Artists are amazing people. They just crack on with their creations and put them out into the world. Here’s a piece of art I came across today and it was so good I had to post it on the blog.
It’s from digital artist Joel Jenson. If you like it please leave comment. To see more of Joel’s work go to: https://www.behance.net/JoelJensenArt
Yes, it is a rare thing these days. It does seem that many companies take customers for granted and basically treat you as just a number!
We do exactly the opposite. Every purchase you make with us is treated as an honoured transaction that requires special attention. No purchase is the same and everyone has special requirements. We treat each one accordingly!
If this doesn’t sound like the “corporate/business” speak you’re used to hearing then you’d better get used to it because we deal with real customers with real language and real business practices. You buy something from us and we fullfil that contract with gratitude!
Our mission? To deliver the very best products that’s in our power to provide.
We are fortunate to have contact with some of the most talented fishing flytiers around the world, and we are widening our net (so to speak). When you actually have a piece of their work in your hand you realise how much expertise and precision is invested in every single fly tying project, no matter how many times that particular pattern is tied. We feel duty bound to treat each of these invaluable works of art with the utmost respect they deserve.
Our photography and video studio has the tools and equipment necessary to ensure the very best lighting and capture results, whilst ensuring delicate handling of every fly and we do our very best to achieve images that do each fly justice and try to add our own artistic style that compliments every one.
Once we have the very best images we can achieve, they are then transferred to digital imaging workstation. The next thing is to colour grade and enhance every single image using industry leading software and also spend time painstakingly extracting every fly from the main image to provide a clean and background-free original.
Once we have this we then apply a bit of artistic licence to individual copies in preparation for application to our mugs, prints and posters.
Artwork is then handed over to our printing partners who work their own particular brand of magic to the finished product.
We are totally passionate about our products and hopefully this becomes evident to customers who receive their mugs, prints and posters orders.
Everything we do is aimed at making your buying experience and product satisfaction the best it can be. With that in mind we listen seriously to each and every comment and suggestion from every single customer and visitor to our online store.
If you have a specific request or share your idea, we are more than happy to explore that to see if we can make it work for you and future customers. By the same token, if we’ve done something that you think can be improved, then we will definitely work to make things better.
Hey, we’re just two 60+ year-olds trying to do some good for folks who want a great fishing product, of superb quality, at a decent price. So all comments, complaints and suggestions are fully taken onboard.
If any of this resonates with you, and you want to make contact, please feel free to get in touch today!
Today we are delighted to announce the release of a new limited edition fishing mug series from two salmon flies created by internationally renowned flytier, Yuji Wabe from Japan.
Yuji’s expertise is recognised by salmon fly connoisseurs around the globe and his attention to detail and precision fly dressing technique is admired by fellow flytiers worldwide.
Here at Fishing Mugs we are honoured to have joined forces with Yuji to create four beautiful new mug designs based on the classic Lady Amherst and Torrish patterns.
The mugs are available in the store now. We have 24 of each design in stock, so get your orders in quickly if you want to get your hands on this unique set.
The museum, created by a team of volunteer salmon fishing experts displays more than 2,000 objects dedicated to the history of salmon fishing on the Tweed. Maps, models, books, photographs, rods, reels, flies and salmon fishing memorabilia, celebrating the development of the sport in the Scottish Borders since the mid 18th century, will be on show.
Visitors can also view a replica 19th century fishing bothy as well as a carving of a 69 ¾ lb salmon caught on the Tweed by Earl Home around 1735, possibly the sport’s largest British salmon.
The influence of 19th century writers in developing the sport’s popularity is explored and visitors can learn about the salmon’s lifecycle. The Tweed’s flora, fauna, bird and insect life is showcased as visitors learn the importance of caring for the river’s diverse habitat.
It is hoped that as tourism resumes, the new Salmon Fishing Museum will attract around 10,000 UK and international visitors a year. The sport is particularly popular in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland, New Zealand, Argentina as well as Russia the USA and Canada.
The River Tweed Salmon Fishing Museum has taken three years and over £70,000 to plan and create, with £35,700 of funding coming from the Fallago Environment Fund and a £10,000 grant from the Scottish Borders Council Communities Fund.
