That Black Sedge I was on about…..

I mentioned this fly in passing in my last post so I figured you might like the dressing. I know it annoys me when people allude to specific flies then don’t tell you how they are made! I make a couple of different versions, one wet and one floater, to cope with different conditions. Let […]

Old school on the Keel

Sunday morning: No wind. Not even a faint zephyr. Glassy surfaces on the loughs meaning every cast causes fish scaring ripples. The thought of a day spent chasing corduroy ripples across the vastness of Lough Conn did not appeal so I demurred on my planned visit to the Massbrook shoreline. I needed a plan ‘B’ […]

Variation of a spinner pattern

Old age is a bugger, isn’t it. Advancing years bring some positives I will grant you; experience, appreciation of the good things in life and a calmness which is rare in the young. But weighed against these positives are some pretty hefty negatives, the chief one being (in my opinion) failing health. Now look, I’m […]

The lost dry flies, mystery solved

I bet you were all worried. Did you lost sleep over the mystery of the missing fly box full of dry spinners. Was there an act of criminality? The revenge of a fellow angler, envious of my deadly spinners? Or perhaps something altogether darker. Was Big Brother at work, taking these subversive patterns for the […]

What you need in your box

The trout fishing on the rivers has taken off now and those of you who are lucky enough to be able to fish for wild Brownies in the West of Ireland should be on the river at every opportunity. A lot depends on the weather of course, but the next 6 weeks will provide us […]