Tag Archives: match the hatch

Rye Match the Hatch Course

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Yesterday Ken and I had a great day on our Match the Hatch Course on the River Rye where we were facilitated by the local angling club.  We arrived early to Leixlip and had a quick sample of the river near the village.  We found water slaters, caseless caddis, olive nymphs and quite a lot of shrimps as well as few other bugs.  We then went on to meet the participants at our arranged venue for the first part of the course.  Ken explained in detail the connection between the available food and the quality of trout in a river.

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He then discussed the fly life anglers were likely to encounter when sampling the river.  After a short tea break I made a presentation about matching the real insects with suitable imitations.

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After lunch we went to a stretch of the river and Ken showed the participants how to sample the river and identify the insects found.

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I then gave a short demonstration of some fishing techniques that the participants could use in order to catch some trout!

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The day flew bye and soon it was at an end but I really enjoyed it.  Many thanks to Ken, Brendan and all the participants who made it a great day out. Ken and I will be at the Northwest Angling Fair in Strabane towards the end of the month and I am really looking forward to this as I have a lot of good friends living in the area.  In July we will have our seatrout fishing course on the Slayney which proved very popular last year.  We are working on organising some further courses before the year is out so “watch this space”!

Match the Hatch – Rivers & Small Streams

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Delighted to be able to announce details of this course with Ken Whelan.  It is going to be really informative for those of you who river fish for wild brown trout.  Are you interested on what these fish are feeding on, and how to imitate these food sources with artificial fly?  If so, then this is the course for you.  It is being held on the River Annalee (in association with the Cavan Anglers Club), Ballyhaise, Co.Cavan on Sunday April 26th. Places are limited so get in touch ASAP if you want to participate.

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Imitative Approach

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Last Sunday I traveled to Courtlough Fishery in Dublin to tutor the Match the Hatch Course with Ken Whelan.  We had 14 participants on the course and Garrett the fishery manager and the staff at Courtlough were very welcoming to everyone.  In the morning Ken went through a PowerPoint presentation on the various important species likely to be living in the lake.

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We then headed down to the water to for a kick sampling session.  Everyone took part and Ken provided the required equipment for the session.

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It was great to see all the insect life collected and identified and it proved to be a real ‘eye opener’ for the participants who really enjoyed this aspect of the course, despite the very cold weather.

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Next it was time for lunch and we headed back to the bar (yes bar!) for soup and sandwiches.  The hot soup was very welcome and again Courtlough set the standard by providing additional sandwiches tea/coffee and biscuits.  With full tummies it was time for the afternoon session.  This was where I took over and showed everyone a series of imitative fly patterns designed to look and/or move like the insects we found in the lake.

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We headed back down to the water and I demonstrated a few fishing techniques for replicating the movement of the naturals.  The guys then had time to do some fishing themselves and try to put what they learned into practice.  I used two Mackenzie DTX single handed rods for my demo and the boys were keen to get their hands on them.  Ken had a go with the 10ft 7wt with a fast intermediate line and a damsel imitation.  Within the first few casts he was into a lovely rainbow.

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Everyone was very impressed with these rods. A few more fish were caught and as the sun and temperatures dropped it was time to call it a day.  The feedback afterwards was really positive and this was most satisfying for Ken and I.

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Our next Match the Hatch course will take place in Ratchon Fishery on March 1st.  In the meantime I am taking bookings for a Stillwater Tactics course at Ardaire Springs fishery in Mooncoin.  For more info click here.  As I have recently been appointed to the Mackenzie Pro Team for Ireland I will have a range of single handed rods with me for these courses.