Fallago Environment Fund Chairman, Gareth Baird said; “The River Tweed is famous for its salmon fishing but many people are unaware of just how important the Borders is in the sport’s history. The Fallago Environment Fund is delighted that we can help to tell this important story through the creation of a Museum that will inform, inspire and provide another great reason for people to visit the area.”
The museum, which is located in the Town Hall, The Square, Kelso, will be open seven days a week (Monday- Saturday 9am-4pm, Sunday 10am-1pm — Closed 10 December – 1 February) and is free of charge for visitors.
This is a very special “Thank You” to everyone who bought NHS Warrior mugs from us over the past few weeks.
We have had the privilege of donating £1,100 towards the amazing Sir Tom Moore NHS fund thanks to your support.
Also, thank you to Bruce Reid who submitted the winning bid for the original Warrior fishing fly. Well done Bruce, your donation is going to a great cause (and you’ve also made shrewd investment).
We would also like to extend our thanks to the Vulcan 5757 Masonic Lodge in County Durham, for their gratefully received contribution towards the fund.
Fishing Mugs is a new venture for David and Dave and we’re both very keen to contribute towards community and charity causes on behalf of yourselves through product sales.
If you’re a keen fly fisher with a cause in mind and a fly we can promote, then we would be more than happy to design a mug and give your charity our full support.
It’s sea trout season and if you’re a keen sea trout fisher then this series of sea trout fishing fly mugs may be just the thing to brighten up your 2020’s lockdown fishing frustrations. We have introduced three prime sea trout patterns dressed by Michael Rollinson from Yarm in the UK (who we are featuring in our ‘Fly Tying Focus’ in a few days).
The three flies are a Blue Elver, Dark Mackerel and Silver Stoat’s Tail. Each fly has been recreated to the finest detail and presented on our best 11oz mugs. The colour reproduction and detail are pretty amazing so please get your orders in before the current stock is gone.
If you haven’t already done so, pop your name and email into the box below and we’ll email you as soon as the feature goes live:)
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The covid-19 pandemic has been a real test of mettle for everyone, and although the disease is serious in nature there’s still plenty of room (and indeed necessity) for a little light relief from the situation. So a few weeks ago, as an antidote to the doom and gloom being broadcast just about everywhere imaginable, FishPal decided to come up with a fun, fly tying competition to help fishing fans through their lockdown blues, and you all took to it like fish to water, if you’ll excuse the pun.
The competition was wide open to all and sundry with a choice of either creating a salmon/seatrout or a trout fly.
The winning flies were announced a couple of weeks ago and it is with great pride that the Fishing Mugs team has been tasked to design a mug honouring the three winning entries. So it’s “well done” to Mike Reynolds, Ranald Hutton and Craig Duncan. We hope you like the finished mug.
The Fishing Mugs Team.
We’re delighted to make available this brilliant Father’s Day offer in partnership with author Peter Owen. Peter’s pocket guide to fishing knots is an absolute must for every fisher. This compact reference guide includes clear, step-by-step drawings showing when and how to tie the knots every angler needs.
The book shows you exactly how to join lines with a whole selection of essential knots, joining leader or backing to fly lines, as well as hooks and tackle knots. The book also includes expert advice on the very latest knot-tying tools and line connectors. It is the clearest knot book available and no angler should be without it!
We have teamed up with Peter to create a limited edition Fishing Knots mug that includes a number of Peter’s handy knot illustrations. Great when you’re on the river and need a quick visual reminder of how a particular knot should look.
The book and mug combo are now available for a limited period (until 14th June 2020) at this price, so don’t hesitate, get your order in today and tick this Father’s Day pressie off your list!
You can order your Father’s Day Fishing Knots Book and Mug right now by clicking the button below… Thank You!
A huge thank you to everyone who took advantage of our Father’s Day offer. Sadly the offer is now over but you can still get your hands on the book and mug combo at the normal price of £22.95 by clicking on the button below.
When the current Covid-19 pandemic shut down riverbanks around the UK, Ranald, who has been tying trout and salmon flies since the age of 11, used the enforced spare time to create the ‘NHS Warrior’ salmon fly as an entry in the FishPal lockdown fly tying competition.
