc, (I guess that is usually the way . . . . I am the same also) it got me thinking and; if a bunch of you got together and tied one of your favourite flies/Nymphs, it would make an awesome shadow box which could be a fantastic fund raiser for a local TU chapter or maybe even an On Line "FTF" Raffle? Alternatively, to create a really unique frame with no ‘double – ups’ . . . . you could select enough insects to match the entrants and then draw names out of a hat to determine who ties what . . . now that could also be a good challenge! I will be sure to check in again soon, well done to you all! Best regards Paul Whillock. www.paulwhillock.com

Hey Guys I just saw the Spider posted by woodscritter; if your roomie has only been tying for less than a month then that is a truly incredible fly! He seems to have a very good eye for proportion, those Spider legs just look so real!! Well done indeed!! My very best regards Paul Whillock.

Hey Guys Glad to hear it Guys!! If you send me an email wit hyour name to: ([email protected]) I can add you to my 'book enquiries file'. Just before I am ready to ship, I will email everyone on the list detailing the Fly Shop Outlets that will be supplying my book. Hopefully a few of us will be able to meet up at some of the forthcoming US/Canadian or European Fly Shows? I do not attend all of them but, it would be great to see some of you. Best regards Paul Whillock.

Hello Pepofly My book is entitled: “Flies as Art”, it will be available later this year. You can either buy it direct from myself (www.paulwhillock.com) or, from Fly Shop outlets in 14 Countries. In the book I will provide step by step details on how to tie a range of Flies such as the Mayfly, Mantis, Stonefly Nymph, Adult Stonefly, Dragonfly, Damselfly, Hopper, Damsel Nymph, Beetles, Spiders and many others. Using a combination of line drawings and high-resolution photographs, I will detail how I tie a range of ‘Art Flies’ such as those mentioned above and also, an equivalent range of realistic fishing flies (except for the Mantis) Every tip trick and fly tying method that I know will be in that book together with a host of new techniques. There will also be a series of extensive entomological photographs and images to help the fly tyer understand the Natural insect. Basically, this is how the book has been put together: Each chapter in the book will be dedicated to a particular insect/fly. The chapter will then be divided into three distinct sections which are: SECTION # 1: AN Entomological overview of a particular insect, there will be an extensive text description of the bug and its habitat, a bunch of high quality entomological photographs and a few important illustrations showing leg proportions, body lengths and width etc. SECTION # 2: Step By Step fly tying explanation of the same Art Fly version of that insect. This section will use a mixture of high quality line drawings and photographic close ups showing you how to tie that particular fly to an Art Fly standard. There will be chapters on material selection, vise and tools choice, material suppliers and much more. SECTION # 3: Step by step approach to tie a realistic fishing version of the same insect. This will be presented in photographic and text form. I will also detail useful waterproof pen techniques that will improve the level of realism in your flies. After the book has been released we will release a set of 4 DVD’s. These will be available via the same outlets as the book though I am also considering a “Downloadable” version?? Amidst this, I am arranging a series of US, Canadian, European and Far Eastern realistic fly tying classes . . . could be fun, hope to see you at one of them maybe? My very best regards Paul Whillock

Hello Guys The Perlodes Nymph used to take around 30 minutes to complete, I was selling them commercially in those days and was tying Stoneflies so fast that it seemed as though my life depended upon it! For one reason or another, things changed after a while and I began selling my Stonefly Nymphs on Ebay just to make a few extra Dollars. Luck (if you believe in such a thing) would have it that on the exact day I listed my first “Realistic fishing Perlodes nymph” on Ebay Auctions; Bob Mead (the famous American Realistic Fly Tyer) was looking thru the “flies for sale” and happened across my Stonefly Nymphs. I had set the starting price at $4.99 for a pair of Nymphs. Bob saw them and placed his maximum bid, he outbid another Guy and I ended the auction early which allowed Bob to win the Nymphs for $9.95. After receiving the Nymphs he showed them to Chuck Furimsky who organises most of the big East Coast Fly Shows. Chuck sent me an invite to tie at my first US Fly show that same year; I guess I wanted to impress as many people as possible so; I spent a few months tying up the most realistic flies that my ability would allow. In particular, I concentrated on the Perlodes Nymph (a personal favourite pattern) but substituted the Flexibody abdomen and Thorax etc. for Layers of Raffene. It was that fly that caused the so called ‘Whillock Customs bust’ but, as is quite often the case: good and bad have a way of balancing themselves out . . . . . whilst the Customs officers impounded that Nymph (and still have it to this day) it taught me that one of the most simple materials (Raffene) can be used to create very realistic flies! I kind of strayed a little from what I originally set out to say which was; the Perlodes Nymph used to take me around 30 minutes to tie and, with experience I expected to get a lot quicker. I tied a Perlodes last week for a US collector; it took me over 6 hours to tie! Thanks also to everyone who has emailed me about the website and or my book, it is nice to hear your comments and; whatever advice I can offer (which may not be that much) I will gladly give!! The website should be up and running this weekend however, I also said the same last weekend but, fingers crossed it will happen in the next few days! The website will only be a skeleton site to begin with; I have a ton of stuff I eventually want to show like: Step by step tying routines, pattern choices, entomological images etc. but, all in good time!! I must also add this one point; after the fly shows finish each year, we all get tidied up and have a kind of “Farewell Evening Meal” in the Hotel restaurant, we all live so far away from each other that it is nice just to sit and talk face to face for a while rather than communicating only by email!! Bob Mead and I were chatting about one thing and another and reflected on how I used to sell my flies on Ebay. I reminded him that he had purchased 2 of my Nymphs for less than $10.00 and he laughed after hearing that I ended the auction early! “What’s so funny?” I asked, Bob replied: “My maximum bid was $95.00!! Best regards Paul Whillock.

