Angling guide Dan O’Neill reports on a busy weekend’s fishing in both river and lake:
While plans for the beach echoed in the house at home, my mind was firmly set on getting on the river. Plans for the beach, of course, meant we were due some sunshine, making my mid-day sessions tough but accepted. Over the weekend I had a couple of special guests who I hadn’t seen in some time. Since recruiting my newest apprentice (Daniel), Anthony has now become senior apprentice. Giving two classes on Saturday morning was quite enjoyable and I had been looking forward to it.
Early Saturday morning we had started with a little bit of wet fly fishing, switching to dry dropper after a short time. The fish seemed to only pluck our wet fly, almost teasing us. Putting on a dry dropper set-up, it wasn’t long before we met our first energetic brown trout. The nymph we chose today was a 2mm tungsten head olive nymph. A very simple pattern using olive thread body, uv fox squirrel thorax, silver wire rib and a Coc de Leon tail, all on a size 20 Dohiku jig head hook. Moving along the river took me many many miles away, we both moved stealthy and cautiously watching the location of our shadow among other things. Takes were soft today but the trout fought very hard. It’s very important at all times to keep your hands wet when handling these special creatures and get them safely back to the water as quickly as you can, especially when we have intense sunshine like we currently have.
As Saturday afternoon approached, I had my next client, who was no stranger to the Nore. As we waded slowly along the edge of the bank to our first area of interest, we spoke a little about fishing and some of our experiences of course drifting down the track of “the one that got away”. On the first few casts, we began to just settle into our position and get used to the path the current would push our fly along, starting in close and working our way into the run. On the flat water above us, fish were sipping, with the odd one jumping for the clouds. We met a couple of trout along the run, one or two of a nice size.
As we got to the next spot the sun was beaming on what was quite shallow water, looking from the bank we tried to look for deeper or shaded spots where fish may be holding up. Spotting a few places and making reference to them with different items and leaves on the bank, we headed on our journey. Tough fishing in far from ideal conditions but we kept going and had few trout for our efforts.
As the evening hit, I had my sights set firmly on dry fly, and a good friend of mine Kevin Oates had agreed to meet me for the evening and go for a few casts. I decided not to take a rod with me and instead listen to Kevin’s many words of wisdom which meant more to me than catching a trout or two. Closely watching his approach and attention to detail was inspiring to say the least. It goes back to what I always say “You never stop learning”. Even on my casting journey, I listen to many many different analogies as not always my client can relate to the one I use so it’s better to have a few. I learned quite a lot from Kevin from his approach to the dusting of the fly, a great way to spend an evening with some great company.
As Sunday morning arrived, Anthony jumped up on the first call (as he does for school of course). With rods and bait packed, it was away to the lake to meet another good friend Darius Simkus. Listening to Anthonys’ tales on the way to the lake was fantastic and it meant a lot to me that these stories were firmly set in his mind. As we approached the lake, rudd and roach sipped on the surface, and carp cruised near the top, it was like a paradise. Anthony didn’t waste much time getting ready for the first cast, full of excitement he pointed out the feeding fish. As Darius arrived we were speaking about all things fishing, looking at some patterns and doing some casting. Very hard to concentrate with fish surfacing nearby we did our best to try to turn a blind eye. After a few mins there was a shout “got one” Anthony was into a nice carp which fought quite well. Anthony asked Darius to assist in the landing of the fish, we got a quick picture and away the carp went for another day.
A very enjoyable weekend with a flurry of guests that made it a very special weekend.
I am running a series of workshops over the coming weeks with some special guests, Learn how to micro-analyse your cast, different casts for different situations, going into the technical side of fly-tying materials. For information on the workshops please email me using the below details:
![Logo for Trout Fishing Ireland]( "Logo for Trout Fishing Ireland")
Notes
Growing up in the countryside of Gowran, Co.Kilkenny, I started my fishing journey on the River Barrow with my dad, which is where I caught my first fish, a lovely brown trout. The Gowran River was also a short walk from my homeplace, and on the days my dad couldn’t fish, I would walk through the fields and fish the Gowran River. My love for fishing grew and took me to Mount Juliet Estate, where I began guiding at 13. I went on to become fisheries manager at Mount Juliet Estate and, to this day, enjoy taking out hundreds of clients every year fishing on the River Nore. I enjoy all types of fishing and guide all over Ireland. I am an Apgai Ireland-qualified casting instructor and have Ambassador roles with Cadence and Yeti. I joined Fulling Mill as an endorsed pro guide and am part of the Patagonia pro team. My angling journey has been an exciting one and hopefully will continue to be.
I take out all levels of anglers, from beginner to experienced. I enjoy what I do and count myself very lucky to be able to meet and guide new people to what might be their first Irish fish.
Dan O Neill
Website: troutfishingireland.com
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +353857652751
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