Custom Salmon Flies
PRETTYFLIES.COM
My name is Stuart Bladen and I am an avid fly fisherman and fly tyer. I offer custom fly tying services to discerning salmon anglers. All flies are made by me in the UK, with the best quality hooks and materials, to your exact specification.
If you can imagine it.....I can tie it!
About Me
Stuart Bladen
Fly Fisher, Fly Tying Instructor
I have coarse fished all my life and came to fly fishing and fly tying in my late 40s. For me there is now no greater pleasure than catching a fish on a fly I tied myself.
I trained with a UK fly tying club. I still belong but now increasingly pass on my skills as an advanced instructor.
Like many, I started with trout flies and I still tie these for myself. But it is for elegant salmon hair-wings that I am known. I specialise in practical and tough flies for real fishing conditions.
I have display tied at both the CLA Game Fair and the London Fly Fair. It was here, when people kept asking to buy my flies, that Pretty Flies was born.
Custom Made Flies
I offer a custom made fly service. From three copies of a rare pattern, a set for Scottish Rivers at High or Low Water, a set of Pacific salmon flies for Alaska, to a whole box of heavy tubes for Russia, I offer my expertise to tie exactly what you want.
Elegant and Tough
I pride myself that not only do I make Pretty Flies, I also make hard wearing ones that will last and last. Hair is glued in. Hackle is over-wrapped. Bodies are super-glued and varnished where appropriate. There is no point finding the perfect fly for a water, only to have it fall apart after a few casts - a problem at anytime and disastrous if you are off the beaten track.
Tough flies take extra tying time and skill.
Tough flies last longer.
Best Quality
I tie with the best quality premium hooks and materials. I compete on quality and customisation and I typically use Partridge, Fulling Mill, Mustad and Loop hooks, and materials from Tubeworx, Foxy Tails, Whiting and Veniard as my key suppliers. My flies are not tied to a stopwatch, but to a standard.
Display Tying
An evening of fly tying and fly fishing stories
Please contact me if you need a speaker or demonstrator for your event or club.
To cast well, you must practice.
Real practice with a proper fly, not a bit of wool!
Fake Spey - Real Practice
Fake Spey are purpose designed flies tied tough and hookless for quality learning and practice.
Contact Me
Get in touch today to schedule a demonstration or discuss a set of custom flies.
+44 (0) 77 1117 2221