I attended a funeral yesterday, the mother of a friend had passed away at the grand age of 94 years. The sadness, the loss, the pain of grief were all there, etched on the faces of the close ones left behind. These occasions are a part of the cycle of life of course, but IContinueContinue reading “Life, fishing and all that good stuff”
Author Archives: Claretbumbler
Planning for the new season
Don’t you just love technology? OK, so it kind of takes over our lives sometimes and swallows up too much of our free time (if we let it), but on the whole technology enriches our everyday lives. Here in the West of Ireland I use Google Earth to look for likely places to fish. MuchContinueContinue reading “Planning for the new season”
Flies for Lough Conn, part 3
I hope you are enjoying this series of posts about the flies I recommend for Lough Conn. Today I will take a look at patterns which fish well from May onwards, an exciting period for us fishers in Western Ireland. The Lake Olives will still be hatching and the Mayfly will start to appear anyContinueContinue reading “Flies for Lough Conn, part 3”
2016
I start a new and time-hungry job later this month, meaning my angling will be severely curtailed all Spring. I need to face up to little angling this side of the Mayfly other than occasional outings on Sundays. The new job is close to home, so the amount of long distance travel and periods away fromContinueContinue reading “2016”
Flies for Lough Conn, part 2
Following on from a previous post I will discuss a few more patterns which have worked on Lough Conn for me over the years. Malloch’s Favourite Firstly we will take a look at a Scottish fly which has worked for me during the olive hatch. Each spring the Western lakes get good hatches of lakeContinueContinue reading “Flies for Lough Conn, part 2”
Dredging is not the answer
It is raining today. It rained yesterday and the day before that. The countryside around here in Co. Mayo is totally waterlogged and serious flooding is occurring as I write this post. People’s livelihoods and homes are threatened by this prolonged period of wet weather and they are understandably angry with a government who theyContinueContinue reading “Dredging is not the answer”
Clousers
The weather started off fine this morning but shortly after Nessie and I had completed our walk in the woods our latest weather system hit Mayo with a vengence. ‘Frank’ is now blowing a hoolie and depositing an impressive quantity of rain on us, so I took to the vice in the afternoon and tiedContinueContinue reading “Clousers”
It’s that time of the year
I have never liked Christmas. Even as a kid I found the whole thing a waste of time and once I had discovered fishing this time of the year became unbearable. No fishing to be had, terrible weather and still the seemingly never-ending month of January to suffer until the new season opens. With nothingContinueContinue reading “It’s that time of the year”
Flies for Lough Conn, part 1
Every year hundreds of anglers from every corner of the world travel to County Mayo to fish Lough Conn. I used to be one of the hoard and can remember the intense excitement preparing for the trips, that deep rooted anticipation of each detail of how the fishing would be. Perhaps the greatest thrill wasContinueContinue reading “Flies for Lough Conn, part 1”
Invicta variants
Possibly one of the most effective all-round wet flies every concocted, the Invicta will catch trout from the first day of the season to the last. Invented in the mid nineteenth century by a chap called Ogden, it has spawned a wide range of variations and I want to share a couple of those withContinueContinue reading “Invicta variants”
Claretbumbler 