Here are the winning and favourite entries from July’s fly tying competition. The theme was ‘midges’, with Phil from Hobart taking out the $50 first prize voucher, with his innovative midge emerger. The impressive part of Phil’s tie was the way that old stocking was stuffed with seal’s fur, which in turn was then teased out with Velcro, to produce an almost unsinkable, highly-visible post.
Second place went to Alan from Launceston, with his tidy ‘Fore and Aft’ Griffiths Gnats. Alan’s variation of the classic midge dry fly won second prize for its simplicity, which is one of the keys to a great fly design.
Finally, a mention should go to a couple of midge pupae we received from Josh in Victoria, and Steve in Launnie. Pupae is an underutilised fly pattern in Tassie, and I am sure that either would do well hung under a dry in the faster streams (such as the Meander), or fished a bit deeper in the highland lakes.
And now for the August competition. This month’s theme is ‘caddis’. A caddis nymph is one of the deadliest flies during the early season in Tasmania, ranging from stick caddis on the lakes, to caddis grubs on the rivers. Our favourite caddis hatch is the Tasmanian snowflake caddis, found on the bubbly rivers and faster streams.
Keep your entries easy to tie, and easy to fish. We are expecting everything from scintilla stick caddis to Czech-nymph style caddis grubs, right through to Elk Hair Caddis inspired dries. Send your entries to us by the 21st of August, along with the tying details, and we’ll post the winners at the start of September. First prize is once again a $50 voucher from FlyShop 1864, and second prize is a $25 voucher.
Thanks, and happy tying!