Ronan's Report

The weekend before last John arranged a Corrib PFFA Ireland (Pike Fly Fishers Association) meeting. It was attended by Stuart, Steve, Kristian, John and myself. Day one was in Maam and once again the area did not fire. 4 rods (I only got to bed at 10am on day one so missed the day… Lucky me!) and not a single fish. Day 2 was a different story! We started in Ardnasillagh Bay. Kristian and I had a great start quickly boating 4 pike in the 6-9lb region and we lost a couple. The second half of the day saw us going down the lake to some big fish hot spots. Kristian and myself got distracted by loads of very large trout rising. I simply cannot fish for pike when trout are on the top. Kristian had a superb brown of 4.5lb and another of 1.5lb on my size 14 dry claret sedge which I tie for NZ. I moved a few but boated nothing. John, Steve and Stuart stuck to pike. John had 2 great fish, One 14lbs and another 20lbs 15oz. I have no pics of these fish but hopefully I’ll have them soon. I’ll put them in the next blog. It was great to have Stuart and Steve down to fish our local water. I learned a lot from them about tying pike flies and picked up a few tips on tying pike traces. Thanks fellas! I hope ye learned a bit from us too.

One thing that sometimes pisses me off about Irish fly fishing is how effort and persistence is so hesitant to pay off. When it does pay off it makes it all the sweeter however. After a successful day guiding Norman Kyle (head ghillee on a stretch of the River Tyne in England) I went to fish the river myself. I repeated some water Norman had fished to no avail and then decided to walk across the mountain (bog) to another river beat known as Pine Island. This area has not produced much in recent years but I had a good feeling. When I got there the walkway out to the small island was flooded as I knew it would be, so I wet waded out to it. I stud there soaked to the balls and thought to myself ” I deserve a fish for this” but experience has told me many times that “deserve” does not hold water over here. This time it did! I landed a powerful 6lb grilse on a Sunray Shadow and rose 2 more. As wet as I was, I happily walked back to the van.

Shane Flaherty (Fuzz) and Myself fished Kylemore Lough yesterday. Conditions were Ideal apart from the lake being too high. We fished hard and had 3 seatrout to 1.5lbs, a nice brown and rose a salmon. 10 grilse were landed on the river the previous day.

Today I took my cousin Paddy Creane, 11, out on Inagh for his first day fly fishing. He fished hard and well in very difficult conditions. The rain dumped on us continually and the wind blew. I asked Paddy, “are you cold”, “A little” he said,” but I’m not going in.. I’m wet too!, I love this, but its not as easy as I expected. It’s a challenge”. He got a brown and a sea trout and put his name in the Inagh trout register for the first time of many. Watch this space!

We have had a load of rain in the last few days and the Ballynahinch/Inagh system should fish very well in the coming week. The same is true for the entire Kylemore fishery. If your thinking about coming over now is the time! Contact details in my previous blogs.

Tight lines!

Ronan..

When Iza and I arrived in Dublin we were surprised to walk into a wall of heat getting off the plane. I thought we got off at the wrong country! We boarded a westbound bus and watched the temperature rise to 30 celsius by the time we made Galway. It turned out we landed right in the middle of a heatwave! The weather continued for weeks. I had a few days after trout and salmon but the lakes were like bathwater and the fishing was useless. Generally, when weather doesn’t suit one species, it suits another. Even this theory was pushed a little off centre. I heard the pike fishing was poor during the heatwave. The extreme temperatures, which were unprecedented in Ireland, don’t do shallow water fishing any good. No surprise there. When the water cooled down a little, the pike fishing was okay but the trout needed further coaxing – rain and cool weather was desperately needed! Even the inshore pollack fishing suffered. I have never felt Roundstone’s beaches so warm. The heat was great for swimming, snorkelling and the like but not for fishing. The one species I didn’t chase that maybe I should have was mullet. Their numbers are on the rise again after declining for a while. In the latter end of the trip I got wise to a few great spots to chase them but I didn’t make it happen for one reason or another. I’m probably better off! Mullet around Connemara are, in my experience at least, virtually impossible to catch.

