Tag Archives: irish fishing guide

Saltwater Fly Fishing

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One of the most common queries I get is around my approach to saltwater fly fishing. So here is a quick introduction.

I use 2 set-ups for most of my saltwater fly fishing. A 9ft 5wt with full floating line. This is my go-to kit when fishing over very shallow clean ground in clear water. One reason for this is the lighter outfit is less likely to spook fish. Another is that the flies I typically use here are small, similar to the size of most trout flies. Another plus is that this outfit doubles up as a mullet rod so I can target both species at the same time.

A nice 62cm fish taken over clean ground on a shrimp pattern.

The other outfit I use is a 9ft 9wt. My personal favourite is the Mackenzie FX1 Salt rod. I have a few different lines that I use on this rod. Mostly I use a Rio Outbound Short coldwater line in intermediate and I also carry the full float in the same line (for surface flies). Another line I use is an OPST shooting head with various density tips. I find this line great for really big flies.

A fine bass taken on a baitfish pattern using the 9wt over rough ground.

The majority of the time I am using the 9wt is for casting larger flies and or fishing over rougher ground. I also use it in estuaries in channels with a strong current.

Nore way!

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I recently received an invitation from Dan O Neill to fish the River Nore at Mount Juliet. This was to happen last year but due to Covid we postponed the trip. My buddy Dave, who is originally from Kilkenny was keen to accompany me on the trip.

We called in to Peter Driver at Piscari Fly shop on the way where we picked up some nice fly tying materials, and Dave bought knee pads and other bling accessories. We then met up with Dan at Mount Juliet, a stunning location with fantastic facilities.

The water level was still high from recent rains, and the river was running quite clear. Dan and Dave set up for euro nymphing and I decided to do something different and set up for streamer fishing on my 10ft 5wt Mackenzie NX1.

Dan took us down to some nice nymphing runs where he and Dave managed a few trout on heavy nymphs. We met another angler who had had several fish on wet flies.

I left the lads nymphing and headed off to try a streamer. Given the conditions I expected to meet a few fish but to struggle with short takes and that’s how it turned out. Quite a few hits but a lot of the trout didn’t stick. However, it was obvious that the fishery holds a considerable stock of trout in the 10 to 12inch size category and some larger fish too. I will definitely be back to try again in the future.

Some nice wild Nore trout.

We had to leave at lunchtime which was a pity. We just had time to call to Ned Maher at Ardaire Springs Angling Centre and tackle shop for more goodies on the way to Waterford (for my Covid jab). Another Aladdin’s cave of fishing tackle.

We really enjoyed our visit to Mount Juliet and Dan was a fantastic host. We both agreed we would definitely be back for a longer fishing session before the end of the year.

Mount Juliet has about 2.5miles of double bank fishing for both trout and salmon. For further information contact:

Dan O’Neill, Fishery Manager, Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Ireland

Telephone: +353 85 7652751

Email: doneill@mountjuliet.ie

Website: https://www.mountjuliet.ie/fishing-on-the-estate.html

Go Deep or go Home!

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I had heard a few times that the western Lough’s can fish well at the end of the season to daphnia feeding fish in the deeps. There can also be a chance of dry fly fishing with sedges and daddies.

With this in mind I contacted my pal and Corrib boatman Tom Doc Sullivan to see if a trip would be worthwhile. Tom really knows his stuff and he told me to make the journey. However I wouldn’t be fishing any of the drifts I had fished on previous trips. It seemed like – go deep or go home!

I was joined by my mate Dave who has also fished the lake before but never at this time of year. Preparation had gone well and I was armed with a Mackenzie FX1 10ft #6 and #7wt. Tom had recommended tying up some bright daphnia patterns to pull on an Airflo Fast Intermediate line. As usual he was spot on.

We didn’t know what to expect but followed Tom’s advice and with good conditions we had great sport catching beautiful wild Irish trout in a fantastic location. 24 trout landed in 2.5days fishing is awesome.

We learned a lot about fishing the lake at this time of year and it was brilliant to have several nice trout take our dry flies.

There is still a month left and the great thing was there wasn’t as many boats out compared to mayfly time. The weather was much milder than some of our early season duckfly and olive fishing trips too.

We will definitely be contacting Tom around this time next year and if prospects are good we will be back.