Dan O’Neill, fishery manager at Mount Juliet, reports on the Nore:

The weather this weekend was quite windy making it difficult at times to achieve a good presentation of my fly on the water. But last September’s promises I made to myself (getting more fishing done) were echoing in my mind and there was nothing going to stop me trying,

The water level came down a by the weekend bit despite some heavy rain at the beginning of the week which resulted in the river creeping up to .78/.79m and the water temperature dropping to 9.8/10°C. The river is now quickly approaching 12 degrees and slowly coming down to .42m.

I noticed some fish rising behind the shelter of the sallys, mostly taking Olives. There were some decent hatches at different intervals through the day. Nothing too heavy but enough for some of the brown trout to break the waters surface. I had plenty of small trout on the fly in any of the runs I fished.

The larger fish started to move out to the seams of the main channel, and I had some nice delicate takes on the wet fly which almost felt like the fly line being pulled by the current of the river. A gentle lift mostly resulted in a lovely brown trout which soon lost timidness and leapt for freedom

Watching the house martins duck and dive resulted in a few missed takes. Being on the river watching it begin to flourish and become picturesque is one of the joys of spring fishing. Feeling very lucky to be on the river and watching its journey to becoming the perfect picture I decided it was time to hook my olive wet to the keeper eye and begin a walk back that I hopefully will be very familiar with by September.

Water Level and Temperature at time of fishing
Water Level  .454 cm
Water Temp  9.9°C – 10.2°C

Fishing classes

Holding introduction to fly fishing classes May and June, 2 people can participate in each class, classes will cover,water safety when fly fishing,handling and releasing fish,wading,wading aids, equipment needed for chosen method, casting , water craft , fly selection.

Dan O’Neill
Mount Juliet

Go Fishing

Mount Juliet has trout and salmon fishing available on site over 2.5 miles of the river Nore. Classes also available for every skill level – learn or improve on your chosen technique. coarse fish ponds also available on the hotel grounds.

Dan O’Neill, Fishery Manager, Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Ireland

Telephone: +353 85 7652751
Email: oneilld020@gmail.com
Website: https://www.mountjuliet.ie/fishing-on-the-estate.html

General Information

The river Nore is a beautiful river that meanders it way through counties Laois and Kilkenny before joining with its sister river the Barrow just upstream of New Ross on its way to the sea. The Nore gets a good run of Atlantic salmon and the river which is currently open for angling on a catch and release basis produced 563 salmon in 2015 and 599 salmon in 2016. Salmon fishing is available on a number of stretches including the Mount Juliet Fishery which is located just outside Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, approximately mid-way between Kilkenny City and New Ross.

For further information on the Nore please visit https://www.fishinginireland.info/salmon/south/nore.htm