A Month of Contrasts

Yes another month has gone by since I sat down and wrote something for my blog- but hey what a month from fly fishing in Mauritius to greyling fishing in the river Dee and demonstrating at the Irish Fly Fair. So where do I start ?
It has been a busy month in the Morgan house hold with me just popping home here and there just to pick up clean clothes and catching a few hours with the family!!!
Late in October John Emerson and myself ran another Grayling masterclass on the river Dee in North Wales and the river fished very well with everybody on the course catching beautiful fish. After that it was off to the Welsh bank trial to try and qualify for next years Welsh team. The trial was held on Garnffrwd fishery and it proved to be a testing trial. The morning was ok and I caught on stalking bugs and I ended in second place but boy did things change in the afternoon. I had takes on all platforms but could not convert these takes into fish landed and as the day went on the worse it got. To cut a long story short I caught my last fish with 5 minutes to go on a dry which meant I qualified for the team. To quote my old man " You just scrapped through "!!!
After that I was off to Ireland to the Irish Fly Fair in Galway and what great show. Thank you to everybody who came to the show and once again Mara Media did a fantastic job of organizing the show!!
It was then a 2 day turnaround as I was flying out of London to Mauritius to do some fly fishing with Beachcomber tours- the picture above shows Scott Mckenzie and myself fishing in the surf for GT's- It was a fantastic trip with accommodation to die for and the food was out of this world. It even made the 12 hour flight worth while. We had a great trip and the best fish landed was a 140 yellow fin Tuna (well done Scott) I did fight a black marlin ( estimated at 2-300lb)for all of 30 seconds!!!!! and we did get one other hit but that was it. The place is back on the map for big game fishing and I will be back!!
I flew back overnight landing in Heathrow at 6am and was in North Wales by 4pm to fish the Grayling International over the weekend. This was even a quicker turnaround with one hour at home to drop off my dirty clothes and pack my thermals!!! Two days of fishing with the river rising all the time. It was tough to say the least but we did manage to winkle a few fish out and by the end of the comp we came second. Well done to Ken Bathers and the team for running a great competition. It is a testament to their hard work as teams travel from as far a field as Belgium, Italy and the Isle of Man.
Can I take this opportunity to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Tight Lines for the coming season

Where does time go !!! I think the older we get the faster time goes!!!
Yes its been some time since I sat down and wrote something for my blog- why?, well I just have not had the time. It has been a busy time teaching demonstrating and filming. The first thing I have to mention was my trip to Ireland with the Welsh team for the bank international. This was fished in a mountain loch and I know the mountain goats loved the area but boy it was tough going. The competition was hard and to be honest the only team that had their tactics bang on were the Scottish team and they were worthy winners. Top rod went to Ireland and best fish went to Lee from Wales. Competition fishing is not all about catching fish its the whole event and we had a great time in the "Emerald Isle" meeting old friends and making new ones.
I taught at Blackdyke fishery and anybody who lives any where near Cambridge should visit this fishery as it offers great fishing at a reasonable cost.
I ran my first Winter fly fishing course at Garnffrwd fishery and that proved to be a great day with everybody in the group catching fish and improving their tecneque. More courses to follow email me for more information. John Emmerson and myself had the first Grayling course on the river Dee in North Wales and again the fishing was great with everybody crossing swords with the Lady of the Stream. Next course will be held in January.
Filming has been very interesting in the last few weeks- firstly we filmed the autumn section of our new DVD on the river. On the day we faced hurricane winds howling down the valley, boy it was interesting casting and we should have done a section on "self preservation casts"- we also went to Draycot water to film the Autumn section of the bank fishing VD and I cant wait to see the footage as we had fantastic fishing with fish up to 6lb. Hard fighting bars of silver "fishing does not get better than this"!!!!
Lastly I had the Bank trial for next years Welsh team and it was held on Garnffrwd fishery. The morning proved difficult but fish were there to be caught and by lunch time I had managed to winkle out 7 fish. The afternoon proved far more difficult and I had takes on every platform but none of them stuck and by the last session I only had 1 fish and was out of the running for the team. In the last 15 minutes of the competition I decided to fish dries and by luck or divine intervention I managed to catch another putting me into next years team. ( by the skin of my Teeth!!!!!)
Ah well its time to pack as I am off to the Irish Fly Fair In Galway so come and say hi if you are there- I will be the one running around on the Mic trying to keep everybody informed on whats going on as well as doing a casting demo in the afternoon.

