32 – Episode 1, County Sligo

Lough Talt From my notes of 6th August 2020 Those of you who followed my blog will know that I have a madcap plan to catch a fish in every county on the island of Ireland. Covid-19 blew a huge great hole in that venture but I made a start to this odyssey today byContinue reading "32 – Episode 1, County Sligo"

minnow mounts

Spent some time this morning making up a few mounts for devon minnows. I used the monnow extensively when I lived in Scotland and it produced a lot of spring and autumn salmon for me back in the day. I still have boxes of devons lying around. Most of them are damaged or just wornContinue reading "minnow mounts"

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 thereContinue 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 howContinue 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 WulffContinue 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 originallyContinue 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 itContinue reading "Locked down, day 1"

lockdown

So it has finally arrived here in Ireland, a total lockdown with no unnecessary travel more than 2km from home. That means no angling for us here which is a pity as a few salmon are running the rivers in this area now. Carrowmore has recorded its first fish of the season with a 9Continue reading "lockdown"

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 BumbleContinue reading "Mayo Bumble"

First outing

It kind of crept up on me, the realisation that I could possibly go fishing this week. I had become so inured to floods and gales that the opening of the trout season had come and gone without really registering in my mind. This week though saw a change in the weather with cold, brightContinue reading "First outing"