Tag Archives: waterford

Savage Fishing

Posted on by

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.

fish on

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

Posted on by
Reply

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.

IMG_3922

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.

IMG_3927

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

snails

snails

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.

IMG_3930

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

IMG_3928

Ah! – That’s Bass.

Posted on by

First saltwater fly session of 2014. Click on the link below to find out how I got on.
Ah! – That’s Bass

Crafty Flies for Bass

Posted on by

Tied up a batch of sea bass flies for a friend the other day.  I started with some deceiver type flies like the one below.

bass 5

Then I tied a few larger flies along the lines of the hollow semper.  The thing with most saltwater flies is they never really look like baitfish when they are dry.  But try running the tap on them for a few moments and then look at them when wet.  The transformation can be astounding and this is when these flies come to life.

bass 3

Many saltwater flies like those above are tied with bucktail.  This is a great material but you can tie some with softer materials too.  I also tied my friend a few flies using Craft Fur.  Despite appearances, there is nothing overly complicated in tying any of these saltwater flies.

craft fur 1

It is always a good idea to have some bright coloured flies for different light and water conditions.  Try something like the fire orange craft fur fly below!

craft fur 2

Drainer Disc Flies

Posted on by

Have put drainer discs on a few of the tube flies I tied recently.  I really like the look of these and the idea is that water can pass through the disc and add extra movement to the wing of the fly.  If the rivers ever drop to fly fishing level I am keen to give them a try.  There are available in lots of colours including metallic finish (which I am waiting to get my hands on).  Below is my Mojo tube fly with a pink drainer added to the front.

Mojo Tube

Mojo Tube

Here is a black drainer on an early season tube fly.

turbo 2

Snakes but No Ladders!

Posted on by

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.

IMG_3530

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

IMG_3532

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.

IMG_3534

IMG_3536

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

Final Fling of 2013!

Posted on by

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.

2rods

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.

jasbow

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.

krisbow

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.

netting

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!

kubabow

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

fading

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.

colourbow

Brewin’ up a Storm!

Posted on by

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

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

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

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

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.

IMG_3462

IMG_3477

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.

Shane into one.

Safely landed

Safely landed

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

IMG_3476

IMG_3478

IMG_3487

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

Spring Salmon Flies

Posted on by

Here are a few salmon flies for the Spring.  Some Irish rivers will be open very soon and of course the Munster Blackwater will open on February 1st.  Experience says the best fishing will be between Ballyduff and Fermoy.  Some cold weather with low clear water would be ideal.

Black & Green Double

Black & Green Double

Black and green can be a good combination in the spring.  It is worth noting that when the water is low and clear you don’t always have to fish really big heavy flies.  I also like flies with some yellow in them in the spring.

Yellow&Orange

Yellow&Orange

Of course any combination of yellow, orange and black is great for salmon.  The profile of flies tied with arctic fox always looks good.

Arctic Fox Profile

Arctic Fox Profile

If you are faced with high coloured water then some big bright tube flies are worth a go.

IMG_3491 IMG_3493

IMG_3488

So if the river is good order it will surely be worth a try.  However, always be mindful of kelts and baggots at this time of year!

2013 A Review – Part III

Posted on by

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

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

Gurnard on soft plastics with Kuba

Casting tuition on Lough Derg

Casting tuition on Lough Derg

October

In October the bass fishing picked up a bit!

Darren with his first ever sea bass.

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

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

At the Irish Fly Fair in Galway

Denis O Toole with some of his templedog style salmon tubes

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

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

Mick catches at Ardaire

A cracking Ardaire bow

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

A super Ardaire Bow