I have to get back to business.... I need to focus on work....and the upcoming national qualifiers on June 9th. I may be lucky enough to qualify, I seem to be reaching top form again in the fishing even though I don't really try that hard. The fact that I don't put myself under so much pressure probably will help too. I will be going out to enjoy myself and qualify if I can, but I will not be working 100% to get the result. I will try to get one days practice, but I am not going to spend days flying around the lake looking for fish....if my boat partner has done that on the day....all well and good...but I'm not going to worry about it. I know the venue, and can usually find fish. If someone else finds more so be it.
I am in the middle of a couple of paintings, I will try to finish them this week.

I didn't quite make the headlines yesterday...but thanks for a great photograph Mick! I'm a handsome devil by times...
I was out on Lough Lene with Noel and Eoin (Long Jnr.) yesterday. We caught plenty of fish but sadly we didn't get any big ones- they were all in the 3/4 to 1- 3/4 mark. I felt sure we would pick up a couple of bigger fish in the conditions, alas we didn't. Ah well back down to earth with a bump...I'm off to create some art now, my studio awaits. My public alas have departed, I'm yesterdays news...lol.

I am just back from two days on lough Corrib. The conditions were hard with a flat calm on Tuesday and blustery wind and rain on Wednesday. The mayfly hatches were poor to non-existent. The poor weather during the hatches previous years seem to have affected the numbers of fly hatching. I did manage a few fish but none of any great size, I am glad I didn't go for the full week in a way, I am tired enough as it is. I'm off to work for a holiday!

I am just back from Lough Ennell. I was right, there were only eight fish weighed in by 115 anglers. I just happened to have TWO of them :). Obviously I won, I also had the heaviest fish as well as the heaviest bag. My two fish were fractionally over 3lbs and 2 lbs each. It's nice to be provincial champion again, it's a few years since I have had the honour, and now I have won both the TAFI and ITFFA championships. I am feeling a little bit smug at the moment. I'm just off to glow....

Hello again...

I have been conspicuous by my absence.....I have just been occupied on other things.
It can be hard to make time to post on the blog. I am barely able to keep check of my emails at the moment. It takes time to wade through all the spam....I considered getting a spam filter, but I think it discourages casual enquiries, and the last time I had one on I was missing emails that were being sent, so I was having to wade through the spam anyway!
I am due to fish the Leinsters on Sunday, but I haven't had a chance to get out and practice, but the competition is on Lough Ennell so I think it's going to be a bit of a lottery anyway, there won't be too many fish weighed in. It will be a case of if you get a chance and take it you will have a good chance of qualifying. One fish is likely to do it, the last time they had to draw a couple of places. I like Ennell for the competitions though, I invariably pick up a fish when needed, but saying that I also fail to catch on a fairly regular basis as do most anglers on Ennell.
Wish me luck...

Time is flying by...
I have little to report, I have been doing some plien air painting, in fact I will shortly be going out again to work on one I had started last week. The sunshine is keeping me outside.

I have been out fishing twice this week. On Tuesday I drove down to Lough Lene to meet someone delivering a new club boat for the lough. Obviously I had to road test it after delivery...Noel and I had a pleasant days fishing, I managed to get ten trout to 2.5lb (2kg+).
I was back to lough Lene yesterday fishing a team competition. Sadly I didn't catch as many, I did manage to catch 3 'keepers'(the competition was catch and release) and a couple of small fish that didn't make the measure. The rod average was about 2.5 fish so it wasn't too bad a result. The team (6 anglers) ended up with 20 fish, which was the third highest total, but our size average was lower and we ended up in 7th place. The days fishing was hard work, but my boat partner was a pleasant companion and we had an enjoyable day on the lake. I can't give you the successful flies because if you include the undersized fish we caught ten in the boat we both had three to measure and two undersized, all fish were on different flies! Yes, it was one of those days when you really had to work for your fish. To be honest though you feel good after the day when you manage to get a few in hard conditions. The team competitions mean you work that little bit harder too so you don't let your team members down. With the team competition you need to catch at least the average so that if one member does well you don't pull his score down, and try to catch above the average yourself to pull other members up. Therefor even one fish is important, every point counts.

I was out fishing yesterday. We fished a competition on Lough Owel. Noel managed to come third, I didn't! I had a good day though, my problem was all bar one of the fish I landed were just under the size, 5 between 12 and 12.75 inches with a 13 inch limit......aaaaaaaarrrrrggghhhh!
c'est la vie! I lost a good fish early on too...I am off to lough Lene on Tuesday, I have to meet a delivery man with a new boat coming from Galway in the midlands and direct him to the berthing point....I may even have to fish a little when trying the boat out..:)
I will be back on lough Lene again on Saturday fishing the Lexus team competition..we might do well there are 5 very good anglers fishing on the six man team....just recently I'm not sure about me...lol., but the competition will be stiff.
My garden pond is coming along nicely, I need edging bricks for the top of the raised wall now. I won't be doing much today though as I am off to the studio to do some painting today.

Here I am, Two weeks after my last post......Time has flown by! I have been busy with the Easter weekend and rebuilding my garden pond. I even played with a mini digger...lol....
The pond is not finished yet but it is almost there. I need to do some finishing and some planting. I will probably put fish in next week. Talking of fishing I have been, last week I took a trip locally and then up to the upper liffey. I have not done much painting, but I have been taking gallons of water out of my studio with two de-humidifiers, about 2 gallons every 30 hours.....I didn't realise my studio was so damp!, I am still getting the same amount two weeks later. The weather for the last two weeks has been glorious, sunny and warm. It is forecast that this will continue for another week too. I am enjoying it while it lasts, although the garden renewal is stopping me sunbathing......
I will try to post a little more often again, hopefully I will get back to normal soon.

I am in dire need of a DAYS FISHING! I managed to get the flyfishing kits for the kids prizes but have done little else since my last post. I pulled a muscle and haven't been able to do much.
I hope to get to the studio tomorrow, and probably will try to organise a days fishing during the week. Lots to do, and no time to do it. I need to learn to manage my time better...I seem to be totally dis-organised, I suppose that is one of the problems of working in isolation, you try to cover everything and manage nothing.
In any event I need to try and organise a few exhibitions in the near future.