Are you fed up with using the same old flies? to catch the same old fish? at the same old place? 

"If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done."

This is our philosophy and the reason we are continually trying to improve things.

imagine if the something you want is 

• to be the first stumble on that new successful fly first at a venue you fish.
• to fool fish that have seen every fly in your fly box, and everyone else's
• to be the one explaining to others how to fish a new fly to get the most success, not having it explained to you.
• to get the excitement of catching fish on something new that you have never tried before.

If any of the above would make your fishing trips more exciting this section is for you 

Easthope flies has been responsible for bringing new innovative ideas forward, testing them, experimenting with them, fine tuning them, getting the best out of them and then making them available. and we get enormous amounts of satisfaction when we get this right.

This process can be long and delays the time it takes to release successful patterns. and we want you to have the opportunity to get your hands on these flies as quick as possible. so now you can be part of the process.

The idea for this section came from a boat partner one day who said "What have you got for me today" I dragged out my box filled with the sparkly new recent additions to the store expecting  him to smile while he drained it dry. but what I actually got was … "not that lot, I've already caught on them!" after realising my pride was dented a little I said "not good enough for you then?" only to get back  "they're awesome, but I want what you are working on now. what's the point sharing a boat with you if I'm just fishing what everyone else can buy." I took this as a compliment to my fly tying, not a criticism of my ability to be a good boat partner!

So the new project box came out and we fished the flies exclusively all morning. and I'm very pleased to say that more than one fish graced the boat. we stopped for lunch and discussed the mornings work. 

Happy with the results, I took each fly off the leader and replaced them all with my old faithful's, certain that because I had fished the venue and the team of flies so often together it would give me an afternoon full of getting my arm pulled. I looked over to my boat partner and he was already fishing. "that was a quick change" I said

" I haven't changed a thing" came the reply … and yes almost on que his rod flew up with another fish attached. "is it a good one?" i asked, "not especially" he said, but as the fish got nearer to the boat he let out a shout of excitement. looking over at the fish expecting something different I saw just an average size fish for the venue and asked what so special about him? an Excited reply came back " look its on the top dropper, we didn't catch on that fly this morning!

at the end of the session we were packing up the boat and I had done a little bit better in the afternoon knowing i was on the right method. but none of the fish i pulled in got that excited reaction. because i already knew i was going to hook up at some point and my confidence was already in the setup but every pull that my boat partner had that day was a bonus, an unexpected treat when he tried something different and got it right!

in the store is a section called flies on trial, these are my current projects, the benefits to you are

• something that is not widely available
• cheaper flies, we are making these flies available because we are interested in feedback 
• a single batch of a fly is tied up and put in this section, when they have gone they will not appear in this section again unless modified, depending on the feedback they will either feature in the store... or they won't
• if you give feedback that leads to further development of the fly you will receive 5 of the improved flies for free to try

although there is no obligation to do so. we would love for you to tell us how things have gone. photos of fish (maybe even with the fly in situ ) , your summary of a trip using these flies or maybe even some suggestions of your own. all are welcome