Some times Pictures just dont tell the story!!! This is Scott trying to pose for the camera with the best Grayling of the day but unfortunately the fish was camera shy and exited stage left after what seamed a minute of fish juggling!!.As you can see by Scott's face he didn't mind. This was just one of my guided days on the river Dee in North Wales.
I can't belive its been another month since I wroet my blog and for that I can only appologive but my excuse is that I have been out on the Water and in shows.
Some great new shows and venues for you to put in the diary for next year. The first was Lowther Game and Country Fair. This was the first time Countryman Fairs have organized this show and what a job. Tracking all over the site so no vehicles got stuck all the public walkways were kept clear of trucks so when the show was on it was easy to walk around the show. Great Job.
Then I want to the Galoway Country Fair which had been moved to Drumlanrig Castle. The show ground was fantastic with the great backdrop of the Castle. A well attended show at a great new venue.
It was then over to the Fenland Country Fair which is one of the oldest fairs in the UK and I would like to congratulate Joan and Malcome for their hard work and the way they are still able to keep the show traditional with small stalls old fairground rides and I think it has the biggest display of old vehicles I have seen in my life.
The last show I did was the Midland Game Fair and as usual it was a fantastic event with huge crowds and this year we were so lucky with the weather, only a couple of showers over the weekend, where all around us suffered heavy down pours!!
Had to cancel a few days this month as well !!! British weather!! Blown off at Rutland and Llandegfedd!! While at Rutland I witnessed the funniest thing I have seen in a while. They had let 5 boats out early but had to re-call them due to the wind!!! Sorry forgot to say these were the Army lads practicing for the inter services match. 3 boats came back from the South arm then a little later 2 boats came from the North arm 1 boat had 2 anglers in but the second only had one angler in!!! Yes one of the ARMY boys were so scared he abandoned his mate and went in the safety boat!!! Boy did he get some stick from all the boys when he came in- cant repeat what was said!!! But you can imagine !!
Highlight of the month for me was finishing My New DVD on Still water patterns and also getting my new essentials kit into stock. Please go check them out in my shop on the website.
Now have to go and pack, off to Glasgow for the open weekend Hope to see you there.

I just cant believe it its been over a month since I last put fingers to key board !!!! Time flies when your busy and what a month its been. Guiding, teaching, shows, filming and competitions!!!
But why have I got a picture of me and pollock well this was the best fish of the week on my recent trip to Isle of Lewis but more of that latter.
First its been a great month teaching and guiding both on the river and stillwaters. Some great fishing with great clients. I went filming with S4C welsh TV and had a great day but then went fishing the famous river Towy on one of the best beats and could not believe it the whole river just switched off at around 11pm- no fish moving and no takes for anybody on the river!!!! Typical!!!
After that I was privileged to be asked to open an educational center for " Get Hooked on Angling" scheme near Coventry did a little demo and finished it just before the rain!!! Great timing.
Fished one competition this month Draycott pairs with Paul and caught 12 fish for over 35lb and came nowhere. Julian and Scotty won the comp with 12 fish weighing over 42lb boy this place is fishing fantastic, well worth a visit.
Bearleft and myself spent 4 days filming for the 2 new DVD's we are working on and I have seen some of the footage its fantastic-great camera work and the Polaroid lenses are brilliant, cant wait to see the final cut.
Then it was off for a week of shows first the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show followed by the CLA Game Fair- 2 demos a day for a week and the kids were brill Tanya just wants to do more and more just like her big sister. Yasmin was a star first she won the casting comp at the Welsh then beat everybody at the CLA even the men. She was crowned UK Salmon distance champion at the age of 12 well done Hun.
It was then off to the Isle of Lewis- no thanks to FlyBee who charged us another £250 to change a flight from Monday to Tuesday !!!! Thanks a lot!!! But it was a fantastic trip teaching and fishing. This year we concentrated of sea fly fishing and with small pollock patterns we had great sport. The one above even though it was not the biggest bent my 10wt double!!!! Had some fun trying to catch sea-trout on the shore loads of takes but not one landed.
Some Salmon were running but we left them alone this trip.
Highlight for me this month was seeing Yasmin take on and beat everybody at the CLA chip off the old block. Now for another month of shows.

