2026 is whizzing past at a frightening rate, meaning the opening of the trout season here in Ireland is not far away. Early in the season, the Irish fly fisher has four main options, namely pulling lures close to the bottom, traditional fly fishing with dark wets targeting fish feeding on hog louse and shrimp,Continue reading "Some more duckfly patterns"
Tying the Raymond Variant
This fly seems to strike fear into the heart of fly tyers so I thought you might like to see how I make the Raymond Variant. It is a good wee fly to have in the box for the mayfly and it catches fish when tied on the bob position and fished in a goodContinue reading "Tying the Raymond Variant"
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Low Key session
Having dried out all my gear after the last outing in the rain, I decided to risk getting it all wet again by trying for some roach on Lough Key. Famous for producing the Irish record pike back in the early nineties, (a good fish of just short of forty pounds), it also holds goodContinue reading "Low Key session"
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Resurrection
My failing memory was brought sharply in to view when I started to write this post. The story of my favourite fly rod began so long ago that it took me a while to figure out when and how it all started. As near as I can recall, I purchased the Hardy back in 1978Continue reading "Resurrection"
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Raindrops keep falling……..
Those of a certain vintage will recall a French singer called Sasha Distel and his hit 'Raindrops keep falling on my head'. He was never off the telly when I was a kid. I thought of that ditty as I sat on the edge of a river today................... The weather has been alternating between heavyContinue reading "Raindrops keep falling…….."
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Left overs
My endless ranting on these pages about the lack of maggot sellers within 50 miles of me have altered that despicable situation not one jot. The shop in Claremorris tried selling maggots the year before last but gave it up as a bad job. 'Too much hassle and not enough sales' was the owners takeContinue reading "Left overs"
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Marina
We here in the West we have been very lucky so far this winter. Some sharp frosts, a couple of days of pretty light snow, but other than that we have not suffered the harsh winter weather which has hit other parts of Ireland and Britain. My relations in Aberdeen have been snowed in sinceContinue reading "Marina"
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How to colour feathers
Over the years I have often written about dying fly tying materials but never gone into any great detail. Since I was dying a few things today I thought perhaps it is time to address this subject? One of the big questions is why bother? These days you can buy just about any material inContinue reading "How to colour feathers"
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Reminiscing
The end of the year is now upon us and by way of wrapping up 2025 here is a bit of light reading for you. Perhaps due to advancing years, or maybe it is just that I have a bit more time on my hands these days, but I have been reminiscing more than usualContinue reading "Reminiscing"
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1,000 up, and still going strong
Happy to report that I reached my self-imposed target of 1,000 flies this week, a full two months ahead of my plan. I guess it wasn’t too much of a stretch really, given that I don’t tie very complex patterns and had a lot of time on my hands due to the horrible wet weatherContinue reading "1,000 up, and still going strong"
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2026 salmon fishing
I have been thinking long and hard about what to do about salmon fishing next year, and in particular should I buy a salmon licence at all. Here is a rough outline of my thoughts and my decisions. We anglers have been saying for years that trouble was brewing due to the decline in salmonContinue reading "2026 salmon fishing"
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Three quarters of the way there
My target of 1,000 flies tied for the winter is well on course. Indeed, I am far ahead of where I thought I would be at this stage. That will probably change as Christmas hits over the coming weeks, what with shopping , cooking and the occasional libation (hic). Today I cracked the 800 barrier,Continue reading "Three quarters of the way there"
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Silver Blue Bumble
I am risking life and limb here as I commit fly tying heresy. The ‘bumble’ patterns devised by the late, great Justice T.C. Kingsmill Moore were ahead of their time in many ways. His use of multiple different coloured hackles to impart ‘life’ into his flies were an inspiration and his prodigious catches of troutContinue reading "Silver Blue Bumble"
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Clyde style
A day of lashing rain outside, a bitingly cold wind hammering the water against the windows and finding every small crack or opening to chill the air inside the house. I lit the fire early, the kindling crackling and spluttering until the flue warmed and the heat began to flow in the kitchen. Too wetContinue reading "Clyde style"
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Half way
In an earlier post I said that I was aiming to make 1,000 flies over the winter period. I envisaged it would take me until the end of February 2026 to complete that number, but it looks like I might be a bit wide of the mark. This week the 500th fly rolled off myContinue reading "Half way"
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No particular place to go
It seemed a shame to waste the current unusually mild spell of weather so I decided to go coarse fishing on Thursday. My only problem was figuring out where exactly to fish. The Royal canal had died away weeks ago, so that was out of the question. The rivers are all still swollen and evenContinue reading "No particular place to go"
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The importance of fly choice?
I have been busy tying flies over the past few weeks, dabblers and bumbles pouring off the vice as boxes are filled and the overflow chucked into a receptacle a a sort of back up for next season. Of course, I don't really need any more flies, thousands are already in my collections of troutContinue reading "The importance of fly choice?"
