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Archive for March, 2011

In and on the Water…

March 30th, 2011 No comments

Not many fish to report from the weekend but it was not all bad. I managed one nice trout in flat calm conditions on Corrib with Dad on thursday. I fished with just 2 buzzers on a 5lb flourocarbon leader. If there was any breeze at all  would have been fishing 3 or 4. I’ll tie a few for a blog in the near future.

Friday I was on sea without a flyrod with my good friend Fuzz.. We got a feed the old fashioned way with our hands and spears!

Saturday Fuzz and I fished the Corrib for both pike and trout but we had no success. I did explore a large chunk of the lake i never fished before and did not see a single fish. Conditions were tough once again. I’m really looking forward to a day on this lake when everything is just right.

By the way there are still no pike near Maam! Bad mistake putting my boat there for the early part of the season.. I’ll know better next year!

Enjoy the week! Ronan..

Cockles and Mullet Alive, Alive O

March 23rd, 2011 No comments

I woke up to a perfect blue sky day with hardly a breath of wind.  I did a little work but could not get motivated because I was inside… so I thought, Dam it. I’m going outside! First I went to Crumpan and and got myself a feed of cockles for dinner, Then went for a snorkel in the same place to see if the fine weather brought any mullet in. It did. Mullet are a bit of a curse because they offer many of the things a fly fisherman looks for but are just about impossible to catch. They can be spotted cruising near the surface apparently feeding. When a shoal is located they draw the angler in completely. Absolute concentration happens without effort. Flies are changed often due to constantly being ignored. They keep your full attention until dark or until you just give up. All of the above happened when I targeted them after I got out of the water. I had one take on a size 14 Green cdc weed fly (a dry because all my best mullet success has been on dries). The hook up was brief and I had no other chance. In my experience with mullet that was a good evenings fishing! Time for dinner…

Ronan..

 

 

 

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Mask and Corrib..

March 21st, 2011 No comments

One small trout is all we landed on Lough Mask last Thursday.. Conditions were ideal. We covered water that should have held fish but it simply felt like they were not there. I think our great lakes are in trouble and i dont know what to do about it besides practicing and preaching catch and release. I believe working on the spawning streams would be a good idea too though. On a brighter note i heard some good catch reports from the lower Corrib on Saturday. Buzzer fishing will soon be in full swing!

Pike fishing on Saturday was great fun. I had 4 and they are much stronger than they were a week ago. I’m yet to meet a really big one but I’m enjoying the search! When john puts his boat in the lower Corrib it will open up many opportunities for big ones i think. Build the dam trailer john!!!

A great win for Ireland in the rugby followed by a few pints in Galway topped of the day beautifully!

Have a great week all.. By the way, I’ll have a sexyloops email address soon so if anyone wants to contact me it will soon be possible. Thanks for reading!

Ronan..

 

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Paddy’s Day and the 3 Generations.

March 17th, 2011 No comments

This day last year paul and I were getting ready to leave NZ to head for the Northern Territory in Australia. We arrived in Darwin on Paddy’s Day, Traditionally a fishing day for me but the Guinness got the better of us on that occasion. We were on the water the next morning… afternoon maybe, we don’t wear watches!

Tomorrow is Paddy’s Day once again and also my 20th fly fishing anniversary. I remember that first day very clearly. I was with my Dad and my Grandad on Lough Corrib. I fished hard all day with freezing hands while putting up with some abuse such as “you’ve been watching me casting for fuckin long enough now to know how to do it” and “It looks more like whipping a bull than casting”. It was half in gest… I think! I kept trying and persistence paid off with a 1.5lb brown on a Black Zulu.  All 3 generations were delighted and I never looked back. Dad (Joe Creane) and I fish together in NZ every year. I wish my Grandfather, Paddy, could have been there with us, however I’m thankful for all the great days the 3 of us had on the water together,  Without them I would not be able to think like a trout!

Tomorrow Dad and I are going to take on Lough Mask…

Ronan..

Spring is in the air!

March 6th, 2011 No comments

I arrived at Corrib on Saturday morning to find it like a sheet of glass. My plan was to target trout since the season is open again but with bright sunshine and not a breath of wind to push the boat along there was not much point. I set up a rod for trout anyway in case the conditions changed but first i went after pike along the reeds in front of Ardnasillagh Lodge where i rented the boat. I had 3 pike within half an hour all 4-5lbs and then things went quiet. At 2pm I left the bay and ventured out into the lake to inchagill hoping for a breeze to get up by the time I got there. It didn’t! This time of year on Corrib a little wind is essential so I went back to where I started in pursuit of pike and boated one more of about  6 or 7lbs in the evening. It was a great moment, The pike cruised towards the fly from the side with his fins out of the water like a shark, he bumped the fly first so i paused, Then a slow strip away and he nailed it! I enjoy fishing with friends but sometimes it’s great to be on the water alone. I think it gives you a more genuine appreciation of nature and your surroundings. One disadvantage however is trying to photograph fish with the 10 second timer! You have one chance then the fish goes back whether or not you got the fish in the frame. It was great to get a few fish finally. No big fish yet but persistence pays off, or so they say!

I stayed at johns on Saturday night and tied up a few flies for Sunday. We fished out of Maam again and i can safely say there are still dam all pike in this part of the lake. I hoped that in the 3 weeks since we last fished it some fish would have moved in but we haden’t as much as a pull all day. I’ll try it again in a few weeks…

Spring is well and truly in the air and it feels fantastic!

Tight lines All…    Ronan..

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