Jim Lees - Scotland

I began fly fishing on a small tributary of the river Clyde in Scotland over 25 years ago and started fly tying at the same time; I didn’t realise there was a choice, with no local fly shops I assumed if you wanted to fly fish you had to tie your own flies. It seemed natural there wouldn’t be one without the other. With basic instructions from a friend my early efforts were crude to say the least but they caught some fish and launched a lifelong passion.

Early on I developed an interest in the riverside insect life; their life cycles and behaviours. How and when the different species became available to Trout as food. This led me away from traditional Clyde flies and on to experimenting with new materials and new fly designs, most of my influences back then came from American books and magazines but with the internet came a whole raft of new influences from all over the world. I’m still experimenting to this day and I hope I always will be, now I have fun with flies for all species but my primary interest remains with my first love, flies for Trout and Grayling.

I’ve also been lucky enough to test out my experiments on rivers throughout the UK, in Poland and in Slovenia. Like all experiments some have been more successful than others and it’s those flies I will be tying at the show. The flies that catch fish.

I look forward to meeting you all in Galway.