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”
Category Archives: fly tying
Level 5
It comes as no great shock but it is never the less desperately disappointing that Ireland has returned to level 5 restrictions to battle the covid-19 pandemic. The harsh lessons of earlier this year were largely ignored by a sizable minority of the population and we are now all paying the price for their stupidity.ContinueContinue reading “Level 5”
Day 6 – Peach Palmer
I have been fortunate enough to fish for trout in the Orkney islands a couple of times and can highly recommend them to any stillwater trout angler. The fish can be free rising and the islands are a delight to visit with so much to do and see there. The last time I was thereContinueContinue reading “Day 6 – Peach Palmer”
Palamino midge
This is a pattern I used very successfully on Lough Corrib for many years when I kept a boat at Salthouse Bay. Early in the season there were great hatches of Duckfly in the bay and the trout would feed avidly on them. This fly caught me some great brown trout so here is howContinueContinue reading “Palamino midge”
Day 5 – the Olive Wulff
Wulff patterns are widely used here in Ireland during the mayfly hatch. Normally tied on size 10 hooks, a huge range of patterns sporting the signature split hair wings catch trout during the greendrake hatch and the falls of spinners every season. There can’t be many Irish lough anglers who don’t have a few WulffContinueContinue reading “Day 5 – the Olive Wulff”
Day 4, my Olive Partridge
A nice simple fly for you all today but one which has caught me an inordinate amount of wild brownies over the last 50 years or so. Based on the ever popular Partridge and Orange this wee spider is a good fly on the river in springtime when large dark olives are hatching. I originallyContinueContinue reading “Day 4, my Olive Partridge”
Locked down, day 1
I was due to be fishing Carrowmore today but that got cancelled as this is the first day of lockdown here in Ireland. We all have to stay at home and only venture out for the bare necessities of life. The new rules are in force at least for the next two weeks and itContinueContinue reading “Locked down, day 1”
Mayo Bumble
The Mayo Bumble used to be a very popular fly during the mayfly season here in the west of Ireland but its popularity seems to have waned of recent years. I don’t understand why this is as it is a grand fly when the yellow drakes are hatching out in a good wave. As BumbleContinueContinue reading “Mayo Bumble”
Recommended flies for Mask
After a spell in England during the mid-noughties I returned to Ireland and came to live in Ballinrobe. During that time I kept a boat at Cushlough, learning a little bit about the trout fishing around that part of Lough Mask. Previously (we are talking the late ‘90’s) I kept a boat on the otherContinueContinue reading “Recommended flies for Mask”
Pearly Claret Bumble
My unbridled enthusiasm for the Claret Bumble is well known to you all, it has been one of the most consistent flies for me over the years in all sorts of places and for all kinds of game fish. I was rummaging in a fly box the other day and came across a variant ofContinueContinue reading “Pearly Claret Bumble”
Claretbumbler 