Irish Sea-trout: Nomads of the Tides

Yet more Irish sea-trout flies....

2012-01-07T17:39:00.002+01:00

Because I've been working on (and have just finished) the draft section of Nomads text relating to fly patterns for white-trout then obviously I've been thinking through colours, translucencies, sizes and dressings and taking some photographs to accompany the text. I've set the text out into sections about stylisation and representation (of the two, stylisation is by far the most important...usually) and from there have gone on to discuss patterns for saltwater and then freshwater, including patterns for night fishing. The 'flies for freshwater' section is itself sub-divided into remarks about black-based, blue-, yellow/orange- and claret-based patterns since I tend to think in those terms - colour and translucency - when selecting patterns for the lough, with the selection depending on the relative clarity of the water, the sunshine or cloudiness of the day and the freshness of the fish. Pictured below are some wonderfully effective traditional patterns together with an experimental tying I was given by one of the great Currane gillies last year:

Connemara Black, here in a version tied by Brian McShane.

Dunkeld. Great fly for peat-stained water and days of sunshine.

Teal, Blue and Silver - a fly I'd never want to be without, and particularly effective on fresh-run fish.

Clarets, blues, yellow-oranges form the palette of many West of Ireland white-trout patterns....

And yet I suspect that I'm far too hidebound when it comes to pattern selection. White-trout are in some ways capricious, even playful, and can take experimental patterns spectacularly well on occasion. Here's one such experimental tying that was doing good work on Currane last July. Unfortunately I can't tell you its name, nor even the name of its creator, but include it here simply to illustrate what can be the persuasiveness of the hitherto unsung:

Who was Watson?

2011-12-25T16:27:00.003+01:00

I've spent the past few days drafting words about fly patterns for Nomads. One such pattern is the Watson's Fancy - an absolute nailer, though I've fished it less often, perhaps, than I should have done over the past few years. When I was researching the history of the pattern of course I wondered about the name. All I've come up with so far is that Watson of Watson's Fancy was one Donald Watson of Inverness. If anybody knows any further details, please let me know.

More Irish sea-trout flies

2011-12-20T12:22:00.009+01:00

More sea-trout patterns (mostly my own tyings, incidentally, apart from the Gadgets, which were tied by Lindsey Clarke). From top to bottom: Worm Fly (useful in saltwater when ragworms are about); Derry Bull (shrimp-suggesting pattern); Gadgets and Storm Fry (again, mainly saltwater patterns); Raymond (variant, useful on the lough); Blue Snake and White Lure (useful on the estuary or occasionally on running water at night).

The work of Denis O'Toole: the Delphi

2011-11-27T09:21:00.004+01:00

Denis has today very kindly sent me some photos of the flies he's making for the Nomads text - whose section on fly-making I'm coincidentally working on at present. Among Denis's tyings is that for the blue version of the Delphi. Now, I have no idea what the Delphi, either in the original black version or in this blue variant, is supposed to represent, if anything (a mutant shrimp? a small fish?) but I do know it's a wonderfully effective Irish sea-trout pattern tied in sizes 10-14. I use it often as a dropper pattern on the estuary if there's little seaweed in the channel (droppers and seaweed shouldn't mix) and it fishes at almost any position of a standard three-fly leader on the lough. For the blue variant I favour this kingfisher blue - something that Denis must have intuited - simply because it seems relatively visible in clearish water - more visible than royal or navy blue. And I like the mix of holographic silver tinsel, too, since that is less prone to rapid tarnishing than standard medium flat silver material.

The work of Denis O'Toole

2011-11-13T08:47:00.000+01:00

One of the great pleasures of 2011 was meeting Denis O'Toole. Denis has the distinction of having caught (and released) a 16lb. sea-trout on an Irish East coast river earlier this summer - a massive fish which took one of Denis's tyings of a tube-fly. Having fished with Denis and his angling companion, Dean Kennedy, I can say that Denis's approach to his sea-trout fishing is equally distinctive and knowledgeable. It's vanishingly rare, for instance, for me to peer into others' sea-trout fly-boxes and instantly find a fellow-traveller - someone for whom sea-trout fishing began as a hobby but acquired all the dimensions of a way of life - and in that respect, Denis's sea-trout flies were telling: wonderfully tied and with superb proportions. The tube in the shot, for instance, has a (hair) wing incorporating a bit of flash and one extending properly (no further than the beginning of the bend of the hook); it's tied on a (Partridge Salar) single; it's beautifully finished and likely to be durable. The pattern has a good silhouette, a slim profile, and the gleams of flash will catch any light transmitted underwater. It...speaks: 'I shall catch sea-trout - often'.

Switch casting

2011-11-06T08:39:00.003+01:00

Currently I'm working on a long section of Nomads text relating to (the history of) Irish sea-trout tackle and will shortly embark on another long section about (the history of) Irish sea-trout flies and fly-dressing. Here and there I've written about the techniques that may appropriately be used by fly-fishers and others. Among those techniques is the use of the switch cast, which seems to be fundamentally a modified single Spey. Accordingly I researched the history of the switch cast - and stumbled across this illustration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:TheSwitchCast-The_Salmon_Fly.JPG) from the pages of Kelson (1895). Absolutely splendid, isn't it?

Flash Sunk Lure

2011-10-19T21:07:00.005+02:00

A prototype of this kind of Sunk Lure - I've no idea what to call it - was tried out in Kerry last month. A small shoal of finnock found the lure to their liking - so much so, that one fish wolfed the tandem in a way that obliged me to unclip the forceps. Fortunately I'd nipped down the barbs of the hooks and the fish swam away strongly. There were sandeels around in the estuary, and I've no doubt that the sea-trout mistook the lure for a sandeel. That said, the same shoal of fish looked at Claret Bumbles, Black and Yellow singles and Medicines with almost the same eagerness, so I don't deduce much from the encounters. Still, perhaps a lure like this is worth further experiment. Total length of lure around 1.5-2 inches; size 8 Kamasan B175 hooks; 20lb. Stren to join the hooks (Falkus/Rawling method); silver or pearly nail varnish for the body; red varnish for the head; red silk.

One tying note: it's important to keep the tinsel 'wing' to the correct length. Too long a wing and the fibres will want to wrap themselves round the rear hook, which is bloody irritating. To avoid cursing, ensure that the trailing (rear) edge of the tinsels is roughly level with the barb of the rear hook.

I enjoy tying with tinsel (experiments with various Flash Flies for pike over the past few years have taught me a fair bit, I hope), and a silver Flashabou wing is light, mobile, repels water and is therefore easy to cast. I tie in three or four strands of peacock (eye) feather to suggest a back to the lure and possibly make the lure easier for the fish to see in silhouette, but I doubt that's really necessary so long as the size and general profile are right.

A note on a fly-tying note

2011-10-16T07:49:00.002+02:00

Below there's an entry on Sunk Lure mounts. Last night I went back to some research of my own - 'research' sounds rather grand, it's more of a gentle and sporadic investigation - into the work of the angler and poet Tom Rawling, who fished with Falkus during the 1960s and 70s and who spent many winter evenings, over several years, designing and tying various prototype Sunk Lures. Tom's tying notes, liberally scrawled over by Falkus, are detailed, meticulous and fascinating. The image shows a foolscap page of such notes (and there are many, many more like this). Tom and Falkus favoured a brace of size 4 Veniard hooks and 20lb. nylon to join them.

A note on blue

2011-10-15T22:09:00.005+02:00

Blue - blue hackles, blue tinsel - is an important component of many sea-trout flies. Think of the Teal, Blue and Silver. Yet there's blue and there's blue. I find that a bright, pale blue - an almost iridescent blue - is rather better than, say, midnight blue or even kingfisher blue. The shot illustrates the kind of blue I'm on about. The image was taken a year ago when I was fiddling about with Sunk Lures (and please see entry below) and blue hackles. Photographed under a desk-lamp, this blue was a revelation: it was practically luminous.

A note on Sunk Lure mounts

2011-10-15T21:58:00.006+02:00

I've been all round the houses with this one over the years: standard Rawling/Falkus mounts; hollow braid mounts; twisted nylon and/or solid braid mounts.... The hollow braid mounts I was experimenting with last year, and which I used this season, are OK but after a session or two the waterproof superglue wears away from the braid and the rear hook has a tendency to sag. Sagging is distinctly not encouraged. It's fixable (simply run another application of glue across the braid, allow to dry, and fish again) but it's not ideal. Therefore I think there's merit in returning to the old but reliable Falkus mounts. I use red silk, then 20lb. Stren to join two size 8 or 6 hooks. Apply a coat of waterproof superglue and allow to dry. Instead of silver paint I use pearlescent nail varnish, and make three applications.

I'm inclined to use Sunk Lures in saltwater, particularly (of course) when there are sandeels in the estuaries and channels I'm covering. I've not used them extensively at night in freshwater, since if I do need to fish a touch deeper after midnight then in Ireland I prefer using intermediate lines and small doubles. I dare say if I were to fish more in the English Lake District or Wales that would change.

Travels with a volcano 1: Kerry in September

2011-09-29T10:46:00.003+02:00

Last week I returned from a sea-trout trip to Kerry. It was for a number of reasons a tough trip, and for four days there were almost continual storms which made fly-fishing difficult. Hard to cast a fly when waterspouts are sweeping down the estuary.... Still, I got a few fish, took some photographs, and encountered sea-trout on three different waters. The following blog entries give a short and selective tour of the trip. The current image shows breaking waves on an inlet at the western end of Brandon Bay (Dingle peninsula).

