A trying few weeks

While I have not been fishing myself, I have been out on the western loughs most days since the beginning of May. As a ghillie I have been able to observe first hand the decline in our stillwater fisheries and a pretty bleak picture has emerged for the much vaunted mayfly season. It would beContinue reading "A trying few weeks"

Tackling the weeds

This is an old post from a few months ago which I had forgotten to put up! (To my shame this is not uncommon, there are currently about 30 posts which I started but didn't get around to finishing and sticking up on this blog. I scribble my doggerel easily enough, it is the postingContinue reading "Tackling the weeds"

That’s better!

After three very tough days on the Corrib I had a relaxing day with a mate planned for today. We would fish lough Cullin together, a lake he has been doing well on recently. 10am was the agreed time to meet up on the shore and before then I had a hectic couple of hoursContinue reading "That’s better!"

3 tough days

Three of the last four days have seen me out with a client on lough Corrib and tough days they were! The lough has been fishing well to the troll and buzzer in previous weeks but David was looking for some dry fly sport so we headed to Doorus first. I knew this was goingContinue reading "3 tough days"

Cheap fly tying material

A very quick post for you fly tyers out there. It feels like everything in our lives just gets more and more expensive with every passing day so any way of reducing costs in our pastimes has to be a good thing. For fly tyers the cost of some synthetics can be quite high, soContinue reading "Cheap fly tying material"

Reversed Zulu

Before I get on to this fly I want to apologise for the near total lack of posts here on my blog. For some time now angling has slipped down my list of priorities and that meant writing about my fishing suffered the same near terminal decline. Yes, I have been tying flies, but allContinue reading "Reversed Zulu"

Helen’s new website

As many of you who follow me are pet owners I thought I'd share a link to Helen's new website. She takes commissions for paintings of dogs, cats and other animals. Get in touch with her if you want a lovely picture of a beloved pet. https://helenmariepetportraits.com

Boat’s ready!

A very quick post just to let you see the great job Adrian has done to re-timber my boat. I bought her 18 years ago and she was in poor shape back then (hence the very low price I paid for her). Adrian's father put a new back board on her for me and despiteContinue reading "Boat’s ready!"

A well travelled fly

A good friend and regular client, Derek Woods is down in Patagonia at the moment dong a bit of trout fishing. He sent me some snaps of the action down there and it looks like he is having a whale of a time in the 32 degrees heat. Strangely, his most productive fly is oneContinue reading "A well travelled fly"

Ethics of angling technology

My endless rantings about about the injustices of modern life seem to consume me these days. I'm aware this makes me sound like a particularly mean-spirited curmudgeon but I genuinely feel this society we live in is on the wrong path in so many ways. Until recently my moans have been directed towards those outsideContinue reading "Ethics of angling technology"