A confession first – this is not one of my own patterns. It was devised by my boat partner and top salmon angler Ben Baynes a few seasons ago. Since then, it has become a firm favourite with anglers on loughs such as Beltra and Carrowmor. As shrimp flies go it is pretty simple toContinueContinue reading “Golden Olive Shrimp”
Category Archives: Fishing in Ireland
After the rain
The weather Gods have pissed on us for more than a week now and the county of Mayo is sodden. Rivulets of water are still running across roads and the fields are flooded. Most of the rivers around here have burst their banks and spilled their contents across the landscape. And amidst this deluge we hopedContinueContinue reading “After the rain”
Pass my hammer, it is getting cold
It’s mid-November and the year is showing its age. Leaves clog the drains around the house now and the heating boiler had to be coaxed into life again with some deft hammer blows to the pump housing and a liberal stream of expletives. We were blessed with an unusually calm period of high pressure duringContinueContinue reading “Pass my hammer, it is getting cold”
Back to the rain
A couple of windy, rainy days this week seem to herald the onset of winter properly and the forecast is depressingly ominous with high winds and even some snow promised before the week is out. I went out on the Cashel River one more time today, more in homage to the past season than withContinueContinue reading “Back to the rain”
Apres fishing
Angling in Ireland has many facets, some challenging but most pleasant and convivial. I want to talk about one of these additional joyous addendums to our sport today, the Irish pub. I expect most (if not all) of you have visited a so called Irish pub close to you. They have, after all, polluted theContinueContinue reading “Apres fishing”
Aberdonian spends Three Euro!!!!!!!
While mooching around in a small tackle shop down an alley in Athlone the other day I happened upon a basket full of odd and ends of tackle sporting the tempting sign ‘half price or less’. So I plunged into the task of sifting through the assorted rigs, floats, baits and sinkers. Luminous poppers, bouncingContinueContinue reading “Aberdonian spends Three Euro!!!!!!!”
Do Pike migrate?
To kill some time and at the very least get out in the fresh air for a few hours I have been Pike fishing on three recent occasions. Results have been steadily declining from 10 fish down to 8 and then only 5 on my last outing. That is fair enough, but the really interestingContinueContinue reading “Do Pike migrate?”
October Piking
I snuck off for an afternoon’s piking today. The weather was so mild it seemed a pity to spend it indoors so I gathered up some gear and borrowed a boat for a few hours. It always amazes me how much gear I require for even just a short outing. Engine, fuel tank, tackle boxesContinueContinue reading “October Piking”
The Blair Spoon Project
So I have a few old Blair Spoons knocking around in my tackle box. Not those poor copies which you buy online these days; no – these are the real thing, hand made on Royal Deeside. I bought them when I was in my teens and they gave me a few salmon fished slow and deepContinueContinue reading “The Blair Spoon Project”
All hands on deck
At the end of each season the boats have to be taken out of the lake and safely stored for the winter. Today was the day for this task on the Glenisland Coop side of Lough Beltra. Yesterdays heavy rain had passed and the evening was cool and bright as the club members gathered onContinueContinue reading “All hands on deck”
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