During my last few days in Roundstone the rain came with a vengeance! Dad and I took on Lough Inagh and a river beat for the rain day expecting / hoping salmon would run. I’m sure they did but we didn’t intercept any. The Inagh, Ballynahinch system rose as fast as I’ve experienced. Usually the first hour of a rising river is good but we missed that (it was at about 4am!). After an hour or so on the river we went to Inagh. It didn’t fire either, though I think I rose one grilse before it got too dirty to fish anymore in the afternoon. The lake rose at a rate of about 1 foot per hour. As Kylemore and Inagh settled in the past few days the fishing has improved.

One thing I have learned over the 6 weeks at home – I prefer Irish weather to be Irish! Wind, rain, an odd good day, cloud and cool. With global warming upon us, this type of heat is probably going to become more common in Ireland. Look out Spain!

And now for something completely different. Petanque! Myself and Justin have being playing our own version of the game for a while. Justin decided to run a competition. The plan was to gather the old crew together, get on the beer and play Petanque to the proper rules. We had a couple of ideas for the trophies so I spent a couple of hours in the workshop knocking them out! Last place, “The Hand of Ineptitude”, Second last “The Kick in the Arse”, “aka Christy” because there was a left foot on the trophy. Funnily enough, Daniel Day Lewis was in town. What are the odds? I should have asked him to present it! Second place, “Just Out of Reach” (hence the back scratcher!) and First place, “MR STEEL TESTICLES”. Of the 6 lads in the competition (James, Justin, Nigel, Niall, Tom and Myself) I knew I’d be well down the rankings, probably last. By some miracle I came back against James from 8 – 2 down to win 10 – 9 in my first game. That was the beginning of my lucky streak. Somehow I gained the title of MR STEEL TESTICLES, 2018 in a tie breaker against Justin. All the trophies will become perpetual with names engraved for the future of the cup! Who wouldn’t want one of these on their mantlepiece for a whole year?? The craic was mighty and half of us pushed through til dawn.. I need to get a set of balls to practice for next year!

The 6 weeks in Ireland was more family and friends oriented than ever. Adaline enjoyed her first trip to Roundstone and met her first cousin, Casey. It was a pleasure to see them together. Paddling pools, a christening, a 40th, trips to the beach, dinners at home, Kila in Galway, a few carpentry projects to make life a bit easier for the recipients, Guinness, seafood the likes of which is simply not available in NZ (thanks to Vaughans and O Dowd’s), snorkelling, swimming, an odd pint, the list goes on. Home is home!! So much to do we rarely ventured far from Roundstone. Family and friends, Thanks you all.. and a special thanks to those who travelled to see us!

Back in NZ now, Next season is 2/3 full but still plenty spots available. If you’d like to lock in a trip, please get in touch, ronan@sexyloops.com or see my website www.ronansflyfishingmissions.com

Tight Lines,

Ronan..

Irish trout go off completely in 30 degree heat, Pollack still take though! Here's my sister Sinead into one.. Husband, John and Daughter, Casey look on..

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Shane and I decided we had time to walk in to the Black Lake and be back in time for dinner. The walk was usually 2 hours but Shane thought he might have a quicker way in if a certain bog road on google earth was firm enough to drive on. Thankfully it was and we had no issues getting to the end of the road. We tackled up and set off walking across the mountain with high expectations. Shane had visited the lake few times with plenty fish to the net each time. We got there after an easy 40 minutes, the sun was occasionally poking its rays through the grey clouds and there was a firm breeze blowing. I took the west shore and Shane took the east.. I was expecting quick action but it didn’t come. I could see Shane wasn’t catching either. We persisted down our shores and met at the bottom. I picked up one wee trout. Tiny, but still approximately 3 years old. Wild trout will grow as large as their environment permits and these acidic mountain lakes generally do not contain an abundance of food for trout, and so, they don’t grow very big. They are good to eat if you catch a few but today the catch was returned unharmed! We both agreed that there was no point fishing any more so we started the march back to the van. We wondered why the fish were simply not on? They had to be in there. Who knows! We could only speculate. We passed an old roofless stone building on the way – a very small one at about 7′ x 5′ inside. We went in for a look. I noticed a few old pots in the wall, also some kindling and a couple of sods of turf. Shane got down there for a closer look and could see a bottle with a cork in it. He tried to get it out but could barely reach, it was way in under the wall. Stubbornness got the better of him, he eventually he got it out with the aid of a stick. There was something in there.. a note we guessed. We could see paper wrapped in plastic. I popped out the cork. It took me a while to jimmy out the note but it came out eventually. Sure enough it was a message in a bottle which read: 26/6/05..  Hello to whoever found this note in years to come. My name is Jordan Keane 12 years of age. Me and my dad camped here this night. I caught a really big fish here about 12 inch long and caught 32 fish from 4.30am to 12.30am. Good bye We put the note back in the bottle, and the bottle back under the wall for the next person to find. We continued back to Shane’s van with a good story to tell and made it home in time for dinner. Iza, Irene, Shane’s brother, Tom and his girlfriend were there too. All friends from our early teens, its important to do this! Eat, drink, fish and be merry!!