Ranald’s fly, which fuses the colours of the NHS logo as a mark of respect to frontline health staff, was announced the winner and he now intends to mount ‘NHS Warrior’, add his signature and auction the stunning fly to raise cash to benefit health service workers.
“It is a symbolic fly. With no fishing happening just now because of the pandemic, I decided to enter the competition. I considered the colours carefully, to assess how appropriate they were for the NHS. I am really quite pleased with how it has turned out.” said Ranald.
The special mugs depicting the fly, are available in our online store, with £5 from each sale going to the NHS through Captain Tom Moore’s heroic fundraising drive. Fishing Mugs’ co-founder David Miller added: “We are proud to be part of Ranald’s great initiative to help raise funds for our NHS heroes. They are doing a fantastic job helping to save lives and keep us all safe, and it’s an honour to play a small part in recognising their service.”
You can order your Warrior Mug right now by clicking the button below… Thank You!
The mid-1800s saw a rivalry on Scottish and English rivers spring up between the users of “drab” traditional English fishing fly patterns and the new colourful and “gaudy” Irish invaders. One of the main advocates of the new style of flies was the controversial figure, George Mortimer Kelson, a larger-than-life English fisher of considerable experience and apparently, self-adoration. He was keen to portray himself as the well-dressed sporting gentleman, sporting the expensive tailored tweed jacket, a bowler hat, a full beard and enormous waxed moustache.
Kelson was dubbed the “Grand Old Man of Salmon Fishing” and the “High Priest of the Salmon Fly”. Monikers he would have wholeheartedly agreed with since they aligned with his self-styled supreme authority on salmon fishing matters, and in particular the subject of fishing flies. He authored the now-famous classic work “The Salmon Fly” which is still popular today. Kelson’s penchant was for elaborately dressed flies using exotic feathers that were prized at the time.
Love him or hate him, there was no doubt that Kelson was an expert angler, chalking up a record total of 3,000 catches. He was also something of a joker and was known to think nothing of stripping down and diving into the water to retrieve a snagged fishing line… and a fish, if the occasion arose. He was, however, instrumental in the development of new fly patterns of the time, as well as fishing tackle, apparel and groundbreaking fishing methods.
So what does this have to do with the Durham Ranger? Well, never one to shy away from controversy, Kelson was known to make claims on the invention of fishing patterns that were, to say the least, suspect. This got him into many a public row with R.B. Marston the editor of the “Fishing Gazette” who hotly contested many of his claims on fly patterns that he attributed to himself and friends rather than the true originators. The Durham Ranger could be one such pattern.
A fishing hot-spot at that time was on the river Tweed near the Scottish Border towns of Kelso and Sprouston where a local and very well respected fly dresser James (Jemmy) Wright had a tiny tackle shop, frequented daily by many an angler hungry for fishing news and tittle-tattle.
Jemmy was recognised as an extremely innovative fly dresser and was known to meticulously deconstruct competitor’s work to discover their secrets and also improve on their errors.
Jemmy also had connections with the Sprouston Angling Club (Est1845) and two fishing companions William Henderson (who authored “My Life as an Angler” in 1876) and Walter Scruton from Durham.
History books tell us that Henderson was always insistent that the famous Durham Ranger fly was the invention of his friend Scruton, whilst Kelson was adamant that Jemmy Wright was the originator. The truth will never be completely uncovered but one thing is clear, the Durham Ranger has since become one of the fishing world’s most popular patterns.
The original winging style with a golden pheasant tippet remains a main part of the design to this day. This is how the fly is constructed.
Tag: Silver tinsel and gold floss
Tail: GP Crest
Butt: Black ostrich hero
Body: In four equal parts. Yellow floss, orange seal’s fur, brown seal’s fur, black seal’s fur
Rib: Oval silver tinsel
Body hackle: Yellow dyed badger over the front half of body
Throat: Light blue hackle
Wing: Pair of long jungle cock, back-to-back. Two pairs of tippet feathers outside. GP topping overall
Cheeks: Kingfisher
Horns: Blue macaw
Head: Black
We are delighted to announce that we have released a range of three Durham Ranger mugs. Check them out in the online store below. Larger orders can be produced if you would prefer a customised option. Please get in touch here if you would like to discuss personalisation services.
