My name is Phil Jones and I live in Preston Lancashire. I’m 58 years old and I’ve been tying flies for about 13 or 14 years now .

I was a pike fisher for years but I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and found myself struggling to get all the gear where I wanted to fish, so I packed up, sold everything and prepared for a crappy existence not doing much. I still had the urge to fish though!

Someone then suggested fly fishing, so I gave it a go, what was there to lose? Many blanks later I saw an advert in a fishing shed for fly tying lessons with Dave Riding, so off I went ! I loved it and became slightly obsessed with classic salmon flies. I  received loads of help from some of the best tyers going like Mike Townsend, Dave Carne,  Tony Smith, Bob Fransden and so many more (sorry if I’ve forgotten you!).  

I try to tie like the old boys did, using the correct materials where possible, on period hooks at sensible sizes; I enjoy tying little Irish salmon flies from the cork collection too. Here are some photos of my flies.