Choosing an outboard

old Evinrude Years ago getting around on the big western loughs was a straight forward business, you hired one of the local boatmen who would row you around all day for a pittance. Tough, weather beaten lads with arms like Popeye and who knew their lough intimately. Many a tale is told of the oldContinue reading "Choosing an outboard"

Out of Cleggan

Autumn is usually a good time of the year for sea fishing off the Irish coast so when I was offered a place on a small boat fishing out of Cleggan I jumped at the chance. It has been a couple of years since I did any saltwater fishing and this would be a niceContinue reading "Out of Cleggan"

Silvers

I had a few hours of free time so headed off to county Leitrim once more, this time to fish on the canal near Keshcarrigan. This wee village is almost surrounded by lakes and is a coarse fisher’s heaven. Just for a change though the canal appealed to me so the long road east byContinue reading "Silvers"

Late season on Conn

September on the western lakes can be an enigma, days when the trout seem to be suicidal are tempered with ones when they fail to respond in what appear to be perfect conditions. Years ago we could look forward to the last late hatches of olives in some bays and of course a fall ofContinue reading "Late season on Conn"

Surf n’ Turf

Surf n' Turf - That is a meal where your plate is filled with both beef and fish isn't it? Read on dear readers, read on..... I unexpectedly had a day to myself so I took off for a few hours on a tench lake in Roscommon. Lowfield lies close to the Shannon and reputedlyContinue reading "Surf n’ Turf"

Strange times

13th September 2021. Not a breath of wind this morning. Dry brown leaves drop vertically to the ground in the still air. My planned fly fishing outing is a washout, sitting becalmed in a boat is not my idea of fun. Instead I don wellies, grab the fork and head down the garden to theContinue reading "Strange times"

Scratching the itch one last time

The rains came yesterday, heavy drenching showers under steely grey skies and lit by numerous flashes. They had been promised of course so there was no great surprise when the deluge started. What to do today? Chase salmon on the Moy maybe? September salmon fishing is always a chancy business here in the West ofContinue reading "Scratching the itch one last time"

Lough Na Blaithi

Thursday. I should be out on Conn or Mask at this time of the year but I wanted another crack at the coarse fish so I headed over to Roscommon and a largish lough called Na Blaithi in Irish or Nablahy in its anglicized form. I had read it was a well developed mixed fisheryContinue reading "Lough Na Blaithi"

Huntin’ hybrids

So, there is this lake near Ballymote which purportedly contains bream/rudd hybrids. I have been hankering to catch some of these relatively rare fish since I took up coarse fishing and today I headed off to county Sligo to try my luck for them on Bellanascarrow. The lough also contains pure strains of both speciesContinue reading "Huntin’ hybrids"

Quick session

I had some maggots left over from the other day and when I turned over the compost heap in the garden there were lots of worms squirming around in the muck so I decided to have a couple of hours fishing Ardrea lough just outside Ballymote in County Sligo. A small lough with a coupleContinue reading "Quick session"