Travels with a volcano 2: Kerry finnock

2011-09-29T10:42:00.004+02:00

One sea-trout mark I'd never expected to fish was a channel off Fermoyle Strand (Dingle peninsula). There were some small sea-trout moving up and down the channel, and there must have been some bigger fish among them (though we didn't connect with any of these last). Nevertheless, the finnock would take small silver-bodied wet-flies, or tandem Sunk Lures, rather well at times, and I very much enjoyed and learnt a great deal from these minor encounters. In that respect the relative success of the braid-mount Sunk Lure (size 8-10 tandem, dressed with a tinsel-and-peacock 'wing') was very heartening: the finnock took it well, and by no coincidence whatsoever there were at the time large numbers of sandeels in the channel. (Angler: David Knowles.)

Travels with a volcano 3: The Kerry Owenmore

2011-09-29T10:37:00.003+02:00

The Kerry Owenmore is a lovely spate river which tumbles from the Dingle mountains to meet the sea at Brandon. There are at least three fishable loughs on the system and the scenery and management of the stream are alike splendid. The only problem during our visit was that the sea-trout hadn't seemed to run, and there were only a few grilse about, despite the fact that we were fishing in absolutely perfect water conditions (a big and dropping flood). Despite our entire lack of success, however, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit...and in a strange sort of way also enjoyed watching waterspouts sweeping down Brandon Bay during an afternoon of intense storms. (Angler: David Knowles.)

Travels with a volcano 4: The Feale

2011-09-29T10:35:00.002+02:00

The Feale (north Kerry/Limerick) has a reputation as one of the best sea-trout rivers in Ireland. Yet for some reason the river has fished badly for sea-trout during the past two seasons. The photograph may give a clue as to why: it shows net-marks on a Feale sea-trout, a fish of around 1lb. which took a small double. It was the only sea-trout we moved during a day's fishing in apparently perfect water conditions.

Travels with a volcano 5: A case for decoking

2011-09-29T10:31:00.003+02:00

Volcano kettles (also known as Kelly kettles) should in my view be covered in soot and the residues of decades'-old lunchtimes on storm-swept islands. Yet as David Knowles pointed out, if you allow soot and tar to build up on the inside of the kettle then this significantly slows down the brewing process, and therefore you have a case for serious decoking. I was most reluctant to decoke the kettle, but it has received treatment from the wire brush since this photograph was taken (September 2011, and a tributary of the Feale). I thoroughly enjoyed taking the volcano with me on this trip. Very often, volcano-stops are among the best parts of the angling day.

Travels with a volcano 6: Corny Gorman's flies

2011-09-29T10:29:00.004+02:00

I took with me the two volumes of O'Gormans Practice of Angling (1845) in the Flyfishers' Classic Library (1993) edition. A frontispiece of the edition shows flies tied by Cornelius Gorman at the end of the 18th century. They're quite beautifully tied and I'd use some of them, including the one shown here, without hesitation today.

Travels with a volcano 7: The Cummeragh

2011-09-29T10:26:00.002+02:00

The mouth of the Cummeragh is one of the most hard-fished drifts on Currane. It provides fishing for spring salmon (in particular), but sea-trout also lie all over the bay. Here's a fish which took a Bloody Butcher (point) early one September day. I was particularly pleased to get this one because Tom (O'Shea) had turned his nose up at my choice of fly - he'd have preferred me to fish three Bibios, I think.

Travels with a volcano 8: Four Sisters

2011-09-29T10:24:00.002+02:00

Four Sisters is a drift on Currane east of Church. There are four upstanding rocks which provide lies in the lough for both salmon and sea-trout. Here, a stale 2lb sea-trout is being returned by Tom O'Shea - a fish which took at the same time as a decent brown of around 1lb., so Tom had his hands full for a while.

Travels with a volcano 9: Church Island

2011-09-29T10:20:00.003+02:00

Church Island on Currane is one of the world's great sea-trout drifts. The anglers in this shot are playing a 6lb. grilse - part of a catch of 15 small sea-trout and a salmon which they released during one morning's work on Church. Church has never been that kind to me, but it's always a privilege to fish here and I can never fish these waters without excitement and anticipation.

More from the Irish East coast 1

2011-08-27T09:30:00.004+02:00

The Dargle has always been known as a 'big sea-trout' river. We fished a stretch of it one night at the very kind invitation of Hugh Duff, and although we released no giants, I did manage to conjure a 3lb-er from the darkness. The fish was expertly netted, unhooked and released by Hugh, whose work with the forceps you can see in the shot.

More from the Irish East coast 2

2011-08-27T09:28:00.004+02:00

One of the most astonishing little sea-trout I've ever caught, taken late one night from a resolutely urban area in Co. Dublin. I got another finnock soon afterwards, and on the previous night, Ken had also released two finnock - when we'd also been surprised by an otter.

More from the Irish East coast 3

2011-08-27T09:26:00.003+02:00

Three men - Ken Dodd, Stephen Byrne and one Ken Whelan - and a bridge on the Boro river, a tributary of the Slaney. The Boro was running desperately low, and we caught nothing except some complacent and fat little brownies. Oh well.

More from the Irish East coast 4

2011-08-27T09:24:00.003+02:00

A surprise, this - a specimen dace (not less than 12oz., we estimated) from the Nore, taken on a Teal, Blue and Silver.

More from the Irish East coast 5

2011-08-27T09:21:00.002+02:00

A sensible way of cooling off after a rugby match at Inistioge.

More from the Irish East coast 6

2011-08-27T09:17:00.003+02:00

Big Silver Blue (size 6) on a low-water Wilson iron. This worked fairly well on the Boyne estuary, where there were millions of small sandeels present.

More from Cork - Part 1.

2011-08-08T15:55:00.003+02:00

More from Cork - Part 2.

2011-08-08T15:49:00.002+02:00

Reflections on fly-rods for Irish sea-trout fishing

2011-08-07T18:26:00.005+02:00

There was a time, somewhere between 1982 and 1996, when I felt I was probably using optimal sea-trout fly-fishing tackle. The rods I then favoured were Daiwa CF98 tools; the reels were Beaulites; the lines were generally DT floaters or intermediates; the waders and coats were made of tough plastic; and I used an old, sturdy, fixed-head landing-net which also doubled as a makeshift wading-staff. Since then, like the rest of us I have...upgraded. Breathable waders and clothing...weigh-nets....reels which are light, with cassette spools and no click-check....and fly-rods which are ever faster, ever lighter, ever 'better'.... Tackle development has been relentless, and I must say that there have been many, many improvements.

All the same, and rather wistfully, I've found myself of late wanting to fish with proper fly-fishing rods rather than with casting weapons. It's only occasionally, in the Irish sea-trout fishing context, that I need to cast more than 20 yards, and I do very much need a rod with a through action and a softish tip. Such a rod needs to be able to roll- and switch-cast, as well.

For the record, I've almost invariably used three fly-rods over the past three years, all of which I think are admirable. (I discount the occasion when I found myself using a 7-footer and a 3-weight line, throwing surface lures over big sea-trout on a diminutive East coast river.) They are a Zpey 10-foot Z1 switch rod for a #7; a Hardy Marksman Drifter (another 10-footer, for a #6); and a Bruce and Walker 10-foot 6" rod which I had to have specially made in 4 sections. Now, I'm not made of money - far from it - and these rods have been the product of sales and assiduous discount or second-hand shopping, or (in the case of the B&W rod) a big wedding anniversary. All of these rods, too, perform separate tasks: the Zpey is a revelation when teamed in high water with an #8 intermediate, and is a rod I cast cast with easily over both shoulders. It also copes with gale-force upstream winds admirably. The Drifter is I suppose my default Irish sea-trout rod, and typically I team it with a Rio Gold WF7 floater (a good line, very stable) to which I attach a 5-foot intermediate polyleader. The B&W excels as a boat rod on big loughs, and recently, on the Boyne estuary, I found myself casting relatively long distances with it in order to reach a tidal channel. Slow down the casting stroke a little and the line fairly flies out - and the loop can be as tight or open as you wish. Despite its fairly heavy line rating (#7-8) the rod's soft enough in the tip to handle finnock, and a through action copes admirably with larger fish - not that I catch too many of those in the course of a season. It's true that the B&W is heavier than its contemporary sisters, but I don't mind that at all: fished with, relaxed with, the rod comes alive.

All these rods, though, have one thing in common: they're fishing rods, as opposed to things you cast 30m with or merely pose with. They remind me in some ways of those 'optimal' rods I imagined I was fishing with twenty years ago...and again for the record, I've just bought myself a splendid heavy-duty plastic coat for boat fishing, too, as well as exhuming that old, fixed-head landing-net. You'll probably think this is mere nostalgia (it'll happen to you, too, I hazard), but I prefer to claim that it's sheer practicality. In Irish sea-trout fishing, reliability and simplicity seem to me to be two very desirable attributes. But of course, you may disagree with that - and indeed with any or all of the above.

The Boyne - and a 3lb. sea-trout

2011-08-07T15:19:00.002+02:00

As part of our recent visit to Ireland to attampt to catch sea-trout and construct some features for Trout and Salmon we visited several east coast fisheries, among them the Boyne, the Castletown and the Slaney. By dint of luck and local knowledge we managed to catch sea-trout on all the streams we visited, and the Boyne offered particularly difficult and interesting sea-trout fishing in its lower reaches. At the time of our visit, Bernard Halpenny, treasurer of Rossin and Slane Anglers, caught and released a magnificent sea-trout whose weight we estimated at around 3lb. Scales were taken from this fish prior to release and they are currently being studied by the Celtic Sea Trout Project (www.celticseatrout.com) For further information on the Boyne and its sea-trout fishing, please see below.

The Boyne at Mornington

2011-08-07T15:17:00.002+02:00

The Boyne flows through Drogheda and then to the sea via a strongly tidal channel at Mornington. This is hard-fished public water, free to holders of a National Salmon Licence. We managed to take a couple of finnock to the fly here, best 1lb., and I thoroughly enjoyed it though the fishing wasn't easy.

