March 20th marks the start of the salmon season on Ireland’s Lough Beltra. If you are one of the lucky few who will be fishing the lough this spring here are a few pointers which may help you to connect with one of those shiny springers. Be prepared for the weather! Being cold or wetContinueContinue reading “Tips for Beltra”
Category Archives: salmon fishing
A stretch in the days
The days are growing longer again as winter begins to lose her grip on Ireland. I took a drive around North Mayo today for a look around. The weather was cool but bright and (most importantly) dry. Water levels are up due to the heavy rain the west has endured lately. That is good, theContinueContinue reading “A stretch in the days”
Toby, Sinky and the net
Not really about fishing at all, but I thought this tale of modern life was worth the telling………. eBay is great, isn’t it! Any old tat turns up on it and if you are like me then simply trolling through the various categories is entertaining enough without even making a purchase. There are bargains galoreContinueContinue reading “Toby, Sinky and the net”
Kynochs and other plugs
A confession first, I don’t know much about Kynochs and their kin. You see they were never really part of my armoury when I fished in Scotland and they are far from common here in Ireland. I am becoming more interested in them now though as I seem to be doing more and more trollingContinueContinue reading “Kynochs and other plugs”
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”
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”
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”
Difficult day
Do you want the good news or the bad news? The good news is that there are fresh salmon running into Lough Conn. The bad news is they resisted all efforts to winkle them out today! My excuse for the day is the wind, or should I say the almost total lack of it. OverheadContinueContinue reading “Difficult day”
Claretbumbler 