Category Archives: Fishing in Ireland

Killdevil Spider (great name for a fly)

What a name! ‘The Killdevil Spider’. It’s like something out of a 1950’s ‘B’movie. In practice it is a confusing little pattern which some anglers swear by and other rate as highly as Jeremy Clarkson’s diplomacy skills. Personally I think this is one which is misunderstood (the fly, not Clarkson) and you should make aContinueContinue reading “Killdevil Spider (great name for a fly)”

First casts

The morning drifted past today with no chance of sneaking off to the river, but after lunch I grabbed the chance to fish for an hour on the River Robe. The weather was horribly bright but the river was running at a good level and colour after recent showers. It was after 3pm before IContinueContinue reading “First casts”

The Snowdrop

It is freezing outside this morning, a heavy frost overnight has given way to a bright cold morning here in Castlebar. Car windscreens are being scraped and morning travel news is full of warning to take care on slippery roads. A trip to the river is in my plans for today but I am inContinueContinue reading “The Snowdrop”

What to use in March?

Early season mean low water temperatures and not much surface activity so my normal approach to trouting on rivers at this time of year is either upstream nymphing or wet fly fished up/down/across/anyway I can get it in the water. Let’s start with the nymph. I fish almost exclusively with bead-headed nymphs these days. ThereContinueContinue reading “What to use in March?”

Black Doctor

I think I would right in saying this is a fly which does not get used as much as it used to. More modern patterns has taken its place on the cast of most anglers and it is slowly but surely slipping into oblivion. This is a shame as the Black Doctor can still foolContinueContinue reading “Black Doctor”

The Beltra Badger

Picture the scene, you are drifting on a salmon lough in the West of Ireland. It is a bright, breezy day with a little high cloud and the water levels are good after recent rain. There is a bit more sun than you would like so what fly do you reach for? It has toContinueContinue reading “The Beltra Badger”

Fly patterns – the Claret Bumble

Since I tie lots of flies and use a small proportion of them when actually fishing so it seems only sensible for me to show you all the patterns that I and my fishin’ buddies use. Let’s start with the Claret Bumble since that is where the name for this blog comes from. I useContinueContinue reading “Fly patterns – the Claret Bumble”