Spate river fly design

What makes a good spate river fly? I tie hundreds of flies every year. I used to tie much, much more but these days a few hundred come off my vice and most of those are tied during the quiet winter period. Due to the nature of the fishing in the West of Ireland theseContinue reading "Spate river fly design"

Monkey business

Fly fishing is a strange sport when you think about it. We deliberately set out to make the process of catching fish as difficult as possible so we get the maximum pleasure when we actually hook something in the face of the overwhelming odds we have placed upon ourselves. I am sure we all agreeContinue reading "Monkey business"

Small river fly fishing

Tackling small streams can prove a challenge for anglers who are more used to wide open spaces and plenty of elbow room for casting. Here in the west of Ireland we have a number of small streams, most of which are never fished, yet contain a reasonable head of wild Brown Trout. Rivers like theContinue reading "Small river fly fishing"

Life, fishing and all that good stuff

I attended a funeral yesterday, the mother of a friend had passed away at the grand age of 94 years. The sadness, the loss, the pain of grief were all there, etched on the faces of the close ones left behind. These occasions are a part of the cycle of life of course, but IContinue reading "Life, fishing and all that good stuff"

Planning for the new season

Don't you just love technology? OK, so it kind of takes over our lives sometimes and swallows up too much of our free time (if we let it), but on the whole technology enriches our everyday lives. Here in the West of Ireland I use Google Earth to look for likely places to fish. MuchContinue reading "Planning for the new season"

Flies for Lough Conn, part 3

I hope you are enjoying this series of posts about the flies I recommend for Lough Conn. Today I will take a look at patterns which fish well from May onwards, an exciting period for us fishers in Western Ireland. The Lake Olives will still be hatching and the Mayfly will start to appear anyContinue reading "Flies for Lough Conn, part 3"

2016

I start a new and time-hungry job later this month, meaning my angling will be severely curtailed all Spring. I need to face up to little angling this side of the Mayfly other than occasional outings on Sundays. The new job is close to home, so the amount of long distance travel and periods away fromContinue reading "2016"

Flies for Lough Conn, part 2

Following on from a previous post I will discuss a few more patterns which have worked on Lough Conn for me over the years. Malloch's Favourite Firstly we will take a look at a Scottish fly which has worked for me during the olive hatch. Each spring the Western lakes get good hatches of lakeContinue reading "Flies for Lough Conn, part 2"

Dredging is not the answer

It is raining today. It rained yesterday and the day before that. The countryside around here in Co. Mayo is totally waterlogged and serious flooding is occurring as I write this post. People's livelihoods and homes are threatened by this prolonged period of wet weather and they are understandably angry with a government who theyContinue reading "Dredging is not the answer"

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 tiedContinue reading "Clousers"