Boyne at Oldbridge

2011-08-07T15:14:00.002+02:00

The reach of the Boyne at Oldbridge is situated exactly on the site of the famous battle of 1690. The river's tidal in these lower reaches, but at low water offers an exciting succession of stream, pool and glide. The fishing is controlled by Rossin and Slane Anglers - see http://www.fishinginireland.info/salmon/east/boyne.htm

The Slaney: Kingsmill Moore's cottage

2011-08-07T15:06:00.004+02:00

I first encountered the Slaney as a photograph in the pages of Kingsmill Moore. Since the great man had written of the Slaney's spring salmon fishing I'd somehow - and with nothing but ignorance - overlooked its potential as a sea-trout water. I was quite wrong. The river holds a good head of sea-trout, which typically run, given water, from the second half of June. There is fishing available freely to holders of a National Salmon Licence in the tidal water below Enniscorthy. Pictured is a photo of Kingsmill Moore's house on the Slaney as this is today (near Clonegal, Co. Carlow). For other angling information on the Slaney, check out www.slaneyrivertrust.ie

I'm most grateful to Ashley Hayden for supplying this image (www.anirishanglersworld.com)

The Slaney: Ash Tree

2011-08-07T15:03:00.003+02:00

Here's an example of a fine Slaney sea-trout pool below Bunclody. Known as the Ash Tree pool, at the time of our visit the pool held a great head of fish from three-quarters of a pound to over 2lb. We fished at night and then again from 0400-0600 and managed to catch sea-trout both at dusk and dawn. For fishing on the Slaney (and its tributaries) for sea-trout, click on www.slaneyrivertrust.ie

Castletown 1: Dundalk

2011-08-06T22:13:00.002+02:00

The Castletown flows into the Irish Sea just north of Dundalk. It's a hard-fished water, much cared for by the local club, Dundalk and Distict Brown Trout Anglers (www.browntroutanglers.com). We were delighted and privileged to fish for two days as their guests, and enjoyed some fine sea-trout fishing in very low water. We learned a very great deal from these local experts. Mostly we fished at night, but we also tried conclusions with sea-trout during the daytime. Typically, Mark Corps (pictured here to the left of the shot) was into a fish first cast on a tidal reach of the river.

Castletown 2: Celtic Sea Trout Project scale sampling

2011-08-06T22:10:00.002+02:00

We took scale samples from some of our fish, irrespective of their size. The samples will in turn be submitted to the Celtic Sea Trout Project (www.celticseatrout.com) and will yield invaluable data not only about the Castletown but about many rivers along the Irish south and east coasts (and about some English and Border rivers which run into the Irish Sea).

Castletown 3: Finnock

2011-08-06T22:07:00.002+02:00

The finnock were relatively abundant. Pictured is a fish of around 12oz. in fine condition. On our last night, Brian McShane - stalwart of the club - caught two fine sea-trout of a pound and a half and upwards, and I surprised a further good fish on a Muddler fished dragging across the surface in the pitch black.

Bandon, Ilen, Argideen 1

2011-07-16T18:47:00.004+02:00

I returned last week from a trip to the Bandon, Ilen and Argideen in Co. Cork with James Sadler. We were lucky enough to catch sea-trout on all three rivers, and enjoyed a wonderful week-long trip full of incident. And rain. What follows is a short photographic tour of those adventures. We caught nothing big - the best of our sea-trout was a Bandon fish of around one-and-three-quarter pounds - but we had some good evenings and nights, and while in that lovely region of Ireland, also caught rainbow trout and bass for good measure.

Bandon, Ilen, Argideen 2

2011-07-16T18:44:00.004+02:00

The Bandon has a good stock of sea-trout. The lower reaches seem perhaps the best for those wishing to catch these nomads, and the stretches of water below Bandon weir (much of it controlled by Bandon AA) or below Inishannon Bridge (free to holders of a national salmon licence) can yield good catches. We fished a couple of late nights, catching fish both below Inishannon Bridge and (pictured) below Bandon. The image is of a finnock James took around midnight; I caught and returned a slightly heftier sea-trout soon afterwards on what was a night teeming with rain.

Bandon, Ilen, Argideen 3

2011-07-16T18:42:00.001+02:00

The Bandon also has a prolific stock of brown trout running to well over the pound. They're readily caught on dry flies in the evening, and I noticed some phenomenal hatches of both blue-winged olives and various sedges. Here's James casting a dry-fly upstream of Bandon weir.

Bandon, Ilen, Argideen 4

2011-07-16T18:38:00.006+02:00

The River Ilen, near Skibbereen, has a national reputation as a salmon river, but also has a good local reputation as a sea-trout stream. Fishing is offered by the local club (www.riverilenanglersclub.ie). Access for the fly-rod can be difficult - there is much greenery - but it's worthwhile doing some extended reconnaisance, since the results can be very worthwhile. I thoroughly enjoyed fishing the river, and was surprised one night with a small bag of modest sea-trout which took standard patterns readily (Teal, Blue and Silver and/or Black/yellow Muddler, on 10 or 12 hooks).

Bandon, Ilen, Argideen 5

2011-07-16T18:35:00.004+02:00

Just how quickly the Ilen can rise was demonstrated by the fact that (a) we had a look at the river at 0830, when the flow was at a normal level; (b) went to buy our tickets at the West Cork Hotel, Skibbereen; (c) were back on the river at 1000....only to find it roaring down in a dirty spate. Here's James fishing in thick water.

Bandon, Ilen, Argideen 6

2011-07-16T18:28:00.005+02:00

After the quick and dirty Ilen flood had abated I enjoyed a splendid evening on the Ilen upstream of Ballyhilty Bridge. The sea-trout I encountered were all finnock, but a good run was going through - and to my delight, I was also surprised by an otter, which was fishing the top of the same pool. At one point in the small hours, the creature swam downstream, took its head out of the water, caught sight of me, and gave a weary, resigned sort of watery sigh before vanishing again upstream. A lovely moment. I wondered in fact whether the activities of the otter would have disconcerted the sea-trout. Not a bit of it, apparently: I got two more finnock moments after the otter-encounter.

Bandon, Ilen, Argideen 7

2011-07-16T18:23:00.006+02:00

The Argideen runs into its estuary at Timoleague, and fly-fishing is available from the local club, who offer tickets (the clubhouse is located at Inchy Bridge, and you should turn up there at the stipulated time to buy your ticket). All anglers must be in possession of a valid Irish salmon licence. Most of the fishing, in normal flows, occurs after dark, and the Argideen is something of a sea-trout specialist's river . It's also small, intimate and challenging. I loved it.

The image shows Inchy Bridge, at the top of the tidal water.

Bandon, Ilen, Argideen 8

2011-07-16T18:19:00.002+02:00

Argideen sea-trout can run large, and every season fish of 4lb. and heavier (sometimes, much heavier) run the river. Our catches were far more modest, and came after dark on standard artificials (Teal, Blue and Silver or Kingfisher Butcher or small doubles). Local angler Peter Wolstenholme swears by gold-head variants of standard patterns, though stressed to me that small doubles and Surface Lures may also be worth a try depending on the mood and activity of the fish.

Bandon, Ilen, Argideen 9

2011-07-16T18:17:00.003+02:00

The Argideen also has an interesting estuary, fishable at low water (the hours around the ebb) at both Timoleague and at Courtmacsherry. The last is also a reputed bass mark. Here's James fishing at Courtmacsherry. We didn't get any sea-trout, though we saw one or two good fish leaping, and meanwhile, locals were catching school bass on soft plastics. Lovely spot.

The packing list

2011-06-16T22:57:00.004+02:00

There'll be many sea-trout fishers like me, turning their thoughts at this time of year to Irish and other angling journeys. Some are lucky enough to take their own car on the ferry - a civilised way to travel to fishing. The rest of us flog through airports, jostle for seats on budget airlines, and are restricted, in terms of the tackle we can take, to what's normally a 20kg checked baggage limit.

Now, I know you can put rods (and towels) in rod-tubes, and thereafter pay excess baggage costs, but I'm damned if I'll fork out up to 80 quid just for the privilege of transporting a fishing stick. Therefore over the years I've worked out a rough-and-ready system that has the merit of being minimal but viable: most tackle and clothing goes into a clamshell case (Snowbee, used worldwide for the past seven years), whose bottom compartment is 33.5 inches long - long enough to accommodate 4-piece rods. The rest of the gear goes into this big bag (and usually weighs in at 17-20kg., including waders and boots), while cameras and other electronic/vulnerable stuff goes into a fishing bag which I take onto the plane. If it helps anyone else think about the stuff they may need for a week-long Irish sea-trout trip, here's the list I use:

Nomadic list (presupposing air travel+car hire)
Items in bold font are vital

Fly-rods (x2 –usually #6-8 weights; a light salmon rod may also be used for dapping)
Spinning rod and fixed-spool reel (if fishing spoons, spinners, freelined sandeels)

Reels, spools, fly-lines (minimally x2; reels loaded with plenty of backing; floaters, intermediates or sink-tips)

Line treatments, reel oil, ferrule wax, cotton buds and absorbent pads (for lighting fires and cleaning reels)

Casts/wallet, leader materials
(4lb.,) 6lb., 8lb., 10lb. (clear) Maxima; two spools fluorocarbon, 5lbs. and 8lbs.; dapping floss

Fly boxes and flies (including spare empty box/patch, for drying flies overnight)

Spinners, spoons, anti-kink vanes, sandeel rigs and hooks, BB swivels, lead substitute

Priest
Fish bass
Weigh scales
Net/weigh-net

Fishing waistcoat
Incl. pliers, floatant, amadou patch, mud, small torch, thermometer, nippers and scissors, Knot Sense, tape measure, hook-stone, spare windproof lighters, small hand towel, wet wipes
Wading jacket
Hat
Chest waders (breathables, incl. breathable underclothes in spring and autumn)
Wading boots and socks
Wader repair kit
Wading belt
Wading staff
Halter-style life-vest
Head torch and spare batteries
Multi-bladed pocket knife
Midge repellent (industrial strength and quantity; I use ‘Muskol’ and/or Avon Skin-So-Soft)
Polaroid sunglasses
Lip salve (can also be smeared on nose etc. as emergency sun-block)
Waterproof (camera) bag (goes in e.g. boat)
Small waterproof bag (for e.g. wallet, mobile, keys)
Key cords (to hang car keys from while wading)
Smoking materials and yet another spare windproof lighter
Toilet tissue and small First Aid kit
Small thermos flask (and if space/weight available: Kelly kettle, tea-making stuff)
Padlocks (for luggage/other)

Clothes
Pants, socks, shirts, T-shirts, trousers, fleece(s), buff/necker, spare large handkerchiefs
Dop-kit with shaving materials, shampoo etc.