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A bit of everything
It has been a while since I posted anything here, so this is a bit of a catch up. That storm a couple of weeks ago did some minor damage to the house, meaning I was up ladders again making repairs instead of fishing. 'Amy' gave the west of Ireland a good battering, bringing downContinue reading "A bit of everything"
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Storm Amy
The first named storm of the year batters away outside. Leaves are shaken from bending trees, rainwater splatters against the windows and the sky is the colour of a nasty bruise. One year ago, when I was working, Friday afternoons saw me driving home after being away all week, often in miserable weather like todays.Continue reading "Storm Amy"
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A very short session
I managed to squeeze in an hour with the rods yesterday. I was passing over the Shannon as I was heading back to Mayo from the east coast. In anticipation of just such an opportunity, I had stowed some gear in the back of the car and was able to try out a new venueContinue reading "A very short session"
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Back at the vice
After a l-o-n-g hiatus, I have returned to the vice and started to do a bit of fly tying. 2025 will go down for me as the year when I hardly fished, did almost no ghillieing and tied virtually no flies. The good news is that most of the big non-fishing jobs required of meContinue reading "Back at the vice"
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Autumn coarse fishing
It had been an odd sort of a weekend, and by Sunday I was jaded and restless. A decision was taken to move my neglected boat off lough Conn for the winter, so my mate and I drove out to Pike Bay with my trailer on a bright but cold autumn day. The car parkContinue reading "Autumn coarse fishing"
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Acres and Acres
It stopped raining this morning. Given that it has been pissing down for days on end this was big news. All my local rivers are over their banks, the loughs are full to overflowing and still rising. The forecast was for the rain to return by 4pm, so there was a wee window of opportunityContinue reading "Acres and Acres"
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Another tough day on Carra
My plans to do a lot of fishing on Carra this season turned to dust, but I did manage to get out one last time last Sunday. It was the final competition for the club, a day which the forecasters had predicted would be one of gales and torrential rain. Strange as it may seem,Continue reading "Another tough day on Carra"
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A long day
One advantage of my former career as an Interim Manager was that I got to meet a huge number of people. Some I had only minimal interaction with, but many others became friends who I am still in contact with. My last assignment in Clara, Co. Offaly was supposed to last three months but IContinue reading "A long day"
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Red or white?
A big change in the weather this past week has seen the blue skies replaced with angry grey clouds and the bone dry fields have been well watered at last. In normal times I would be reaching for my salmon rods and confidently casting over the well known lies of my local rivers, but thisContinue reading "Red or white?"
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Whole lotta’ fizzing going on
I snuck in another canal session today, which was very bold of me considering the heavy schedule of jobs I have to do around the house. In my defence, the outside painting has been coming along nicely with a solid week of me up ladders with brushes or wielding my latest toy, a paint sprayer.Continue reading "Whole lotta’ fizzing going on"
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That difficult second book
Well, I did it today. I sent the manuscript of my second book to the publishers for their initial review. Email confirmation was received this afternoon that they had got it along with the usual waffle of terms and conditions etc. It usually takes them about six weeks to make a decision about whether orContinue reading "That difficult second book"
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Knock Knock, what’s there?
The spire of the Basilica comes into view as I round the bend a mile, or maybe more, from the village of Knock in county Mayo. The shape spire points heavenward, a beacon for the faithful. Many travel far to pray at this holy site. Why here, in this remote, poor part of western Ireland?Continue reading "Knock Knock, what’s there?"
