Des & the DTX

Posted on December 9, 2014 by gamefishingireland

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.

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

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!!

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

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.

Fine Weather & Fine Fish

Posted on August 14, 2014 by gamefishingireland

The dry summer has continued into August in the South East with high temperatures and little rain. This fine weather is great for the beach etc but can make for some very tough fishing conditions . . . . tough but not impossible. On the trout front the rivers have been down to their bones. Still there was a rise in the evenings and this also included a rise of seatrout, particularly on the Munster Blackwater. The opportunity to catch seatrout on light tippet and small dries was not to be missed and casting pupil Peter and I had some superb fishing.

Blackwater Seatrout

Lovely Wild Brown trout

Most of our productive bass fishing had been by night using soft plastics but the tides were springing this week and the brisk wind from the land was making a nice disturbance on the water. This allowed for some decent lure fishing during the evenings.

Bass over 50cm

Soft plastics continued to work well fooling some fine sea bass.

Bass over 60cm

Salmon fishing had been really difficult. A few fish were laded in the lower Suir on fly in the early mornings but it was very difficult. The Blackwater was a similar story. Regular visitor Brian had one nice 10lbr on spinning tackle from the tidal waters but nothing on fly on this occasion.

10lb salmon

The Suir rose by 1ft on Sunday which gives very good salmon fly fishing prospects in the lower river for the coming days.

Streamer Screamer!

Posted on June 9, 2014 by gamefishingireland

Regular client Willie was in contact with me lately to do some fishing as he had bought a new Sage reel for a 5wt. We have had a lot of rain recently and this has meant a rise in water levels and some colouring of the waters.

spate water

However as water clears this can be a great time to target large predatory browns.

clearing out

The chosen method – streamers. Remember that you need a specialist streamer line to fish these effectively. Willie got his from Pat at Premier Angling Supplies in Nenagh. Anyway, as is often the case when teaching an old Sage new tricks Willie was a bit skeptical about streamer fishing. However when his new reel started to scream, he changed his views. Another large brown for us this season . . . they just keep on coming

Screamer

This one came from very slow deep water. Handle with care and release safely!

spotty fella

The ONE!

Posted on February 20, 2014 by gamefishingireland

Received two new outfits to try out from Pat at Premier Angling Supplies. So it was over to Ardaire Springs yesterday to see how they would go. I was joined by my pals Mick and Kuba. The rods were 10ft Sage One in 5wt and 7wt. I set up the 5wt with a full floater and some buzzers and the 7wt with a lure. I started in front of the hut with the 5wt. It is a seriously impressive item of tackle and almost immediately I was into a nice rainbow.

I really liked this rod as a buzzer/dry fly rod. Catching a few more bows on it helped too.

I was chatting with Kuba about his switch rod when Mick hit into a nice fish on lures. It put up a great battle.

It was a decent rainbow, typical of this fishery.

I decided to try the 7wt sage one with a DI 5 sinking line. This was awesome for casting big flies big distances. It had lots of power and I was really able to control the fish I hooked.

The fishing wasn’t easy but we did pull a share of nice trout and Kuba finished off the day with one on a bloodworm.

I think Sage got the name of this rod just right, the 7wt is the One for lure fishing and the 5wt is the One for dries/buzzers.

River Trout Fly Fishing Course

Posted on January 26, 2014 by gamefishingireland

This course will take place at the fantastic Ballyduff Bridge Fishery (River Blackwater) on Sunday April 13th 2014 at 9.30am. At a very affordable price of just €60 per person the course will incorporate:

Dry Fly
Wet Fly
Dry/dropper (New Zealand Style)
Nymph Fishing
Streamers

A nice trout caught New Zealand style.

All aspects of these techniques will be explained including tackle choice, leader set up, fly selection and presentation. The course tuition will last for approximately 4 hours and course participants can fish the beat for trout (catch and release) for the evening. We will be available to provide further advice if needed.

I am delighted to be able to announce that I will be joined on the day by Mackenzie Pro Team Guide Maurice Cahill. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to spend time with both a myself and a Mackenzie Pro at such an affordable price.

MacKenzie Pro Guide Maurice Cahill

All course participants will be provided with a detailed set of course notes. If you want to learn about river trout fly fishing or improve upon your current knowledge book a place by contacting me by phone 087 2965712 or e-mail: gamefishingireland@gmail.com. Places are limited. A booking deposit of €30 applies.

Snakes but No Ladders!

Posted on January 12, 2014 by gamefishingireland

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.

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

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.

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

Brewin’ up a Storm!

Posted on December 27, 2013 by gamefishingireland

A storm raged across Ireland last night and today’s forecast was for gusts of wind to 150kph. Fly fishing – surely not! BUT, Shane and I were committed to fishing Ardaire springs – and opted to brave the elements! When we arrived at Ardaire the wind was howling. There was a little shelter on one side of the lake, and a lot of waves on the other. Shane opted for buzzers on an intermediate line and I decided to fish a bloodworm on a floater. I was first to get amongst the fish.

