Afraid this is a rambling and at times barely coherent tale which spans decades and continents but at the end I will give you a really good salmon fly pattern. Trout and Salmon magazine was an integral part of my angling education. When I was still living at home with my parents my bedroom hadContinueContinue reading “Near the end”
Category Archives: Fishing in Ireland
Holiday Monday
I had hoped to fish on Sunday but in truth I was exhausted so took some time out to rest and gather my strength. Ghillieing on Saturday followed by a couple of drinks that night proved to be too much for my covid damaged body and so I made flies and drank coffee while listeningContinueContinue reading “Holiday Monday”
My favourite dry mayflies
As a young fella back in Scotland my passion was fishing the dry fly. Summer evening saw me wading the rivers Don or Urie, flicking size 16 dries at rising trout until the light faded. Just before it got too dark I would take off the dry fly and change to a cast of sedgesContinueContinue reading “My favourite dry mayflies”
Clare river
The fickle Irish weather scrunched up my weekend plans and tossed them in the bin. I was been due to take two anglers out on lough Beltra on Saturday but the high winds of last week had melted away like April snow to present me with a flat calm by early this morning. We exchangedContinueContinue reading “Clare river”
My favourite mayflies.
I know it is only April but the merry month of May will soon be upon us so with that in mind here are a few of my favourite Mayfly patterns. My own fly boxes are full of old masters and new patterns and most of them will catch a fish or two. Finding consistentContinueContinue reading “My favourite mayflies.”
32 – Episode 20, Louth
Again, a county I know very little about as I have only been there on business or driven through it. Zooming up and down the M1 had done little to enhance my knowledge of the angling potential around the county. Louth occupies that north east corner of the country between Dublin and the border. IContinueContinue reading “32 – Episode 20, Louth”
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 roadContinueContinue reading “Messing about”
PC fishing
In this case ‘PC’ stands for ‘post Covid’. I contracted the dreaded lurgy last week. Thursday was the day it played its hand and I became quite ill that night, forcing the cancellation of two days on the loughs which I had been so looking forward to. Sleep was impossible, uncontrollable shakes were followed byContinueContinue reading “PC fishing”
Casts and retrieves
Some thoughts on traditional boat fishing Casting and retrieving in traditional lough style. Now here is a subject we fly anglers can really get our teeth into! As someone who fishes a fair bit with other boat partners I get to see first-hand the wide variation of casts and retrieves employed. Experienced anglers find whatContinueContinue reading “Casts and retrieves”
On the mend
As always, I was late. A couple of rod repairs had to be done before the season started. It is March now and anglers are out in force once again yet I had still not done my duty and repaired the rods. As a youth I loved making fishing rods and eschewed beautifully crafted Hardy’sContinueContinue reading “On the mend”
Claretbumbler 