Since the sea trout season opened I haven’t been able to get into my stride. The weather is so inconsistent, it’s been one day on, two days off. After a week of strong cold northerly winds with hail stones and snow, Saturday brought a calm with an increase in temperatures and my guests… Ricky and Mary McDonagh. …
Yesterday I had the company of my good friend Adrian O’Gorman on Pegasus. We had a few fish but with a nasty north wind blowing we cut our trip short. Our lines had ‘bellies’ in the wind with the boat swinging on the anchor so the comfort of a pint on a nice bar stool felt more appealing. Short …
Yesterday, my fishing companion on Pegasus was local man Gerry McCafferty. It was one of those rear ‘blue sky’ days and the mood was chirpy and cheerful as we zigzagged our way down the channel searching for new sandbanks. The estuary channel is in constant transition… nothing too drastic, subtle changes. Sand banks eroding on the western shoreline and enlarging on …
I have been looking forward to this opening day for some time now. Water surface temperature this morning was just over 9 degrees Celsius. About average for this time of year. I was delighted to see the heavy water had run off so, maybe… just maybe! My first clients were from Limerick… Vanessa Mitchell and …
This morning I have tied one of Bob Popovics’s creations. Unfortunately, I don’t have a name for it because he has so many versions /colours of the same tying, so for now I will call it ‘The Musician’… suits the company! Photo to follow. So far , I am very pleased with my new clear glue. Great …
Not long after I started experimenting with the fly on the Moy Estuary I received a gift from a friend. That gift is now one of my most treasured possessions today. It is a book called Sea Trout Flies and this is where I discovered the Snake Fly. Written by James Waltham, this book contains a wealth of information so do yourself a …
What a terrific weekend we have had… Connacht Rugby beat Leinster, Mayo beat Roscommon and Ballina RFC beat Westport in the Cup Final. In between all those events I found time to tie a few sand eels. Hope you like! Judd
This is a busy time of the year for me. My sea trout season opens April 17 and I find myself cleaning rods, reels and boats. There is an air of expectation and excitement as I now spend many hours at the bench experimenting on a variety of Snakes with new materials and… a new secret …
When I first read the above headline I asked myself, “Who is Auguste Escoffier?” The answer is in the following article by angler, food critic, author and Masterchef judge, Charles Campion. As you enter Ballina in County Mayo the road sign proudly proclaims you are entering the salmon capital of Ireland. The small town of …
Well it’s being awhile and another season has come and gone. A good season at that too… probably the best for some twenty years. Good runs of healthy sea trout produced fine catches of quality fish. However, the unpredictable weather produced high water levels on and off through the season which meant I had to …