Notebooks and reading matter, plus spare pens(Binoculars)
Lens cloths
Cameras x2
Camera adaptors and chargers
Digital voice recorder and mikes (incl. baffle mike for windy days)
Irish salmon (rod) licence
Maps
Tickets, confirmations
Passport
Driving licence
Mobile phone, universal plug adapter and charger
Wallet, cash

[The last-named items go in hand baggage, in a waterproof rucksack/bag which also serves as fishing bag.]

A new rod

2011-05-24T14:14:00.003+02:00

Some entries ago I wrote that over the past winter I had a new fly-rod made for me by Bruce and Walker. It's the first and will probably be the only time in life that I've been lucky enough to be able to have a fly-rod made for me and incorporating some of my own specs. The rod's been specifically designed to handle most Irish sea-trout (and occasional salmon) fishing, and therefore had to throw a DT7 lightly as well as have the oomph to handle a WF8 intermediate. I also asked for a through-action and a sensitive tip; a matt finish; English snakes, hayfork tip-ring; a good-quality cork handle, an anodized reel-seat and a short extension butt. The rod's 10.5 feet long and in 4 sections, with spigot ferrules. It should fit - will fit - into the bottom of a clamshell travelling case, so that will keep airline costs down.

I took delivery of the rod earlier this month and I must admit I'm delighted. Early trials, during which I landed brown trout to around 3lb., promised well: I seemed to have plenty of control, and could cast tighter or wider loops with relative ease. The rod also has a pretty good recovery and is gentle on smaller fish. It should serve admirably as an Irish sea-trout fly-rod, and will no doubt be pressed into service in Scotland and elsewhere, i.e. on waters where the sea-trout typically run larger than in many parts of Ireland.

Other rods I've used with great pleasure over the years are various Loop models (I liked their Multi range, in particular), a Zpey 10-footer (which I still use - a great rod to use as a light double-hander) and a Hardy Marksman Drifter 10-foot 6-weight, which last is, I find, a super rod and really excellent for occasional dry-fly work on the river as well as lighter fishing from a boat.

For sea-trout fishing in general I find Falkus's advice generally sound: 'don't buy a cheap rod; don't buy a short rod'. I also find that control is far more important than distance. It's also practical to be able to cast accurately over both shoulders and/or with a switch or single Spey cast, so that you can deal with contrary winds and obstructions behind. That said, it's also occasionally necessary to throw a longish line, particularly in estuaries, so a rod that does the hard work for you is a great advantage. There shouldn't be any need to press - which is why the new rod promises so well.

Names for nomads

2011-04-09T10:22:00.004+02:00

Last year - it was around this time of year, coincidentally - I published a provisional list of names of the sea-trout. At that stage my research was pretty rudimentary, and included a mere 25 terms. Since then I've done a great deal more research into local, obsolete and dialectal names for the sea-trout (and not just Irish sea-trout). The result is a list of 70 terms, which will be published, together with notes on their etymology, distribution, obsolescence and/or spread, in an appendix to Nomads when the book eventually appears. Unfortunately I can't claim the list as complete, and in truth I keep coming across new terms for sea-trout almost every month. Last month, for example, I came across the (beautifully descriptive) term 'slanger', meaning kelted sea-trout, which seems to be localised to Wexford. Here, however, is the list of terms I've been researching. Many terms are now of restricted distribution, i.e. they're strictly dialectal terms, and some are obsolete and/or have been misapplied by history (such as 'gwyniad', which is a name for one of the whitefishes but which is recorded as a sea-trout term by Nall), or 'bull trout' or 'slob trout' (which are both arguably terms for brown trout resident in estuaries, though Coquet anglers would swear that bull-trout are salmon/brown trout hybrids...). Still other terms are spreading in their range ('sea-trout' is ousting 'white-trout' in many parts of Ireland, for example). Anyway, here's the list:

bill, black-fin, black-neb, black-tail, blue-cap, blue-fin, blue-poll, bourge-trout, brith-dail, budge, bull-trout, buntling, burntail, Candlemas-grey, cockivie, cocksper, core/chor, finnock, fork-tail, grael-laspring, gravel, gravelling, grey-trout, harvest-cock, harvester, hepper, herling, herring-peal, gwyniad, junior/Juner, Lammas-man, laspring, last-spring, May peal, moorced, morgate, mort, moudie-trout, orange-fin, peal, pugg-peal, rack-rider, red-fin, round-tail,(salmon-)pink, salmon-trout, scad, scurf, schooler, schovl-peal, sea-trout, sewin, shed, silver-grey, silver-white, skarling/skerling/skirling, skegger (trout)?, slanger, slob trout, smelt, sprag, sprat, sprod, truff, twbs, twb-y-dail, white-fish, white-trout, whitling, yellow-fin

The photo, incidentally, which I've published before but make no apology for reissuing, shows a Donegal sea-trout caught in 2008. Look at the pectoral. You can see why finnock are in certain dialects called 'yellow-fin'.

Spring and the big estuary

2011-03-27T16:18:00.002+02:00

Sea-trout can be and often are caught in Ireland on the bigger estuaries as soon as the water temperatures rise. I was surprised last year when we caught sea-trout in early April, some of them - post-finnock, who had clearly overwintered in the estuary - in cracking condition. Other sea-trout were in different ranges of condition, from clearly kelted fish which had only just begun their sojourn in the sea to well-mended kelts. It follows that those who do venture out after sea-trout at this time of year need to pay particular attention to returning fish carefully and safely. (In a perfect world, I also think the season ought to begin on April 1, whatever the local regulations may say. That's just a personal view, of course, and I realise that there will be those who will disagree.)

Where they aren't overwintering in freshwater, sea-trout - by which I mean the post-finnock class - seem to overwinter in the larger, more brackish and shallower estuaries. The fish seem to dislike, and will seek to avoid, a combination of high salinity and cold water temperatures, so the larger the estuary, the more brackish it will theoretically be. Shallow water also warms up more quickly than deeper.

As for lures, sandeels and shrimps are, as ever, high on the menu. Sunk Lures and streamers are the order of the day fished on fast or slow intermediate lines. Places along the shore where the tide flows are obvious spots to try, particularly on the last of the flood and first of the ebb, since those currents concentrate the available food. The photo, taken in August, shows one such place, marked by a strong tidal race and the presence throughout the summer of terns, who work over the shoals of baitfish.

It's not easy, saltwater sea-trout fishing, for the simple reason that each estuary is different and patience is needed to work out where the fish will be moving and hunting at different stages of the tide. I often cover many miles of ground in a day's fishing, and almost invariably fish a tide right out. Once you've found them, however, the fish can sometimes be very readily caught, and catches in April might range from silver post-finnock around the pound to big sea-trout which have begun to feed in the estuary in earnest after running back to sea at some time during the previous winter.

This year I'm hard pushed at work and won't be able to make my first sea-trout trips until later in the year. That's unusual, because in almost every spring during the past decade I've managed a trip or two to Ireland or Denmark. I shall miss it, badly, this year. But there we are.

Maintenance: front loops

2011-02-20T11:58:00.002+01:00

At the front end of the fly-line you need, of course, to attach a cast. The join between fly-line and cast is important: (a) old-fashioned figure-of-eight knot is bulky but reliable; (b) nail- or needle-knot a piece of 20lb nylon to the line - also OK, though if your 20lb nylon ends in a loop to which you attach the cast, loop-to-loop style, then periodicially you need to check the loop in the 20lb. nylon, because it wears during intensive fishing; (c) small loop whipped directly into the tip of the fly-line; (d) braid sleeve.

I can never make up my mind about braid sleeves. I've only ever had one pull (i.e. slip off the end of the fly-line) once, and that was when a pike streamer became fast in a log (eventually I went in naked and retrieved both the log and the streamer....a triumph of meanness over hypothermia). Yet I've known others who've had braid sleeves pull, almost invariably when a big fish was coming to the boat and the line was coming back through the tip ring at an acute angle. The tension on the line, plus the angle at which the line was coming back through the tip, caused the tip-ring literally to strip the braid sleeve off the fly-line.

That said, needle-knotted bits of nylon eventually wear, too - I had that problem in Ireland last summer, and was obliged to replace several 20lb butt-pieces - and figure-of-eight knots are clumsy. Therefore this season I'm going back (mostly) to braid sleeves, though I've made sure that any proud surfaces on any joins/sleeves are smoothed off by the application of Knot Sense (see below). Once the sleeve is in position I'll attach a foot-long piece of 20lb nylon to the end of the fly-line, and then attach the cast to that, which should ensure at least a relatively smooth transmission of energy from fly-line to cast.

Maintenance: fly-lines

2011-02-20T11:43:00.003+01:00

Maintaining fly-lines... It's a chore, whichever way you look at it, or indeed do it. I carry and regularly use at least half a dozen fly-lines for sea-trout fishing, almost all #6-8 weights: they range from a 7-weight quickish sinker to WF8 full intermediates and DT7 and 8 floaters. My most used lines, for the record, are 8-weight intermediates and 7-weight floaters. I've recorded elsewhere that I quite like to use DT lines from the boat (they hang from the rod-tip less radically than front-loaded, WF lines), though DT intermediates are getting hard to find.

