With “Deer Hair Flytying Masterclass” Barry Ord Clarke has written what can easily be considered as the ultimate book on fly tying with deer hair.

 

 

Even though many books on fly tying usually have sections on tying with deer hair, there are very few publications that deal specifically with this subject. In 1994 Steve Kennerk and the late British fly tyer and photographer Terry Griffiths produced a small four page leaflet entitled “A Hairs difference – the ultimate guide to tying with deer hair”, which was a very helpful introduction to the selection of the right type of hair for the job at hand.
With its many colour illustrations, the “Deer-Hair Fly-Tying Guidebook” has the look and feel of the streamside journal of a knowledgeable and very artistic fly-fisher. World-renowned fly-tier Jack Pangburn shares in this book many productive patterns and techniques using natural deer hair, one of the most versatile fly-tying materials. Some editions of the book are collectors items already.
“Tying and Fishing Deer Hair Flies 50 Patterns for Trout, Bass, and Other Species” is a complete guide by Tim Jacobs to selecting, handling, and tying with deer hair, with notes on using other types of hair as well. The book covers patterns for trout, bass, musky, and other species as well as important fishing techniques.

 

 

Now Barry Ord Clarke comes this September with his “Deer Hair Flytying Masterclass”, a large size book with no less than 384 pages and illustrated with top quality photographs. The many patterns inside the book, 44 in total, are accompanied by QR-codes that will guide you to YouTube videos that show how to tie the different flies in great detail. In this way the patterns and the tying techniques are shown in the best possible way, by detailed pictures and close-up videos. After “Flytying for beginners”, “Flytying Techniques” and “Advanced Flytying Techniques”, this is now the fourth book that is published by Merlin Unwin Books by “The Feather Bender”, the nickname of Barry Ord Clarke.

 

 

Born in England, Barry Ord Clarke is an internationally acclaimed and much-published photographer, writer, and a fly tying master. His work as a fly tying master and fly fishing photographer has taken him to over 40 different countries and 4 continents. He is a regular contributor to numerous fishing magazines worldwide.
He has written, Co written and contributed to more than 30 books about fly tying. He has won medals in some of the worlds most prestigious fly tying competitions, and his own flies can be seen in the legendary ‘Fly fishers club’ collection in London and the Catskill master fly collection’ in the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum in the United States.  For the past 25 years he has lived in Norway where he works as a professional photographer and a fly tying consultant for The Mustad Hook Company & Veniard Ltd.
In 2016 Barry was awarded the coveted ‘Claudio D’Angelo award for best International Fly Tyer. For seven years he has been working closely with Marc Petitjean on his definitive book on tying with CDC, that was published in March 2018. (Source: www.thefeatherbender.com). Barry Ord Clarke was also voted Fly Tyer Magazine’s Fly Tyer of the Year in 2021.

 

 

After a foreword by Joe Messinger Jr., another legend of fly tying, and an introduction by Barry Ord Clarke, he describes how to best use the book and QR codes. You can even send questions on the different patterns by commenting under the large number of YouTube videos! Apart from the QR code, the YouTube link is also displayed with each pattern as well as the title of the video with which it can be found on YouTube easily.
Barry than gives a short history of the use of deer hair in fly tying, with patterns tied or made popular by Emerson Hough, James A. Henshall, Joe Messinger Sr., Don Gapen, Steve Kennerk, Chris Helm and Terry Griffiths.

 

 

Next are some chapters dedicated to the suppliers of this superb fly tying material: the different types of deer, moose, elk etc. He describes the different types of hair and their use in fly tying for wings or spinning hair. From antelope to Texas whitetail deer he writes about the different animals, accompanied by pictures of the animals and the hair, and gives the characteristics of the hair (structure, texture, colouration and uses) of the animals. The next chapter shows the anatomy of a deer skin and what parts, from mask to tail, can be used for fly tying. Preparing a deer mask is also the subject of a chapter, after which Barry gives advice on choosing and buying deer hair.

 

 

The tools for tying with deer hair are written about in the next chapter, with emphasis on scissors, bobbin holders and hair stackers. The use of a hair stacker gets a separate chapter, after which Barry proceeds with the use of other tools like combs, brushes, razor blades, glues, resins and many others. Although deer hair flies are best tied at a friends house, Barry also recommends the use of a mini hoover…

 

 

Fly tying hooks, wax and different types of tying thread are the subject of following chapters after which no less than forty-four patterns are described in great detail and with excellent photography. Each pattern is shown on a full page photo after the different tying steps! Most patterns are dry flies of course, but there are nymphs, streamers and emergers here too. These patterns will give you inspiration for tying flies for many seasons to come! The flies are not published in alphabetical order, so you will have to look at the index to find the right pattern. Barry’s attention to detail and his superb style of fly tying is a great joy to watch.

 

 

The book finishes with an Index plus an extensive list of useful websites and organisations. The book is great fun to read, you will no doubt learn a lot from it and you will pick it up from the book shelve or fly tying table repeatedly, to look up a certain pattern, to learn a tying technique or just to read one or more chapters. The book is printed at this moment, but it is certainly worth the wait until mid September when it is published by Merlin Unwin Books Ltd., right in time for the start of the fly tying season for most fly fishers.

 

 

TITLE: Deer Hair Flytying Masterclass
AUTHOR: Barry Ord Clarke
PUBLICATION DATE: September 17th, 2026
BINDING: Laminated boards
ILLUSTRATIONS: Colour photographs
ISBN: 978 1 913159 89 4
FORMAT: 276 x 216 mm
PAGES: 384 pages
PRICE: £60

 

Links to other books by Barry Ord Clarke:

Flytying for Beginners
https://merlinunwin.co.uk/products/flytying-for-beginners-1?_pos=3&_sid=b222da491&_ss=r&variant=39442175262851

The Feather Bender’s Flytying Techniques
http://merlinunwin.co.uk/products/the-feather-benders-flytying-techniques?_pos=2&_sid=b222da491&_ss=r&variant=34072946311299

Advanced Flytying Techniques
https://merlinunwin.co.uk/products/the-feather-benders-advanced-flytying-techniques?_pos=1&_sid=b222da491&_ss=r&variant=44203193303171

 

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E-mail: books@merlinunwin.co.uk
Website: www.merlinunwin.co.uk