June 20, 2016 You probably gathered by now that I’m behind on the blog. There wasn’t time to write more than notes while in Ireland. Then when I got back to the USA it was action packed with the Henry’s Fork Marathon and a family visit. This photo is Granny watching some huge fish rise … Read more
It’s been a wonderful trip over here in Ireland competing in the World Masters Fly Fishing Championships. I can’t explain how exciting it’s been to return to world competition. It’s like I went back in time. Furthermore, it had been fifteen years since I’ve seen many of my European friends. We’ve had a blast together … Read more
5 AM arrived without the need of a wakeup call. I was ready. Scott was ready. We drank coffee and relaxed before a 6:30 breakfast then all of Team USA boarded buses for the last day and last two sessions of the World Masters Fly Fishing Championships. My first session (actually session 3 of … Read more
The one thing you get better at as you get older is putting the bad behind you and moving forward. Yesterday’s terrible afternoon session for Team USA had me down last night but today I woke up and started preparing for the last two sessions for tomorrow. I’m ready to go and have plans to … Read more
More than ten years ago I retired from world competitive fly fishing but this morning here I was – out of retirement competing in the World Masters Fly Fishing Championships on the lakes of Ireland as a member of Team USA. My heart pounded with excitement as if my last tournament was yesterday. The … Read more
The World Masters Fly Fishing Championships is a weeklong event. Yesterday was the opening ceremonies. Today is Official Practice. Tomorrow we compete. Thursday is an off day. Then Friday is our last day of competition and Saturday is the awards ceremony and party. In past competitions I usually took the Official Practice day to … Read more
Today was the first relaxation day since we arrived in Ireland for the World Masters Fly Fishing Championships. Team USA slept in after a late night catching up with old European friends. I didn’t move until around 8 AM. After breakfast I gave my tackle a once over to get ready for the tournament. The … Read more
Every World Flyfishing Championship I fished back in my day had one fishing location that caused havoc with the scores of the tournament. It was usually a lake where only about 10% of the competitors caught a single fish and the other 90% blanked. Based on our practice day Friday and news carrying on from … Read more
Guide Mike Drinan brought us to a spectacular small shore fishing lake 30 minutes out of Oughterard. The lake was shallow and weedy. The skies were gray and blue with wind and occasional drizzle then sunshine. Connemara ponies watched as we set up our rods then disappeared into the grassy hillsides. This was Ireland exactly the … Read more
Word on the street here in Galway, Ireland is that fishing is tough. Ireland has been experiencing a record breaking heatwave with temperatures hovering in the 80’s. Normal temps here are mid to upper 60’s. Furthermore, they haven’t a drop of rain in the two weeks. Again, very unusual and both have the wild brown … Read more
Ireland has always been on my “to fish” list but I must say I wasn’t bouncing off the walls with excitement before leaving home this week. I was concerned that perhaps I’ve traveled too much lately and travel lost its charm. But false alarm, when I woke this morning I was like, “Holly crap in … Read more
I arrived in Galway, Ireland around noon today. I’m here as a member of Team USA for the World Masters Flyfishing Championships. There are four of us on the team that includes my longtime friend Jay Buchner, other friend and fly fishing legend Joe Humphreys and Scott Robertson who I don’t know well but competed … Read more