I've looked after my lines pretty thoroughly for years. Decades ago, fly-lines were stripped from reels and spent most of the winter wound round the back of a large armchair. These days, I hang them in large loops over pegs in the study. They are then cleaned - wet Pledge tissues are good - and treated with Permaplas, left for six hours, then cleaned again, stretched, and wound back onto the reel. Come the start of the season and they're given just a good stretch again before fishing.

I also renew line-to-backing knots, replacing the old join with an Albright knot (8-10 turns) which is then smeared with a very useful preparation called Knot Sense, which coats the knot. Knot Sense cures in sunlight, so my neighbours, were they to look at all, would periodically see a pair of arms waving outside the study window, offering what looks like a bit of string to the spring.

If all this sounds tarty and over-fussy, in my defence I will say that I'm still regularly using DT intermediates and floaters I bought 20 years ago, and there's barely a crack in them (a plum-coloured DT intermediate from Shakespeare, bought in 1993 or thereabouts, has been a much-used line, as has a Mill End floater from John Norris, c.1994: both brilliant lines and radically inexpensive). And if I'm strictly truthful, I quite like using old, cracked floaters - so long as they remain supple.

Of recent lines, I like Loop Opti stillwater lines and Hardy Marksman intermediates and 'Wet 2' sinkers. I don't like, and no longer use, wiry 'glass' intermediates. Suppleness, quietness and a delicate lay-down of the fly or flies are what I look for in sea-trout fly-lines, and I maintain the lines so that they stay supple, clean and functional - always.

Maintenance: Dubbin

2011-02-20T10:32:00.005+01:00

It's that time of year again - general maintenance of rods, lines, tackle and clothing. One thing I'm often tempted to overlook, but rarely if ever do overlook, is....leather. Some of my fishing bags have leather lendings; all of my watch-straps, too, are leather. Now leather cracks and generally goes to buggery if it's not maintained, and while most of us are, I dare say, quite good at shining our shoes, and even proofing our wading-boots, we might not be quite so good at (if I may put it this way) maintaining our old bags, nor indeed those watch-straps that spend at least part of the year being assaulted by saltwater and the sea-trout tides.

I have two bags: a venerable Barbour, now 24 years old, which I bought with my first-ever proper royalty cheque and of which I am suspiciously fond; and a new Bowland tackle bag (from Fawcett's of Lancaster: www.fawcettsonline.com) which doubles as a splendid shoulder-bag for travelling. Both have, yes, leather lendings, and I make sure that the exposed leather gets treated twice yearly, once in the autumn and then again in the spring. Old-fashioned dubbin is as good as anything. I suppose the fact that the Barbour game bag is still going strong after two hard-fished and well-travelled decades is a tribute not only to the durability of the original design but also to my strange assiduity in turning into a leather-lover twice a year.

Fly-rods for Irish sea-trout fishing

2011-01-21T08:28:00.005+01:00

It's always risky to write about fly-rods, since we all quite rightly have our preferences. There are certain rods, sometimes from justly famous makers, which one simply can't get on with. The following notes detail some of my own preferences. Please note that in making these notes I only have one form of angling - for Irish sea-trout - in mind. I'd write very differently if I were thinking about fishing wet-flies in Yorkshire or Welsh sea-trout fishing.

(a) longer rods - 10-11 feet - are in my view infinitely preferable to shorter ones. Longer rods offer better control if and when the fly is being worked, and you'll work the fly or flies very often during sea-trout fishing of all kinds, boat fishing as well as fishing from the bank of a river or the shore of the estuary. A corollary of (a) is....
(b) a fly-rod for this form of sea-trout fishing is not just a casting tool. A corollary of (b) is....
(c) tippy-action rods might be fairly good for distance casting but they're next to useless as proper fly-fishing tools. A corollary of (c), in the Irish sea-trout context, is....
(d) a fly-rod for this form of fishing should have a through (progressive) action and a 'soft tip' - a yielding tip. Fly-rods with a fast, aggressive action should be avoided.

So much for length and general action. Further, I prefer

(e) rods which can be cast (and/or fished) double-handed if necessary. That means my own fly-rods for Irish sea-trout usually have some form of extension handle. I often cast double-handed in order to cheat the wind. After a great deal of practice, I'm also able - after a fashion - to roll- and switch-cast over both shoulders, which helps both on rivers and (sometimes) on estuaries. A longer rod with an extension handle works in this capacity very well. With a shorter single-handed rod - say, a 9-foot 7-weight - one has to have recourse to double-hauling over the 'wrong' shoulder, and of course that can be done, but it's very tiring when one has to do it hour after hour in a gale of wind.

And further

(f) most of my Irish sea-trout rods are rated for lines between #6-8. Irish sea-trout aren't generally as large as their Welsh relatives. I fish the dry or dragging fly a fair bit (e.g. in the evenings on the river), and there, a 6-weight is good. On the other hand, occasionaly one picks up small summer salmon or grilse, and there, a 7- or 8-weight gives you the beef you need to handle and control a fish in a flood or strong current.

And further

(g) I use both DT lines (particularly when boat fishing) and WF ones. I very often use lines one size up from the size anounced on the rod's official rating (and therefore fish a 7-weight line on a 6-weight rod and so on). My most used lines are WF7-8 intermediates, followed by full floaters. Occasionally I'll use a faster-sinking line. If I do use WF lines I favour those with a longish back taper: these are easier to roll-cast. I no longer use aggressively-tapered WF lines, which may be great for e.g. pike fly-fishing but are next to useless for Irish sea-trout fishing.

(h)fittings must be top-class, and be saltwater-resistant. Irish sea-trout fishing is no place for fancy walnut inlays. I like plain, uplocking reel fittings, slightly over-sized snake rings and a hayfork tip ring. I also rinse the rod in freshwater after every saltwater session, periodically wipe the rod-rings with a damp tissue, and apply a drop of sewing-maching oil to the reel-seat.

And last

(i) I prefer a matt finish to the rod.

For the record, many years ago I used Bruce and Walker fibreglass rods. In the 1980s I bought a Daiwa fly-rod, and it became at the time (actually, for over a decade) my most-used sea-trout tool: an old Daiwa CF98 11-footer, made in Scotland. After that was retired I used rods by many different makers, but recently (since 2007) have tended to use Hardy, Grey's and Zpey rods (usually 10-footers, rated #6 or #7-8). This past winter, too, as I was thinking through what I really needed in a fly-rod for Irish sea-trout fishing I contacted Bruce and Walker and asked them whether they could make a dedicated Irish sea-trout fly-rod for me. After a speedy and most courteous correspondence, during which possible specifications were exchanged, they very kindly agreed to construct such a rod, and it's being made as I write: 10' 6", #7-8, four pieces, progressive action, yielding tip.... Yes, I suppose this is an indulgence, and I'm lucky to be able, and for the first and probably only time in my life, to have a B&W rod made for me to my own specs. All the same, I can't wait to try the new stick, though will have to wait until next July to do so.

The Bibio man

2011-01-08T07:19:00.003+01:00

During the drafting of the book's text I reached an entry about Burrishoole in Mayo, which I visited in 2007 and 2010. When I interviewed him in 2007, Ken (Whelan) gave me some extensive and fascinating insights into the life and work of Major Charles Roberts, who once owned the fishery. As I was drafting recently, I dimly remembered an article about Furnace in an old number of T&S; I thought the article, which included a rather splendid photo of Major Roberts, dated from the 1970s. I wrote to T&S. Very kindly they tracked the article and the photo down (it was from 1980) and sent me a copy of the relevant photo. Here it is, courtesy of T&S. Not for the first time, I'm most grateful to them.

Major Roberts is also known to posterity as the creator of the that splendid fly, the Bibio, which he tied with a midriff of orange fur (not scarlet, red or claret). I don't know whether Major Roberts invented the fly or whether he was adapting an older dressing (I suspect the last), but it's fairly clear that Major Roberts' Bibio is intended to be vaguely representative of the Heather fly.

Nomads bibliography

2010-12-22T11:12:00.003+01:00

What follows is an emerging (not yet complete) bibliography of book titles relevant to Irish sea-trout and sea-trout fishing. In transferring the document to this blog I've lost some formatting but the entries should be readable.

Anon. (1960) Salmon and Sea Trout Fishing in Ireland. Dublin: Bord Failte Eireann (Irish
Tourist Board, compiled for the Inland Fisheries Trust).

Anon. (1992) ‘Report of the Sea Trout Working Group 1992’. Abbotstown: Fisheries
Research Centre.

A report compiled largely by Irish fishery scientists reporting to the Minister for the Marine in 1992. The report’s authors concluded carefully that ‘There may be a connection between the presence of lice and sea-trout mortality’ (p.14) – a conclusion abundantly demonstrated in much subsequent research – and recommended the fallowing of fish-farm sites as a ‘main element’ (p.45) of a management strategy for fish farms. The members of the Working Group are named on p.5 of the Report.

Anon (n.d., but 2008) Salmon and Sea Trout Angling in Ireland. Dublin: Fáilte Ireland.

Hugely useful paper guide (illustrated brochure) prepared by Fáilte Ireland in collaboration with the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards, The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) and the Loughs Agency in Northern Ireland. Contains details of important salmon and sea-trout angling centres together with a map of ‘centres of excellence’and contact addresses/numbers for gillies, guides and regional accommodation. The companion guides to brown trout fishing and to sea fishing are equally detailed and useful. May be ordered from e.g. Dublin Tourism, Suffolk Street, Dublin 3 (+353 (0)1 605 7700 or click on www.discoverireland.ie ).

Bailey, John (2003) Fly Fishing in Ireland. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan Ltd.

