Tactics for Mayo salmon loughs

Carrowmore and Beltra It is that time of the year again, the salmon season is opening here in the west. I want to just go over a few points which may help visitors to catch the elusive fish on a couple of the western lakes. I know I have touched on this subject before onContinueContinue reading “Tactics for Mayo salmon loughs”

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 checkedContinueContinue reading “Join the club”

Blowing away the cobwebs

Tuam, brought to the world’s attention many years ago thanks to the Saw Doctors, lies to the south of where I live, a little way down the famed N17. The grass is indeed very green and hemmed in by old stone walls but it was not the pastures of north county Galway I was goingContinueContinue reading “Blowing away the cobwebs”

Small devons

Confession, I found this in my ‘draft posts’ folder. I was simply going to delete it but then thought it was just a saunter down memory lane, so some of you may enjoy the read. Some seriously old minnows We all have them, those tiny metal devon minnows which used to be so popular. I’mContinueContinue reading “Small devons”

Simple Beltra Badger

I am guessing that most of you reading this are already very familiar with the Beltra Badger salmon fly. Although it is a pretty easy fly to tie in its original form I make a simplified version for tying on small hooks such as a size 10 trout fly hook. This makes a very usefulContinueContinue reading “Simple Beltra Badger”

Favourite Silvers

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”

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”