Angling guide Dan O’Neill reports on some recent guiding and the Irish Spring Angling Fair at Ardaire Springs:
Ardaire Springs Report
A busy couple of days but they had many rewards. The morning started out by saying hello to all my friends and members of the Cadence pro team, as well as some of my fellow APGAI members. It’s great to see all the people I interact with on social media / texts and emails and be able to have a face-to-face conversation. Looking around at the various stands, it was clear to see how much work went into it and how well organised it all was. There was the kids casting pool and kids fly tying, which was run by APGAI, try before you buy, one-on-one tuition, as well as lots of free information and tips flying about.
I got a great response from the kids who are watching and learning from my TikTok series of beginner videos. We did some casting and had a good chat about fishing. It’s great to meet them and their parents / guardians to put a face to the videos. There was for sure more kids at the fair this year and each one of them showed and looked enthusiastic and keen to learn which is a great sign for the future.
I went inside to watch some of the fly tiers and their artwork. Super tiers and what a science it is, different colours, materials and why they use them is all beneficial to know and interesting. At some point, I will begin my fly-tying journey and be sure to revisit these wonderful tiers.
The lure fishing area was quite busy, Senan Stanley and Marcin Kantor did a great job showing and helping many enthusiasts. A fantastic, well-organised fair. See you all next year.
River Nore Guiding Report
What a week it has been for guiding. I got to fish with some fantastic people, some had fished before, while others were just learning. The hatches on the Nore have become more consistent and are quite strong. We have seen lots of olives, midges, and the odd mayfly. Dry fly action has been great early in the morning, at lunchtime, and in the evening. The lunchtime hatch has been the busiest in recent days. Water levels have dropped quite a bit, and the river is clearly showing all runs and glides now. The fish are sitting high in the runs and feeding quite well. Had some fish of about 30cm, which gave a great fight on the 9ft 4wt. I did have to come down quite a bit with tippet size and leader length as the wonderful sunshine made things a little difficult. I used Fuller’s mud on my leader to eliminate flash, and it did seem to make a difference; my wading was key to not disturbing fish. I caught quite a few before I set foot in the river. I was careful on my approach, which really paid off.
My TikTok channel has many videos for beginners and people who just want to be pointed in the right direction for equipment. It can be confusing for beginners, so the aim is to help.
My past couple of days have been quite busy with guiding, had plenty of trout on the dry fly, which is super sport. Some more interesting guests and a tip from an Orvis pro guide. Make sure to take a look next week for some hints and tips to trick those wily Browns.
Go Fishing…