I cant believe that its been nearly a month since I sat here on my laptop and wrote a blog, where has all the time gone. I am going to lobby the government and see if we can have a 10 day week in the summer and a 4 day week in the winter!!! Should have been a bear really so I could hibernate through the winter!!!! Its been a very busy month or so. Highlight of the month was captured in the picture, this is Chris just after the surprise was sprung on her. Pete her husband had arranged a fishing trip to Wales but not told Chris that he had arranged a lesson for her. The look on her face was priceless and she was a great pupil picked things up very quickly. ( Pete thanks and I apologize if she keeps saying "Hywel says this")
We had two great days at the Welsh Game fair at Llandeilo but on Saturday every time I stepped on the casting platform it rained so thank you to everybody who stood out in the rain to see the demos.
I appeared on Sky sports "Tightlines" with Keith if you missed it it can be viewed on line http://www.skysports.com/podcast/0,20494,19916,00.html
I have been doing quite a bit of guiding and its been very up and down because of the river levels.
Filmed yesterday with S4C Welsh TV tying flies with kids and then seatrout fishing in the night why o why are fish soo camera shy!!!!!
The welsh Bank team had there first meeting at Garnfrwwd and what a day after a good meeting we all went fishing and it was great fun with everybody catching on all sorts of methods but the best was dry flies down to size 18. I took the family and both Debs and Yasmin caught but the best fun of the day was watching Tanya my youngest play tug of war with a few fish- she's not really got the hang of fighting fish yet so me thinks a few more lessons in the garden before she goes again. The best bit was that she was casting and hooking them on her own and all this at 6 years old, well done darling.
Well got to go as I have a few busy days ahead opening The Angling Unlimited Educational and Training Centre in Coventry tomorrow the guiding on Rutland before fishing Draycott for two days.
Tight Lines

Hi All

Just thought I would give you some links to the latest web casts uploaded onto my you tube page some great info an all sorts of subjects

One of the most useful pieces of kit I own
http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/5/9Gdh1THWBB4

Safety when going fishing
http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/4/FqBH1WWGyUw

My Fly Selections
http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/3/kk2Yp8jcKUM

XF2 on Test
http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/2/GUFyq6_iAVQ

If you have any comments please do not hesitate in dropping me an email info@hywelmorgan.co.uk

I cant believe its been nearly three weeks since I sat down and wrote a piece for here !!! How time flies when you are traveling around!!
Pictured left is the group from Johnson Mattey at Barnsfold lakes and what a day. On the top of the one lake it was beautiful with fish rising and easy to cast while down both banks and the second lake it was fishing but survival fishing. Harder to keep your balance than cast. A great day with everybody going home happy and having caught a few fish.
Then I had a great day on Stocks good fishing in the morning but boy was it cold with a capital C!!!!
Then I drove north to Scotland for a meeting and saw some fantastic venues for fishing and teaching- more to come on that( Watch this space). I then travelled to Finland for my first ever show over there with Eumer Tube flies and had a great few days even though most of the people did not understand what this excited Welshman was going on about at least they laughed in the right places. Had a few day guiding on Rutland as well and am glad to see that the brown algae has nearly gone, but why has May been such a bad month- high winds canceled matches and torrential rain not that we didn't need the last one. One great posotive from this month is that my You Tube views are going up and Aaron is working hard to get the next clips ready to put up. If you have anything you would like me to cover please post on the page http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing
Tight Lines

Ospreys Fly fishing club sat with Davy Hodgson's parents, sister and brother in law before his memorial match on Rutland water last sunday.

