Rob Love, Carton House Fishery Manager reports:
Thankfully with a little fresh water added to the Rye over the last day or two we are starting to see a little improvement in water levels.
While more rain is needed still, there are one or two stretches of this lovely little river worth fishing – especially so given the good numbers of Large Dark Olives evident during late morning and afternoons.
Large Dark Olives are also appearing in good numbers on the Liffey where Carton House has access to some really nice water.
Changing flies is pretty essential during hatches at the moment as the trout appear to be disinterested in Nymphs when Duns are on the surface and feed hard on Nymphs in between hatches.
Size 14 flashback PTN’s and Hares Ears are useful as Nymph imitations while I must draw your attention to a very simple to tie fly which works superbly as a Olive Dun pattern – its by Davy McPhail and an excellent tying tutorial is on youtube, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiv0CQ6VisY
I substitute peacock herl for the foam used to form the thorax as I think it makes the fly even easier to tie & to get proportions just right.
My heart went out to a visiting American angler Erin Mathews who lost a fantastic trout of (a rough guess) 5lb right at the net on the Rye Lake last Friday. Erin was using a Woolly Bugger at the time although Minkies and other baitfish imitations seem to be equally effective. We went on to fish on the Liffey after this where lots of ¼ – ½ lb fish were caught and released.
With the dreaded ‘W’ word fast approaching attention will soon turn to fly fishing for pike in this lovely setting. All pike fishing is by fly only, as soon as it kicks off I will be in a better position to advise on what flies / tactics are successful.
In the meantime, with warm weather forecast for the weekend and early days of next week I am optimistic that fishing on the Rye Lake will be quite productive as Crane flies are still evident in good numbers.
The Sheet of Water (our stocked lake) has fished very well over the last number of weeks. The usual flies continue to provide good sport with Buzzers, Nymphs, Lures and anything else in between working very well indeed. A typical river set up is ideal with floating lines being just the ticket.
The Sheet of Water is a more forgiving stretch of water to fish than the Rye which can be quite demanding. It is perhaps more suited to the beginner / improving angler and it is far more sheltered than the Rye Lake which helps with anyone brushing up on casting technique. Fishing on the Sheet of Water is only permitted when with a guide.
Go fishing…
A day permit is €50. Anglers should note that this means they can fish for brown trout on the Rye Lake, brown trout on the Rye Water and rainbow trout on the Sheet of Water (all fly only) in this timeframe – so if one is not working the other might.
If you have any queries about fishing at Carton House please contact Guest Relations on 01.5052000 or me on 087 1947811. You can also see the other activities on offer at Carton House by checking the Carton House website www.cartonhouse.com
