Category: Published fishing writing


Mentors

Filed under: Published fishing writing — 4 Comments
March 1, 2021

I noticed that a piece that I wrote was published in Fly Fishing and Fly Tying December 2020 and I had completely forgotten about it. When I looked into it I realised I had sent it to the magazine in 2010!

I´m sorry about the format. I have tidied it up a little but it still looks a bit odd. I don´t wish to blow my own trumpet here but the subject of mentors is a chapter in my book where discuss it in greater depth. It was the most personal part of the book for me.

Anyway here´s the article as published in the magazine:

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Sticking the boots in

Filed under: Other bits and bobs, Published fishing writing — Leave a comment
August 28, 2020

This article was published under the heading “Feet on the Ground” by Fly Fishing and Fly Tying monthly, August 2020.

I remember seeing an advert for a pair of wading boots one time. It was in a magazine, this one maybe, a few years ago. The details have receded a little into the mist but I remember clearly enough that the advert featured a picture of a particular brand of boots worn by some guy who happened to find himself in some kind of social setting, maybe a cocktail bar or somewhere similar. You couldn´t see who was wearing the boots because the picture spanned only the distance between knee-level and the floor. The guy wearing the boots was not alone in the photo. Just in front of him and facing towards him was a pair of slender and shapely legs supported on elegant stiletto heels. 

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Camping with Leo

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Other bits and bobs, Published fishing writing — 4 Comments
June 19, 2020

Yesterday, quite out of the blue, a bunch of photos came my way from Mark McCann as attachments to an email. Mark is an old fishing buddy and, along with my brother Sean, we are veterans of many fishing campaigns. Coincidentally Sean came across some photos as well and, while not currently in digital form, I am hoping that these may be coming my way soon. The photos Mark sent recorded a fishing trip we went on about 10 years ago. It was significant because my son Leo who was then 12 was invited along. Continue reading →

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Naked Slovenian Woman

Filed under: Other bits and bobs, Published fishing writing — 2 Comments
January 16, 2020

I have a pretty soft spot for a little article I sent to FlyFishing and FlyTying monthly some little time ago. It never appeared in print until the February edition which popped into my postbox on Monday. To be honest, I suspected it might be considered to be a little risqué for readers of a conservative disposition and that the editor might have decided against using it. After all the average fly fisherman is no spring chicken and the thought of naked young women could be positively hazardous to him if his cardiovascular system is not in absolutely tip top condition!

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Can I ask a favour?

Filed under: Books and stuff, Other bits and bobs, Published fishing writing — Leave a comment
October 20, 2018

I was wondering if I could ask favour? As you may know my book Dry River was published in 2015 as a hardback (it can be bought in this form by following a link on the hoe page of this blog) but Paul Morgan, the publisher and bookseller, was kind enough to allow us to make an eBook version. This version is like the original but the paintings which illustrate it have had to be reduced in size. The only other change is a small alteration to the “running order” of the chapters. I must thank my wife Catriona for making the file conversion (she wouldn´t let me re-write the acknowledgments to say this). She also put together this blog initially and then said to me “I have put together a blog and called it Fishydreams. Now all you have to do is go ahead and write!”  Continue reading →

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The Mystic and the Mug

Filed under: Other bits and bobs, Published fishing writing — 8 Comments
October 7, 2018

Most people I know sooner or later get wind of the fact that I´m a fly fisherman. Very often there follows a little exchange of words that seems to follow a pattern that is becoming increasingly familiar. The chances are you will recognise it too.

It´s almost as if the two of us are each delivering lines from a script with which only one of us is familiar. I know more or less where things are leading but the non-fisherman just ad-libs. First up there is the assertion that, whoever it is that I am talking to, just wouldn´t have it in them to “sit around” all day fishing; “I just wouldn´t have the patience for it!” Continue reading →

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Fly Fishing and Fly Tying Monthly

Filed under: Flies and fly tying, Folks I know, Other bits and bobs, Published fishing writing — 2 Comments
June 18, 2018

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 →

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Young Bucks

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Other bits and bobs, Published fishing writing — 2 Comments
December 3, 2016

So you think scuba divers are cool? Maybe you visualize a diver as some sexy neoprene-clad temptress who unzips her wetsuit a little, shakes her hair and says “Wow that was great! I really get a kick out of hand-feeding those giant groupers! And l just love the way those huge manta rays glide by like enormous birds!” Continue reading →

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Trout fishing with God

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August 15, 2015

I’ve been reading the scriptures lately. Nobody lasts for ever and so, conscious of my own mortality, I figure that I ought to check out what the whole deal about heaven is. From what I’ve heard, a life of tedious virtue is required to even meet the entry requirements. They don´t open the door at all if you´ve been fornicating, abusing others, lying, cheating or avoiding the washing up.

Is it worth it? I´m worried that heaven itself may turn out to be a disappointment! Sure, I know the clouds will be comfortable to sit on, and the food is bound to be good but, frankly, I´m not really into choirs. And there´s only so much harp music you can listen to. Sooner or later I know I will get bored and start itching, as I always do, to go fishing. Continue reading →

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Dry River

Filed under: Books and stuff, Published fishing writing — 8 Comments
July 15, 2015

A few years ago an unusual thing happened on the Guadalhorce, my local river. The river dried up completely over nearly its entire length and there was, as a result, a great loss of fish. I visited the river regularly during this period and saw the river shrink down to some isolated pools which were alive with struggling fish. Later even these pools dried out and the fish they held died in their hundreds.

The river thins each summer (it is thinning now) but it usually continues to flow, albeit with reduced volume, until the autumn rains arrive and breathe new life into it. Continue reading →

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