More news from nowhere

Sunday. The weather is promised to get fine again later in the day so I decided to try my luck on Lough Conn for a few hours. The word on the street is that a small number of salmon and grilse has been running the Moy and a few have been landed all the wayContinue reading "More news from nowhere"

Quiet day on Conn

Out for a few hours on Conn today but the lake was extremely quiet. No signs of any salmon and very few trout moving to a small hatch of mayfly. I trolled for a bit to start with as there was very little wind. One fish gave the rod a heafty thump but didn't hangContinue reading "Quiet day on Conn"

A quick update

Just a few lines to update you all on the game angling in Mayo this week. Strong winds have disrupted the fishing on Carrowmore Lake once again. For those unfamiliar with the lake a big wind, which is normally so desirable for salmon fishing on other lakes, churns up the peat sediment on the bottomContinue reading "A quick update"

Fly patterns for Lough Beltra

After my posting some photos of Lough Beltra I thought I'd better give you some patterns to try if you are fishing there. Elsewhere in this blog you can find details of the Beltra Badger, Claret Bumble, Bibio, Goat's Toe and Black Doctor. Those 5 alone would make a good selection for the lough, butContinue reading "Fly patterns for Lough Beltra"

Spate river tactics, part 2

OK, so in the first part of this post I discussed my views on the basics of rod, reel and line for fishing small spate rivers here  in Ireland. Today I want to talk about what we tie on the business end of our lines - the flies to use and how to fish themContinue reading "Spate river tactics, part 2"

Spate river tactics, part 1

Fishing the tiny streams for summer salmon and sea trout are the mainstay of my angling year. I don't particularly enjoy elbowing my through the crowds for the chance of chucking worms or ironmongery into the slow, deep water of the River Moy so I tend to avoid that prolific system. The Galway Weir isContinue reading "Spate river tactics, part 1"

Conn tricks – catching trout on sandwiches

The word on the street was that there were salmon being caught in Lough Conn so I decided to head out today and give it an auld lash. My boat is on Cullin so it meant driving it across Cullin, under the bridge at Pontoon and motoring half way up lough Conn. The journey wasContinue reading "Conn tricks – catching trout on sandwiches"

Reflections so far

We are in the last week of April and  I have been thinking about the season so far and any lessons I need to learn. By now I would normally have landed my first salmon of the year and brought some decent brown trout to hand. Neither of these things have come to pass and theContinue reading "Reflections so far"

The Goat’s Toe

One of the great joys of salmon angling is the sight of a fly in the scissors of a fresh fish you have just landed. The hours/days/weeks and months of abject failure melt away when you see your fly in the corner of the king of fishes mouth. We all love the scenery, the companyContinue reading "The Goat’s Toe"

Rummaging and repairs

I came across an old cardboard box in the shed with some fishing related odds and ends inside. There was my father's old tackle bag for a start. I washed and dried it and it will give me some more years of service even if it is a little faded. A filleting knife from anContinue reading "Rummaging and repairs"