Allan Liddle

Scotland

Based in Moray in Scotland’s North East, Allan has specialises with the wild trout from the rivers and burns, lochs and lochans throughout Mainland Scotland and the Isles. A strong passion for fishing simple dries he feels there’s nothing better than to see the fish take off the top, but isn’t slow to fish a range of different styles when mood or conditions dictate. Although trout is his first love Allan occasionally chases the Salmon, Grayling stocked fish and even dabbles in salt water when the chance arises.

Alois Trübner

Germany

I’m Alois, married, a proud dad of two girls and based in Hamburg, Northern Germany.

When I was 9 years old, my grandfather introduced me to fishing in a very classic way with a pole rod at the village pond. This has slowly developed into a fisherman with a license and lots of fun winning club competitions. At some point, motocross, skateboarding, girls and parties were more important.

When I went to Hamburg in 2003 to pursue my job as an engine mechanic, fishing opened up for me in a completely new way in Hamburg! After a short time I had my own canoe on the Alster, from which one could perfectly track the predators of the urban canals. Several years of spin fishing for pikeperch, pike & perch in the Elbe, Alster and the surrounding northern german waters followed. During that time I met a lot of nice fishing heads and had a good time. Sometime in September 2012 an Irish work colleague came over for fishing with me and always borrowed one of my rods, whereupon I asked him to bring his own tackle from Ireland. He did that too! And that was a 9 weight pike fly fishing rod. He pressed it into my hand for a day and then it was over to me. Literally! Since that day I have completely focused on fly fishing. In addition, the fly tying, which both of me was self-taught for years, because I had no one in my local circle of friends who did it like me. My focus is on pike, pikeperch and perch with hot, well-engineered streamers that are perfect for them. Salmonids are becoming more and more important to me as well as dry flies and nymphs. Tying occupies and fascinates me almost more than fishing itself, and that’s why I’ve been giving live demos at trade fairs in Germany, Denmark, Holland or even Ireland for about 3 years now. In addition, I have a small online shop www.raptorz-shop.com since 2018 where I sell my handmade streamers and the matching favorite material plus a few other things at fair prices, because everyone should be able to enjoy fly fishing / fly tying! The fishing and tying lets me dive into a world in which I am absolutely exuberant and can forget everything around me. Flyfishing is simply balm for the soul. If then there is also wonderful nature and a beautiful fish, these are experiences that I will never forget and where I can recharge my batteries for a long, long time!

Andrea Malzanini

Italy

Born in Brescia in 1979 and live in Brescia on the outskirts of Val Trompia, a valley famous for the production of weapons and an area rather rich in lakes and rivers.

My passion for fishing was born at the age of 4, when my father bought me my first fishing rod. Lake fishing was my first passion, perch, sardines, and aole the most common fish in the Brescia lakes. From 18 to 30 years I approach carp fishing and spinning.

The challenge of finding the right fly, in making it by imagining the fish to which it is destined, always with respect due to the fish fauna that populates our beautiful lakes and rivers.

Joe Russell

Scotland

Hello, I’m Joe from a place called Grangemouth in Stirlingshire. I’ve been fishing from when I was around 5 years old with my dad who always took me fishing to the lochs of Scotland chasing wild trout with the fishing club every other week for years. I’ve now started to get into fly fishing and fly tying around 4 seasons ago and I’ve never looked back, its addicting and rewarding and I love all aspects of it.

I like to target wild brown trout / sea trout and salmon on my local river or the highland lochs. I Also target farmed rainbow trout and pike over the winter in the brown trout close season. I live with my wife and kids, one of my older kids is pretty hooked at the moment on fly fishing (excuse the pun) and the younger the kids are always interested in what I am doing on the vise, hopefully they’ll be fly fishing / fly tying in the next year or so too. I love tying flies then hitting the rivers or lochs to try them out on the fish as they’re the judges on what we tie up. I like to mix up original patterns when tying but also like to fish and tie up traditional patterns too. 

I’m looking forward to being on the pro team at sprite and grateful for the opportunity.

