I doubt if there is an Irish wet fly that has spawned more variations than the Green Peter. To be told by an angler he or she has caught a fish on a Green peter really tells you very little as there are so many different dressings. I have to hold my hand up atContinueContinue reading “Sooty Green Peter”
Category Archives: Fishing in Ireland
Fishin’ n’ drinkin’
I found my old hip flask yesterday. Nestling in the bottom of a bag of outdoor clothes, it required only a rudimentary clean to restore it to useable condition. I cannot for the life of me remember buying this flask and I suspect it was given to me as a present at some point. ItContinueContinue reading “Fishin’ n’ drinkin’”
Tying with Nils
At the vice again this morning with the record player getting a spin to keep my spirits up. Maybe a bit of Nils Lofgren to start with. I should explain that I spent yesterday sorting out the mind-numbing jumble of old vinyl and CDs that littered the spare room and got them into some sortContinueContinue reading “Tying with Nils”
Bits and bobs
A cold start to the day so I am in the spare room which is filled with my fishing gear, sorting out some tackle for pike fishing which I hope to indulge in next week. Hot mug of coffee steaming in my hand, loosely organised chaos around me. School run traffic snarls along outside, theContinueContinue reading “Bits and bobs”
Blue Pennel
A very simple fly. This is just a standard black pennel with just one difference. The body is made from blue floss instead of black. You can use fur instead of floss if you prefer. A simple but attractive pattern for your box A good fly for me for both browns and sea trout hereContinueContinue reading “Blue Pennel”
A new obsession
I am in the middle of lockdown now and I needed a break from tying flies. The boxes are slowly filling up and some new patterns are under development (more on these in later posts) but I wanted a bit of time away from the vice so I went through all my coarse fishing gearContinueContinue reading “A new obsession”
Rakes progress
The more I read about coarse fishing and the more I actually practice it, the more I realise that I need to alter not just how I fish but how I think about the fish themselves. Only by doing that will I become more successful. 2020 has seen me starting a journey to be aContinueContinue reading “Rakes progress”
Landing gear
No, not the wheels on a plane. A quick look at some of the implements I used over the years for transferring my hard earned prizes from water to hand. This is a part of angling which has changed radically over the past few decades as our attitudes to the quarry have altered. The AberdeenshireContinueContinue reading “Landing gear”
2020 Beltra boat lift
You all know by now we lift the boats out of the water on the Glenisland coop side of Lough Beltra. Here are some photos of the efforts this morning on a beautiful autumn day in the west of Ireland.
Lough Levally
Close to mighty Lough Conn there sits another, much smaller body of water. Pretty well unknown except to the locals, lough Levally is home to a stock of pike. I’ve known about this lough since I moved to the area 23 years ago but have never fished it. Pike have never excited me as aContinueContinue reading “Lough Levally”
Claretbumbler 