Every now and then I send off a bit of writing to Fly Fishing and Fly Tying Monthly in the hope they may decide to publish it. If they do accept my little article I get a modest remuneration that, as it happens, almost exactly equals the cost of an annual subscription. So, the way I see it, if I get one article published each year I get to read the best magazine out there (the editor may be reading this!) for free. Continue reading
Category: Folks I know
It was very nice to meet up with Simon Thompson on Wednesday evening and to spend a little time with him on the river. Work and other commitments made it a pretty brief visit but we managed a couple of fish between us and Simon was out again on Friday and had some more.
Today I was at the river again and had a mighty tussle with a carp. I had been given the cold shoulder by a bunch of carp on this stretch of the river a little while back and felt that I had a score to settle. Continue reading
My neoprene fishing boots have seen better days. They are full of rips and tears. In places they seem to be hanging on by a thread. Thinking about it, my neoprene chest waders are just as bad. I took these waders on an outing to Concepción reservoir after work on Friday and it turns out that, despite my best efforts to patch them up, they have nearly as many holes as my landing net. When I finally dragged my arse out my float tube after three hours casting to largely indifferent black bass, my legs looked like water balloons and the water sloshing around inside the waders was waist high. Continue reading
On Saturday a bunch of us went on a long walk that took us to the top of a mountain called La Concha. All told, we covered about 17km over pretty unforgiving terrain, often in single file. I suppose you should work on your fitness before such an undertaking but I thought it best to prepare by sitting on the sofa with my father in law and watching Bear Grylls on the telly!
Bear Grylls tells us that drinking urine is a convenient substitute for coffee when out in the wilderness and there is nowhere to plug in a kettle (and of course it has no caffeine!) and that eating rabbit droppings is just a simple question of mind over matter: just pop them in your mouth and imagine they´re maltesers! Continue reading
The Spanish TV program that featured John Langridge and myself fishing on the Guadalhorce was aired a little while back and I put a link on the blog to allow people to see it. That link appears to have been deactivated in some way but Colin McLachlan tells me that it is now up and running once again. Here it is if you would like to have a look:
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/jara-y-sedal/jara-sedal-barbos-del-guadalhorce/4310751/
Please let me know if you try it and it doesn´t work. Assuming it does I hope you enjoy it!
The program features gypsy barbel fishing in Malaga´s Río Guadalhorce.
I don´t know about you but I´ve spent the Christmas period sitting on my arse with my feet up on the coffee table. I noticed that some idiot left an open box of Quality Street lying around. They won´t do that again in a hurry!
This shameful self-indulgence is tolerated and even encouraged at this time of year and usually acts as a catalyst to sign up to healthy new year´s resolution like marathon running, cross-channel swimming, mountain climbing or at least taking the dogs for a walk. Continue reading
One of the great benefits of the blog, as far as I´m concerned, is that it has introduced me to a new extended family made up of other fly fishermen and like-minded souls. Many live overseas and have been in touch from time to time. Others I have had a chance to meet up with in person, often on the river bank. Continue reading
You may be aware, following the recent screening of an episode of “Jara y Sedal” that I have become a major A list film star! As a matter of fact I am waiting by the phone for the calls that should come in from Hollywood agents as I write this!
In one of my regular tongue-in-cheek exchanges with my beloved wife I said that I hope that fame does not change me. She said simply “I hope it does!” Continue reading
Three years ago a film crew from Madrid drove down to my local river to make a film about fly fishing for gypsy barbel. The makers of the popular TV series “Jara y Sedal” had been in touch with John Langridge, a veteran of several fishing programmes and author of many books on fishing, and they asked of he would like to be part of a feature on the Río Guadalhorce. Continue reading