Seasonally-organised guide to fly-fishing in Ireland, with sections on the Ballynahinch, Delphi, Glencar and the Cork and Kerry Blackwater as well as asides on fly-fishing for coarse fish and fly-fishing for saltwater species. The section on the Kerry Blackwater (p80ff.) includes an account of fishing with one Ken Whelan. Lovely photographs.

Buller, Fred and Hugh Falkus (1988). Falkus and Buller’s Freshwater Fishing. London:
Stanley Paul.

This is the revised edition. The first edition appeared in 1975. pp. 295-324 detail sea-trout fishing, and are a compressed (and slightly updated) version of the material which appeared in Falkus’s monumenal Sea Trout Fishing (see below).

Clapham, Richard (1950). Fishing for Sea Trout in Tidal Water. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.

Based on the author’s angling in the English Lake District, this is nevertheless an important book of interest to all sea-trout fishermen. Chapter 1, ‘When the sea trout run’, is full of useful (and in our view, still very pertinent) information. Chapter 5 details ‘Fly-fishing for sea trout’, and although the author didn’t think much of this method, his observations on the efficacy of a dragging fly (as opposed to a fly fished inertly on a relatively slack line) are again, in our view, spot on.

Currie, William B. (1980). The Guinness Guide to Game Fishing. Enfield, Middlesex:
Guinness Superlatives.

Section three, p.91ff., details ‘The Quest for Sea Trout’ and is a minor masterpiece – beautifully written (e.g. as in the author’s lovely comment about dapping: ‘...an art with a strong natural logic in it and a streak of the fantastic about it’, p. 117) and indeed comprehensive.

Fahy, Edward (1985). Child of the Tides: A Sea Trout Handbook. Dun Laoghaire: The
Glendale Press.

Important and (for its period) ground-breaking work on Irish sea-trout by an eminent fishery biologist.

Falkus, Hugh (1981) Sea Trout Fishing. London: H.F. and G. Witherby.

This is the revised second edition. The first edition appeared in 1962. A hugely influential work, and justifiably so. It’s a comprehensive account of the author’s experiences of over 30 years’ intensive sea-trout fishing, both on the Cumbrian Esk and on waters further afield, including several Irish loughs and sea loughs. The chapters on night fishing for sea-trout will probably never be surpassed, and chapters XIII (on lake fishing) and XIV (on saltwater fishing) are also important.

Frost, W.E. and M.E. Brown (1970) The Trout. London: Collins.

This is a 1970 paperback reprint of a classic work first appearing in Collins’ New Naturalist Series in 1967. Important material on migratory forms of the trout may be found throughout.

Gargan, Paddy, P. Tully and W.R. Poole (2002) ‘The relationship between sea lice infestation,
sea lice production and sea trout survival n Ireland, 1992-2001’. Proceedings of The 6th International Atlantic Salmon Symposium Edinburgh, UK, 16th - 18th July 2002. Atlantic Salmon Trust/Atlantic Salmon Federation

Important scientific publication, based on large samples, by major Irish fishery scientists. The abstract of the paper states that

The relationships shown in the present study indicate that sea lice from marine salmon farms
were a major contributory factor in the sea trout stock collapses observed in aquaculture areas
in western Ireland. If recovery of depleted sea trout stocks is to be achieved in this area it is
critical to ensure that ovigerous sea lice levels are maintained at near zero levels on marine
salmon farms over the spring period prior to and during sea trout smolt migration. This must
be achieved on a consistent annual basis for a successful sea trout recovery.

Greenhalgh, Malcolm (1999) Freshwater Fish. London: Mitchell Beazley.

Superbly illustrated by Stuart Carter. pp.50-51 examine the life and distribution of varieties of Salmo trutta.

Greer, Ron (1995) Ferox Trout and Arctic Char. Shrewsbury: Swan Hill Press.

While only rather indirectly concerning Salmo trutta trutta, nevertheless Chapter 1 of this work contains interesting and thought-provoking material on how the charr may differ in evolutionary origin from the trout and the salmon.

Grey, Edward, Viscount of Falloden (1899) Fly Fishing. London: J.M. Dent and Co.

If I (CBMcC) were forced to choose one work on angling to accompany me into the hereafter, this would be the one. Chapter VI concerns ‘Sea Trout Fishing’ and is quotable throughout. Like many sections of Falkus and Kingsmill Moore, I have much of it by heart.

Hanna, Thomas J. (2003) Fly-Fishing In Ireland. Otley, West Yorkshire: Smith Settle.

This is a 2003 reprint of a classic work first published by Witherby in 1933.

Hansen, Lars Peter and Malcolm Windsor (eds., 2006) ‘Interactions between aquaculture and
wild stocks of Atlantic salmon and other diadromous fish species: science and management, challenges and solutions.’ NINA (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research) Special Report 34, containing edited proceedings of a symposium held in Trondheim, Norway in 2006.

An important report, freely available from NASCO (11 Rutland Square, Edinurgh EH1 2AS), since embedded in the proceedings of the symposium is a public admission by some aquaculturalists that salmon farming, as this has been practiced in Norway, Ireland, Scotland and elsewhere, has to date had a hugely negative impact on wild stocks of salmon and sea-trout (see e.g. and in particular ‘Take home messages’, pp.64-69).

Hardinge, Lord, of Penshurst (1976) An Incompleat Angler: A Fishing Autobiography..
London: Michael Joseph.

Chapter IX, p.111ff., contains material on fishing the Ballynahinch River in Connemara.

Harris, Graeme and Moc Morgan (1989) Successful Sea Trout Angling. London: Blandford.

A comprehensive and important work, more extensive – and in places, more in-depth – than Falkus. Indispensable.

Harris, J.R. (1956) An Angler’s Entomology. London: Collins.

This is the revised edition of a work which first appeared in 1952. The revised edition has been many times reprinted. While it’s a classic work of entomology, and thus of greatest interest to the brown trout angler, any sea-trout fly-fisher will find the plates on p.141 most interesting, since they show trout flies dressed ‘Irish style’ from the late 18th century (the fly-dresser was Cornelius Gorman, of Ennis, Co. Clare). We are certain that when fly-fishing for sea-trout began in Ireland, these were the style of flies used – even if the dressings then used were in Ireland just slightly more colourful (e.g. in their use of blues and magentas) than those dressed onto equivalent flies used for brown trout fishing.

Henzell, H.P. (1949) Fishing for Sea-Trout. London: Adam and Charles Black.

The author’s experience is most extensive on Scottish waters (Maree, Uist), but his chapters on loch fishing (including fishing with the dry fly) are required reading for all sea-trout fly-fishers.

Herd, Andrew (2010) ‘Legends’. In Waterlog, autumn 2010, pp. 42-49

Analysis of salmon fly patterns described in Henry Newland [1851].

Jarrams, Peter (1987) Sea Trout Run. London: A&C. Black.

Strangely neglected work on sea-trout fishing, and in our view, a very fine contribution to the literature.

Johnson, Stephen (1969) Fishing with a Purpose. London: Peter Davies.

Focussed very largely on the author’s fishing for sea-trout on and around the Scottish west coast (in
particular, on Skye), chapters 6-8 include useful generalisations about different forms of sea-trout fishing, and chapter 9 is devoted specifically to ‘Sea-trout in Ireland’.

Luce, A.A. (1959) Fishing and Thinking. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

The author was Professor of Philosophy at Trinity College, Dublin, and this work, centred on Irish fish and fishing, is always articulate, considered, and weighty without being portentous. Would that I could write so clearly. One of my favourite angling books.

McCully, C.B. (1992) Fly-Fishing: A Book of Words. Manchester: Carcanet Press.

This is the first, hardback edition of a work which two years later appeared in paperback under the Oxford University Press imprint. A provisional (and now somewhat dated) dictionary of fly-fishing, pp. 202-208 contain an extensive entry on the sea-trout together with notes on the history of sea-trout fishing. Perhaps I’ll update and revise this work...one day [CBMcC].

McCully, C.B. (1998) The Other Side of the Stream. Shrewsbury: Swan Hill Press.

Chapter 4, ‘Dark of midsummer’, concerns sea-trout fishing, as does the final chapter.

McCully, Chris (2008) Sketches with Fishing Rods. Lichtenvoorde, the Nethwerlands:
Westerlaan.

These ‘sketches’ are a selection from – I’m afraid - my own work, and include what is probably a favourite from among my own angling pieces, ‘The day of a bit of a doff’ (about fly-fishing on Screebe Lough in Connemara when Screebe still enjoyed a big run of white-trout). Even I was smiling, gently, as I constructed the words. Superb pencil illustrations by the Dutch artist, writer and fisherman Ad Swier [CBMcC].

McLaren, Charles C. (1963) The Art of Sea Trout Fishing. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.

Despite the small format of the work this is a most useful introduction, with chapter 4
(‘Sea pools, estuaries and the open sea’) being especially valuable.

Malone, E.J. (1998) Irish Trout and Salmon Flies. Machynlleth, Wales: Coch-Y-Bonddu
Books.

This is a reprint of a work first published in 1984 by Colin Smythe, which then appeared in a second, revised and enlarged edition from the Flyfisher’s Classic Library (1993). It’s probably the most comprehensive work to date on Irish trout and salmon flies, and includes highly interesting and generous historical notes on tyings and fly-makers. The dressings are given in great detail, including variant dressings, and wherever known, the provenance of individual flies is listed. Illustrative plates are excellent. Indispensable for those tying their own flies.

Maxwell, W.H. (1986) Wild Sports of the West of Ireland. Southampton: Ashford Press
Publishing.

This is a reprint of a work which first appeared in 1892. The book is in the best sense a riot, which includes (as the work’s sub-title has it) ‘Legendary tales, folk-lore, local customs and natural history’ - a heady mix. Despite its occasional laboured wordiness – something entirely characteristic of some 19th century prose – it’s a wonderful book, and is written out of all forms of energy and abundance, the author’s included.

Moore. T.C. Kingsmill (1979) A Man May Fish. Gerards Cross: Colin Smythe.

