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Change of scene

For the past few weeks I have been out chasing trout on the big lakes, either fishing myself or boating other anglers. Today I decided it was time for a change of scene. After sorting out a couple of tasks at home I headed off for lovely Leitrim to try my luck on a small […]

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32 – Episode 25, Tyrone

Slap bang in the middle of Ulster lies the old kingdom of Tir O’ne, modern day Tyrone, the largest of the Northern Ireland counties. The O’Neill clan ruled these lands until the flight of the Earls in 1607, marking the end of Gaelic lordship in Ireland. This is archetypal Northern Ireland countryside with neat, well-tended […]

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Shorts

Four short, random pieces which have been lying around on my laptop. Hope you enjoy this eclectic mix of unrelated fishing topics. Donegal Blues Friday 13th, I should have known not to try anything adventurous on this day! A plan for the day ahead, detailed and coordinated, fell apart after a couple of early morning […]

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Raindrops keep falling on my head

The fire is warming the room and more importantly is starting to dry my sodden clothes which are unceremoniously draped over a pair of drying racks arranged around it. I fished for an hour today and got soaked, the first day of real rain we have had for ages and I had to be out […]

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Messing about

‘When the weather is fine, you know it’s a sign, for messing about on the river’ (Josh MacRea) Is it just me or do most of us find ways to spend more money? A recent set of events which on the face of it saved me money have in fact led me down the road […]

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Cloondroon

The last couple of days has seen a change in the weather with hard frosts at night but lovely bright days with light winds. I had initially planned to go trout fishing on the river Robe but the cold meant it would be unlikely the early stoneflies would hatch in any numbers so I headed […]

Join the club

On a windy day last weekend I tried fishing lough Aclaureen near Tuam. I failed to register even a single bite there and so headed off to try my luck elsewhere, eventually spending a couple of desperately cold and windswept hours on one of the Castlereagh lakes near Irishtown. On the way there I checked […]

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Winters tale

For the first time in two years I was in a pub last night, partaking of pints of Guinness, first in Johnnie HcHale’s and then Paddy Moran’s. Very pleasant it was too at the time but this morning it was a bit of a struggle to get out of the bed. I eventually sorted myself […]

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Float repairs

Messing about again When I started out coarse fishing a couple of years ago the only floats I owned were a few large Avons which had given sterling service when trotting for grayling on the mighty river Tay back in the eighties. These large cock bodied floats were required over there to handle the heavy […]

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New rod

I don’t get those ‘unboxing’ videos which are all over the place. I am obviously missing something here as they are incredibly popular but I will spare you the unboxing of my new purchase. When I looked at this 14 foot Shakespeare feeder rod in the shop it seemed to be an awful lot of […]