March 2026 – Claretbumbler

Blood olive

The car has thrown a wobbly and has been off the road for more than a week and is still not fixed. What started out as a regular bearing problem escalated faster than Trumps botched invasion of Iran and it will be late next week before the ancient Toyota is back on the road. SourcingContinueContinue reading “Blood olive”

Circles

I want to go over an old dry fly pattern today but this takes us on a bit of circuitous journey, in many ways. Let me begin. Derek falls inhabits that strange land between client and friend. I met him years ago and he hired me to bring him out on lough Conn, initially forContinueContinue reading “Circles”

My fathers old rod

My mobile rang on Saturday afternoon as I was tidying up in the kitchen. Frank was on the other end, asking if I fancied some trolling on lough Conn the next day. After some deliberation, and checking herself had no plans for the Sabbath, we agreed it was worth a lash. It looked like itContinueContinue reading “My fathers old rod”

Dry day, dry net

The river Robe opened for trout fishing on Sunday but it was a yet another day of incessant rain. Monday was supposed to be a dry day but the cold wind brought in more rain from the south in the form of squally showers. I baulked at getting soaked and so delayed my first outingContinueContinue reading “Dry day, dry net”