This is the second, revised and enlarged edition of a work which first appeared in 1960. No fly-fisher in Ireland (whether for salmon, sea-trout or brown trout) should neglect this book. If anything, the second edition is even greater than the first, since its Appendix details how trout and sea-trout may see the angler’s fly in a wave, and in deeply stained water. This Appendix provides some of the clearest rationale for choice of (wet-) fly in different conditions that we have ever read.

Morgan. Paul and Friends (1998) Saltwater Flyfishing. Machnynlleth, Wales: Coch-Y-
Bonddu Books.

Part II, ‘Sea-trout’, contains different authors’ accounts of saltwater sea-trout fishing (though these accounts don’t include Ireland). The book also contains highly interesting material on catching mullet on the fly – something that many fly-fishers in Ireland might like to study, since mullet share many of the estuaries in which Irish sea-trout feed, and through which they run, and may provide an interesting diversion at those times when the sea-trout aren’t feeding or taking.

Nall, G.H. (1930). The Life of the Sea Trout. London: Seeley, Service and Co.

Probably the single most important work on the life and habits of the sea-trout published in the 20th century. There’s an emphasis on Scotland (the sub-title of the work is ‘Especially in Scottish Waters; with chapters on the reading and measuring of scales’). Some of the implications of the observations contained in this major study still remain to be scientifically explored (we think e.g. of the author’s belief that sea-trout from the River Till make one – and usually only one – spawning run back across the North Sea from their feeding grounds off the Dutch coasts), while others have only recently been revisited..and confirmed.

Newland, Henry (1851) The Erne: Its Legends and its Fly-fishing.
http://books.google.co.uk/books [London: Chapman and Hall]

Newton, Chris (2007) Hugh Falkus: A Life on the Edge. Ellesmere, Shropshire: The Medlar
Press.

Justly acclaimed biography.

Nixon, Sean (1999) Guarding the Silver: A Life with Salmon and Sea Trout. Westport: Berry
Print Group.

Autobiography, memoir and reminiscences of fish, fishing and fishery management from one of the most influential figures in later 20th century Irish white-trout and salmon angling, particularly as that was developing in Connemara and Mayo in the period 1960-1990.

Perry, Thomas G. (n.d.) May Madness! Fifty Years of Fishing on Shannon, its Tributaries and
Amusing Incidents [sic]. Privately printed photocopy.

A work which has never, to my knowledge, reached hard print – the book was copied for me from another photocopy by an old friend – but an absolutely splendid, and splendidly chaotic, account of fishing in Ireland (largely on and around Lough Derg at mayfly time) which still makes me smile every time I read it. I particularly like the chapter on ‘Ghillying for Bertie Nestor’. Bertie lived in a caravan. Bertie’s car – ‘a minute Morris Minor’ – was ‘full to the roof with pipes, cigarettes and daily papers’ (p.125). Bertie was also in the habit of going for a walk up ‘Ogonnoloe mountain very early in the morning.... saying “God’s fresh air is good for what ails me”. Sometimes’ (comments the author) ‘I really do not think he knew what was ailing him....’ (p.125). I also relish the account of David Minogue, the farmer and occasional gillie, who was in the habit of sucking his pipe so loudly that the hearer often mistook the sucking noises for those of trout feeding on mayflies. I’d love to have met David...and Bertie – and the author of this often-misspelled masterpiece. And I’d love to have fished with them all [CBMcC].

Rawlings, Bill (2002) The Great Salmon and Sea Trout Loughs of Ireland. Shrewsbury: Swan
Hill Press.

Survey of some important west coast fisheries. Includes some significant historical asides. I was surprised and touched to find that in what’s now the distant past, and although we have never met in person, Bill Rawlings and a very young McCully had fished the same waters in Connemara during the same month of the same year – August 1974.

Rice, Freddie (1990) Fly-tying Illustrated: Salmon and Sea trout Patterns. London: Batsford.

Detailed and well-illustrated work on dressing many important salmon and sea-trout flies, including Skunks, Sunk Lures, Wake Lures and Waddingtons.

O’Reilly, Peter (2007) Loughs of Ireland: A Flyfisher’s Guide. Ludlow: Merlin Unwin.

4th edition, and a work which will doubtless go into many subsequent and updated editions. Indispensable guide to almost all major Irish stillwaters. Includes grid references, maps, ticket information and commentary. See also the following entry.

O’Reilly, Peter (2004) Rivers of Ireland: A Flyfisher’s Guide. Ludlow: Merlin Unwin.

6th edition, and – like its companion volume, Loughs of Ireland – destined to be many times reprinted. Comprehensive information on fishing for salmon, sea-trout and brown trout in Ireland’s rivers (north and south of the border). An indispensable guide.

Scott, Jock (1969) Seatrout Fishing. London: Seeley, Service and Co. Ltd.

Significant and comprehensive work (for its period) on sea-trout fishing, centred largely though by no means exclusively on Scottish fishing. There’s an extensive section on tackle, with much of which we almost wholly agree – particularly on the necessity of avoiding excessively tip-actioned fly-rods ‘like the plague’ (p. 62).

Street, David (1989) Fishing in Wild Places. London: Penguin.

Beautifully written. Chapter 8 describes fishing for trout and sea-trout in The Rosses (Donegal), chapter 9 describes dapping, including dapping on Lough Owennamarve (Donegal), while chapter 10 describes episodes of fishing on Gowla and Athry (Connemara) when those waters still held big stocks of white-trout every summer. Wonderful book.

Stuart, Hamish (1952) The Book of the Sea Trout. London: Jonathan Cape.

This is the second edition, edited by Rafael Sabatini, of a work which was first published in 1917. Passionate, opinionated, and with an infectious enthusiasm for sea-trout – Scottish sea-trout – Stuart’s chapter on saltwater fishing (‘In tidal waters’, chapter VI) is splendid, as are his descriptions of sea-trout fishing on Uist. As the reader will have noted, our sub-title here, ‘Nomads of the tides’ is a phrase originally coined by Stuart.

Spencer, Sidney (1968) Salmon and Seatrout in Wild Places. London: H.F. and G. Witherby.

Indispensable for all those wishing to fish in the west of Ireland (or in the Scottish Hebrides). A classic.

Spencer, Sidney (1969) Newly from the Sea: Fishing for Salmon and Seatrout. London: H.F.
and G. Witherby.

The author fished extensively in Ireland, especially on and around Lough Eske (Donegal). His work is more descriptive and reflective than that of, for example, Falkus – but in its own meticulous way it’s no less detailed and thoughtful.

Spencer, Sidney (1974) Game Fishing Tactics. London: H.F. and G. Witherby.

Neither as large nor as comprehensive as the author’s earlier Newly from the Sea, this is nevertheless an astute, thought-provoking work. See also the entry for Spencer (1991), below.

Spencer, Sidney (1991) Fishing the Wilder Shores. London: H.F. and G. Witherby.

A work edited by that fine fly-fisher and writer, Jeremy Lucas, after Sidney Spencer’s tragic death in a car accident in Donegal in 1976. It is a very judicious selection and distillation of Spencer’s evocative and – that word again – meticulous writings on trout, salmon and (above all) sea-trout. Lucas’s introduction is itself very fine.

Walker, C.F. (editor, 1969) The Complete Fly-Fisher. London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd.

This is the second edition of a work first pubsished in 1963. It was among the first fishing books I ever read (a copy borrowed from Bingley Public Library in 1967). It seems dated now, and the chapter on sea-trout (by F.W. Holiday) is partial, but nevertheless the author’s insistence on a longish, relatively soft-actioned rod is entirely justified and his remarks on working the fly are still, in our view, most pertinent.

Waltham, James (1988) Sea Trout Flies. London: A. and C. Black.

Important and well-written work on the construction and fishing of sea-trout flies, including the Snake together with different dressings of Sunk Lure and Wake Lure.

Waltham, James (2006) The Sea Trout and the Fly. Ramsbury, Wiltshire: The Crowood Press.

Like the author’s earlier Sea Trout Flies, this work blends the description of the dressing of sea-trout patterns with evocative descriptions of days and nights fishing for sea-trout. As with the author’s earlier title, the construction notes and illustrations which accompany the text are most useful.

Whelan, Ken (1991) The Game Angler in Ireland. Dublin: Country House.

This is a reprint of a work which first appeared in 1989. KW will be too modest to say anything about it. I find the work to be a splendid little (144pp.) introduction to fishing for salmon, sea-trout and brown trout in Ireland, and many of its pieces of advice and description stand up proudly to the test of time [CBMcC].

Young, Eddie (editor, 2004) The Sidney Spencer Omnibus. Moretonhampstead, Devon: The
Flyfisher’s Classic Library.

Contains two of Spencer’s indispensable titles, Salmon and Sea-trout in Wild Places (1968) and Newly from the Sea (1969).

Web (URL) references

Sandeel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandlance
Accessed 7 January 2010

Form and colour in Irish sea-trout flies

2010-11-26T20:36:00.003+01:00

Silhouette, translucency, size and colour seem to me to be key components of Irish sea-trout flies (particularly those used in freshwater).

One pattern I use a great deal because of its colour impact is a yellow-based variant of the Raymond. I like it so much that I probably fish it too often, but over the past couple of seasons it's a pattern that's done well in Donegal and Mayo.

In the shot here you'll also see a blue-based, shrimp-stylising pattern of my own (the Derry Bull) and a couple of Bumbles modelled on David Knowles's purply-blue Bruiser, used to great effect on South Uist last month. Also glimpsed in this shot is that wonderful old stand-by, the Teal, Blue and Silver, into whose wing I often incorporate a few strands of flash.

