There's a lot more to fishing than simply catching fish. A mantra I repeated many times while trying in vain to work out what the trout in Castlewellan lake were feeding on. "Anything small with a bit of green in it should work well" advised the bailiff "but make sure you check the cobwebs on the boat". I fished where the insects should be blowing off the trees and falling into the water, the drops between shallow and deep water, dry fly, wet fly and nymphs suspended in the white lines of water, but the lake was to prove fruitless as far as catching fish was concerned. A couple of herons and the luminous flash of a kingfisher showed that there were plenty of fish about, indeed trout regularly broke the surface teasingly close to the boat. There may indeed be more to fishing than simply catching fish but its rarely apparent until after one has been caught. Had I caught one early on I could have relaxed, considered the job done, dropped anchor and taken out the sketch book to concentrate on the view of castle reflecting in the water; instead I had an enjoyable but ultimately unproductive morning rowing up and down the lake. Lacking both fish and a reference sketch I was forced to work directly from a photograph. I chose one taken at the jetty with the low sun reflecting off the water and the polished seats of the boats. Using a photograph may seem like an easier option than sketching outdoors, but its easy to run into difficulties without an accompanying sketch. I couldn't include the left hand jetty as it was missing from the photograph and the placement and shape of the supports for the right hand one were simply unclear. Later on in the week I visited the River Maine and had a bit more luck with the rod and the sketch book but a bad day at Castlewellan is a good enough reason to return for another go.
If you are interested in a painting you can contact Eamonn by ringing 07962 189132