A great day was had by all even though the fishing was very hard, and the day for me was not about catching fish as we were there to celebrate the memory of a true gent and great friend. I had a wonderful days fishing with Julie Emerson and she beat me 1-0 ah well who cares. Most anglers found the conditions hard with a few exceptions. The eventual winner was Ronnie Gent with a bag of 7 fish weighing 17lb2oz second was last years champion John Emerson with a bag of 8 fish weighing 16lb6oz. This was a great effort by John as he was caught short out on the water and had to rush in to the lodge to answer a call of nature ( Cant go into details far to messy ). He then went back out and bagged up well done mate. Third was Paul Shaw who is on a roll at the moment- last year he won the Brown bowl in the international then only a few days before this match he won the Bob Church Classic. Best fish also went to Ronnie Gent a beautiful rainbow weighing 4lb13oz. Top lady was Hillary Thomlinson.
The Ospreys would like to thank everybody who fished the competition as well as all the sponsors - Guide Fly fishing- Hardy Greys- Stocks - Anglian Water- Fulling Mill.
From me a thanks must go to Steve Smalley who does all the admin and takes the entries great job mate and to Stevy Peart great cooking on Saturday night mate- you have got yourself a job now Catering manager for the club.
The best moment of the whole weekend for me was watching Joyce ( Davy's Mum) presenting the trophy to Ronnie Gent- not many dry eye's around.

In this picture I was out filming for my new river DVD and you see Aaron (director) trying to walk on water and Alan ( camera man) trying to dig a hole in the river !!!!
We had a great days filming but the fish played hard to get, there were a few fish feeding in the glide but more in the really fast water which I fished with a Klinkhammer and caught some nice browns. We did wait on to see if there would be an evening rise but the wind got up and beat us!!!!!
We also spent a day on Llandegfedd filming some bank fishing and boy that was tough!!!!! Very bright and North east wind- not good for fishing but did manage to winkle out 3 rainbows and a nice perch. The best method was Di5 with cat booby. Both of the above DVD's will be out before Christmas.
I have also been fishing on Draycott which has reopened after a year of being closed and can say that it is back to its best. We spent a day just fishing and having fun- cant really say how many we caught but I do know that I landed over 10 double ups!!!! The best method was an intermediate line with a cormorant on the top dropper, red diawl, cruncher and a tequila booby on the point
Getting ready to go to Rutland this weekend to fish the Davy Hodgson memorial match, still can believe I will never fish with him again. He is sorely missed by the Ospreys and we will be raising a glass in his memory on Saturday night at Rutland so if you are around and knew Davy come and have a drink with us.

Its been a few weeks since I sat down at the keyboard and its been very busy with shows and teaching. First I went off to Lillistrom in Norway which is always a pleasure to go to except for the traveling. Friday 12.15am drive from home to London to fly out- Love the journey !!!! but as always well worth the trip 3 days of good demos and even got to play with some of the new loomis NRX nano rods great action but the cosmetics are a little in your face !!!
I then flew back to London and Stayed with Kiran and his family in North London and enjoyed great hospitality before going fishing. Kiran's Farther was my oldest pupil to date at a sprightly 89- and he would not give up until he mastered the casting. Hope I have half his energy at that age.
The following week I was guiding on Rutland and boy what a day. Fish all over the place and my pupil who had never picked up a fly rod in his life before caught 8 fish all on nymphs. Later on in the day the fish came up and the best method by far was a floating line with nymphs and a cat booby on the point.
I am now sat at home after 2 long days at Kelmarsh Game and Country fair. I was MC for the Angling arena and it proved to be very entertaining. Chris " The countryman" Green brought his new 8 boar gun out and boy what a noise that makes and at the end of both days we had a bit of a fun fishing competition between Jan Porter and Charles Jardine- Saturday saw Jan catch one jack pike to win the mini competition. Sunday I decided to use Jan's spinning rod and again just pipped Charles.
I would like to thank everybody who came and supported the area and I look forward to seeing you at the nest show.

Its been one hell of a busy few weeks where I have been filming my web clips with Aaron from Bearleft.tv. It was a great day's work and we filmed a load of clips covering all sorts of of fishing stuff. Some are up on my you tube page now and cover the following

Salmon rods Spey or Underhand http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/4/ldOCnZa3eJo

Tying a fly with the New Bug Bond UV cured varnish http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/3/trNQq9P7Ges

Yasmin my eldest tying her favorite fly the Pink Panther http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/2/y9_ru8iMWJk

Tanya my youngest tying the Tan Cat fly http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/1/TRF3upxhBcs

I tried the new Airflo 40+ and this is how I got on http://www.youtube.com/user/HMFlyFishing#p/u/0/15UZ39F4uOg

Go check them out some good information there and if you have any questions or you want me to review anything drop me an email at info@hywelmorgan.co.uk

Pictured left is Yasmin my eldest fishing at Garnffrwd but more of that later. First I have been busy with Aaron my director and we have filmed a lot of clips for my new Facebook page "Hywel Morgan Fly fishing". They will cover all sorts of topics such as - Salmon rods Spey V Shooting heads, New Airflo 40+, Waders, new Wichwood wader bag and Family fly tying. They will be up soon on FB, my website and You tube. If you have any topics that you want me to film let me know.
After that Yasmin, Debs and myself spent a day on Garnffrwd fishing, well it was practice for me as I was fishing in my first Welsh trial since 2003 for the Welsh Bank fishing team. During the day we found that the fish were either feeding subsurface and by that I mean the top 2ft of water or they were taking off the top so on the morning of the match I set up with 3 rods. One was my banker washing line on an intermediate with 2 Diawls up the cast. Two was my dry set up 9ft 4wt tapered leader with 3ft of fluro on and a olive F fly size 18. Third was a stalking set up 9ft 5wt with fluro on and some of my staking bugs ready to go.
Why does the weather change every day I mean you practice and sort out what you are going to do only for the conditions to totally change. On practice day it was flat calm and sunny on comp day it was cloudy and windy!!!!! Ah well at least the fish did not mind and came out to play. On my first peg I lost my first 3 fish in dries so changed methods to the washing line and landed 2 fish much to my relief I was off and running!!! My highlight of the day was on my second peg after lunch, I got out the dries and as the hooter sounded my dry landed and a fish took the fly " I love it when a plan comes together" I did qualify so I am back in a Welsh team and will be off to Barfinnehy Lake Killarney in Ireland in October.
All in all it was a great competition and I must thank all the controllers who came and helped out and congratulate Jamie the owner on a great venue and great match.

Glasgow Open weekend

Well the dust has settled after the open weekend in Glasgow and I just thought I would share this picture with you as it made me very nervous- its Phil Varney from Venyard getting ready for something!!!!!! Seen here in his best boiler suit and black rubber gloves!!! Be scared be very scared!!!
It was a fantastic three days and I would like to thank everybody who came down to the canal to watch my demo's as it was cold down there.
It was great to catch up with people that I have not seen in a while and great to see new products that I had not seen before. Nice to see the new eyed heads from Tubeology- they should make great pike flies. David from Bugbond was tying some great sea patterns and I have set him a challenge to see if he can use his bugbond to make some special shuttlecocks- will let you know how he gets on. Saw some nice new products from Simms and cant wait to get my hands on my new G4 jacket. Also picked up Wychwood's new wader bag- great product as I am fed up of putting on wet and damp waders every time I go fishing. Just put them in the bag and hang it up hey presto dry waders in the morning. I have been told that they have a white reel coming out soon and I have put my name down for one of those. ( I can hear you now "tackle tart" yes I am just like every other fishermen)
It was very humbling weekend for me being asked for my autograph by kids and having my photo taken with them. This is something I will never tire of and it is so important nowadays that we take time to encourage children into the sport.

