If you’re a fly fisherman new to pike fishing or a pike angler wanting to give fly fishing a try, this short article will give you some handy tips and pointers to get started. Including location, seasons, equipment, tactics and fish welfare. Where to go fly fishing for pike in Ireland The Pike is Ireland’s largest freshwater predator and commonly distributed throughout the country. They appear in lakes, rivers and canals . Basically anywhere there is freshwater and a good supply of prey fish to eat. The main exception to this are the hill loughs and mountain streams where they tend to be absen ..read more

My advice to anyone wanting to learn to fly fish in Ireland is to first get some fly fishing lessons from an qualified instructor. Fly fishing instructors are located throughout Ireland and have been trained to teach newcomers to the sport as well as those who want to improve their fly casting skills. When you get fly fishing lessons, your instructor will offer advice on how to choose and buy your fly fishing rod, reel and fly line, what terminal tackle and flies to use and how to assemble everything correctly. You’ll be able to cut though the months, even years, of trial and error and measura ..read more

As we‘re based in Co Meath, a lot of our clients travel from the capital to join us for fly casting lessons or guided boat fishing trips. A question I get asked all the time is “where can I go fishing near Dublin?”. My answer often surprises them. In reality, you don’t have to drive across the country to find good fishing. There are loads of really good fishing locations less than an hour’s drive from the M50. Our new motorway system provides quick access to counties Meath, Cavan and Westmeath where there are plenty of wild and beautiful places to fish. Here’s a few suggestions for places to v ..read more

Every April, an armada of boats and pike anglers descends on the town of Athlone in County Westmeath. The Lough Ree International Pike Fishing festival is always an enjoyable, well attended fishing tournament with around 200 anglers taking part. They travel from all corners of Ireland with a good contingent of overseas anglers as well. It’s exclusively a boat fishing tournament with teams of two or three anglers per boat. The contest is spread over three days of fishing on the southern and western part of this huge lake and the standard of fishing is always very high – a testimony to the quali ..read more

I always love the opening day of the season on the river. I’m usually there mid morning, after racing though the work e-mails. The best of the early season fly fishing at this time of year can often be when the sun has risen in the sky, so mid-day is ideal. This year I resolved to give more time and attention to streamer fishing, a method that targets brown trout with larger flies designed to imitate small prey fish. Armed with some interesting new streamer fly patterns, I eagerly made my way down to the river to give them a try. From previous early-season fishing, I learned that getting big f ..read more