A life changing event made Anthony Dodson and his partner make a big decision.
It is not often in life you have a dream which becomes reality .
My partner and I have been going on holiday to Kerry in Ireland for many years and for us it was a place of tranquility, peace and also for me it became my favourite place to fish .
Before then, I was a carp and pike angler who had always fancied the black art of fly fishing but had never taken it up until I went to Kerry. The area is a fly fisherman's heaven. Loughs that are free to fish with wild brown trout readily taking flies and rivers, which compared to the UK, cost very little to fish .
I went to a local tackle shop and purchased my first fly rod and off I went, hooking trees and bushes and anything that got in my way but slowly and steadily I started to master casting .
I remember vividly that first brown trout taking my fly. It was all of three inches long but this was better than any double figured pike I'd hooked, this was different and so not only was the trout hooked, so was I.
And so our dream began. Kerry started to feel like home and we dreamed of living there. We seemed to live our lives in the UK just waiting for our three weeks away to Ireland each year.
Then seven years ago, Julie, my partner, was in a major car accident. She was lucky to be alive and it made us realise how precious life is and that at any moment it can be taken away from you.
It made us think that there is more to life .
And so the past few years we have been searching for a property in Ireland. It was no easy task in the location we wanted to live but last year it finally happened. We found and bought a house and have moved to Ireland
To say this is our dream is an understatement. My house backs onto Caragh Lake, a huge lough with free rising trout, salmon and seatrout.
Also the Caragh river runs into it, a wild big river that makes you want to just stop at every pool and cast a fly.
Luckily I can now as I have joined the local club and counted down the days until the start of the season.
January 17th was open day. I woke early. I couldnt sleep, I'd been wanting to fish this river for years so up I got, loaded the rods on the car and drove down to the river .
It was raining, windy and cold but I didnt care, I needed to fish. I quickly got into my waders and with spey rod in hand I walked down and got to the river I grinned from ear to ear as I made my first cast.
I'm new to Spey casting and thanks to Pete's lesson it helped me loads but today was going to be no easy feat so I had no preconception about catching a fish. I was here to wet a line on a dream river .
Slowly I worked my way down pool by pool casting, changing flies, casting some more but alas no fish. I didnt care I had my dream and it had all come true and so I imagine the salmon that pulls the rod nearly from my hand and maybe just maybe another dream will come true.