Always think of safety when you are going fishing on the big loughs. Every year people lose their life on these dangerous waters, often due to not taking the proper precautions. Check the weather forecast before heading out and make your plans accordingly. Wear a lifejacket at all times when on or near the water.ContinueContinue reading “Safety and security”
Author Archives: Claretbumbler
Between Ciara and Dennis
This craik of ‘naming’ windy days is a nonsense to me. I live in the west of Ireland and guess what? It gets wet and windy during the winter. The near constant weather warnings and maps with shaded areas where it is going to rain are over the top in my opinion. Anyway, Ciara soakedContinueContinue reading “Between Ciara and Dennis”
Pearly Claret Bumble
My unbridled enthusiasm for the Claret Bumble is well known to you all, it has been one of the most consistent flies for me over the years in all sorts of places and for all kinds of game fish. I was rummaging in a fly box the other day and came across a variant ofContinueContinue reading “Pearly Claret Bumble”
Sunburst Octopus
A few years ago nobody had heard of the colour ‘sunburst’ but now it is widely used in pulling patterns. I tie a version of the Octopus using sunburst colours so I thought I would share it with you. I like to tie this pattern on a size 10 heavyweight hook. That is because IContinueContinue reading “Sunburst Octopus”
Goodbye old friend
Since I bought my shiny new Honda outboard last spring my venerable 9.9 Johnson has lain unused in the shed. With a brand new engine it seemed highly unlikely the old one would ever be used by me again so I decided to sell it. Better someone else getting some good from it than leavingContinueContinue reading “Goodbye old friend”
Fly tying season
At this time of the year we fly tyers are as busy as beavers, crouched over the vice winding and snipping to our hearts content. After a couple of very quiet seasons I had little need to top up my fly boxes until the plan to fish all 32 counties was hatched. Now I hadContinueContinue reading “Fly tying season”
Into the light
Let me say straight away that I am a dyed-in-the-wool game fisher. Brought up on river fishing with fly and spinner I missed out on coarse fishing completely all my life, up until now. I’m on solid ground when it comes to chasing trout and salmon and have a reasonably firm grasp of the basicsContinueContinue reading “Into the light”
Winged PT
Here is a useful little fly that does not get the attention it deserves. I use it on the smaller loughs around here where it does well when the trout are taking midges. Most of you will be very familiar with patterns such as the PT nymph or the hackled Pheasant Tail. These staples ofContinueContinue reading “Winged PT”
32 – Introduction
Having decided that I will tackle trying to catch a fish in each of Ireland’s 32 counties I now need to sit down a begin planning the whole thing. This is going to be a large part of the fun, just researching various places to fish a figuring out what I need to use, howContinueContinue reading “32 – Introduction”
32
Ideas churn around in my mind as if stirred in some kind of witch’s cauldron. Most are flights of fancy which never get off the ground but sometimes, just occasionally, an idea grows roots and turns into actions. 32 is one of those few notions which is becoming a reality. I want to take aContinueContinue reading “32”
Claretbumbler 