It felt just a little bit odd today on the river. It was the first time I have fished alone for a little while and, although I enjoy the freedom this gives me, it has been fun to be out on the river with company. View full article »
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On Saturday morning I had a chance to spend some time on the river with Simon Thompson. Simon is a keen fly fisherman who normally fishes for sea trout and salmon and his home waters in the UK include the Eden, and the Ribble. He was staying in Fuengirola and keen to see a bit more of the Guadalhorce River.
The fishing was a little slow to be honest, and we caught only a few smallish fish before finally trying a new pool. Then our luck changed and Simon caught a lovely fish, the best of the day, just in the shallows where the current spilled into the pool. This was his biggest gipsy so far and I was delighted for him. I was lucky to get a decent fish myself shortly after. Both fish took smallish nymphs. View full article »
This blog thing has become something of a diary for me. It records not only my successes and failures on the river bank which, frankly, matter little to anyone else, but it also records other, more significant events.
One such event is the graduation of our son Leo from the English International College, the only school he has ever attended. This event, which took place last Friday, was the fifteenth “Speech Day” I have attended as a teacher but, of course, it was particularly significant not just for me but for his long-suffering mum, Catriona and his sister, Pippa.
The highlight was when he was presented with a book, the complete works of Shakespeare, which was signed by his teachers. The presentation was made by Robin Cousins OBE, the Olympic gold medallist ice skater and Dancing on Ice TV judge. I had a pretty good chat with Robin before the ceremony. He is a very nice guy. He brought his Olympic medal with him and doesn´t mind other people wearing it although he said he would never himself do this because he wants to recall that particular sensation as a unique memory. Fair enough. When the Director got his hands on the medal and put it around his neck we all figured that Cousins would never get the thing back again! View full article »
This weekend I had the good fortune to go fishing with Paul Morgan who is very well known as a publisher and seller of books relating to fishing and field sports. If you have not already seen it, Paul´s vast collection can be seen on http://www.anglebooks.com/
Paul and I were planning to discuss a book which I have written and that he was interested in publishing but, like myself, he is an enthusiastic fly fisherman and we were both keen to do some fishing first. You have to get your priorities right! View full article »
It sometimes appears that the world conspires to keep the simple pleasures of life at bay, or at least that is the way things were beginning to appear to me. Sunday was the first time in three weeks or so that I had a chance to get out to the river to see if I could trick a few fish into ingesting one of the simple little nymphs I tie up at home. View full article »
Well, I guess I have been milking this TV thing long enough and this will be the last installment. Monday 28 April was the last day of filming and unfortunately I could not be there. While John and the TV crew had a final few hours on the river, I was back at work. View full article »
The third day of our filming allowed us to fish the Guadalhorce for the first time. The river had cleared overnight and things began to look good when I saw a nice carp feeding in the shallows on my way to meeting the boys for breakfast at Cártama Estación. There it was in the shallows beneath the iron bridge lowering its head and working though the mud leaving clouds of silt to work their way downstream. As far I was concerned that carp was a good omen. The river was clear. The fish were there for the taking. View full article »
The latest news from Ireland is that my nephew John Hogan has caught his first brown trout on a fly. His Dad sent me the news and his Mum sent me a photograph featuring John, his Dad Sean, and Meg the dog. View full article »
While I have been immersed in deluge of exam marking here in Spain, back in Ireland my old partners in crime, my brother Sean and Mark McCann have been doing what they do best – sinking pints and fly fishing for the elusive brown trout of Lough Arrow and Lough Sheelin.
Needless to say I am wracked with jealousy. The only mildly amusing moment I have had over the last few days occurred during the marking if the IB Biology when one candidate stated that the answer to a question was “That´s just the way things are. God works in mysterious ways!” View full article »
One of the unusual features of human mind is the curious interest we show in the behaviour and motivation of chickens. For instance I have lost count of the number of times people have asked me why the chicken crossed the road. And I have often been challenged to state what came first, the chicken or the egg?
The first question, the road one, has a large number of possible answers, each considered to be hilarious. The second question, about the egg, is supposed to entice us to stroke our chins in contemplation even though it is a pretty dumb question if you know anything about science. The most memorable answer that I can recall is the dismissive comment that a chicken is simply “an egg´s way of making another egg.” View full article »
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