Morgan Pembroke died at age 100 in October 2023. Morgan was a life long angler and fly tier and a member of DTAA for many years.

In April 2025, Morgan’s son Tony contacted DTAA as they were clearing out the family home and wanted to pass on Morgan’s fishing related equipment, books and materials.

DTAA Treasurer, Declan McKibben, met with Tony at his parents’ house one evening in April and the pair spent many hours talking while they reviewed the trove of fishing paraphernalia and many books.

The picture above captures Morgan gazing at a stream or river, looking for fly life or the tell tale signs of a feeding fish. A split cane rod to hand with perhaps an old Hardy reel targeting river trout. The picture below is from another day, maybe a glass fibre rob or carbon fibre; looks like the same reel and a heap of delicious brown trout. Nowadays with fish numbers under pressure from climate change and human activity, most anglers return their quarry so we tend not to see pictures like this anymore. DTAA encourages members to practice catch and release when possible.

The collection was sizeable and had clearly been gathered over many years, and was not just limited to trout fishing: it was evident that Morgan cultivated a broad appreciation for game and sea angling. Boat rods for sea angling, spinning set ups for sea and salmon angling and, of course, fly fishing for trout and salmon.

Morgan was fastidious in how he stored, managed and labeled his gear. Capes and lines were classified and dated (some back to the 1970s!), notes were added to associate certain feathers or fur with specific flies patterns. There were several older fly lines, carefully stored and labelled on home made holders, several dating to the 1990s, while a number of reels are loaded with lines that look quite serviceable and a couple of lines on their original spools and boxed.

Capes:

Some of the delightful capes, carefully labelled and stored. Thousands of flies yet to be tied.

Older fly lines:

Before the development of advanced materials and fly line technology, the care of lines for fly fishing was much more of an effort, and this is evidenced by line cleaner and grease to ensure that your lines performed as intended for the conditions. The wax below was used to coat silk lines before widespread use of plastic coated lines

One fly line was labelled 1977! More recent ones from then 1990s were carefully stored and labelled, ready to be loaded on a spool for a days fishing.

Examples of careful labelling below: note the cherished hackles picture.

Support our Fishing shops:

Many of us will remember Garnetts and Keegans shooting and fishing shop on Parliament Street, Dublin. While sifting through Morgan’s fishing things, I found this paper bag from the said shop (pictured above). Pat Cleere’s was in the city at that time too, also Moorken’s in Middle Abbey Street and Watts Brothers, on Ormond Quay, which closed in the year 2000. When seeking more information on Garnetts and Keegans, I found that renowned Irish naturalist Éamon De Buitléar‘s first job was in this very establishment. It is so important to support our angling shops even if the internet appears to offer better value for money at times. Remember that it is not just the product itself, but the service and the knowledge available from our angling shops where the real value is. It’s great to see that Rory’s is still going strong in Temple Bar where Mary is continuing the legacy, while Dave McBride and the team have an excellent facility in Southside Angling up on Cork Street. North of the Liffey we have Henry’s in Ballybough, close to Croke Park; and ABC Tackle in Mary’s Abbey just off Capel Street. Dublin’s fishing shops need our support, please consider checking them out when you’re shopping next time.

The “Uncle Arthur” Fly

Morgan worked for 40 years in Guinness in St James’s Gate and when he retired he invented the Uncle Arthur Fly (pictured) and wisely recorded its provenance. Taking the legendary Guinness Pint as his inspiration:

1. Daddy of All Drinks (knotted pheasant tail fibres like the Daddy Long Legs)
2. Pure Gold (a gold tinsel butt)
3. Ruby Gleam (a claret or ruby skirt)

When tied right, and presented well, this fly will prevent that sinking feeling when the fish are not showing or coming to the fly. I’m not sure what it represents, but no doubt this will catch fish, and fished on the bob in a wave must be irresistible!

Books:

A veritable library of angling books, covering game and sea angling, with many volumes dedicated to trout and salmon angling and fly tying.

And Hooks!

I did not know hooks came as small as size 28. They’re barely visible to the naked eye! I cannot imagine how one could tie on anything but the slimmest materials. I can see, however, that this sized fly could be deadly in a small stream for small brownies.

And Flies!

More flies than you could shake a stick at. Single hook, doubles, trebles, tube flies, lures. These boxes contained dozens of assorted salmon and sea trout flies

Staying active:

Morgan lived in Santry and his son Tony related that up until he was in his nineties, he would walk into the city, conduct whatever business he had, get a fish and chips and then get the bus home! A lesson to us all: keep busy, be active and eat well! Keep fishing, and if you cannot fish then keep tying flies.

Reflection:

It was a very nice experience to spend time with Morgan’s son Tony as we went through his Dad’s fishing things. Morgan had two passions: family and fishing. Like many anglers and fly tiers, Morgan amassed a huge collection of materials and tackle over the years. I am sure that he found it hard to pass a fishing tackle shop without popping in for a browse, maybe to find that one thing he needed (which he probably already had!) or to buy yet another rod, line, reel or cape. Hopefully the tackle and materials will continue to catch fish and to bring joy to those anglers who venture out to bank, shore or boat in search of the elusive fish.

Rest in peace Morgan Pembroke.

Reflecting on 2 days fishing on Lough Conn as part of the annual Lough Conn and Culling Anglers and DTAA weekender in Crossmolina, I’m reminded of the vast array of expressions we use to describe the act of not catching fish. In fairness, it’s far more common to not catch a fish and therefore it makes sense that we anglers have a rich vocabulary to talk through and unpack the normal experience of fishing. Sure as many an angler has replied when as how many fish they caught: if it was about catching fish they’d have called it catching and not fishing.

So let’s start, in no particular order, a dictionary of not catching fish:

I missed one

I had one

I lost one

I stirred one

I brought up one

I rose one

I had an offer

I didn’t even have an offer

I broke in one

It got off

It broke me

It came short

It followed me

It splashed at me

It came over my flies

It had a look

They weren’t up

They weren’t on it/them

They’re on the bottom

They’re on snails

They’re on hog lice

There’s too much weed

They are just not there

I had the wrong size
I had the wrong colour
I felt it on

I saw the boil

They’re not taking the fly properly yet

There’s too much blue in the sky

The wind isn’t right

It’s too bright

There’s no fly

There’s too much fly

It didn’t take right

If you have any other ways of describing a lost or missed fish please add it in the comments below.