Every year around this time we share a few Christmas gift ideas – for those looking for a little stocking filler for the angler in their life. Well if the angler in your life enjoys flyfishing for salmon, sea trout or brown trout, they might love this brand new book by retired fishery scientist and angler Dr. Paddy Gargan. ‘The Connemara Sea Trout Fisheries‘ was launched this week at Lough Inagh Lodge, and has been warmly received.

At 368 pages, this is a work of enormous hard work and meticulous research. A comprehensive and entertaining history of the Connemara sea-trout fisheries, beautifully illustrated with atmospheric photographs, detailed maps and diagrams. In Part One there are instructive introductions to the fisheries where sea-trout can be found to this day and in-depth histories of the loughs, rivers and characters that make up those renowned fisheries. Part Two of the book describes recommended flies for sea-trout in the Connemara fisheries, and insights into which flies fish best on individual waters and in various weather conditions; an introduction to the biology of sea-trout, and the impact of sea-lice from commercial fish farming; and a list of the largest sea-trout caught in Connemara.

I received a signed copy from the author and having had a quick flick through, I can say it is a wonderfully illustrated book, with beautiful photos by Jaques Piraprez (and many others) and wonderful maps by Padraig Costello and Bryan Kennedy, as well as expertly-tied flies by Declan Tuffy and photographed by Peter Gathercole. I cannot wait to get a couple of hours away from the kids and sit down to enjoy it more thoroughly.

Where To Buy

The Connemara Sea Trout Fisheries is published by Coch-y-Bonddu Books, and available from their website here, or on Amazon here. The first print run is just 500 copies, so get yours now before they’re gone! I believe there may also be a few copies available from Freeneys tackle shop in Shop Street, Galway. (Freeneys is also one of Galway’s best pubs with a large whiskey selection, and I can’t think of anywhere better to sit and enjoy a read of this great book with a nice dram).