Fly Tester by Flymen Fishing Co.

The newest addition to the growing fly tying arsenal at Headhunters Flyshop is the Fly Tester by the Flymen Fishing Co.

Have you ever tied up a dozen flies of some new pattern only to find out that they didn’t perform the way you had hoped when you got them in the water? The Fly Tester was designed to allow the fly tier to avoid this situation by observing the action of flies immediately after tying them.

In a nutshell:  DESIGN → TIE → TEST → CATCH FISH

The tank is best suited for testing streamers, but will also show how nymphs  drift in current and how dries skate on the surface (think mouse patterns or skating October caddis).

To see the Fly Tester in action, you can stop by the shop, or check out this cool, short video below.

Key features of the tank include:

• “BEST IN SHOW” Award Winner at the 2014 International Fly Tackle Dealer show
• High quality, crystal-clear, acrylic construction
• Bi-directional water flow with upper, middle, and lower sections that allow you to swim up to 3 different types of flies (streamers, nymphs, and surface flies) at the same time
• Flow tube that can swim streamers up to 12″ in length
• Slim line design that is lightweight (less than 8 lbs.) and with a small footprint for use at the fly-tying desk (height is 12” x width 3.5” x length 24”)

Next time you’re in the shop, feel free to bring in some of your homegrown flies to give them a swim in the tank. We’ve also been testing a lot of the flies from our bins and noticing some new things about how they truly perform in the water.

If you’re interested in getting a Fly Tester tank of your own, they retail for $285 and we’d be happy to order one for you.