Angling guide Johannes Bulfin reports on the launch of Watershed Fly Fishing and his PB Croneen from a midland river:
The past week has been wonderful, yet hectic. I’ve had the pleasure of guiding almost every day and, on Thursday, we had an official online launch of Watershed Fly Fishing. The response has been truly humbling. Thank you to everyone who has wished me luck, written about the business, interviewed, and booked fishing with me. I am very grateful.
I did get out for an evening’s fishing for myself too early last week and it resulted in the biggest Croneen (lake run brown trout) I have ever landed. At 58.5cm (23inches), it is highly unlikely that I will ever land a bigger fish from this river, where a 10incher is a “lovely fish”.
I struggle for words to describe the feeling afterwards. Why did I deserve to be so lucky? And trust me, luck played a massive part in landing the fish. The stream is barely wider than a rod length, branches, roots and briars everywhere. Knowing when, where and how, is all fine for finding and hooking the fish, but when that huge fish is on, there is no script..
I had already lost 3 fish in a row, before landing 3 in a row.
I have put in relationship testing amounts of hours on this river. Staying late, constantly changing and tweaking things… Obsessed is the only word for it.
It’s hard to know where to go from here…. Just enjoy it for a while would be smart I guess.
Thankfully as a guide I can aim to help others experience this feeling!