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Down on the ditch again
Canal fishing is regarded by many Irish anglers as a waste of time, just angling for tiddlers while being pestered by dog walkers. Indeed, the Royal Canal is often condescendingly referred to as 'the ditch' in some quarters, but I know different. Feeling a bit burned out after 7 uninterrupted days of sanding and paintingContinue reading "Down on the ditch again"
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Old rod repairs
A couple of years ago an old friend and I went fishing on lough Cullen one fine July day. My outboard would not pump cooling water, so we returned to shore, removed my engine and got his engine out of the old wooden shed. After lugging it down to the mooring and fixing it toContinue reading "Old rod repairs"
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It ain’t ‘alf hot
Another spell of fine, dry weather has settled over Ireland, making life hard for game fishers but presenting coarse anglers with long days and potentially good catches. I set the alarm for a ridiculously early hour and retired for a good night's sleep with another trip to the midlands planned for the morrow. The heatContinue reading "It ain’t ‘alf hot"
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Secret venue
I am going to break with my usual openness and not divulge the location of a new venue I have discovered. It is in the Irish midlands and in a built up area, so if I blurt out where it is I am sure it will be cleaned out by the fishmonger brigade in aContinue reading "Secret venue"
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When the rain stopped
With the bulk of the house renovations completed I am now busy painting. Every square inch of the buildings, inside and out, have to be painted. This not an inconsiderable job and one which will take time. Prepping the walls, ceilings, doors and woodwork is a sizeable task on its own and that's before IContinue reading "When the rain stopped"
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Buzzers
I don't do a whole pile of buzzer fishing. It's not that I have anything against it, I just don't enjoy it as much as other fly fishing techniques. There is also the fact it works better on some loughs than on others, Corrib is buzzer central for example whereas it it hardly used onContinue reading "Buzzers"
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A day in the midlands
I could ill afford a day away from the house renovations, but I was feeling exhausted by the stresses and strains of the project, so on Tuesday I took myself off for a bit of fishing. There was a vague sort of a plan which sounded overly complicated even to me, and indeed the firstContinue reading "A day in the midlands"
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A strange sort of a day
Arm update: pain has reduced markedly when at rest, but any movement brings stabs of pain in the shoulder and/or elbow. My wrist ‘locks’ sometimes for no apparent reason and is sore for a few hours after that happens. On the whole though, there is an improvement. Having gone through a rough few weeks IContinue reading "A strange sort of a day"
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Premature end to my season
We were in behind Saints island when it happened, drifting fast in a lively south-easterly with me on the oars. Anyone who fishes the Mask knows this is a great area for trout and on that day the fish were rising to a sporadic hatch of greendrakes. The wind wasn't quite right, pushing the boatContinue reading "Premature end to my season"
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Tackling tough conditions
When dreaming of days on the big limestone loughs I am willing to wager us fly fishers imagine clouds driven across the sky by a brisk south westerly, the warm air still damp from recent rain and trout splashing as they intercept hatching flies. While we do get halcyon like that sometimes, more often theContinue reading "Tackling tough conditions"
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Carra competition
Those hardy souls who regularly follow this blog are no doubt fed up of hearing how much I dislike angling competitions and the fact that I have not fished them in twenty plus years. All this pontificating was never going to end well and sure enough, yesterday I found myself taking part in a fishingContinue reading "Carra competition"
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Sqeezing in a session
This spring has been like no other that I can recall. This week we are again basking in high temperatures under cloudless skies and fanned by the lightest of zephers. These conditions are wonderful for so many outdoor persuits, unfortunately trout and salmon angling are not on that last. With ghillieing work consuming me fromContinue reading "Sqeezing in a session"
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Early May on Conn
It feels like life has just conspired against my attempts to go fishing for many months now. It's been one thing after another, the house, the weather or my health (or all three on some occasions). Even as lately as this week my plans to fish on Thursday were scuppered and I spent the dayContinue reading "Early May on Conn"
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R&M
R&M - repairs and maintenance. In my previous working life I was frequently in charge of engineering departments, so R&M was part of my everyday life. Some things never leave you I guess, and these days I seem to be always fixing stuff that is related to my angling which is either worn or brokenContinue reading "R&M"
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Shannonbridge
That hateful east wind has continued to blow all week. A miserable breeze as far as any angler in the west of Ireland is concerned, it seems to put the fish off the feed altogether. OK, so we have had a lot of dry, sunny and even warm weather of late, if only the windContinue reading "Shannonbridge"
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Badger hair
In a world where every day seems to pressure us buy yet another 'must have' synthetic material, I want to talk about an old material which I never see anyone else use now, the body har from a badger. I realise this is not an easy material to find and it has very limited uses,Continue reading "Badger hair"
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Back to the Robe
For the past couple of months I have been thinking about fishing, preparing to go fishing but not actually managed to do any fishing. Apart from a solitary coarse session I have been confined to quarters, of my own volition I must say. There has just been so much going on that angling dropped downContinue reading "Back to the Robe"
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comms
All, A couple of people have been in touch to say they are having trouble calling me on my mobile number. Apologies if this has happened to you. If you are struggling to get through to me please drop me an email at colinmclean2005@hotmail.com and I'll respond asap. Oh, and just to say that bookingsContinue reading "comms"
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Rogue
I have been refining my coarse fishing over the past three seasons, trying out different methods, venues and tackle in an attempt to get better and more repeatable results. Along the way I have ditched some gear which I found either not good or not fitting my styles of fishing. At the same time, newContinue reading "Rogue"
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Tying small jigs
Athlone, situated pretty much slap-bang in the middle of Ireland has pretentions to be a 'city'. I am sure this has a lot to do with how they could access government funding but I have doubts that a town with about 25,000 residents can be classed as a city. I have visited Athlone frequently, especiallyContinue reading "Tying small jigs"
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Fog on the Shannon
With another storm due to hit us on Friday, I decided to sneak out once again with the rods before the weather deteriorated. It's been cold and foggy for the past couple of days and Wednesday was promised the same, maybe not ideal conditions but not the worst either. Roach would again be the targetContinue reading "Fog on the Shannon"
Claretbumbler 