I also did the rounds fishing some of my home waters. James and I had an enjoyable day out on Corrib. I’m no longer in the know on the lake so I chose a long drift which brought us passed many familiar points, bays and islands. Early in the day a beautiful bar of gold made a side swipe at my dry mayfly and stuck! A beautifully marked native Irish brown. There is a certain reverence towards an wild Corrib brown that I don’t feel anywhere else! James and I had a few more chances but we finished the day with one. A pint or 2 in the evening rounded off the day nicely!

John and I also had a day on Corrib. A very unusual day it was in that we put up a heap of trout but got nothing to the net. We must have risen 25 trout for the day on dries and wets. We altered our retrieve, fly size, fly patterns etc but nothing changed. That evening the pints were necessary after a frustrating day!

I had a great session after Irish Pollack off Roundstone. A Di7 with a short leader and a white marabou and possum sculpin head did the trick. Iza was with me putting her new camera through it’s paces and got some great shots! Lumpy seas, a spectacular seascape, willing pollack and great company made for the perfect afternoon. Dinner for the family compliments of the Atlantic Ocean that night!!

The way things worked out, Dad and I only managed 2 days fishing together. We fished 2 lakes we both love and have both guided on many many times, Lough Inagh and Kylemore Lough. The fishing was pretty slow on both lakes but we managed a few good quality seatrout in the 1 to 2 lb class in both locations. With our day on Kylemore we decided to try something different after a slow morning, so we went after large cannibal trout. We heard some reports that they were in the lake whch is no surprise, they are quite common in Inagh just a few miles away. We had a tip as to their whereabouts; the shallow near the bottom bridge, so we worked this area. The plan was to fish over the drop-offs with fast sinking lines. This is not easy from a drifting boat in black, peat stained water because its impossible to tell the depth your in by looking at the water. My thinking is that the most likely water would be along the sloping shelf from the shallow to the deep. Regularly poking the rod down to find the bottom kept us on the right depth – no depth finder! Every time we could not hit the bottom with the rod tip we’d go back on the drift in an attempt to drift along the sloping drop-off. We worked it hard for hours. I had one follow to the surface from a fish between 3 and 4lbs and so did dad. When we almost had enough of it I connected with one – a big one! It immediately broke the surface, certainly 6lb+, and then the fly came out. I couldn’t swear that it wasn’t a salmon but my instinct (or maybe blind optimism) tells me it was a large brown. A monster for a Connemara lake! For the last hour we worked the the top of the lake near the river mouth in the hope of a salmon. Dad got a solid seatrout not long before we called it a day but we’ll have to wait til next year for a salmon. Special thanks to Nancy for giving Dad and I a boat for the day. It’s always a pleasure to listen to her stories about the old days and the new. Did she ever tell you about the day she caught 7 big salmon out in front of the house? It’s a good one! Thanks also to my good friend, Macca!!

One other thing of note happened while in Ireland. I asked Iza to marry me and she said yes! I don’t want to go into the entire proposal story but it involved casting the ring to her on an 8wt on the wild west coast of Roundstone!

The NZ season is well under way. I’ve had very successful guide days so far! More on that very soon. If you’re thinking about some guided fly fishing in NZ this year why not drop me a line! ronan@sexyloops.com or visit my website http://www.ronansflyfishingmissions.com

Tight Lines everyone!

Ronan..

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I just dug up this article from The New York Times written about me 13 years ago. Go google!