Jamie Pike

Canada

Whether chasing sea-run brown and brook trout, or Atlantic Salmon in one of the many rivers in Newfoundland and Labrador; Jamie Pike has a fly in his kit that’ll be sure to tighten the line. Jamie is relatively new to fly tying, having started in 2007 while stationed in a small Newfoundland community as a Paramedic – 14 years later, his competence is proven to be among the elite fly tyers in Newfoundland. Specializing in Salmon flies (Classic singles, Shrimps, Bombers and Bugs) and a variety of Sea Trout and inland Trout patterns. 

Alex Jardine

England

Alex was raised on a diet of fly fishing and I am pretty sure that Charles Jardine only gave him fly reels to play with instead of toys! Alex has fished for the England Youth Team, representing them at World Championship level over a 4 year period winning a team Bronze and a highest individual finish of 7th in the world.

He has travelled extensively, looking after groups of people and guiding them as well as giving numerous casting demonstrations alongside his father. Alex ties flies for the Partridge pro team, is a qualified casting instructor and writes the “Chalkstream Diaries”. He has extensive knowledge of fishing in the American West, East Coast USA, Canada, Iceland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Venezuela and New Zealand.

Micke Anderson

Sweden

My name is Micke Sash-Up Anderson. I am a fly tyer from Sweden. I started tying flies in the early 90’s with the idea that I would tie everything, from trout flies to salmon flies but I ended up fishing mainly pike and sea trout along the coast for several years instead. I took a break from everything that had to do with fishing for a few years.

Nowadays it’s mostly dry fly fishing I am passionate about. I tie almost every day, experimenting with cdc and deer hair for the most part.

I am a member of pro-team Sprite hooks.

Nicola Damaschi

Italy

Born in Parma in 1973 and I have always fished in the classic way my father taught me.

One day on the banks of a creek I saw a man twirling a fly line; that gesture so harmonious and elegant made me want to learn … The rest is history!

I especially love small/medium-sized creeks with fast and foamy waters. I also fish with nymphs, but my great passion remains dry fly fishing. The construction has come as a result. I’m almost obsessed with it, to the point to think that I would continue to tie even if I had to stop fishing.

I really like to tie Classic Patterns but at the same time, I enjoy playing with materials to tie something new.

Rafał Knieć

Poland

Rafał Knieć lives in the city of Lublin in the east of Poland. He has two children aged 3 and 9 and a wonderful wife who supports him in his passion for fly tying and fly fishing. He learned fishing from his grandfather and father but he was the first to try fly fishing with which he fell in love. His favorite fisheries are small, overgrown rivers that often hide large trout and graylings. He loves to catch all fish including carp, pike, roach and more.

Umberto Oreglini

Italy

Born in Pescara in 1984, he approached fly fishing only in November 2012 thanks to a mini-course of the SIM, Italian School of Fly Fishing. 

After learning the rudiments of the casting techniques, he met Eri D’Addario and Roberto Brenda, who followed him in the first steps of the construction of artificial flies. He immediately became passionate about the art of fly tying and began to deepen his story by experimenting with classical models. Driven by Roberto, he started to study a bit of entomology and to approach macrophotography. Thanks to Mike Valla’s books, he became passionate about Catskill style and started to study its history and construction methods. He opened a channel on YouTube where he shares his construction videos, especially classic flies with original dressing, he has over 2000 subscription at this time.

Viggo Larsson

Norway

Viggo Larsson lives in Mo i Rana a town on Helgeland, Northern Norway. He has three children aged 21, 6 and 5. and he has a wonderfully understanding cohabitant Sølvi, who lets him keep up with his passion for fly tying and fly fishing. Viggo has been fishing since he was a child and he has been tying flies since he was 14 years old.

For the last 20 years Viggo has been Fly Fishing. What he enjoys most about fly fishing and fly tying is that you learn something new all the time. You are never taught. Viggo travels to fly tying fairs in Norway, Sweden, Ireland and England. To share experiences, to meet others with the same passion. He is also a Pro Team at Semperfli and Partridge. 

