Having thrown together a few little “Plastic Bag” nymphs this morning I took them to the river to give them a little swim. I had only an hour or so on the water since Ireland were about to play the All Blacks and we had invited neighbours around to watch the game on the telly.
The river was looking good but the water temperature seems to have dropped. The river was also carrying a little colour. It is difficult to be precise about the temperature change since my thermometer consists of my legs and feet! I have a pair of neoprene boots which I use to wade and they seem to be falling apart. The puppies have been chewing the damn things.
There were a couple of fishermen on the stretch I had hoped to find some carp and so I gave them a wide berth and headed downstream a little way. There were no carp to be seen but a few barbel were around although difficult to see.
The little nymph took one barbel but I hooked another which came off after some time. Interestingly, the fish took the nymph which was dragging downstream as I waded slowly upstream looking for fish.
In the head of the pool there were some fish but they were difficult to see. I decided to fish a nymph blind and swapped my little PB nymph for something with a little more weight. I just cast the nymph into the deeper area with strong current and just tried to keep in touch with it as it drifted downstream.
It was a real eye opener! I managed to hook two or three good fish but all of them came off. One was a decent fish too. I was not in the least deterred by not landing the fish. It was interesting to see how productive the “blind” nymphing can be and it suggests that I might be able to catch a few fish when the winter comes on and there are few fish to be seen.
And the rugby? Ireland lost to the All Blacks but they came as close to winning as it is possible to come. It was a terrific performance. Final score: Ireland 22, New Zealand 24. The All Blacks are undefeated this year and Ireland, a team that has never beaten them, came within a whisker of spoiling the party!
Christ, you can´t beat sport!
The river was carrying a little colour
A new stretch of river for me
In the heat of battle!
The one fish I managed to land.
Such lovely fish, these.
Look what the puppies did to my wading boots
Just because they´re cute they get away with anything!
This fly was heavier than the PB nymph and was taken by several fish which were unseen. Interesting!
fishydreams 
Hi Paul, You surprised me a bit with your photos of ‘your new stretch’ as this is the stretch that I usually fish and I thought that it was your normal haunt as well. The method of fishing you describe is the one that I normally adopt and the only way I have caught anything at all. I am surprised you caught anything with the way the temperatures have dropped.Re the rugby, I thought that Ireland played the best I have ever see them and that they we desperately unlucky to lose the way they did. Mind you they must have been exhausted. Tight lines, Norman
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 17:57:57 +0000 To: fincahome@hotmail.com
Hi Norman, thanks for your message. It is always nice to think that somebody else reads the stuff I put on the blog! The stretch I fished was just downstream of the place you showed me. It was my first time there although I´m sure you know it well! What a lovely bit of river. When I arrived I thought that I would be lucky to get anything and was very pleased to catch a fish and surprised too that the fish were pretty active despite the cold water. I normally struggle when the fish are down deeper in the water as their takes can be hard to detect but they really went for it and you could see the end of the fly line being given a little tug.
It was really nice to be there. If it wasn´t for the rugby I would have stayed on. But it was a game worth coming back for!
Take care and best wishes to yourself and Maureen,
Paul