By Barbara Lloyd
Published: November 28, 1999

A book by the fire at the Lough Inagh Lodge looked ever more enticing than sitting in a boat on a chilly day as the mist outside turned a darker gray. But who among us could resist those fly rods standing so nobly in the back hallway of this County Galway fishing lodge?

”Have you ever fly-fished before?” asked Ronan Creane, the lodge’s guide. ”Yes,” we replied in unison, as couples do. ”But not a lot.” My husband, Dick Baker, had once cast in the river waters of Oregon and Wyoming, and I had dropped lines from the deep Alpine grasses of northwest Montana. But this was a mountain lake on the west coast of Ireland, and we soon found ourselves getting in a boat.

It was a 19-foot skiff, a narrow wooden hull that looked like the Rangely guide boats of woodland Maine. One pull of the six-horsepower Yamaha, and we were heading against a freshening breeze along the four-mile lake. Our cache of wet flies — a bibio, a black pennell and a few daddy longlegs — filled an arsenal meant to lure sea trout, brown trout and Atlantic salmon.

The Western Regional Fisheries Board for the Connemara region has reported a decline in sea trout here the last few years. But it is still a popular fishing destination. The Irish Tourist Board estimates that more than 6,000 North Americans fished Ireland’s coastal waters for sea trout last year. During our late September day of fishing on Lough Inagh, we were the only boat out.

Our guide, a disarmingly self-assured 21-year-old, left no doubt that we would catch something. Creane had just beaten his father, Joe, an international competitor, in a local fishing derby the day before. How he did it was a tale of perseverance that fired up our determination.

Creane, you see, had selected a secluded spot along a nearby lake and waited for the contest to begin. The rules prohibited fishing from a boat as we were allowed to do on Lough Inagh. From the shore instead, our young guide had mounted a daylong fishing vigil. But in the excitement of competition, he had forgotten his rain gear.

Rather than go back to shore for his jacket, Creane kept casting. As his clothes got wetter, he got colder. So he began disrobing; doesn’t everyone? He removed his clothing piece by piece. Then he spread his sodden shirt, pants and underclothing on adjacent bushes, hoping they would dry as the rain began to abate.

No one else was around, which was part of his plan. He was sure he had picked the choicest fishing hole, and was not about to leave it. Not even when it meant fishing in the buff.

At the end of the day, Creane, fully clothed once again, delivered almost nine pounds of fish, a sizeable catch that put him in second place in the competition. The winner’s total weighed only three more ounces than Creane’s. Better yet, our young guide had beaten his father, who finished in third place.

We latched onto the story eagerly as we began our day of fishing. Creane had turned off the boat’s engine, and we were drifting down the lake with an oar put out to the side as a rudder. But in less than an hour, dozens of thwarted casts revealed our rookie inadequacies against the fitful breeze. Try as we might, our lines got tangled like used kite string. We hooked everything on the boat but each other, and that was going to be next.

Creane, undoubtedly fearful of being hooked himself, suggested a change of pace. We would troll down the lake with the engine running. Had we been self-respecting fly-fishers, we would have nixed the idea. But we were desperate.

Within minutes, I had the first strike. It was a salmon, albeit a tiny salmon that looked more despondent than I had been. The next catch proved to be a heartier sea trout. Measuring about one pound, it came into the boat with a little kick, not unlike the cutthroat trout I remembered landing several years ago in Montana. We threw my Irish fish back as part of the lake’s catch-and-release policy.

It was a whole lot harder to throw back the next one — a two-and-a-quarter-pound brown trout that Creane said was easily the third largest brown caught on the lake all season. Since we were there in late September, and the fishing year had started in February, I felt a bit smug. But I was not alone. Creane was beside himself with enthusiasm.

”It’s a lovely fish,” he said excitedly. ”To catch a brown that size, the chances are very slim. The biggest fish here this season was 3.2 pounds. Will you send me the photo?”

An hour later, Dick landed a brown that was quite nearly the same size. I could swear it was the same fish. Either way, they were big fish for Lough Inagh, and beautiful. On the way back to shore, I thought I noticed a wistful look on Creane’s face.

”I’m very jealous that I didn’t catch one of those fish,” he said.

