I am frequently asked for salmon fly patterns for use on Carrowmore. I generally give the same answer – whatever you have in the box that you have confidence in on a size 8 hook. That may sound like a cop out but the truth is that I have seen salmon caught on so manyContinueContinue reading “Holiday weekend (2) Two more patterns for Carrowmore Lake”
Category Archives: sea trout fishing
Beltra boat maintenance
One of the tasks to be undertaken each winter is to sand and varnish the woodwork on the fleet of angling boats for the Glenisland Coop. The way we manage this work is to identify the scruffiest boats and leaving those ones inside the boathouse to dry out over the winter. The rest of boatsContinueContinue reading “Beltra boat maintenance”
Cure for a slipping drag
You know what I am like with reels. Of all my fishing gear it is the fly reels that I love the most. I own far too many and most of them see little use but I am still a sucker for a bargain reel. That’s why I bought a second hand System 2 aContinueContinue reading “Cure for a slipping drag”
Worth a read
I found this online and think you should take a read. Sea trout are still under huge pressure due to the filthy business of salmon farming and these wonderful sporting fish are now extremely rare in most west coast rivers. http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/michael-viney-how-trout-disappeared-from-my-favourite-river-1.2962311#.WJ7wfb2C_9g.twitter I fish the Bunowen sometimes, a classic spate river which should provide good sportContinueContinue reading “Worth a read”
The final link
I found this old spool of tippet material and it got me thinking about the huge changes in the line we use these days compared with when I started fishing in the late 1960’s. When I began to fly fish for trout the only line available to make leaders was nylon, and some of thatContinueContinue reading “The final link”
Super Daddy
We are well into the month November so it is high time to get the fly tying gear out. Let’s start off with by tying a daddy imitation. With so many different ones to pick from there hardly seems to be any requirement for a new pattern but this is one which I made upContinueContinue reading “Super Daddy”
Sea trout flies for Beltra
Work has bottled me up for much of the year so far and there is no sign of that changing in the near future. To be honest the recent warm, dry spell all but shut down salmon angling around here with the rivers reduced to mere trickles between the stones. Some thundery rain has fallenContinueContinue reading “Sea trout flies for Beltra”
The Soldier Palmer
I like old patterns. Something nostalgic is awakened when you tie on one of the classic flies from the last century or the century before. That link with the past offers reassurance and knowledge if a fly has been around for this long it must catch fish. So my fly boxes bulge with old-stagersContinueContinue reading “The Soldier Palmer”
Clousers
The weather started off fine this morning but shortly after Nessie and I had completed our walk in the woods our latest weather system hit Mayo with a vengence. ‘Frank’ is now blowing a hoolie and depositing an impressive quantity of rain on us, so I took to the vice in the afternoon and tiedContinueContinue reading “Clousers”
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”
Claretbumbler 