Julian Tapping

Julian Tapping

Gotcha Variant

Gotcha variant

Fed’s Gotcha Variant is a highly effective saltwater shrimp fly pattern designed to imitate the small prawns and crustaceans that are a primary food source for many inshore gamefish. Based on the proven Gotcha fly design, this modern variation features a body of Fly Tyer’s Dungeon FF Braid Shrimp, creating a realistic translucent profile with subtle segmentation that closely resembles a natural shrimp.[...]

Fed’s Wonga Pigeon Minnow

Fed's Wonga Pidgeon Minnow

Fed’s Wonga Pigeon Minnow is a highly effective baitfish imitation that showcases the natural movement and mottled colouring of Wonga pigeon feathers. Designed to create a lifelike profile in the water, Fed’s Wonga Pigeon Minnow combines a fake zebra wool patch tail with four carefully positioned Wonga pigeon feathers that form the body wings.[...]

Brassie Emerger Variant

Brassie Emerger Variant

The Brassie Emerger Variant is a highly effective modern nymph and emerger pattern featured in the FFF Fly Pattern Encyclopedia. Originally designed by David Curneal, and expertly tied by Paul Fedeles, this fly blends the simplicity of a classic Brassie…

Spinning and Trimming Elk Hair

The Beattys

Why Elk Hair Works Well In this demonstration – taken from Al Beatty’s Fly Tying Friday, 24 April 2026 – Al Beatty explains that elk hair is often easier to handle than deer hair. It is stiffer, which can make…

Fed’s Badger Soft Hackle

Badger Soft Hackle

Fed’s Badger Soft Hackle is a simple, lively wet fly built to suggest a wide range of emerging insects and drifting food forms. A slim body of possum under-fur gives it a natural, slightly scruffy translucence, while the soft badger hen neck hackle pulses enticingly in the current.[...]

Fed’s Begley Crayfish

Fed's Begley Crayfish

Fed’s Begley Crayfish is an Australianised re-interpretation of a pattern created by Tim Collins of the Gary Begley Ohio Fly Tying Guild. Fed laughs that this fly is “pretty ugly … until it gets wet” — but that’s part of…

Fed’s Crackleback Caterpillar Variant

Crackle Back Caterpillar Variant

Fed’s Crackleback Caterpillar is a Paul’s take on a proven classic, blending old-school versatility with contemporary design ideas. This pattern is inspired by Rick Takahashi’s Crackleback Caterpillar from his book Modern Terrestrials: Tying & Fishing The World’s Most Effective Patterns, and builds on a fly that has been catching fish for over seventy years.[...]

Fed’s Spruce Moth Variant

Fed's Spruce Moth Variant

Rick Takahashi

Fed’s Spruce Moth variant is inspired by Tak’s Spruce Moth from Modern Terrestrials: Tying & Fishing the World’s Most Effective Patterns. The book by Rick Takahashi and Jerry Hubka is a comprehensive guide to modern terrestrial fly patterns from around the world.[...]

Hippie Stomper Hopper

The Hippie Stomper Hopper is Fed’s take on Andrew Grillos’s original Hippie Stomper — a rugged, foam-bodied dry fly that combines buoyancy, visibility and a versatile terrestrial silhouette for trout (or bass!) The Hippie Stomper is rightly praised as a…