Now the angling is over for another year I will start to post some fly patterns and tying instructions on this blog. Here in Ireland we are quite conservative when it comes to different styles of fly but I use a wide range of different flies to meet the conditions so don’t expect just DabblersContinueContinue reading “Fly tying season”
Category Archives: fly tying
The Crunchie Shrimp
I first tied this fly more years ago than I care to remember. I had read somewhere about using sweet wrappers to form the bodies on flies and experimented with a couple of ideas. This was pre-multi-coloured holo tinsel days and a box of Cadbury’s chocolates provided some pink, blue and red shiny wrappers. NoneContinueContinue reading “The Crunchie Shrimp”
Gone for a Burton
There was a small tin box in my fly tying cabinet which caught my eye today. I don’t remember where it came from or why it was lodged under some squirrel tails, it just seemed to appear there. I must have used it ages ago and forgotten about it but today I opening it upContinueContinue reading “Gone for a Burton”
Spate river tactics, part 2
OK, so in the first part of this post I discussed my views on the basics of rod, reel and line for fishing small spate rivers here in Ireland. Today I want to talk about what we tie on the business end of our lines – the flies to use and how to fish themContinueContinue reading “Spate river tactics, part 2”
The Goat’s Toe
One of the great joys of salmon angling is the sight of a fly in the scissors of a fresh fish you have just landed. The hours/days/weeks and months of abject failure melt away when you see your fly in the corner of the king of fishes mouth. We all love the scenery, the companyContinueContinue reading “The Goat’s Toe”
Deer Deer – muddled thoughts
I am a big fan of deer hair. It is versatile and hard-wearing and of course it is buoyant. I first became aware of it when I was given the first three volumes of Tom Stewart’s ‘Fifty popular flies’ by my uncle for Christmas one year. I consumed the contents avidly and can still rememberContinueContinue reading “Deer Deer – muddled thoughts”
What you need in your box
The trout fishing on the rivers has taken off now and those of you who are lucky enough to be able to fish for wild Brownies in the West of Ireland should be on the river at every opportunity. A lot depends on the weather of course, but the next 6 weeks will provide usContinueContinue reading “What you need in your box”
The Iron Blue Dun
I want to discuss the Iron Blue Dun (it is too much hassle to write Iron Blue Dun all the time so I will refer to it as ‘IBD’ in this post). For such a tiny insect it has generated a huge amount of words in angling literature, and rightly so. From the earliest historyContinueContinue reading “The Iron Blue Dun”
The Gold Head Daddy
Most of the flies I describe on the blog are generally designed or used for Brownies, sea trout or salmon. We don’t have any rainbows around here so my boxes of lures and other rainbow trout flies lie gathering an accumulation of dust. Every now and then I take an urge to make up someContinueContinue reading “The Gold Head Daddy”
Scratching a dry itch
The fickle March weather has turned cold and wet again. The balmy few days we had last week have been swept away by mean winds that seek out every opening to send a chill through me as if to remind me of my advancing years. Looking back over the season so far the rod hasContinueContinue reading “Scratching a dry itch”
Claretbumbler 