A day of two halves

With the game fishing around here still in the doldrums I decided to get out the coarse rods again and try a couple of venues in south county Sligo. Firstly I planned to give Finlough one more go, mainly on the back of word from a fellow angler that there were tench in that weeContinueContinue reading “A day of two halves”

Change of tack

Nearly 6 solid weeks of ghillieing had left both me and my gear in a mess. Today was spent addressing the resultant carnage and planning my next move. My right shoulder aches after days of pulling hard on the oars. I usually try to turn the boat so anglers take turns fishing from each side,ContinueContinue reading “Change of tack”

Never heard of this one!

As regular readers know, I have a habit of buying up joblots of old fishing tackle and then spending hours of my free time sifting through the detritus looking for bits I can use or salvage. This harmless idiosyncrasy keeps my amused and on the odd occasion turns up little gems of old gear. AsContinueContinue reading “Never heard of this one!”

Landex – a conundrum

Just like buses, there have been virtually no posts on this blog all year and now here are two in two days. Work has decimated my fishing for twelve months and any free time has been swallowed up by catching up on all the things I should have been doing were I at home inContinueContinue reading “Landex – a conundrum”

Must try harder

Neglecting this blog has been an unintentional but very real feature of 2023 for me. With very minimal actual fishing being done by this poor, hard working individual there has been precious little to write about. ’23 started off poorly and has gone steadily downhill from there. Even my normally near weekly trips to theContinueContinue reading “Must try harder”

Lift off

Most of the visiting anglers I meet on the western lakes are accomplished fly fishers with a vast array of tackle and tactics at their fingertips. Until quite recently they were much more adaptable than the locals who often stuck rigidly to short line wet fly. Switching to lures on HD lines, fishing tiny driesContinueContinue reading “Lift off”

A long time coming

I finally got out to do a small bit of fishing today, the first time I wet a line since last autumn. My plans to dabble with coarse fishing throughout the winter months came to naught and a thin film of grey dust had gathered on the boxes of tackle piled in the corner ofContinueContinue reading “A long time coming”

32 – Episode 29, Waterford

Was there an element of exhaustion creeping in? A mental as well as physical tiredness seemed to be growing on me of late. The finishing line is so close but it felt like it would take a herculean effort to complete the next county on my ’32’ list. A second dose of Covid didn’t helpContinueContinue reading “32 – Episode 29, Waterford”