Being a Boatman

I have documented here in this blog why I don't fish in the Irish angling competitions. I do however perform boatman duties sometimes, and I was called upon to do just that last Saturday. It was the National finals day and the venue was lough Conn. There was one small problem for me, my boatContinue reading "Being a Boatman"

Changes they are a comin’

After what feels like an eternity, I am finally back driving again. By happy coincidence this dovetails neatly with the much delayed start to the trout fishing in these parts. The prolonged wet spell which has stretched from last October until now has pushed back the usual angling calendar by about a month or so.Continue reading "Changes they are a comin’"

The wheels on the bus go round and round…..

The current update on my car woes is not good. Still struggling to find the parts for the Yaris and I might need to buy a brand new stub axle. At nearly €500 for a shiny new axle it is a judgement call if I should just ditch the old girl and buy something else.Continue reading "The wheels on the bus go round and round….."

Black Gnats

Our terrible weather continues again this bank holiday weekend with storm 'Dave' bringing intense rain and high winds to the west of Ireland. I can't recall such a prolonged period of cold, wet weather even over here where we are no strangers to inclement conditions. The loughs and rivers remain stubbornly high and the fishingContinue reading "Black Gnats"

Blood olive

The car has thrown a wobbly and has been off the road for more than a week and is still not fixed. What started out as a regular bearing problem escalated faster than Trumps botched invasion of Iran and it will be late next week before the ancient Toyota is back on the road. SourcingContinue reading "Blood olive"

Circles

I want to go over an old dry fly pattern today but this takes us on a bit of circuitous journey, in many ways. Let me begin. Derek falls inhabits that strange land between client and friend. I met him years ago and he hired me to bring him out on lough Conn, initially forContinue reading "Circles"

My fathers old rod

My mobile rang on Saturday afternoon as I was tidying up in the kitchen. Frank was on the other end, asking if I fancied some trolling on lough Conn the next day. After some deliberation, and checking herself had no plans for the Sabbath, we agreed it was worth a lash. It looked like itContinue reading "My fathers old rod"

Dry day, dry net

The river Robe opened for trout fishing on Sunday but it was a yet another day of incessant rain. Monday was supposed to be a dry day but the cold wind brought in more rain from the south in the form of squally showers. I baulked at getting soaked and so delayed my first outingContinue reading "Dry day, dry net"

Cinnamon

No, not the spice. The colour, and more specifically, the use of cinnamon materials in fly tying. I first became aware of cinnamon as a young angler and fly tyer back in Aberdeen. Back in the '70's and 80's, the east of Scotland rivers all supported huge runs of sea trout, wonderful hard fighting fishContinue reading "Cinnamon"

The mini zonker

Apologies to all, there have not been many posts from me of late. My step son is home from Australia for 6 weeks, so there has been a bit of catching up to do, plus I nipped over to Aberdeen for my mother’s 91st birthday. With all that going on there has been no timeContinue reading "The mini zonker"