Ickle fishy

In preparing for my holidays I put my fishing rods in the back of the car on the off chance I might get near some water. My chance came when I went to stay with my cousins in Lackagh. We was looking out the back door of their house, with a brew, at the huge garden. Cuz said their is "a bit of a river" just through the gate the far side of the field backing on to their boundary. Ok, I'm game. I got my gear together and wandered off to the river with mixture of apprehension and excitement. Less than five minutes walk I was looking over the river. A bit of a river! Welcome to the River Clare!

The river was in a deep valley which sheltered the river from worst of the wind. There were a couple of blokes perched on the bank. Just a bit of a nod and a "howya" as I passed by. They were doing the worm and weight thing despite the fact fish were rising up and down the river. I tackled up my fly rod and made my down to a spot on the bank. It took a while to get the fly casting technique going again. Having given the fish a headache practising casting such a confined space I moved upstream. I tried various flys and techiques. Every now and then I would move pegs and try a different stretch of river. The fish seemed always to out of casting reach. As the sun went down the the fish got really busy. Despite my clumsy casting I bagged a couple of fish. The next time I went I bagged another couple. Same again the next evening. No weighty fish altough there were plenty of big fish rising and rolling. So what did I catch or rather what fish gave themselves up? I caught a couple of Perch! What business have they snapping up my fly? I got a couple of Salmon. If only they were bigger. The best fish was a Brown Trout, perhap a quarter pounder....just. The catch is part of the game as is the chase. So whatever you catch is welcome on a new water. I needed floating line, dry flies and better casting technical to get those big uns.



I can now say that I have caught a wild Salmon and a wild Brownie. As long as no one asks how big they were I won't have to tell a fishman's tale.