Ronan's Report

Conditions at 9am were perfect. Within the first hour John landed a hard fighting 2lb+ seatrout on a Silver Stoat. During the battle I noticed a wall of wind and rain charging down the lake in our direction. It was with us for the rest of the day. We battled on fishing known salmon water drift after drift, A drogue made the drifts last a reasonable amount of time, without it the fishing would have been even more chaotic than it already was. At times, going back up into the wind to start another drift really got my adrenalin pumping. Wind and waves so strong at times the boat hardly moved forwards, To open up the engine would mean disaster, even as we were going the boat occasionally took on water. This is fun though! Watch the waves and gun it when you can. There was so much water coming back on top of me from the boat breaking through the waves, Sometimes stinging my face and eye’s, that wearing a hood or cap was pointless! Your getting wet, that’s all there’s too it, keep bailing. We would always start the drift well above where we normally would to allow the drogue to grab. Then we had relative peace again until the end of the drift, a little wetter than the last.

Kylemore Lough is a stunning place to fish. I’ll be back when the conditions are more favorable!

For bookings contact Nancy on 00353 95 41143 or http://www.kylemorehouse.net/

The only information we had on Lough Na Fooey was from a book by Oscar Wilde’s father from 1904. All it said was that there were huge pike present. Good enough we thought! The reason for fishing the lake was that we were going to a 30th birthday party on the lake shore that evening so we killed 2 birds with one stone. The fishing was bad. John and I rose a small trout each and Nigel lost 2 pike. One of those could (almost!) have been counted but John managed to knock it off with the net while attempting a new netting technique.

The party which followed lasted at least 2 days!

Dad and I had been on Ballinlough near Westport in Co. Mayo the day before (Friday). We had lots and lots of Rainbows between 2 and 4lbs on many methods including Big wets, lures, small wets, big dries, small dries, buzzers and nymphs. We were constantly changing to stay in control of the opportunities we were given.

I’m not sure what to do this week but whatever it is I’ll report back about it.. There are good numbers of seatrout and salmon entering the Ballynahinch and Lough Inagh system so maybe I’ll target them.

Good luck!

Ronan..

John was attaching a braided loop to his fly line on saturday morning. He asked me if I had superglue. I didn’t. I recommended that he tie the leader direct as those loops can come away on reverse contact with the top eye. He did it his way without superglue. I hoped i wouldn’t get a chance to say “I told you so”… A while later John’s rod broke about 18 inches from the tip at a previous repair (dont use old glass rods to fix modern rods!). He fished on with the considerably shorter rod without a problem and soon after hooked a pike. The fish was on the way to the net and the loop touched the top eye and slipped off. Down went the fish with fly, leader and almost the loop. John dived over 3 rods lying across the seats and grabbed the loop and handlined in a decent pike. I netted the fish and laughed. We both did. It’s nice to be able to say “i told you so” when the result is positive!

On the last drift of the day we were approaching rocks coming from deep water. When nothing but limestone was visible beneath the boat i said “Time to go, Pike never live around rocks. Fact!” With “fact” just out of my mouth a pike made me eat my words by nailing my fly. She was about 14lbs and came off at the net. John laughed and I know pike like rocks.

We’re out again tomorrow or Thursday.

Ronan..

A series of laptop breakdowns and fatigue from weeks of hard fishing prevented me from putting a blog up lately. Most of my fishing was on Corrib but I also had a couple of days on Mask and Carra (more on those next week!). There were some great hatches of mayfly this year and at certain times there were decent numbers of fish feeding on them providing some great dry fly action. Being on the water most days and concentrating on specific areas allowed me to learn the feeding habits of the trout in those spots. It paid to have 2 rods set up; one with drys and one with wets because the periods of surface activity were always brief. Thankfully though these happened a few times on most of my days on the water. Hesitating for even a couple of minutes to change to the dry fly rod could (and did) result in missed opportunities. The wets accounted for many fish during the times when fish were not visible on the top… as they should! The best thing about this Mayfly was the average size of the trout and how willing they were to take a well presented dryfly when covered. I had more fish between 3 and 4lbs than fish from 1 to 2lbs and that’s something I never expected to be able to say about Irish wild trout fishing!

Here are the highlights from Corrib.. I believe they speak for themselves!

Ronan..

It was yet another big weekend on Corrib starting at 5am on Friday morning. We first targeted pike to no avail, then John went to work and I focused on trout. The mayfly is up early this year and thankfully the trout are responding to them. For the first time this year I really want to be trout fishing. Gales, thunder, rain and squalls made the going tough all weekend. I met about 12 or 15 trout on Friday but only landed 2. They were good fish though, the best was around 3lbs. I hooked another of about 4lbs on the middle fly (a long shanked invicta) which quickly broke at the knot, then foul hooked him on the tail fly which also broke at the knot! Bad leader i fear. There were not huge numbers of trout showing but there were enough to keep me interested and focused.

No joy for me on Saturday but John had a great fish around the 4lb mark on a wet Green Drake. There were much fewer fish showing. I only moved a few and straightened a Royal wulff in one! Angling author Nicholas Kearns joined us and moved a few fish to the dap..

