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Captain Midnight here, reporting from the wilds of Munster

Himself and I are staying in Rosie for a couple of nights beside the River Blackwater so that he can have a day’s salmon fishing. You may recall that we tried this last year but Himself took sick and ended up in Cork Hospital for 24 hours with a bout of gastro-enteritis from eating dodgy bangers.

So we’re giving it another go this year.

The trouble is that Himself has watched Salmon Fishing in the Yemen too many times and fancies that he is Ewan McGregor. He’s kidding himself, of course. Ewan McGregor’s grandfather, maybe. Mind you, in a certain light, our lovely guide Glenda does bear a passing resemblance to Emily Blunt.

Also, Ewan McGregor looks like he can fish. As far as I can see, Himself thrashes around with the rod until the fly drops into the water from sheer exhaustion. Salmon fishing seems to require a great deal of skill and a large helping of luck followed by a lot more skill. Skill to choose the right fly and cast it in the right direction; luck because it’s pure chance that a passing fish might snap at the lure; and more skill because hooking a salmon is one thing but landing it is another.

Skill and fisherman’s luck: two attributes I can’t help noticing that Himself does not possess in abundance. Even so, he managed to get a salmon on the end of his line. Not for long, of course. The wee beastie felt the spring of the rod tip, shook its head and dropped the hook in a matter of seconds.

From the fuss Himself made you’d think he’d harpooned Moby Dick and then let it get away. Still, it brought a smile to his weary chops for a few moments. I did ask him what he was so happy about. He looked at me ruefully.

“Getting a take gives me hope,” he said. “If I can get a take in only the second year of trying, there’s a real possibility that if I come back every year until I’m 80, I might actually catch one.”

I wouldn’t mind that at all. I get to run up and down the bank, barking encouragement and occasionally diving into the water to look for sticks and make sure that he’s OK out there. Salmon fishing is great fun!

Who needs fish?

Photo credits and thanks to our guide Glenda Powell: glendapowellguiding.com