Hey Vince Creating a realistic leg is extremely difficult but, creating six realistic legs is even more difficult! If the Femur, Tibia and Tarsal proportions are just slightly out then the finished fly often looks a mess. Like you, I use Japanese Nymph Legs as the base to all of my flies regardless of whether they are realistic fishing flies or Art flies. The image that I use has been uploaded to this sites “Fly Pattern Database”, the image title is “Stonefly Nymph Proportions” I use it to determine the length of each leg section, I photocopy the image and reduce it to the size of the Nymph I am tying, whilst this seems a little time consuming, it does not take long before the basic leg proportions are committed to memory. When shaping the Jap Legs; I use the tips of my tying scissors in a calliper type fashion; the tips of the scissors can be placed against the illustration and the distance between the tips adjusted so that the leg dimensions in the illustration can be accurately measured and the information transferred to the Nymph I am tying. I also have a second scale in my files, if you need more info. Please email me and I will send it to you. With the legs bent accurately to shape, I then bind the legs with 2mm strips of moistened Raffene paying particular attention to the leg proportions of the Natural. I would apply a coat of matt varnish to finish each leg off. The end of each leg section can be particularly difficult to reproduce. Quite often in the Natural Nymph (and Adult), there is a definite “start and finish” to each leg section. If you look at the ‘Perlodes Nymph’ shown below, there is little definition between leg sections but this is so on the Natural. The leg sections of Pteronarcys californica, the Salmonfly; are more defined and to achieve this definition I often use Goose Biots. The Biot tapers to a perfect leg shaped point. I tie this point in at the “beginning” of the leg section with the Biot lay on top of the Japanese leg shaft. Then I begin wrapping the leg with a Raffene strip . . . as detailed earlier and, binding the Biot down as I progress along the Jap Leg shaft. Once that leg section is completely bound, a small but ‘thick ended’ section of the Biot will still be hanging over the end so . . . just trim to length! Leg hair extends along the rear edge of each of the 3 leg sections. I use an Ostrich Herl stripped along one side for the leg hair. Using a clear 17/0 tying thread (spider web is pretty good), tie one end of the Herl in at the junction of the Coxa and Trochanter (shoulder) point and then lay the Herl along the back of the leg. Tie the Herl off at the end of the leg section and underneath of the Biot. Repeat the same process along the Tibia. Whilst leg hair is present on the Tarsal leg section, it would be near impossible (at least for now) to find a fine enough section of natural hair to replicate this. Far better to leave it out altogether!! I find the Tarsal claws to be a nightmare in fact; they are a huge nightmare!! On smaller Nymphs and Adults, I use varnished Uni 8/0 for the claws but on the larger bugs, I will use shaved mono. Bend the claws to shape and then, when you are sure they are in the exact position; place a tiny drop of varnish onto the claw. The varnish will quickly spread towards the end of the Tarsus and in doing so, create a neat, overall tapered shape to each of the claws. To originally figure it all out; I used to practice tie just one (fairly large) leg in the vice. This would help me to understand proportions and applications, how to do this or that etc. when I was confident enough; I could tackle the actual fly. Have fun Best regards Paul

Hey Guys Glad you liked it. I bend the hook shank mainly for increasing realism and to make it more appealing to the fisherman........I sell a lot of these Nymphs to Guys who use them for copy tying. Many years ago I tied a few Nymphs with the sideways curved hook and fished with them on a stretch of the River Usk that I know quite well......I found there to be no real gain in hook up ratio! Did you read my article in Fly Tyer magazine?? That was the fishing version of the same fly; the Perlodes Nymph. It is tied on a regular Kamasan B800 long shank hook with a bend added midway, the step by step flies were all tied on regular hooks......it was only the final step that was tied on a sideways curved hook. These Nymphs also look good when tied on those Partridge Klinkhamer hooks and work well on waters where Trout have grown wary due to Angler presence. Regards Paul

A new addition to the fly pattern database has been submitted by paul whillock: 'Perlodes' Generic Stonefly Nymph