The couple of hours between 3 and 5pm on a Saturday afternoon usually find me in the same place. At the fly tying vice slurping endless mugs of coffee, tying flies while listening to the football on the radio. Not for me the fancy-shmansy television coverage; I prefer the old school approach to soccer. IfContinueContinue reading “A new pattern”
Category Archives: Fishing in Ireland
Fathach glas (Green giant)
The fly I am writing about today is not especially unique. Indeed, many of you reading this post possibly have one or two similar patterns in your box of dry mayflys. What singles this one out is one thing only – it’s SIZE. Let me transport you back in time to the crystal clear watersContinueContinue reading “Fathach glas (Green giant)”
A day at the Fair
It’s been 3 years since I last visited the Irish Fly Fair I reckon, maybe even longer. So this year Ben and I decided to head down to Salthill and have a mooch around the stalls. Not that we really needed to buy anything you understand. I am looking around for a replacement for myContinueContinue reading “A day at the Fair”
Wish list
It’s all over for 2017 and I am stuck in another hotel room a long way from home, thinking about next season already. It is a nice hotel, comfortable and warm with an excellent menu in the restaurant downstairs. However, it is not home and so it pales when measured against my abode in theContinueContinue reading “Wish list”
A Claret Shrimp
Storm Brian is blowing a hooley outside so it felt like a good afternoon to tie up a few flies. I was in Ballina earlier and the Moy is huge and brown, barrelling under the town’s bridges in welter of foam and debris. The high water got me thinking about the colour of patterns IContinueContinue reading “A Claret Shrimp”
Octopus variation for you to tie
Born here in the west of Ireland, the original Octopus has spawned a huge number of variations, some more effective than others. Very much in the camp of ‘pulling’ patterns, these bright concoctions do good work over deep water when the browns gather is loose shoals. That is not to say they don’t catch troutContinueContinue reading “Octopus variation for you to tie”
A wee wiggly thing from Sligo
We were in Sligo at the weekend and I purchased a couple of lures. One of them is a straight forward gold and silver spoon with a hammered finish on the gold side. It should work for salmon I guess. Called a ‘Mozzi’ and made up in Omagh. The other one is unlike anything IContinueContinue reading “A wee wiggly thing from Sligo”
A look back in…………….disappointment
It’s over. The trout season that is and much of the salmon fishing too. The 2017 season coasted to its finale last weekend and, for me at least, it was a season to forget. Yesterday we fetched the boat in and over the next couple of weekends we will repeat the process with everyone else’sContinueContinue reading “A look back in…………….disappointment”
Griesed lightening
Where has the season gone? Work has been frenetic and I’ve covered many hard miles criss-crossing the island between Mayo and Kildare since mid-August with little time left to pick up a rod. Now here we are near the end of September and the season is almost over. Looking back there have been scant opportunitiesContinueContinue reading “Griesed lightening”
Gone for good
÷ It is never a good sound. Sometimes it is a loud, alarming crack, sometimes it’s a grating, snapping sound and then again it can be a deadly, barely audible ‘phut’. However it manifests itself the noise of your rod breaking is disturbing and emotional. We anglers grow so attached to those lengths of carbonContinueContinue reading “Gone for good”
Claretbumbler 