In my last blog post (June), I reported on how the first half of the season had gone. In summary, Mullet fly fiah had been fantastic with salmon fishing really poor. Bass fishing had been OK and trout fishing mixed on the rivers but good on the loughs in the right conditions.

The remainder of June fished well for mullet. We had some nice golden greys and a few decent size thick lips while the warm weather continued.

In June, I also launched my YOUTUBE channel to share some of my top fly patterns. This is still in the development stage, and I hope to add lots more fly tying and fly fishing content in the future. If you use YOUTUBE and like fly tying, check it out and consider hitting the subscribe button.

The local reservoirs continued to fish well in June and July with hard fighting rainbows and browns taking nymphs and dries.

In early July, the fishing was mixed. With a break in the weather, streamer fishing for trout in the rivers and streams worked well. The rain brought a few salmon into the Munster Blackwater, and we managed a nice fish on the fly in a falling spate. Given the low numbers of fish these days, the angler released the fish after a quick photo. While nymphing, we also had a few grilse and Seatrout on our 3wt NX1 outfits.

I took a few days off and went to Spain. While there, I did a half days saltwater fishing with my son, which was great sport. We caught several new species, including fantastic looking triggerfish.

July continued in a similar fashion with mullet and school bass, the main target species. These fish are great sport on light 5wt or 6wt outfits.

Towards the end of August, Dave and I had another trip to Lough Corrib with boatman Tom Sullivan. We targeted fry feeders on this trio and managed some nice trout. If conditions are favourable, we hope to get 1 more day out on the lough fishing dry terrestrial patterns.

In early September, the bigger bass made an appearance, and we had an evening with top-notch conditions, a big evening tide with high pressure and little wind. I headed to a mark with a big bass on fly in mind. The conditions gave me confidence, but after a few small schoolies, doubts crept in. Just then, as darkness approached and the tide started to turn, I had a strong take. YESSSS, it was big. I landed the fish after a tough battle, which measured 68cm (almost 8lbs). I took a quick photo and released the fish to fight another day.

Looking forward to the remainder of the season, it appears that salmon fishing will not be great. The reservoirs are fishing hard, but if the water cools down more fishing might improve in October. Our rivers will close for trout and salmon at the end of September, so days will be limited. I would like another day on lough corrib, but it will really depend on conditions. Mullet fishing has slowed down locally, but bass fishing has picked up. Bass should continue to fish well with some big fish about until early November.

Until then, tight lines to everyone.