Sunday was blowing a gale so we decided to avoid the main lake and target Pike in a sheltered bay. We had 2 and lost a few more.

All in all it was a tough weekend on the water but I’m glad to say trout are finally feeding on the top.. not many but enough to fish for and they are catchable. Also, from the fish I’ve seen and heard about, the average size must be up at least 1lb.

All the best! Ronan..

Ps. If the wheels on your vehicle take 5 nuts, 4 wont do.. i nearly learned the hard way…. again!

John and I were up at 5am, 4am and 6am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively. We were expecting great things with big pike. We were both confident the larger fish would feed at first light for a few hours but it did not happen. At least not to the extent we were hoping. I lost  4 fish in the 12 -20lb bracket all weekend and john landed 2 nice pike in the heat of the midday sun on the last day. We’re still exploring and trying out new tactics. Little can be learned from doing something once so there will be more early starts and reconnaissance.

The best hit I had all weekend was when John hooked my rod during a wayward cast and sent my entire set up into the drink. It quickly sank to the bottom of a deep and dark  section of a river mouth. Thankfully an ingenious dredging technique invented by John retrieved it.

I hope to be on the water from Friday to Sunday again and will report back as usual! Have a great week all..

Ronan..

I’m a bit late with the blog this week because i’ve been out fishing every evening. I’ve been chasing small trout from local mountain lakes. They keep me sharp! Anyway, here is the news..

Dad and I enthusiastically set off on Saturday morning hoping for a decent day buzzer fishing on Corrib. Conditions were good. We fished hard all day and rose one fish for our efforts. Reports from the lake are terrible.. Competition results really sum it up. 20 anglers out in a competition on Sunday for zero fish. Yes, ZERO.

As planned John and I set off early on Sunday morning  to meet up with other Irish pike fly fishermen. We are all members of the PFFA, the meeting was arranged through the forum which is for members only. The Irish Pike Fly Fishing Association has very few members so why not join us and come along to the next fishing meet! Here is a link.. http://www.pffa.co.uk/clubmembership.htm

John and I arrived 10 minutes late and the lads were already on the water so we got rigged up quick and started fishing. Johns fly resembled a dead parrot and i suggested he change it.. the words hardly left my mouth and i was made eat them! John was in (he asked me not to tell you that this was his first pike of 2011 so I wont because I’m a true friend). After a good battle I netted johns superb 20lb plus pike. We need a scale (and a bigger net!). That was all our pike action that day. One of the other lads had an 11lb fish and moved lots more.

For the last few hours we targeted trout. This worked out well because they started rising in the evening to adult chironomid (duck fly we call them over here). We had 14 on buzzers, small wets and dries. That was 12 fantastic hours on the water.

Tomorrow I’ll be on corrib (for pike! but I’ll have a trout rod too).. or maybe somewhere new? not sure yet…

Good Luck! Ronan..

I started the day doing a few drifts close to reeds for a pike. John was with me for a while in the morning and moved 3 pike to my 0 but got none into the boat.. when he left i went down the lake in search of buzzer feeding trout, I found none but rose one trout of about 1lb blind. on the same drift something told me (God I think!) to reel in the trout flies and fire out the big dog for a pike. I did. I counted down the first cast for about 5 seconds then stripped away, 1,2,3,4 boom! A super fight followed from a large tail walking pike of about 17lbs. Because it was the first cast in open water more suited to trout (or so i thought) i assumed there must be loads of pike in the area. I did a lot more drifts in similar water but did not get another pull. This day on the water taught me 5 things.

1. I need a bigger net (a weigh net preferably).. two failed attempts because the fish was too long!

2. I need a tripod for the camera so that I’m not fumbling around trying to set it up on a boat seat and I need to know the distance to be away from the camera so that i don’t cut the head off any more fish!

3. While fishing for trout it pays to make a few casts every hour for pike. Pike water can be discovered this way that wouldn’t otherwise be.

4. Don’t hold a pike like a trout. (as in pic!) I reckon the best way to hold them is gently but firmly by the gill cover while supporting the flanks or belly.

5. When God speaks, Listen!

Next weekend John and I are heading to Lough Lene to meet and fish with a gang of anglers from the Irish Pike flyfishers association. More on that in about a week. Have a good one!

Ronan..   PS. I also learned that Paul should send me a free hat!

A good pike finally, and one I'll never forget..

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..

Christmas day was a relaxed affair. Myself,  Paul, John and Sue, Bronwyn and Hair and lenny the dog all spent the day together on the far side of Littlepine lake.. Barbecued scallops, prawns, pork and lots of veggies were the order of the day along with John’s sushi. Paul turned Hair’s old 2 piece sage into a 3 piece while giving a distance casting demo! We managed a little bit of fishing, Paul had one.

Every day we’re getting out on the water and trying many methods. Dries generally seem to be the best but it pays to keep an open mind and be willing to change everything on a whim.

This week’s show is up on youtube! Its about Kayak fly-fishing with an intro to Tasmania. Check it out and Subscribe to the channel so you never miss an episode.

Hope ye all had a great Christmas and tight lines in the new year..