2022

A strange year in many ways, 2022 will not go down in the annals as one of my finest when it comes to angling. I strongly suspect it may have been the same for many of you judging by the feedback I get to this blog.

For the first season in many, many years I did not land a salmon but in mitigation I only fished for them once. A marginal day on Carrowmore when most of the lake was badly churned was the sum total of my efforts for the silver lads. My heart was just not in it due to the tiny numbers of fish around. Friends who fished hard for them landed a few but in general the picture was bleak around these parts. The dry summer didn’t help of course but even when there was a little bit of rain the grilse were scarce. Maybe they will appear in good numbers next season but I for one am not holding my breath. I gave away or sold most of my salmon flies, keeping a couple of boxes in case there is a big change in fortune.

The big problem for 2023 will be how many systems are even going to be allowed to open? Catches across the west were so low the fisheries board will probably decided to ban angling on many of them in an effort to allow stocks the chance to increase. I struggle to see how reducing angling effort will improve fish numbers, surely 100% catch and release would be a better option?

Trout angling varied a lot last season with some very good days mingled in with poor enough fishing on all the loughs around here. Carra was very bad again of course but a few good trout were landed by locals who persevered. Mask was probably the pick of the bunch but again, the good fishing tended to be quite localised so in intimate knowledge of the water and a willingness to keep moving until you found fish paid off. Conn had a reasonable mayfly but was very poor after that while Cullin was surprisingly good.

My coarse fishing was equally disjointed. Some good days scattered among lots of middling sessions. I’m still learning and know my abilities are limited but it would be nice to be a bit more consistent. The coarse fishing was a large element of me completing my ’32’ journeys around the country in 2022, a full two years after I started out. I miss those trips badly and am now considering options for something along the same lines. We all need fresh challenges, don’t we?

My own circumstances changed so much over the year that it was not possible to settle into any sort of plan. A health scare caused all sorts of problems during the summer and, as is so often the case, brought some harsh realities sharply into focus. While my well-being is now less of an issue the ramifications are still being felt. A job in the midlands meant no time for fishing since September, a sad state of affairs which can’t go on much longer. Like so many of you, my life feels out of balance these days, being buffeted by events which are hard to control or even adapt to.

My return to the fly tying vice during ’22 has been a bit of a revelation for me of late. For many years I have tied flies in almost mechanical fashion, topping up boxes when I had too rather than tying just for the sake of of it. Working away form home changed all that though, in a most unexpected way. Initial ‘topping up’ morphed into taking a long, critical look at how and why I make flies and a realisation that I was actually bursting with ideas that needed to be tried out. Evenings in my digs after work are usually spent tying and the level of enjoyment I am getting from this rediscovered desire is enthralling. The balance of the winter nights will see me churning out more and more flies, not that I need any more but just out of the sheer pleasure of making them.

So here we are, the last day of an odd and unsettling year. War in Europe, still active pandemics, the collapse of UK, rampant inflation, global warming and extreme weather – the list of woes goes on and on. The dismal month of January is knocking at the door once again, a cold and cheerless time of the year. Yet spring with her warmth and hope is not so very far over the horizon. We can all battle through the remainder of this winter and use the time to get ready for a new season. It is easy to fall into mental lethargy these days but I am looking forward to time on the water next year. Long days drifting the big loughs will be few and far between by the look of it but I will be able to snatch short sessions here and there. I’m already making plans for a at least one trip back to visit Scotland and this time will be taking some rods with me.

Some of you have been asking about the upcoming book. It is currently in the production process and should be on the shelf of your local book shop by the middle of 2023. It turns out that writing a book is only the beginning of job!

Wishing you all a Happy and peaceful new year and tight lines to all my fellow anglers.