A nice bow on a bloodworm

This method caught 15 trout for me in the morning which was superb fishing.

Another one falls to the bloodworm

In the meantime Shane had been hitting some very nice fish on his buzzers and seemed happy to be breaking in his new Greys rod.

A nice fish on the new Greys GR50 10ft rod

l moved around the lake trying any likely looking spots and landed a few more really good fish including the belter pictured below.

A super Ardaire Bow

After lunch the fishing continued to be good but did slow a little. I switched to buzzers and had a few more bows and the odd small brown.

As the wind died down and the temperature dropped the fish went deeper and we both switched to mini-lures on sinking lines to try and tempt a few more fish.

Shane into one.

Safely landed

As the light began to fade I managed a few more bows before it was time to tackle down and head home.

Overall it was a great days fishing and worth the trip.

2013 A Review – Part III

Posted on December 13, 2013 by gamefishingireland

September

Normally reliable this past season fishing was tough due to high temperatures, drought conditions and algal blooms. But we still managed to catch some nice fish!

Night fishing for seatrout with Conor and the lads

Maury after landing a nice autumn fish on the Blackwater

Maury from Tyrone after landing a nice autumn fish on the Blackwater

Gurnard on soft plastics with Kuba

Casting tuition on Lough Derg

October

In October the bass fishing picked up a bit!

Darren with his first ever sea bass.

And the water in the lakes started to clear up.

Tom "Doc" Sullivan from Galway with a cracking Knockaderry Bow

Tom “Doc” with a Knockaderry Bow

November

With the rivers closed it was more saltwater fishing and of course the Waterford lakes fished well.

A quality Vantry trout

And a trip to the Irish Fly Fair in Galway which was fantastic. I really enjoyed giving a talk there on winter tactics for stillwater trout.

At the Irish Fly Fair in Galway

Denis O Toole with some of his templedog style salmon tubes

December

The year comes to a close. And a chance to catch up on some fly tying.

Dabbler

But with all the mild weather there are still some seabass caught along the copper coast when conditions are good and the lakes continue to fish well.

Mick catches at Ardaire

A cracking Ardaire bow

With only a few days left in the year and with winds estimated at 150kph Shane and I managed to fit in one more days fishing.

A super Ardaire Bow

Stillwater Fly Fishing Course

Posted on December 11, 2013 by gamefishingireland

This course will take place at the excellent facilities of Ardaire Springs Angling Centre on Sunday February 23rd 2014 at 9.30am. At a very affordable price of just €60 per person this course will cover:

Dry Fly
Wet Fly
Lures
Nymphs/Buzzers

All aspects of these techniques will be covered including tackle choice, leader set up, fly selection and presentation. The course tuition will last for approximately 4 hours and course participants can fish on at Ardaire for the rest of the day. We will be available to provide further advice if needed. Course participants will also be provided with a set of course notes.

If you want to learn about stillwater fly fishing or just improve upon your current knowledge book a place by contacting Ned at 086 812 8937 or myself at 087 2965712. Places are limited. A booking deposit of €30 applies.

A quality Ardaire Rainbow.

2013 – A Review – Part 2

Posted on December 9, 2013 by gamefishingireland

May

By May the fly fishing season had really taken off. Another trip to Lough Corrib for the Mayfly (although this was a bit patchy) produced some nice trout.

Corrib brace

Fishing Awareness Day took place at Carrigavantry Reservoir. Days like this are really important to get youth into our sport.

A highlight of the day was the entomology workshop by Willie and Martin.

And the Waterford Reservoirs continued to produce quality trout to buzzers.

June

It was a case of more of the same in June with the arrival of:

Good hatches on the Suir and its tributaries.

Grilse and seatrout in the Munster Blackwater.

And Bass (and bass anglers!) in Dungarvan Harbour

July

In July the reservoir trout turned their attention to Caddis.

I took part in the Charity Open Day at Ballyduff Bridge that raised a lot of money for the Crumlin Childrens Hospital.

And helped out a few other associations with casting demonstrations on the Blackwater and Slayney. It was around this time that I decided to establish Game Fishing Ireland as a an independent local business guiding anglers in the area for:

trout

salmon

and sea bass.

August

August was a busy month with tuition and guiding starting to take off.

I stocked up on some saltwater flies.

And the bass fishing was tough but rewarding.

Game Fishing Ireland

Expert guiding and fly casting tuition

Tag Archives: Trout

Des & the DTX

Fine Weather & Fine Fish

Streamer Screamer!

The ONE!

River Trout Fly Fishing Course

Snakes but No Ladders!

Brewin’ up a Storm!

2013 A Review – Part III

Stillwater Fly Fishing Course

2013 – A Review – Part 2

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: