Dan O’Neill reports from the River Nore…

What a week, a medium to strong wind made fishing difficult at times but we managed. I had quite a few clients out, some early morning and some late evening for some dry fly fishing. The beginning of the week started with an early morning for me. Josh from Colorado was eager to see the sunrise and to hook a River Nore trout. Walking down the riverbank with the morning air filling our lungs, we took in the scenery and watched the river closely for signs of fish. We did see some trout rise but not as frequently as we would have liked. We travelled to the plantation pool with a plan to fish back towards the white bridge using wet fly. The second rod was set up for dry fly fishing in case a rise came about we then would be ready.

Josh had some wonderful stories about Colorado and I a few about the River Nore. We shared stories as we waited for the first fish to hit the wet fly. Sure enough after about 10mins the rod shook, and we had our first brown trout. Beautiful buttery gold and bright white underbelly, fantastic trout. Like I mentioned several times before wet fly fishing for me is my favourite method. Josh and I moved down the pool and had some more lovely browns.

As the middle of the week approached, I switched to evening time. Some trout did rise mostly in sheltered areas and tight to the bank. My guest for this trip was Sean from Chicago. Sean had fished plenty before and was quite a good caster. Dry fly was his chosen method so away we went down the bank with a few patterns from Kevin Oates that i had safely tucked away for an occasion like this. As we approached the area, we intended to fish there were a few trout rising just under an overhanging branch. Every cast towards the area I winced a little as I didn’t want one of my beloved dry flies to end up being donated to the tree branch. However, Sean was a good accurate caster and the first thing he hooked was indeed the branch so away I went to fetch the fly from the branch, and we moved a little further up. This time it was a clear shot at the rising fish and this time Sean hooked the fish and it was a superb take and battle. We were using the Cadence 8ft 6in 3wt which performed beautifully. I had chosen to use the csm nymphing line as it was delicate and gave good speed to help us cut the downstream breeze a bit. As the evening ended for us, we finished up meeting 12 lovely trout.

Plenty of trout on the Nore, fish are beginning to feed a little more at set times. Dry fly and wet fly are the most successful methods at the moment and have been over the last week.

A very enjoyable week overall. I did of course take a sit down not on red ants this time. Thinking a little bit about my journey again. My first cast ever was on the River Barrow with my dad many years ago. Its where this entire journey started for me. Little did either of us know back then that my passion for fly angling would turn into an obsession. When did I realize I was obsessed? People used to say, “it’s great that you fish” or “well done, you’re doing great” then when the corner was turned and I became obsessed I heard more along the lines of “are you mad, it’s raining”, “you’re getting up at 3.30am to go fishing” ,”why are you casting outside on the green” “why do you cast in the dark” .The easiest answer is, to try to become a better angler or better caster. I have helped many people learn to fly fish and I’m sure made some lose the will to live. Did my Dad really know taking me fishing that day that it would lead to all this and that him taking me fishing would lead to me teaching and showing people from all over the world how to fish. I built this obsession that even influenced other decisions I made as I would always turn to angling to clear things up. I intend on building as much knowledge as I can and passing it onto who I can as you never know when you’re speaking to the next person that will become obsessed, and the circle starts again. No one can take their knowledge with them, but they can leave it behind.

For information on day tickets or memberships please call Dan on +353 (0)85 7652751 or email Doneill@mountjuliet.ie

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