Tag Archives: trout fishing

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

Lough Corrib 2018

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This year a pal and I delayed our visit to Lough Corrib until late April due to the abnormally cold spring. It proved to be a good move as the weather was horrible all March. We knew we had missed the duckfly hatch but were hoping for Olives and large buzzer. Once again we stayed at Grasshopper cottage Cornamona near Clonbur.

We hired a boat and engine from our good pal and top guide Tom Doc Sullivan. Unfortunately we were too early for Olives this time. Our approach was to fish the conditions as there was no significant hatch. On the morning s the Lough was calm and the sun was high although it was cool enough with a Northeast wind.

In these conditions we fished buzzers. I was really impressed with my Mackenzie FX1 10ft 6wt for this method. Luckily we managed to boat some nice trout with the largest 58cm and in prime condition.

In the mid afternoon the wind picked up and we tried pulling traditional wet flies and dabblers on intermediate lines. This was productive especially around shallow areas. We had a mixture of small trout with some better fish to just over 2lbs and quite a few missed takes also.

Overall we had a great weekend and are really looking forward to next year already.

Final Fling of 2013!

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Earlier in the week Kuba contacted me asking if I would like to end the season with a days fishing on Ardaire Springs.  Fishing on New Years Eve – of course!  It was the final chance of 2013 to ‘fling a fly’ into the water.  We arrived at the fishery at 9am and Krysztof, a friend of Kuba’s was there waiting.  I opted to set both my 10 ft Hardy rods – one with a floater and one with a sinking line.

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I put a spare spool for my Greys reel holding a 0.5ips Intermediate line into my pocket – just in case.  The lake was flat calm with not much surface activity.  The first hour or two were action packed for me with a lot of fish on a static bloodworm.

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The wind picked up and there were periods of torrential rain.  I continued to pick up a few fish as did Martin who I have met at Ardaire on a few occasions now.  Kuba and Krysztof had a few takes on lures but not lots of fish.

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We took a break for lunch and I met some of the anglers that will be participating in my Stillwater course at Ardaire in February.  Really nice people. This course is now full but there are still a few spaces on the March course.  Later in the afternoon the strong wind and heavy rain moved off but air temperatures dropped.  The odd fish was still falling to nymphs fished really slowly.

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I decided to try a black lure on the 7wt and it paid off.  Kuba wasn’t having a lot of success so I gave him a large streamer fly to try.  It was a pattern that had caught a lot of trout for me and anglers I guided on the Rivers Nire and Suir.  Third cast and he caught – result!

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Even as the light began to fade away and the year came to a close there were still a few fish biting.

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Not as many large fish as some previous trips to this fishery but fantastic to be fishing on New Years Eve and really looking forward to 2014.  Have to mention that the fish were in superb condition too.

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