I was touched. ”I’ll send you the pictures,” I promised

I put a note of facebook last week suggesting that any anglers who would like to meet up for a day or 2 fishing should do so in Cromwell. On Friday night last, Quentin, James, and Jeff drove up from Invercargill.  Carl arrived from Wanaka (a bit late!) on Saturday morning and all six of us hit the lake. Carl and I took my boat out and after a few miss starts we were away!

Fishing was slow but after a couple of quiet hours we found a few fish cruising over shallow sand flats. We abandoned the boat to make the best of the opportunity. Woolley Buggers only inspired follows but size 16 midge patterns worked well. In one hour I hooked 4 and landed 2, Carl hooked a few and Mike who was not far away also landed 2 and I expect hooked a few more also. Quentin, James and Jeff also had some decent action where ever they were.

All in all it was a good day out. I’ve known Carl for years but this is the first time we fished together. I hope we can get a few more days on the water in the coming season and the remainder of this one. I expect Carl will want to even up the 3-0 score card for the day anyway! 🙂

On Sunday it was just Jeff and I fishing. The wind was strong, very strong at times and this completely knocked out the sight fishing. We tried blind fishing the sand flats where the fish were the day before with buggers and this produced 2 hook ups and 1 landed fish each. We tried lough style in the wave for 2 or 3 hours and amazingly this produced only one fish. I really expected more. Long drifts over a variety of depths between 1 and 8’ with varied lake bed from sand to silt to dense weed to not so dense weed and only one fish! In summer I expect the same tactic to take 15 to 20 fish for a day. Bring it on!

Carl put an Idea in my head on Saturday and it will be turned into reality. He suggested that I put a polling platform on the boat! Daltona can float on 5 or 6 inches of water, She’s wide and very stable and low to the water which makes her a great flats boat (with the engine up obviously). Watch this space! Frankly I can’t wait. The spotting potential from a raised platform has to be huge. Bring this on too! Yea!

And finally some good news. The Around the Mountain Trail which was set to severely and irreversibly detract from the scenic beauty, the serenity and the quality of fishing in the Oreti Valley has been denied. Not completely unfortunately. Permission has been granted for the track to go ahead below Oreti road. Not perfect but a good result none the less. To all the anglers and non anglers who submitted in opposition, attended and or spoke at the hearing, wrote to the Southland Times, wrote to your MP’s, whatever. This is a good result for us and all anglers and indeed everybody who wants to use and enjoy the Oreti Valley just the way it is.

This weekend Daltona and I will fish Hawea or Wanaka I think! Anyone keen?

The Lough Inagh system and Kylemore Lough and river in Connemara, Co. Galway Ireland are fishing really well. Google them for info!

Ronan..

This is the latest report From Colin Folan on the Lough Inagh System in Recess, Connemara, Co. Galway, Ireland. If you have some fishing time then consider this!

Lough Inagh…

I just tied up a few flies for fishing on Kylemore lough in Connemara, Co. Galway tomorrow. It pays to have a range of flies in varied sizes and colours for lough style fly-fishing. Bushier flies on the bob, then getting more slender and streamlined towards the tail. These flies are tied with seatrout and salmon in mind, but they will also work for browns.

Ronan..

Not much news on the pike front this week.. My boat is moored on the Bealnabrack River in Maam in North Connemara, about a mile upstream of Lough Corrib. It was -7c on Friday night and on Saturday the river was frozen all the way to the lake. The ice was up to an inch thick in places! I drove my old lake boat through the ice all the way to the lake causing only minimal damage to the hull. The lake was ice free but the cold seemed to turn the pike off completely. Am i right in thinking extreme cold will put pike off feeding? I realise people ice fish for them so maybe its a localised occurrence. Such low temperatures are new to Ireland but i have a feeling these cold winters are here to stay! I never came into contact with a pike all day. Its entirely possible that there were very few pike where I was fishing! I’ll be out again next weekend. I hope its warmer and the fish are on!

In the mean time, here is what I prepared for NZ last season. If anyone is planning a trip out there this will give you some idea as to what sort of flies to tie. They worked well in Tasmania too with the addition of some beetle patterns.

Take tomorrow off work and go fishing!

Stuntman Ronan..