Tag Archives: lakes

1 Day Stillwater Fly Fishing Course

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Building on the success of last years fly fishing courses I will be holding a stillwater fly fishing course at the purpose built fly fishing lake, fishing lodge and tackle room at Ardaire Springs Fishery, Mooncoin, Kilkenny on February 15th 2015.  This is an ideal course for those new to fly fishing and also for those wanting to improve upon their stillwater fishing techniques.  Based on very positive feedback from last year I have decided to maintain the same affordable price of just €60 (including lunch).

Mick catches at Ardaire

The course covers all the standard fishing techniques (lures, wets, nymphs and dries).  There will be lots of helpful hints and tips relating to tackle set up and fly selection to help you catch that “big one”.

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There will also be time for participants to put some new methods to practice themselves before the day ends. This worked well last year with some participants catching their personal best trout on the day!

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In addition to being a Pro Guide and International Federation of Fly Fishers Casting Instructor I have also completed a Child Welfare & Protection in Sport Awareness Training Course and have been Garda Vetted for coaching.

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Given the date of this course it would make an ideal Valentines gift for the angler in your life.  If you would like to book a place on this course just send me an e-mail at: gamefishingireland@gmail.com or phone: 087-2965712.

Taking the Mick!

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My pal Mick had heard we had been putting the Mackenzie DTX single handed 10ft 7wt through its paces over at Ardaire Springs recently so he decided to have a go there himself.  Having fished the lower Suir for years Mick was very familiar with the Mackenzie Spey Rods but had not yet tried any of the single handed rods.

The average trout at Ardaore is a very good size and there are plenty rainbow trout in the 4lb to 6lbs range.

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These are broad well finned hard fighting rainbows that can really test your tackle.

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Mick is a very good angler and has a habit of catching decent fish so it came as no surprise to me that he managed one of the even larger rainbows in the fishery although this one just fell short of being a double.

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After a quick photo the trout was safely released.

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When I asked Mick to sum up his trial of the rod he used just two words “top class”!

 

 

 

Des & the DTX

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A local chap Des who normally river fishes was keen to have a go at lake fishing during the closed season on rivers.  I arranged with him to go over to local fishery Ardaire Springs to try some bank fishing for a few hours.  Des started off with his own 9ft 5wt rod and although he is a very capable caster it was something of a struggle in the strong wind on the day.  However, he did manage a fish or two on a dead drifted bloodworm pattern in a sheltered corner.

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I suggested to Des to try fishing deeper with a lure on a DI5 line. As he only had his 5wt with him I gave him the use of a Mackenzie DTX G2 10ft 7wt Rod that I am trying out at present.    I tried this rod myself at a local reservoir recently and I am already a massive fan.  That said, I was keen to see how Des would get on with it too.  After a cast or two Des was impressed with the ease with which the rod cast a long line into a strong wind.  In no time at all he was comfortable with the rod and caught fish to boot

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In fact, fishery manager Ned came out for a look and couldn’t resist a few casts with it too.  It was a good sign when Ned asked if I could bring it over again soon so that he could spend more time casting with it!!

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Des caught his largest trout to date shortly after that while using the DTX.  A lovely conditioned rainbow trout of about 6lbs.

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Well done Des – your hooked now!   Designed by 3 times world spey casting champion Scott Mackenzie, the DTX 10ft 7wt is a superb rod and I would happily recommend one for reservoir fishing.  To find out more about the DTX range of single handed rods click here.

Course Update

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So far we have had a great response to the Matching the Hatch Course to run in Courtlough Fishery on January 18th. Further to Derek Evans article in todays’ Irish Times angling column please find below some additional detail on the course content:

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Phase 1: (classroom) – slides and images as an introduction to small still water entomology, including images of what we may find in the lake. A summary of the various life cycles (including fry) and the sequence of insect hatches throughout the season.  Details of important terrestrials likely to feature on the trouts diet during the year.

Getting prepared in the seminar room.

Phase 2: – collecting and sorting the insects into groups along the lake shore

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LUNCH BREAK

Phase 3: – going through the fly boxes and tying in the imitations with the natural animals. Emphasis will be placed on how the insects, crustaceans / snails move and how the flies move in the water and at what depth.

Articulated Zonker with diving vane

Fry imitation Articulated Zonker with diving vane

Shrimp

Shrimp Imitation

Phase 4: – angling approaches, equipment and tackle, techniques and set ups

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A place on the course would make an ideal Christmas gift!

