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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. View full article »

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Me and glamorous young women

Filed under: Folks I know, Other bits and bobs — Leave a comment
July 11, 2015

There are not a whole lot of perks in my line of work but occasionally I get to hang out with attractive and intelligent young ladies. Before this can happen, of course, I need to be tidied up a bit myself. I am routinely fumigated, showered and put into a suit. Once a year they even parade me around in an academic gown ask me to pretend that lofty thoughts floating are around in my head.

As if! View full article »

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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Filed under: Flies and fly tying — Leave a comment
July 10, 2015

Fly fishing and Fly Tying monthly is running a fly tying league and entrants can submit flies into either the “open” or the “novice” category. This month published pictures of some of the winning entries.

I have been tying flies on and off for more than 20 years and I have to admit that my flies look absolutely crap compared to those produced even the “novice” category. The judges are looking for evidence of tying skill, a sense of proportion, a neat head, a tidy hackle and that kind of thing. If they ever saw anything that came from my vice they would probably laugh. Or maybe cry. View full article »

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Barracuda

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Folks I know, Natural history — Leave a comment
July 7, 2015

John Langridge has been catching some barracuda in the Indian Ocean these last few days. They are creatures of such menace that they have carved a certain reputation for themselves.

I have never caught barracuda myself but I did have the chance to see one firsthand, in its own element, back in the days when I did a lot of scuba diving. We were in the Red Sea and I was partnered with the divemaster guy on a “livaboard” dive boat. We had spent some time suspended just off a vertical rock face that plummeted into the abyss when the divemaster fella beckoned for me to join him in the open water. View full article »

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Up to his old tricks

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports, Folks I know — Leave a comment

We have family here at the moment and I have been unable to slip quietly away to the river for a bit of “psychological readjustment.” The result of this is that I have been unusually grumpy for the last couple of days. The weather hash´t helped. It has been punishingly hot and so we “retreated” indoors for much of the day watching Wimbledon on the telly.

While we have all been competing for the most comfortable spot on the sofa to watch Andy Murray, or arguing about whose turn it is to do the washing up, others have been “living the dream” and headed out to sea to do battle with giant fish. Last week Steven Lawler reported on a great big tuna a neighbour of his caught out on a charter from Sotogrande. He tells me that it took three of them an hour and a half to finally land it and they estimated its weight at 200kg. View full article »

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Fishing report of 28 June

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports — 2 Comments
June 29, 2015

I reckon God must be getting old. Old folks often feel the chill a little and like to turn the central heating up and that certainly seems to be happening here. The weather people say we are experiencing a little heat wave which should pass in a few days. Maybe. I figure it is just God twiddling the dials that adjust the thermostat.

On Saturday morning I collected Leo from a friend´s house in Fuengirola and took him to the river to see if the fish were up and about. They were, but they were sluggish, as was Leo himself after a night on the beer and just a few hours of sleep. View full article »

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Feckin flies

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Fishing reports — 2 Comments
June 21, 2015

I spent Sunday afternoon and evening with Steven Lawler on the Guadalhorce river. Steven has recently been out in Bosnia fishing for trout and grayling and he showed me some of the tiny nymphs and dries used to catch them in gin-clear water. He said he figured I would like Bosnia and after listening to tales of his adventures there I must admit that it sounds like my kind of place.

We had no prospects of catching trout or grayling on the Guadalhorce of course but were looking forward to catching some barbel and maybe, if the gods smiles on us, a carp or two. View full article »

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May the odds be ever in your favour

Filed under: Fish and fishing — Leave a comment

I don´t know if you have read The Hunger Games or seen the films they made of these books. Pippa is a big fan and dragged me off to the cinema to watch them. I won´t ruin the plot but the story involves young people meeting untimely and often violent ends, often at the hands of others of a similar age.

This is an interesting and disturbing theme and breaks the Hollywood mould somewhat. After all the ones who get killed in the movies are usually “baddies” and, franky, we are all perfectly happy to see the end of them.

In the Hunger Games a bunch of kids are selected and thrown into some huge arena where they have to survive and kill one another until only one remains. It is the kind of thing that the Romans would have loved but with a few futuristic elements thrown in for good measure.

When these poor unfortunate kids are selected for the games by the “Capitol” they often hear the catch phrase “may the odds be ever in your favour” View full article »

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Glamping

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Other bits and bobs — Leave a comment
June 20, 2015

Camping may not seem like a particularly glamorous activity to most people. Most of the camping I used to do was on the shores of loughs. We went fishing not camping. We just slept in tents. Our camp sites were open fields. There was grass, rain, and wind and not much else. Cows would wander around and occasionally make nuisances of themselves. Once, memorably, they relieved themselves all over the sides of our tents while we were away fishing and when we eventually returned in the dark and turned in for the night we found the zips and fly sheets and guy ropes were liberally coated in cow shit.

There was certainly no glamour on those trips – that´s for sure. There were no facilities of any kind – everything you needed you brought yourself or, more often, you forgot to bring. If you wanted a shower you just stood out in the rain. It was always raining. View full article »

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A tale of two flies

Filed under: Fish and fishing, Flies and fly tying — Leave a comment
June 14, 2015

Last week I managed to fool a nice carp with an odd looking fly I found in the bottom of my fly box. The carp may have been pretty but the fly it fell for was ugly and scruffy. It looked as though it had been out for a night on the beer and had not shaved for a few days. I had no other fly quite like it and so decided to take a photo while out on the riverbank in case I should lose it. You never know – that kind of thing might be useful for the future. View full article »

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