Glenda's Profile & History

Casting Qualifications             Ass. of Professional Game Angling Instructors – Ireland    Salmon
                                                           Ass. of Professional Game Angling Instructors – Ireland       Trout

Other Professional Qualifications    Cert - Management of Food Hygiene (Distinction)
                                                           Cert - Trainer in Industry

In the Beginning
    I grew up in a small town called Comber in Co. Down, Northern Ireland, which is approximately ten miles from Belfast on the shores of Strangford Lough.  My uncle Michael died when I was nine years old, and left me his fishing rods.  I am not sure why he left them to me, but I suspect he knew that I had a passion for the sport even in those early years. I would watch him for hours as he sat patiently tying flies.
    I spent hours on the River Inler in Comber trying to catch my first trout with a worm, and eventually succeeded.  My interest soon moved towards fly fishing, and I tried to use my uncle’s old collection of rods.  His rods were not made from modern materials, and were too heavy and long for a young girl to use.  For my eleventh birthday my father - who was a keen shooter, but unfortunately did not know how to fish - bought me my first modern fly rod. 
    I loved the River Inler and spent all my early years in or around it, trying to tempt a trout into taking my fly.  Many friendships were formed on the banks of the Inler, and it was a great release from the pressures of every day school life. We were a team - my dog Patch, my fly-rod and me.

The Early Years
   At the age of eighteen - while studying my A Levels - I got my first fishing related job. Lough Cowey Trout Fishery near Portaferry consisted of a 40 acre lough with 16 boats and I would help out most weekends from dawn to dusk.  I helped with the boats, made thousands of cups of tea, and helped the occasional person to improve their casting.
   From then I knew that my passion in life was to chase fish and to teach fly-casting.  I had very little interest in my A Levels, or in finding a real job, and left home at the age of eighteen telling my parents that I was going fishing for the rest of my life.  You can imagine their reaction!

Scotland
    I arrived in Scotland at the age of eighteen with really no idea of where I was going to live or work.  I had heard about the River Dee, and very soon made it to Aberdeen.  With being a country girl, I had no idea that Aberdeen was such a huge city, and quickly left the city to find the countryside.  I arrived near Banchory, and rented a small cottage in a village called Finzean.
    I started to compete - first in the local trout fishing competitions - and then I qualified for the Scottish Ladies Fly fishing Team, who were competing against England, Wales and Ireland in the 1995 home internationals.  I was 19 years old and was one of the youngest females to take part in these competitions.  These competitions cost quite a lot of money for each participant, and I was delighted when Stuart Spence from The Marcliffe Hotel at Pitfoddles, near Aberdeen offered to sponsor me.
    During my time in Scotland, I was assistant to a ghillie on the Dee, rented a stretch on the River Don and was a stalking ghillie on the Cairngorm Mountains hunting Red Stag.

Return to Northern Ireland
    In 1996 my father was suffering from poor health, and I decided to come back to be with him at this time.  I set up a small fly-casting business called ‘To Cast a Fly’ and was based in Greyabbey, Co. Down.  I started to teach on all the local trout fisheries, and again was employed by Lough Cowey Trout Fishery.
    Whilst demonstrating at a Game and Country Fair in Antrim, I was approached by Irish Equestrian Life & Country Times magazine, and was asked if I would like to write fishing articles for them. Of course I said yes!  At this time, I was also asked if I would manage the Irish Ladies International Fly-fishing team, and I also became the Irish sales representative for the Guide Fly-fishing Company in the UK, which involved selling their products - fishing equipment and clothing - to all the tackle shops around Ireland.

The Recent Past
    Whilst traveling as representative of the tackle company and writing a monthly fishing column for the magazine, fate took me to the Blackwater Lodge fishing hotel in Co. Waterford to write a feature on the establishment.  Very soon I fell in love with both the owner and the river, and have not left since.  I have gillied and and been the Lodge’s resident fly-casting instructor on the Cork Blackwater for the past 9 years.
    I have given birth to our two beautiful children, Anna who is 5 and Ian who is 4.  I have been chef in the kitchen and employed and trained countless numbers of staff. In order to be able to maintain high standards in this area, I passed the Cert Trainer in Industry qualification and also the Management of Food Hygiene. The latter I passed with Distinction, which means that (combined with the Trainer qualification) I could also go out into the industry to teach the Management of Food Hygiene Course

The Present
2004           I was the first female in the world to achieve the standard of APGAI-Irl  Salmon
                    (Association of Professional Game Angling Instructors Association certificate)

2006           I was the first female in the world to achieve both the salmon and trout APGAI-Irl qualifications.
                    I achieved World Champion for Overhead Salmon Distance at the Emerald World Masters event
                    which was held in Carton House, Co. Kildare in September.
                    Jumped my first bungee jump for charity, and raised €3000 towards a special Wheely Boat
                    which disabled anglers who are confined to wheelchairs can use.

2007           Received my first invitations to demonstrate fly casting abroad. 
                    Appeared at the prestigious Tweed Fair at Kelso in Scotland
                    and in Canada in July to demonstrate on the Miramichi River
                    for the Miramichi Salmon Association’s conservation fund-raising festival.

My Future Goals

- I have always been very interested in what fishing offers in other countries. Therefore I would very much like to travel to other fishing destinations as an instructor or demonstrator.

- I would very much like to see more women involved in the sport of fly fishing, and am liaising with the both the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards and the Sports Council of Ireland to develop a programme of awareness of this wonderful pastime for women.

- I am working on piloting a program in Ireland under the auspices of Casting for Recovery for women who have had breast cancer.  Casting for Recovery has a well-established programme in the USA which is set up for women who have had this disease, and researchers have found that it is a very helpful program for breast cancer survivors.  It encourages them to meet other women with the same history, and through the gentle exercise of casting, it can improve their soft muscle tissue. Taking place as it does in quiet, scenic country surroundings, they will hopefully develop a sense of peace and strength to continue with life.

- As children are our future in this sport, I would like to bring fishing into the classroom.  It is very important that our children know the benefits of clean rivers and a healthy environment, and can have an appreciation of our fishing heritage and the benefits that a thriving angling tourism sector can bring to the economy.