Dan O’Neill reports from the Nore…
16 May: During the middle of the week it didn’t look promising for a weekend of fishing so no plans were made. I have found over the time I have spent angling that the trips that are not planned and just happen are usually the best. Many a trout I have caught on a fly I found stuck in the jeep seat or headrest, the old trusty bulletproof rod that always resides in the boot just in case an opportunity arises at some point.
As anglers we can never go over a bridge without looking over it, and when we do we don’t see what most do. Many times I have been staring over a bridge at a trout sipping behind a seam created by a low branch on a slow moving piece of water or hunting nymphs in shallower gin clear water, seeing that unmistakable white colour as the trout tilts slightly to one side, opens his mouth and takes in the nymph. Pointing this out to my nearest and dearest confirms to her that I am mad and gives new insight into how delusional I have become.
Saturday I found myself on the River Nore at Mount Juliet. For so long it’s been squirrels, deer and myself along the river bank. A very welcome sight Saturday was the scattering of anglers along the fishery, people I remember from pre-covid times, now allowed to venture to something that I’m very sure they missed. Looking up river from the white bridge I watched 2 anglers fishing, both landing some trout while I was there, a sight for some very sore eyes it was indeed. I decided to go for a walk and let myself feel as if I had travelled back to pre-covid times where anglers from around the country would be on the river trying their hand at different methods. Conditions were excellent on Saturday and each angler had there fair share of trout.
I got to fish myself for a couple of hours, landing some nice trout just in front of the main house and behind the white bridge. I found the trout average size to be bigger this week. Larger trout are starting to move about a bit and the smaller trout in the shallows are starting to become a little more picky as there bellies begin to fill and there greed wears off. Water temperatures were peaking a little earlier at about 1pm early in the week but as the river rose due to rain the times dropped back to 4pm shortening the window of opportunity to about 45 minutes.
Nymphs that worked this week for me were last weeks camo nymph fished on a 4mm gold bead with a lead underbody, then a little olive nymph with a green glass bead behind the tungsten bead fished as a dropper. Euro-nymphing and a small bit of dry dropper made up my couple of hours of fishing for the day. I met some lovely trout in heavy water giving the 3wt rod a good test.
Beginner classes
New to the club this season in the month of June are beginner classes covering various methods. Learn to make your own tapered leaders, leader set ups for different techniques. After all the set ups are covered there will be 2 hours guided tuition on one of three beats on the Nore. Spaces are limited – contact me for more details.
For information on day tickets or memberships please call me on 0857652751 or email [email protected]
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.
https://www.mountjuliet.ie/fishing-on-the-estate.html
Dan
