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.

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.