“I just love it”  

Shane Callan

Ireland

Shane lives in the North East of Ireland where he spends the majority of his time targeting trout on the rivers and loughs across the country. Shane may be found on any continent chasing every species from Grayling to Tarpon. He is a keen competition angler and has competed in numerous competitions across the globe. Shanes love for competitive angling began at a young age and he has fished for the Irish Youth Team on three occasions at the World Youth Fly Fishing Championships. In recent years Shane has represented Ireland at both World and European Fly Fishing Championships. Shane has a deep interest in the promotion of youth angling and as such has been a coach to many keen young anglers over the years, culminating in captaining (managing) the Irish youth team competing in the World Youth Fly Fishing Championships. Shane loves catching Brown Trout on dries and Sea Trout while euronymphing on his local rivers, the river Fane and Castletown. 

Ben Beckwith

England

Ben started his fly fishing journey on the River Kennet with his grandfather at a young age, and his passion for all things fly fishing only grew, leading to him earning 3 Team England Youth Loch Style Fly Fishing caps and culminating in his captaincy of Team England. Even though he is a seasoned Stillwater and reservoir angler, his true passion lies in his river fishing and he has been fortunate enough to have fished on a multitude of rivers, both in the UK and abroad.
Ben is a passionate fly tyer, specialising in flies for both still and running water. Although he enjoys tying for stocked trout, his true passion much like his fishing falls to the rivers. You may have seen Ben demonstrating at one of the many UK shows including the BFFI, The London Fly Fair or The European Fly Fishing Show.

Admir Jeginovic 

Bosnia and Herzegovina

My name is Admir Jeginovic but everyone knows me as Ado. Born in thr small town of Ključ in Bosnia and Herzegovina, I had the privilege to grow up next to the best rivers of the country, Sana, Sanica and Ribnik. The passion for flyfishing and fly tying started when I was 7 yrs old, when me uncle used to take me fishing. As a boy, I was of a very competitive character and always tried to tie better flies than my uncle, and today I am the owner of the only flyfishing shop in the country.

I work as a professional guide too and as a rod builder, but my passion is tying flies and discovering new patterns. I work with reputable European shops and supply friends and clients with flies across the globe. I hold fly tying courses in the country and in Switzerland. I am happy to join the Sprite team since these are the best hooks I have ever fished with. 

Michał Wierzbicki 

Poland

My name is Michał Wierzbicki, born in 1990, come from a small town in the south of Poland, Jasło. 

I started my adventure with fly fishing at the age of 7, so I can confidently say that I have been fishing and tying flies for over 25 years. 

The town I come from is situated at the confluence of three rivers, so as a child I spent a lot of time perfecting my fishing technique and improving my fly tying skills. Jasło is probably a good place to develop the art of fly fishing, as it is the hometown of two World Fly Fishing Champions 

In my fly-tying career, I have had a lot of fascinations. Initially, it was the tying and perfecting of the then very effective hydropsyche, gammarus, and woven nymphs. Then I started making all kinds of dry flies and developing skills of the tying of traditional wet flies with wings. 

Nowadays, I am practising more with flies for trouts and graylings, whether in rivers or lakes, but I am also familiar with tying files for salmons, big predators, and saltwater fishing.  

Numerous travels in the last 5 years and living in various countries, such as Spain, Germany, and Norway allowed me to significantly develop new skills and techniques of fly tying, which I believe had a big impact on my performance in the varied international and national competition of fly tying. 

Johan Ivemyr 

Sweden

My name is Johan Ivemyr and I am a fly tyer and fly fisher from Dalarna in Sweden. I started tying flies and fishing with flies in the middle of the 90s. I started to tie simple Streamers and nymphs and made some valiant attempts to tie dry flies.

Last 10 years I have focused a lot on improving my fly tying technics, especially in dry flies with high-quality material. I prefer using CDC and deer hair on most of my flies and I also run my own webshop with some of my favourite materials. I like to spend a lot of time fishing for Trouts and Grayling in running water.

I am happy to be a part of the Sprite Hooks pro team.