Dan O’Neill reports from the River Nore.
It’s really that time of year again. Walking the banks looking at cobwebs around the river bank trying to identify flies for ideas, checking records to see what was working this time last year, comparing water heights and temperatures…
Our opening day this year saw the river near on unfishable from a fly anglers point of view, so I had to wait a a couple of weeks before I headed down to my hotspots of last year. I had a quick look at the gauge and it read .62 still a little high but I waited long enough for this day. On my way to the George’s wall run, past memories of last season went through my mind bringing a smile to my face. With some of Mr. Mealys flies in my box I was confident I was going to meet my first trout of the 2019 season,
After a few casts it seemed like I was never away from the river over the winter. As my nymph bounced along the bottom I watched the end of my fly line gracefully dance to the currents and torrents when all of a sudden it stopped. Lifting the rod up I was into my first fish, not a very big fish but indeed a fish. A beautiful little salmon parr came to hand and was released to continue his journey downstream. A few more casts followed and again my line stopped and again it was another little salmon parr. Great to see these little fellows. Realising that there were a lot of these young salmon about I decided to move a little further towards the White Bridge. On my 3rd cast I lifted into something a bit better, then there it was a beautiful wild brown showing his acrobatics. What a sight for sore eyes that was, something I missed over the winter months.
![brown trout](/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/torut-nore-480x360.jpeg")
Over the last week some trout have been caught, and amongst them quite a few salmon parr which is a great sign. All were carefully returned to continue on their journey. Hopefully in a couple of years we will meet with them again.
Dan O’Neill
Mount Juliet Estate.
Go fishing…
Mount Juliet House is set on a large estate, which offers private fishing on 2.5 miles of the middle to lower reaches of the River Nore. Mount Juliet Estate offers fishing of the highest quality, just a short stroll away from the Manor House. There is a fishing room on site in the Manor House for your convenience i.e. for storage and drying of fishing equipment. Mount Juliet Estate can also provide the necessary equipment on site if needed.
