St. Patrick's Day fishing

 In fairness, I'm not too big on St. Patrick's Day celebrations and standing amongst a million other people to maybe catch a glimpse of a parade going by. No thanks.

I do however love fishing, because the amount of people crowding is usually much less.

So this morning, after some time waiting for the Dodder fishing season to open, it was that time at last. And the solitude did not disappoint.

The river flows through Dublin, starting it's journey not too far outside Dublin. It flows into the Bohernabreena reservoirs and then abruptly enters the west of Dublin and flows down past the Aviva stadium and into the Liffey at the entrance to the Grand Canal. While not as famous as it's brother the Plodder, it is much more of a river than the Plodder. 

Angling on the Dodder is managed by the Dodder Angling Association and permits can be bought from most of the tackle shops in Dublin.

Near my home, the Dodder runs through at least three parks in close succession. This morning I decided to visit a spot in the Dodder Valley Park. It's close enough to cycle there, and in fairness, I would much rather park my bicycle right next to me on the river bank than park the car at the entrance and having to walk all the way down with the fishing gear in tow.

So I packed the donkey and saddled up.

And off to the river we rode on the "Fishmobile". 

I am very rusty when it comes to flyfishing. So I will chalk up today to getting the cobwebs out of the gear and re-discovering long lost muscle memory. But even though it was not a very successful trip if measured by the amount of fish caught, it was hugely successful in the clearing of the head and spending quality time in nature. There is nothing as soothing as the sound of a river. At least not today.

Sir Lance-alot, I presume

 As I was washing the car the other day, I was once again struck by how terrible the standard Bosch soap dispenser is. I am also not going to be the one to spend my entire paycheck on a foam lance.

So I started browsing Amazon and came across this one

Does what it says on the tin, really. But does it work?

I'll let you be the judge, but in my opinion it was well worth the 20 squids or so. Does a much better job than the standard Bosch attachment in any event.

Can't wait to let it loose on the bike...

Cars and Coffee Bray - 2nd March 2025

 On the road again!!

Enzo and myself took the bikes out for a spin to the Cars and Coffee meetup in Bray. A couple of very nice specimens were on show, and from what I can gather on the C&C Bray Facebook page, it was one of the best turnouts yet.

My favourite car? Difficult to say. There were so many, and notably no Corvette Stingrays. So, if I have to choose an alternative best for the day, it will have to be this one:

This 1969 Pontiac Firebird just stood out! You could spot it on a mile. Well done to the owner. An absolute beauty!

And here some other pictures of the day.

Stargazing Observation Book

 I'm by no means a professional or seasoned stargazer. It is a hobby (another one) I took up recently. My observations are done with binoculars that I have mounted on a tripod. I do star hopping to find my targets and generally  just enjoy the process.

Recently I decided to start tracing the constellations. Because I can. 

That required me to have a way to record my observations. I looked around online and came across quite a lot of resources. Everybody seems to have their own ideas on how to or why to record your observations. What should and what should not and what type of book to use etc. etc. etc.

Me? I like my own way.

First of all, I had to get some star charts, because I'm no astronomer. I happen to wander across this website that has a complete set of star charts, free for you to print.

Check.

I am, however, someone who likes to scribble, and a loose leaf is just too flimsy. Enter Amazon packaging.

I cut the sleeve that they use for small packages just larger than a printed start chart and glued a chart to either side. Bit of support for scribbles and does make it easier to turn a page.

Problem sorted.

What else do I have in the binder?

Well, for starters. The Greek Alphabet. Yes, I am an engineer. And as an engineer I know quite a lot of these, but sadly not all. So, right in the front cover she goes. And page 1? Well, the guys at Skymaps.com publish a monthly evening sky map, complete with monthly highlights and things to look out for. That is next in my book.

What else?

Well, need to record observations, don't I. So I found this observation log from The Astronomical League. I like it. In it goes. In fact, a couple of them.

And then, last but not least, a seeing and transparency guide. There are so many opinions on this, and I am terrible at making a judgement call. I like this one (and I cannot remember where I got it) because it uses the visibility of the stars in Ursa Minor as a guide. That works for me.

In she goes.

And now we are ready to gaze at the stars. 

Now we are just waiting for the clouds to give us a break. You can't win all of them.

For the next instalment I will take you through my process once I have completed a night of observation. Don't hold your breath now. The weatherman says...

Wet Fly - Alexandra

 As they usually do on the clickbait headlines; "This fly is banned!!". And to be fair, it was apparently, because it caught so many trout. It is a lough pattern, but is also used for sea trout on the rivers. Bit of history:

It is a Scottish pattern that was originally called the "Lady of the lake" and was later renamed after Queen Alexandra. It was apparently so successful in the mid 1800's that is was banned on some waters.

The picture below is of a variant of the Alexandra as tied by Davie McPhail. I will link to his video below.

I have to say, though, that it is a beauty. 

The Alexandra pattern is as follows:

Hook: Size 8-12 Wet Fly Hook

Tying silk: Black 

Tail: Red ibis substitute or slip of swan, dyed scarlet. Davie McPhail's variant uses red Marabou.

Body: Flat silver tinsel 

Rib: Oval silver tinsel. Davie's variant uses thin silver wire

Hackle: Black cock or hen hackle 

Wing: A pinch of green peacock sword fibres with slips of red ibis substitute or scarlet swan tied on either side. Red tinsel in Davie's variant. 

I like the variant tied by Davie McPhail. I like his videos in general.