Some of my favorite silver bodied flies We fly tyers live in what is the golden age of artificial flies. Every conceivable material is readily available and at affordable prices. New materials proliferate every year and so new, innovative patterns are devised to use this plethora of plastics and threads. I now that I nowContinueContinue reading “Favourite Silvers”
Category Archives: Fishing in Ireland
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 myselfContinueContinue reading “Winters tale”
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 heavyContinueContinue reading “Float repairs”
Getting over Saturday
Burnley managed to scrape a draw at home to Watford on Saturday evening but being realistic my team are bound for the Championship next season. We had a good run in the Premiership I guess but I worry about our financial position and how we are going to rebuild an aging team. Being a ClaretsContinueContinue reading “Getting over Saturday”
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 ofContinueContinue reading “New rod”
Ramblings of a restless angler
May I apologise in advance, this is just a random collection of thoughts with no real structure or purpose! This is what happens when an angler is not fishing and has time to think. I promise my next post will be more focused. I was looking at some gear in my local tackle shop lastContinueContinue reading “Ramblings of a restless angler”
Sunday morning
The trip to Kildare the other weekend lit a fire inside me. It smoldered through the week, a glowing ember inside which I could not extinguish. All my angling senses told me that this is January and there very few fish to be caught but still that orange glow grew stronger and by Saturday nightContinueContinue reading “Sunday morning”
32 – Episode 19, Kildare
To the south and east of Dublin stretches the wide flat plains of the Pale. I am no Irish history buff but the term ‘the pale’ seems to date from the middle ages and signified the area under English control. The borders of the pale fluctuated wildly over the years but Kildare was pretty muchContinueContinue reading “32 – Episode 19, Kildare”
Fishing the Yellow river
Of course you all have heard about the Yellow River, one of the great rivers of the world. For over 5000 kilometers it flows from west to east across the ever changing face of China, providing transport, water, power and irrigation for millions of people. Also known as ‘China’s Sorrow’ for its propensity to floodContinueContinue reading “Fishing the Yellow river”
January fly tying sessions
Still busy at the vice these days as I add some more trout flies ahead of the coming season. The Kate McLaren or Katie as it is often referred to these days needs no introduction but like may other tyers I change the colour of the head hackle to suit different conditions. When fishing forContinueContinue reading “January fly tying sessions”
Claretbumbler 