The highlight of the weekend for me was being asked to be an Ambassador for the young peoples charity "Get hooked on Fishing ." If you want to know more about the charity visit their website and if you can help get in touch with them. http://www.ghof.org.uk/index.htm

Hi folks well its been a while since I tapped the keys on my laptop as I have been here there and all over the place!!!! Firstly have a look at this great pic, you could never tell that it was taken on a Go-Pro head cam. Great quality and considering the camera is supposed to be a HD video camera that films underwater, it does take very good still'sas you can see.
This was our first filming trip of the year for my new DVD which will be out later this year hopefully in time for Christmas. The picture is of me landing a nice rainbow at Garnffrwd fishery in West Wales.
After that day it was a short trip home to unpack the car, re-pack the car and off to Scotland via Newcastle. Oh how I love driving !!! After a 6 hour drive I finally arrived at Paul's house he is a great friend and photographer extraordinaire some of the shots he comes up with are out of this world but dont take my word for it check out his website out http://www.pddigital.co.uk/gallery.php .
After a nice Chinese we sat up talking well into the early hours of the morning discussing the photo shoot and putting the world to rights!!!
Yeat another early start 6.30 and it was off to the famous Junction pool on the Tweed yes the Junction Pool !!!!!!!! But before you start to call me every name under the sun, No I was not fishing unfortunately, we were taking casting pictures with a salmon rod which had a bit of wool on the end!!!!!!.
Can you just imagine standing on the side of the river watching all those salmon jumping and moving up river and not being able to cast at them!!!( you see its not all fun and games)
After a long day of taking photos it was off to Glasgow for the Open weekend at the Angling Center and will post about that latter this week. Cheers for now

Pictured left is Nick with a great fish from the Dee in North Wales. He was on the Grayling weekend I ran last weekend. The pupils came from far and wide to learn all different techniques from CZ nymphing with indicator tips, using the French leader set up as well as fishing with the braided cast for those difficult to detect takes.
All the participants were put through their paces with casting and shown all the casts they will ever need in the future. The two days were tough fishing but everybody caught but Nick's was the best. On Saturday night John Emmo did a fly tying demo and then allowed everybody to have a go for themselves.
It was surprising how two fishing days were so different as on the Saturday all the fish came to a dull pink shrimp but on Sunday all the fish came to a red tag caddis tied on a jig hook fished deep.
All in all a great weekend with everybody enjoying themselves and learning new techniques. The next course will be run in April dates to be confirmed and if you want to know more please drop me an email at info@hywelmorgan.co.uk

Hi all, well at the moment I have not been doing much fishing so not a lot to write about, however last weekend I was over in Dublin doing the show Angling Ireland with Mara Media. Now as a show, it was a great success with loads of people, and in these troubled times it was nice to see them spending much to relief of the staff and stall holders. It was great to meet up with old friends and make new ones. There were a few highlights for me and the first was to see 2 youngsters from the Irish Youth fly fishing team doing their first casting demonstration. They were Shaun and Shane who were a credit to themselves and to Irish youth fishing "well done lads, keep up the good work".
The second and for me the best moment of the weekend was when I met up with what I believe is one of my youngest fans Liam ( pictured above with Martin his dad). Martin told me that he does not like watching cartoons on the TV but will sit quietly through my programme . As he is so young he can not say my name but calls me tickles!!! Priceless!!!.
The funniest moment of the weekend was when I saw Hugh Bonner ( the organizer) and Stevy Mun running across the hall to the office to get water having just sampled the sushi prepared by Chris Sandford unfortunately he forgot to tell them about the wasabi paste that was on them!!!! Nice one Chris!!!

