A good friend and regular client, Derek Woods is down in Patagonia at the moment dong a bit of trout fishing. He sent me some snaps of the action down there and it looks like he is having a whale of a time in the 32 degrees heat. Strangely, his most productive fly is oneContinueContinue reading “A well travelled fly”
Author Archives: Claretbumbler
Ethics of angling technology
My endless rantings about about the injustices of modern life seem to consume me these days. I’m aware this makes me sound like a particularly mean-spirited curmudgeon but I genuinely feel this society we live in is on the wrong path in so many ways. Until recently my moans have been directed towards those outsideContinueContinue reading “Ethics of angling technology”
Curlybums
Known to most anglers as the yelllow owl, I still call those small, brown caddis with an abdomen the colour of lemon curd by their Scottish soliloquy. Curlybums were a great favourite on Loch Leven many years ago, and indeed they may still be for all I know. Summer evenings were when these flies hatchedContinueContinue reading “Curlybums”
Lighting
Growing old does have some benefits. More rational thoughts due to experience, a sense of self worth, an inner calmness which was so obviously lacking in a younger me are all examples I can point to. The rest of it is just crap though. Aches and pains, slowing down in virtually every physical function, maleContinueContinue reading “Lighting”
Never heard of this one!
As regular readers know, I have a habit of buying up joblots of old fishing tackle and then spending hours of my free time sifting through the detritus looking for bits I can use or salvage. This harmless idiosyncrasy keeps my amused and on the odd occasion turns up little gems of old gear. AsContinueContinue reading “Never heard of this one!”
Fly sizes
It’s December, and fly tying season is now in full swing for me. The run up to Christmas is usually when I do the bulk of my tying as I try to distract myself from the rampant consumerism around me. To be perfectly honest, due to a total lack of any sort of fishing forContinueContinue reading “Fly sizes”
The dark side
Most weekday evenings I am to be found at an old desk in my digs here in the boggy Irish midlands. As the winter weather swings between sodden gales and pin-sharp frosts, I am inside making flies for the coming season. Dabblers, bumbles, Wulffs and the rest of the usual suspects have rapidly filled myContinueContinue reading “The dark side”
Fly lines
Some thoughts on fly lines….. Fly fishers used to have it easy when it came to picking what fly line to use. In the old days you had a silk line, that was it, just one line, there was nothing else. Hours of work went into maintaining your silk line as it required cleaning andContinueContinue reading “Fly lines”
What is it (part 2)
A lot of you were just as intrigued as I am about the identity of the indigo blue feathers on a patch of skin which recently came into my possession. The shape of the feathers were nothing like any domestic fowl, so whatever it was it came from the wild. I set about tracking itContinueContinue reading “What is it (part 2)”
What is it?
Fly tying season is in full swing for me now and most weekday evenings are spent at the vice. When I am busy like this I go through a heck of a lot of materials, meaning I am regularly topping up the most commonly consumed feathers and hairs. While putting together a shopping list earlierContinueContinue reading “What is it?”
Claretbumbler 