In my last blog post (June), I reported on how the first half of the season had gone. In summary, Mullet fly fiah had been fantastic with salmon fishing really poor. Bass fishing had been OK and trout fishing mixed on the rivers but good on the loughs in the right conditions. The remainder of June fished well for mullet. We had some nice golden greys and a few decent size thick lips while the warm weather continued. A nice golden grey. In June, I also launched my YOUTUBE channel to share some of my top fly patterns. This is still in the development stage, and I hope to add lots more fly tying ..read more

I am excited to be heading over to the Irish Spring Angling Fair this weekend (April 30th & May 1st). There is a fantastic lineup of demonstrators expected to attend including former world Spey casting champions, international competition anglers in coarse and fly fishing, world famous sea anglers and expert pike anglers with bait, lure and fly. The Fair is taking place at Ardaire Springs Angling Centre in Mooncoin, Kilkenny which is not far from where I am based. This is an ideal venue for an angling fair as there is plenty of water for demos, a large log cabin for talks, an area for food ..read more

2023 – The Season so Far 2023 started off with an appearance (pre-recorded) on the Piscarifly live fly tying show on February 18th where I was the special guest so to speak as the episode focused on saltwater fly fishing. This was soon followed up with an article on saltwater fly fishing that I wrote for a new online angling magazine called Predator and Salt. If you haven’t yet come across this magazine it is well worth a look here. March started off with a trip to Lough Corrib and Mask with my buddy Dave and meeting up with our great pal and top boatman Tom Doc Sullivan. The fishing in early ..read more

One of the most common queries I get is around my approach to saltwater fly fishing. So here is a quick introduction. I use 2 set-ups for most of my saltwater fly fishing. A 9ft 5wt with full floating line. This is my go-to kit when fishing over very shallow clean ground in clear water. One reason for this is the lighter outfit is less likely to spook fish. Another is that the flies I typically use here are small, similar to the size of most trout flies. Another plus is that this outfit doubles up as a mullet rod so I can target both species at the same time. A nice 62cm fish taken over clean ..read more

I recently received an invitation from Dan O Neill to fish the River Nore at Mount Juliet. This was to happen last year but due to Covid we postponed the trip. My buddy Dave, who is originally from Kilkenny was keen to accompany me on the trip. We called in to Peter Driver at Piscari Fly shop on the way where we picked up some nice fly tying materials, and Dave bought knee pads and other bling accessories. We then met up with Dan at Mount Juliet, a stunning location with fantastic facilities. The water level was still high from recent rains, and the river was running quite clear. Dan and Da ..read more

This was the earliest in the season I have ever fished Loughs Corrib and Mask. At this time of year there is normally no hatch of fly and the trout will be feeding on hoglouse, shrimp, and fry. The best tactics are to fish fry imitations slowly on fast intermediate or sinking lines. A selection of Dinkies for early season. Hoglouse and shrimp patterns can be fished slowly on long leaders using a floating line. A good retrieve is a slow figure of eight with the occasional long draw of the line. Concentrate on the margins and shoreline as this is where fish are likely to be. The forecast last we ..read more

Pictures say it all ..read more

Having very recently received a new Mackenzie 9ft / 9wt I was really keen to put it through its paces  but saltwater fly fishing for sea bass is not likely to kick off for another few weeks. I was delighted to get an invitation from The K Club (www.kclub.ie) Fishery Manager, John O Neill, to visit with my friend Ken and to fly fish for pike, both along the River Liffey and in the wonderfully productive lakes on the estate. Our trip to County Kildare also offered us the opportunity to assess a number of potential venues for our first Fly Fishing for Pike Course planned for this October ..read more

Recent guided sessions produced some nice spring salmon from the Munster Blackwater river. This season the water levels have been quite high on our local rivers and fly fishing opportunities have been fairly limited. Luckily the weather has been improving and the rivers reached a better if not ideal fly fishing height, particularly in the upper stretches. As a consequence we managed a few very nice salmon. My guests were using two outfits, one was a 13’7 Mackenzie Atlas rod matched with a Mackenzie Phased Density Shooting Head in Float/Sink 2 and a short leader to a White Francis fly. The ..read more

I had heard a few times that the western Lough’s can fish well at the end of the season to daphnia feeding fish in the deeps. There can also be a chance of dry fly fishing with sedges and daddies. With this in mind I contacted my pal and Corrib boatman Tom Doc Sullivan to see if a trip would be worthwhile. Tom really knows his stuff and he told me to make the journey. However I wouldn’t be fishing any of the drifts I had fished on previous trips. It seemed like – go deep or go home! I was joined by my mate Dave who has also fished the lake before but never at this time of year. Preparation h ..read more