Well all the rivers are flooded at the moment just as we were going to start filming a new DVD so I thought I would share what I did last week. First it was off to Bankhouse fishery near Lancaster and boy was it cold. Best method over the two days were the infamous apps bloodworm fished slow and deep on an intermediate line. It was the Ospreys team get together well that was not the real reason as it was Paul's 50th a week before so we decided to celebrate it or commiserate with him. We had a good day's fishing on Saturday and then had the night from hell no food at the pub no heating so all in all not a great weekend.
After this Paul and I spent 2 days fishing on the rivers up North. First we went to the Eden and what a bad day's fishing I had one half-hearted take and Paul managed to catch 2 fish. Personally I believe that due to the very hard freeze that the rivers have been hit hard by cormorants and as there were no anglers around they have had a field day!!!.
Next it was onto the Tweed above Peebles and what a great looking stretch of water- we spent the day searching all the likely looking spots only to find some grayling late on in the day and again Paul was Lucky and managed to get one fish out- a nice one around 2lb.
These two rivers should have produced far more fish in what were ideal conditions but hey that's fishing. Lets hope the rain now stops so we can start filming the new DVD and I'm off to Dublin this weekend for the fishing show, hope to see you there.

Hi all, well I just thought I would share with you the trials and tribulations of my trip to Belfast for the show at the Kings Hall last weekend.
Firstly, on the left is a picture of my good friend Stevie Munn trying my indoor casting rod. (But I must tell you mate that on Saturday I met your mum and two sisters, sorry Munny you are second division compared to them.)
So lets tell you about my trip, it was challenging from the start. In Manchester airport I tried to get on the wrong plane!!! ( Not my fault!!!! 2 different airlines both going to the same destination from the same place at the same time) confused well I was!!!!!!!. They politely told me that my gate was the otherside of the airport so it was a mad dash and thank god I made it to the other gate( Oxygen!!!!)
Well made it and on arrival met up with Rick from Wickford Angling and what a night !!!!
The show proved to be a bit slow on Friday but the weekend improved with a very good crowd. We all went to one of the oldest bars in Belfast the Crown Bar and what a great place to have a relaxing beer but its also
across the road from the most bombed hotel in Europe.
It was great to see all the stalwarts of the Irish Fly tying scene giving demonstrations and tuition to all interested anglers.
A great weekend and having met loads of old and new friends I look forward to getting back there next year. I have to go now and tie 10 cats whiskers and 10 Damsel nymphs for a customer.
Tightlines and see you all in Dublin in a few weeks

New Year

Well its now 2011 stating the obvious!!!
Things to do in this year - well my first wish for this year is for Yasmin to get better and if that happens well I'll be a happy bunny.
On the fishing front firstly I am going to try and catch a 20lb plus pike and its either off to Esthwait or Pitsford as I did get a big lady follow me on both of them!!
Next is to get my teeth into some good Saltwater fishing down in Pembrokeshire both from the shore and from a Kayak check out our website http://www.fishpembrokeshire.com/
I also have a few new courses set up for the coming year :
Small stillwater courses at Avon Springs - covering casting-fishing and small water tactics
River fishing on the Dee in North Wales- Winter Grayling fishing- Summer Trout Course
As well as the above I will be available for guiding on the Wye, Severn, Dee as well as reservoirs.

I will also be filming 2 new DVD's through the year covering both river and stillwaters which will be available at the end of the year.
I cant wait for the large reservoirs to open and I will be off to Rutland as soon as it opens- I have a few guided trips organized already.
On the competition front I will be fishing with the Ospreys who have secured a new Club sponsor ! Great New kit!!!!! Cant tell who it is just yet!!
On the show front bookings are coming in thick and fast I have a few new shows. The first of the year is in Belfast 21st-23rd January and if you are there come and say Hi. The second is in Dublin 12-13th February. I am also off to Finland for the first time in March it will be a bit cold with no fishing but hey it should be fun!

Can I take this opportunity to thank everybody for their support in 2010 and wish everybody all the best for the coming year.
Tight Lines