The final link

I found this old spool of tippet material and it got me thinking about the huge changes in the line we use these days compared with when I started fishing in the late 1960’s. When I began to fly fish for trout the only line available to make leaders was nylon, and some of thatContinueContinue reading “The final link”

An easy mayfly pattern

May came and went with unreasonable haste. I hardly wet a line during the merry month, a combination of work commitments and Mediterranean weather kept me occupied and the fish unmolested. Reports suggest the mayfly was late but is still hatching in good numbers as I write in the first week of June and asContinueContinue reading “An easy mayfly pattern”

The lost dry flies, mystery solved

I bet you were all worried. Did you lost sleep over the mystery of the missing fly box full of dry spinners. Was there an act of criminality? The revenge of a fellow angler, envious of my deadly spinners? Or perhaps something altogether darker. Was Big Brother at work, taking these subversive patterns for theContinueContinue reading “The lost dry flies, mystery solved”

Small river fly fishing

Tackling small streams can prove a challenge for anglers who are more used to wide open spaces and plenty of elbow room for casting. Here in the west of Ireland we have a number of small streams, most of which are never fished, yet contain a reasonable head of wild Brown Trout. Rivers like theContinueContinue reading “Small river fly fishing”

Quiet day on Conn

Out for a few hours on Conn today but the lake was extremely quiet. No signs of any salmon and very few trout moving to a small hatch of mayfly. I trolled for a bit to start with as there was very little wind. One fish gave the rod a heafty thump but didn’t hangContinueContinue reading “Quiet day on Conn”

Latest angling news from Mayo

We are into the last week of May and the fishing has finally started to pick up. The salmon are still scarce but  Carrowmore lake is reporting up to 11 salmon per day when conditions allow fishing to take place. Beltra is ticking over nicely with a steady stream of 8 – 12 pound fish.ContinueContinue reading “Latest angling news from Mayo”

Conn tricks – catching trout on sandwiches

The word on the street was that there were salmon being caught in Lough Conn so I decided to head out today and give it an auld lash. My boat is on Cullin so it meant driving it across Cullin, under the bridge at Pontoon and motoring half way up lough Conn. The journey wasContinueContinue reading “Conn tricks – catching trout on sandwiches”