Our famous Fly Tyers Row will be up and running at the Glasgow Angling Centre Sprint Open Weekend 7th – 9th of March. This year we have our biggest ever lineup of Tyers who will be on stage in the rear of the store. We take away several bays of clothing and set them up with plenty of exhibition space for you to observe, interact and chat fishing with this awesome array of tyers.
We’ve got experts from Veniard, Partridge, Sprite, Vision & more showing off their skills, answering your questions, give you tips or just discuss your fishing adventures with across all three days.
There’s something for everyone at ‘fly tyer’s row’. You get to watch the masters in action, and get a close-up of how to execute a variety of techniques.
If you’ve never tied or your little ones fancy a go a fly-tying we have lots of customers who made their first flies at one of our shows and have gone on to be passionate fly tyers and anglers.
For experienced anglers, this is a superb opportunity to brush up on techniques and see the latest innovations as well as just chatting fishing with some of the best in the business. From the subtlest river imitations through the most garish stillwater patterns to the flies for the biggest predators in salt and fresh water our Fly Tyer’s row has you covered.
Veniard – John Hood
John is a superb fly tyer in his own right but at the open weekends, his bench is set up for direct lessons aimed at beginners. Hundreds of youngsters and novice fly tyers have tied some of their first flies with John’s guidance and he’s always a welcome guest at the show.
John is a professional Fishing Guide and Casting Instructor and holds SGAIC single and double handed qualifications, along with a Level 2 Angling Coach and Sports Tutor. John has also Captained the Scottish Disability Angling Team, and has represented his Country on many occasions, winning 12 Senior National and International Competitions during this time.
Veniard – Ian Mckenzie
Ian Mckenzie retired from the position of Technical Manager at Fulling Mill after 17 years at the end of 2010. His position involved developing new patterns, turning people’s ideas into commercial propositions, sourcing all necessary materials & hooks, tying samples, and maintaining quality standards. S
ince his retirement he has continued tying flies for personal customers and has even found time to tie some for himself. An enthusiastic fisherman since the age of 10, living close to and fishing the Thames but graduating to fly fishing for Trout at Weirwood Reservoir in Sussex at 18, and subsequently fishing around the UK for trout, salmon, and Grayling, Ian has been tying his own flies for the last 40 years. Recently he has also taken to fishing for Carp on the fly – great fun! Ian looks forward to meeting many tyers at this year’s show and will be happy to spend time with anybody who has specific problems and needs some advice.
Veniard – Alex Rook
 |
| Alex Rook – Redfish |
Alex is a renowned Destination fly fisherman who is willing to travel the world in pursuit of his target species. Over the years he has racked up an amazing list of trophy catches including monster Pike, massive Perch, Wells Catfish, Striped Bass, European Sea Bass, giant Peacock Bass, Vampire Fish, Roosterfish, Giant Trevally, Arapaima and Big Bull Redfish to name only a few.
Veniard – Tim Wood
 |
| Tim Wood |
Tim has been hooked on Fly Fishing from day one and has gone on to become one of the best Fly Tyers in the business. He’s fished in Iceland and Bosnia and is a frequent visitor to the River Annan, River Clyde in Scotland. He is also a regular visitor on the Upper Severn, Upper Dee and the River Vyrnwy.
Tim has achieved a very high standard, particularly at tying Trout flies. Notably, he has won a number of fly tying competitions in both The Fly Dressers Guild and Fly Fishing & Fly Tying magazine. His passion is tying small river flies and Grayling Nymphs, and during the Open Weekend, Tim will share his knowledge and skill so you can improve your own tying.
Partridge – Paul Little
 |
| Paul Little |
Paul is an AAPGAI double hand master, single hand advanced caster and a fly tying master. Check out his articles on the AAPGAI site HERE. He began his fly dressing obsession in 1981, tying tube flies for use in trolling for pike on Bassenthwaite Lake in the north Cumbria. In 1984 he entered his first fly dressing competition sponsored by Benson and Hedges and was placed in the top 50. In the early 1980’s Oliver Edwards won the Fly tyer of the year competition two years running and submitted an article to Trout and salmon titled “The Quest for Perfection”. It was that article that sent Paul on the journey for that elusive Holy Grail, perfection.
Partridge – Darryl Mooney
 |
| Darryl Mooney |
Vision – Paul Clydesdale
 |
| Paul at the GAC Autumn Open Weekend |
Paul started fly fishing at the age of 11, tying his first flies almost as soon as he picked up his fly rod. The obsession began with rainbow trout fishing then progressed on to fly fishing for salmon on the spate rivers around Ayrshire. As the obsession grew so did the species and the destinations: Bonefish fishing in Mexico, Hawaii, Christmas Island, and the Bahamas to fly fishing for wild brown trout and Pollack in the north of Scotland.
Pike fly fishing is a huge part of his life and he now find himself travelling further afield to satisfy his pike obsession, with the northern pike of Canada are firmly set in his sights. Paul works alongside Fulling Mill passing on his pike fly fishing knowledge and making his go-to patterns available to buy over the counter check out the Clydesdale Range HERE
Veniard – Donald Stewart
 |
| Donald at the 2025 BFFI |
Donald has been tying flies for well over 40 years, in his early years he mainly fished the Water of Leith in Edinburgh before finding his way to The River Clyde at 16 years old, a river he has fished and loved ever since.
Coming west was a revelation to his tying and he quickly learned the Clyde Style way of tying from other anglers on the banks of the river. If you’re interested in Clyde Style river patterns, Donald is the man to speak to. He’s exhibited at multiple shows over the years, including this year’s BFFI where he represented Scotland and Scottish patterns on the Fly Tying stage.
All of these fly dressers are at the very top of their game and will gladly go out of their way to show you how to perform the latest techniques and how to tie any style of fly you can think of. They will even take the time to guide you round our massive fly tying department during their scheduled ‘floor time’, helping you to choose the right equipment and best fly tying materials and fly tying tools from our extensive range. You can also take advantage of some great deals on hooks and materials as well as a few new product launches over the weekend.
Trending Products
