Vultures are in trouble. In India their numbers have crashed by some 75% and the cause of this appears to be drugs used to treat cattle but which prove lethal to the vultures which feed on their carcasses.
One of these, a drug called diclofenac, has been licensed to be manufactured and used in Spain. It is estimated that populations of vultures could crash if even one percent of the carcasses on which the vultures feed are contaminated with the drug.
Today is Sunday and I managed to complete my domestic chores by lunchtime and so headed off to the river for a spot of hydrotherapy. View full article »
Harry Abbott and I organised a rendezvous at the river the other day. It took us a little while to meet up. We both arrived at our chosen spot on the river at different times and Harry wandered off upstream and I ventured downstream! View full article »
Sometimes being Irish can be a bit of a drag. For one thing your political overlords are an inept bunch, the economy is teetering, the cutbacks are digging in everywhere. And, of course, the weather is always crap. View full article »
My friend Harry Abbott has returned to Spain after a long journey which took in some fishing in Thailand and New Zealand. He told me that yesterday, while I was trying to stuff some understanding of Science in to unreceptive brains of indifferent teenagers, he popped off to the river to see if he could catch a few fish. View full article »
Earlier in the week I broke a story about a huge pike allegedly caught by a work colleague. It seemed too good to be true. The fish was, after all, absolutely massive. At the weight claimed for it, some 29 kg, this fish would have been one of the largest pike caught anywhere in the world, ever. View full article »
Here´s an odd thing. A colleague at work, David Días, told me on Monday morning that he had caught a huge pike. When he told me how big it was I though he was just pulling my leg. He claimed that his fish weighed, wait for it…. 29 kilograms! View full article »
I normally fish alone but today I was joined by Norman Smith and John Langridge and I could not have wished for better fishing companions. I had not met John before although we have corresponded by email a few times. He is one of these guys who eats, sleeps and breathes fishing and is the author of several fishing books. I have read one of these, Aphrodite´s carp, and highly recommend it, and I am very keen to read the others.
John decided to try bait fishing as well as fly fishing and went off to see if he could interest the fish in some luncheon meat. Norman and I just stuck to the flies. View full article »
For some time now I have been painting trout in watercolours and, slowly, after many failures and abandoned efforts, they are beginning to take shape. View full article »
If you cast an eye over this blog from time to time you may remember a guy Called Harry Abbott. Harry lives here in Spain and we meet up from time to time to go fishing together. He is not only an accomplished fly fisherman, but a fellow float tuber, a bird watcher and wildlife enthusiast. He is also great fun and his après pêche “raconteuring” over a beer or two always winds up a day´s fishing perfectly.
For the last few years he has been setting off on fishing adventures in Thailand and New Zealand and sends me back pictures and updates from his travels. I try extremely hard to contain my jealousy! View full article »
