Stuart Foxall, golfer and a retired semi-pro footballer  also describes himself as an over enthusiastic Flyfisherman. He hails from the West Midlands near Stourbridge in the UK.  Patshull Park is his home fishery, where he can be found chasing Trout. And the Salmon and Sea Trout across the borders in Scotland and  into Wales are no strangers to Stuarts creations whenever he can steal the time.

Two or three times a year he gets across to Skeena Spey in British Columbia where he hosts and fishes for the many Sea Run species available there. When he’s not hosting there, well, he’s roughing it at Alaskawest on the Kanektoc River.

Its a tough job…….

His day job working in sales of industrial protective clothing, gives him less time than he would like to tie his flies – indeed if you fancy some examples, then currently his waiting list is around 4 months. And let me tell you, this fella ties some flies.

Stuart has quite a unique style when it comes to tying. His flies are beautifully tied and balanced. He’s no stranger to contemporary Anadromous patterns combining spey, intruder and modern European ideas into highly mobile and flamboyant creations that are as easy on the eye as they are lethally effective.

You’ll probably agree then –  it’s no surprise that he’s self taught. His only reference being some old Veniards reference cards in the early days. And I suspect very few tiers have influenced his style.

So perhaps you can imagine how disappointed I was when Stuart said he was going to send a Pot Bellied Pig as his choice for this series. Yes, yes, I do know how effective and popular they are – however I expected to see something a little different from the great Foxy!

Anyway, the day come when the envelope landed on the mat. I was simply blown away when I tore it open and shook its contents onto the table. For this was not a pot bellied pig like I’d seen before or even could imagine existed.

Here its is….

In Stuarts own words….“The first trip that I did for British Columbian steelhead I wanted to use a fly that I had complete trust in. I’d always done very well on more traditional pot bellied pigs for Atlantic salmon so I thought i’d just do a larger version in steelhead colours. The first day I used it I hooked seven fish…..so I was more than pleased (I lost most of those fish btw!!!!!)”

“Since then it’s caught numerous other steelhead, chinook salmon, chum salmon, sea trout, atlantic salmon and other species. So it’s a good all rounder to have in your box.”

The dressing…..

Tube- Blue Glitter tube with black liner
Tag- Mirage tinsel
Flash- Blue krystal flash
Wing- Black bucktail tied long
Mid hackle- Black schlappen
Feelers- Pig bristles tied long on each side of the tube
Rib- Oval silver rib
Body- Steelie blue ice dub
Front flash- Lots of blue,purple and mirage holographic flashabou tied all round
Front hackle- Blue or purple schlappen
Eyes- Jungle cock eyes tied on top
Head- Hot red, pink or orange cone head.

Since I took the photo for this piece, I’ve taken this fly for a swim through the Lucky Pool on the Usk and I can confirm it swims beautifully and just bursts with colour and movement. I’ve got a feeling its going to murder the Sea Trout on the high water this weekend.

Thank you Stu! I just hope I don’t have to wait 4 months till I can get a few more! If you packed in the golf you might just be able to do it.

Paul Slaney

I should give this up, wrapping bits of fluff around a hook for fun just can’t be normal