With categories for various levels of ability, every member should be able to enter at least one category. It would be great if we all made a concerted effort to take part and gave our judge and Chair, Peter Gathercole, a real headache next year! We’d also end up with improved tying skills and a good number of flies suitable for fishing purposes, so why not give it a go?
Winners and runners-up will receive a certificate and winners will also receive a prize from Veniard. We are hugely grateful to Veniard for their continued generous support, and to Peter for agreeing to judge the competition.
Once again, we’ve chosen the patterns from previous issues of Flydresser, but please pay close attention to the dressings given for the fly-tying competition and use those, not the original ones!
Many congratulations to the winners and runners up in the 2023/24 Fly-Tying Competition, who were announced in the Summer issue of Flydresser.
Competition Categories and Flies
Category | Fly | Flydresser Issue |
---|---|---|
Novice Trout | The Demoiselle (Rob’s version) | Summer 2019 p.14 |
Novice Lure | The Appetiser | Winter 2015 p.23 |
Open Trout | The Carson | Summer 2024 p.23 |
Open Salmon | Super-Sized Alexandra | Autumn 2016 p.37 |
Prize Winners Trout | Deer Hair (One-Eyed) Fry | Spring 2019 p.11 |
Prize Winners Salmon | The Corrigan (variant) | Spring 2023 p.35 |
Dry Fly | CDC Sedge | Spring 2019 p.3 |
Creative Fly | A semi-realistic spider fly, to be judged on its creativity and fishability |
Information on the flies and their dressings can be found in this document and the original articles with the patterns are available in the Fly Patterns page in the members’ only area of the website, in a folder at the top of the list of patterns named ‘0. 2024-25 Fly Tying Competition Patterns’.
How to Enter
A brief overview of how to enter is set out below. The full competition rules and entry forms can be obtained from the Guild website, or by sending an s.a.e. to the General Secretary. Please read the full rules and follow the instructions carefully to avoid being needlessly disqualified.
- For all categories other than the Creative Fly, you must submit three identical samples of the fly for the category or categories you wish to enter, placed in a suitable clean container (one per category) labelled only with your membership number. For the Creative Fly, you only need to submit one sample. All samples must be tied by yourself.
- You must include one duly completed entry form for each category entered.
- Entries must be received by the General Secretary at the address shown below by 5:00 p.m. on Saturday 29 March 2025. Ideally, please post earlier as late submissions will not be accepted.
- The Novice Trout and Novice Lure categories are open to tyers who have been tying for less than two years and who have not won a prize in a previous FDG or other national fly-tying competition.
- The Open Trout and Salmon categories are for FDG members who have not won or been a runner up in an FDG competition in the relevant category.
- The Prize Winners categories are only for FDG members who have previ- ously won or been a runner up in the corresponding Open category.
- The Dry Fly and Creative categories are open to all FDG members.
- Winners of multiple categories will only receive one prize.
Should you have any difficulty obtaining any materials, you can seek guidance on suitable substitutes from the General Secretary..
The full rules and entry form can be found below or obtained by sending an s.a.e. to the General Secretary, Chris Reeves, 2 Briar Close, West Byfleet, Surrey KT14 6QF. All entries should also be sent to this address.
Improving the consistency of your tying
If the idea of tying dozens of flies to obtain three identical specimens puts you off competitions, look up Tim Benn’s excellent article, ‘Prizes and Surprises‘ on Donald Downs’ advice for tying competition flies, published in the Winter 2012 issue of Flydresser and available as an extract here. Also, do make use of the Guild Fly-Tying Award booklets for help with any unfamiliar techniques and, if you live close to a Branch, take advantage of their tying evenings.