Savage Fishing

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The local reservoirs have been fishing well lately.  Today was another great example when Wayne who has returned to Ireland from Australia had a super session on Carrigavantry.  The fishing was quiet in the morning but fish were moving.  I suggested a few tactical changes and after lunch he was just slamming the resident bows on dries.

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Fish on

These were not easy fish to fool but when they did hit the takes were just SAVAGE!

A quality bow.

A quality bow.

We even managed a few double hook ups which came as a surprise to Wayne as earlier in the day a lot of these fish were not interested in his offerings.

One each safely in the net

One each safely in the net

It was very pleasing to see that Wayne is a fan of catch and release.  He rarely ever keeps a trout.  One trout that we spooned was his bag limit for the day.

CPR (Catch Photo Release)

CPR (Catch Photo Release)

 

Kick Sampling the Waterford Reservoirs

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Following on from his last visit to Waterford where Dr Ken Whelan caught a superb 8lbs brown trout after kick sampling the margins of Carrigavantry, he was back again but this time it was Knockaderry Reservoir. To say Ken was impressed with the rich variety of quality food items available for the resident trout would be something of an understatement. Each area of the lake sampled showed some fantastic aquatic insects. There were everything from tiny fish, various caddis, chironomids, water worms, leeches, to nymphs shrimps and water boatmen.

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One scoop of the little sample net near the boat dock contained some cracking damsel nymphs. Any trout would be glad to get hold of these beauties.

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There was also some serious snails in the margins and lots of hoglouse.

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After the sampling was completed Ken had a try at catching some trout. Conditions were more suitable to nabbing a rainbow trout as it was very warm and bright. There were a few rainbows rising in the wind lanes and Ken managed to catch several of these on emergers.

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They were very hard fighting trout and some of the overwintered rainbows were fin perfect and of a good size. Nice going Ken.

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Snakes but No Ladders!

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Dave from Waterford Angling is going to fishing in New Zealand later this season so asked me to tie up a few snake flies for him to try on his trip.  The first pattern I opted for was a Black Sculpin Helmet.  The Helmet should add weight and black is a great colour for browns.

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The next pattern will hopefully work for him on the lakes there.  It uses White Barred Rabbit, bright braid and has bead chain eyes.

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I couldn’t send him off to do any streamer fishing without flies in brown and olive.  These are always great colours. I decided not to add weight on these ones so Dave can let his streamer line pull them down.  I did add realistic eyes though.

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While I had the materials out I got to thinking about these flies and that the big attraction of them to trout has got to be their movement in the water.  However, when fishing on stocked lakes these flies can work well fished slowly. In this case what I wanted though was a bit more body to the fly and a splash of colour without taking away any movement.  So I came up with this variation.  Trials start soon  . . . .so watch this space!

Snake Mk II

Snake Mk II

2013 – A Review: Part 1

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January

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In January the Waterford Reservoirs fished well with some quality trout caught on Knockaderry  in particular.

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February

February was a month of fishing shows.  First the Hooked Live show in Citywest where I gave a talk on fishing tactics and I also attended the Angling Ireland Expo in Swords.  The latter is the only of the two that is going ahead in 2014 but it should be a cracker.  I didn’t get much fishing in but I did get a few hours in on Ardaire Springs for the hard fighting rainbows there.

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March

March is a busy month with the Waterford Reservoirs reopening but this year the cold weather just continued.

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The River Suir opened for fishing on the 17th but the highlight for me was our annual trip to Lough Corrib for the Duckfly Hatch.  In 2013 we hit Cornamona in freezing conditions with no Duckfly to be seen.  We wondered if all our early season reservoir fishing in severe conditions might prove an advantage? It certainly didn’t hurt as we caught some cracking wild brown trout.

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April

April started with more really cold weather.

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However it was a great month for buzzer fishing on Carrigavantry.

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For me the highlight was when the weather picked up enough to take Luke and Leah out on Knockaderry for a few hours.  I think there was more time spent having picnics than fishing.

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Guiding other people is awesome but taking your own kids out fishing is SPECIAL. The brief session was capped off with one of the nicest fish I have ever landed from that lake. AWESOME!

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Stay tuned for Part 2 where I will be reviewing the second 4 months of 2013!

 

 

 

Waterford Browns on the Move

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Fished Carrigavantry this morning for 5 hours.  The day started off cold but I spotted a few damsel nymphs making their way to the margins and that gave me an extra confidence.  The first few drifts produced three nice brown trout to a dark dabbler, one of which was real belter of a fish.  As the day warmed up the rainbows also came on the take.  I finished the session having caught four browns and four rainbows and missing several more good takes.  To see some pictures click here.