Goodbye to another sea-trout season

2010-10-18T21:35:00.002+02:00

It's been an extraordinary season, one that's taken us from the Ballyshannon estuary in Donegal (late March) to Strangford Lough, Sligo, Mayo, Connemara...and finally to Uist in early October. I've learned more about sea-trout during this past year - particularly, about how sea-trout behave in the estuaries of the western Irish coasts - than I have in any previous season. I've found the whole project entirely captivating. Here and there, too, we've run across grilse and salmon in our sea-trout travels, and very welcome they have been.

Nomads on Uist 2010

2010-10-18T21:32:00.001+02:00

Lunchtime on Loch Fada, South Uist.

Nomads on Uist 2010

2010-10-18T21:27:00.002+02:00

The fishing was challenging: high winds (to gale and even hurricane force) in the first part of the week; sunshine and near calms in the last. Despite this we shared a catch of 22 sea-trout (most of them finnock to a pound and a half) and 5 salmon, most of the last very stale fish. Here's a salmon from Kildonan about to be returned: a fish which, as the Scots say, was definitely in its tartan breeks.

Nomads on Uist 2010

2010-10-18T21:24:00.001+02:00

Landing a fresh-run, late season Uist sea-trout.

Nomads on Uist 2010

2010-10-18T21:21:00.007+02:00

Chris was on South Uist recently (first week of October), fishing with David Knowles and Ian Kennedy. South Uist has an October run of fresh sea-trout - among them, maiden fish. Here's David with a pristine sea-trout of just under 4lb. taken from Loch Roag on David's variation of that great sea-trout pattern, the Bruiser.

Mayo September 2010

2010-10-18T20:36:00.004+02:00

Mayo white-trout from a bog river
Owenduff estuary white-trout on a Teal, Blue and Silver

James playing a Glenamoy grilse
Cracking Owenmore salmon
Owenduff estuary white-trout

Mayo September 2010

2010-10-18T20:34:00.005+02:00

Markus with an Owenmore salmon
Overlooking the Glenamoy valley from the top of the watershed - wonderful salmon and sea-trout spate river
Owenmore salmon (angler: Markus Mueller)

Mayo September 2010

2010-10-18T20:32:00.006+02:00

Glenamoy grilse

Coloured Owenmore salmon
Releasing an Owenmore grilse
Owenduff grilse (angler: James Sadler)

Mayo 2010: Owenduff estuary wet-flies

2010-09-17T17:56:00.003+02:00

Far and away the best wet-flies on the estuary were smallish (size 10-12) silver- or lurex-bodied wet-flies. Larger patterns such as the Gadget (size 8) or the Sunk Lure (size 12 tandem) were ignored - even though the white-trout were readily hitting spinners and spoons fished by other anglers. Puzzling....but then, that's sea-trout fishing.

One of James's successful patterns was a green lurex-bodied Alexandra, size 12, shown here.

Mayo 2010: Owenduff estuary

2010-09-17T17:52:00.003+02:00

The Owenduff estuary was in flood - high water was coursing down the river, and we fished from high tide to low. When I looked at the estuary in the morning I shook my head and thought to myself 'Completely unfishable'. Eight hours later we left, having shared a catch of well over ten brace of white-trout, all returned. The fish took small, silver-bodied wet-flies best. The shot shows a white-trout of around 1lb which took a Teal, Blue and Silver.

Mayo 2010: Glenamoy grilse

2010-09-17T17:50:00.001+02:00

A fresh-run grilse of around 3lb being returned.

Mayo 2010: The Glenamoy

2010-09-17T17:45:00.002+02:00

James, Markus and I shared a good catch on the Glenamoy (Co. Mayo), which included grilse to around 5lb. and a leash of white-trout, all finnock...and all fit, fat, welcome (and returned). Grand day.

Delphi and the West 2010: Feel my Goat's Toe

2010-08-25T08:13:00.005+02:00

In mid-August we travelled to the Irish West, enjoying white-trout fishing at Delphi, Kylemore, Glencar lake and the Ballysadare estuary (Sligo) and the Owenduff estuary in Mayo. It was a grand week. What follows is a very brief photographic tour of some highlights of these angling travels. At present I'm writing up four feature articles about the trip, which I hope will eventually appear in Trout and Salmon, so I urge you to look out for these features in future issues.

The shot shows white-trout flies, among which is the Goat's Toe (that big straggly thing with the red posterior) clicked into Peter Joyce's hat as he very expertly gillied us on Doolough, the largest lake of the Delphi system. Tough white-trout fishing, partly on account of the weather, which was either burnished and windless or drenched and wind-stricken.

The Middle Lough, Kylemore

2010-08-25T08:11:00.004+02:00

The Kylemore Abbey fishery still has a run of white-trout, though the fishing's not quite what it used to be in the pre-salmon-farm years. Nevertheless, we encountered a run of white-trout and some salmon in a two-day period, and the Dawros river (please see below) is a gem for salmon.

Dawros salmon

2010-08-25T08:04:00.002+02:00

Occasionally our white-trout travels include encounters with salmon and grilse. Here's a pristine little grilse safely in the net on the Dawros river, part of the Kylemore system in Connemara. Angler: Gardiner Mitchell. Netsman: Geoffrey Fitzjohn.

Fishing under Ben Bulben

2010-08-25T08:02:00.003+02:00

We enjoyed a couple of grand days on the Ballysadare estuary (pictured) and Glencar lake. I suspect that the estuary would fish best at dusk on the first couple of hours of a rising tide. Super place - terns squalling over sandeels, oystercatchers, the push of the incoming tide...and white-trout.

White-trout tackle

2010-08-25T07:59:00.002+02:00

Hardy Marksman Drifter 10-foot #6; Marquis #7 reel (second-hand, thirty years old, and as good now as on the day it left Alnwick), box of flies.... And away you go.

Playing a Glencar white-trout

2010-08-25T07:54:00.003+02:00

We caught some good fish on Glencar lake: white-trout to 2lb. and a leash of lovely wild brownies to 12oz. Here's Gardiner Mitchell playing a white-trout.

In the net

2010-08-25T07:51:00.001+02:00

A Glencar white-trout of around 1.5lb, safely netted.

On the Owenduff

2010-08-25T07:49:00.002+02:00

The Owenduff in Co. Mayo is a lovely spate river which fishes for white-trout (and salmon). We enjoyed some good fishing on the estuary. Here's Gardiner Mitchell playing a white-trout.

Big sea-trout from the Drowes estuary

2010-07-27T09:41:00.002+02:00

Great reports of splendid runs of salmon and sea-trout in the Irish West continue. One particularly intriguing item among the reports (please click on http://fishinginireland/info/update for more) was the caputure of a handful of gigantic sea-trout on the Drowes estuary. The Drowes, which drains Lough Melvin, of course enjoys a justifiable reputation for the quality of its salmon fishing, but sea-trout appear not to run the river into Melvin. Last week, however, sea-trout of between 6.5 and just under 13lb (!) were caught on the Sea Pool of the river, leading me to wonder where those fish came from. Scales have been taken from these fish, so we should soon know what the origin of these massive sea-trout was...and when I know, I shall post the outcome here.

Photo from 'Irish Angling Update' (e-zine), 22 July 2010. Sea-trout 6.5lb caught by Sean O'Connor on the Drowes Sea Pool.

News flash from the West of Ireland, July 8th 2010

2010-07-08T12:23:00.003+02:00

According to reports on the IFI (CFB) website and elsewhere, sea-trout are returning in some numbers to many West of Ireland river and lough systems: the Erriff, Lough Inagh, the Ballynahinch and Kylemore are all enjoying good runs of fish following spates towards the end of June and over this past week. This is wonderful news. Presumably, some at least of these sea-trout are fish which are the progeny of runs of white trout in 2007 and/or 2008? Grilse are among them.
There is still some availability of rods for July on some of these fisheries. Prospective visitors should check out www.wrfb.ie for contact addresses (click on the 'salmon' and 'sea trout' buttons for information, contact numbers and so on).

Killyleagh and Strangford

2010-07-08T12:16:00.003+02:00

I (CBMcC) spent much of the past week at Strangford lough in Northern Ireland, enjoying tremendous hospitality and occasionally having a cast over sea-trout in and around Strangford. The Killyleagh Fly Fair was held last weekend in the village of Killyleagh, an hour's drive south of Belfast: there were fly-tying demonstrations, casting clinics and talks. The shot shows the location for the casting clinics: the front lawn at Killyleagh Castle. I even took a lesson myself from that wonderful fly-caster and teacher Marc Fauvet, who endeavoured to correct my general limp-wristedness and sagginess. ('Bit late for that, Chris,' cries my reader. To which I respond that one lives in hope, if only of tighter loops to come....)

Incidentally, while we're on about line-speed, I wickedly used the opportunity of the Fly Fair to treat myself to a new Hardy Marksman Drifter 10-foot 6-weight, and gave it a fairly thorough trial on the lough. Fierce dear - but worth every penny. It's probably the best, most versatile rod I've ever used for Irish sea-trout, and would handle summer salmon admirably, too.

On Strangford

2010-07-08T12:11:00.002+02:00

Strangford lough contains a good head of sea-trout. The stock appears to be composed of (a) native (northern) Irish sea-trout which spawn in the streams flowing into Strangford, and (b) typically larger sea-trout which are using Strangford as a feeding ground before heading back across the Irish Sea to various Welsh rivers, in which last they'll spawn.

Angler: Chris McCully. Image: Ken Whelan

Of mullet, bread and cat food

2010-07-08T12:02:00.004+02:00

I was slipping away from the estuary one evening when I encountered two fishers who'd come down to the tide specifically to fish for mullet. Since I'd fished (unsuccessfully) for several hours that same morning for mullet with the fly-rod, I asked them what they were going to use as bait. 'Bread,' they said at once. 'Funny thing, though,' one added. 'It can't just be any old kind of bread. It's got to be....' (his voice hushed into a reverential whisper) 'Brennan's.' I caught sight of what looked like a bag of dog biscuits peeping out of one of these gentlemen's kit-bags. 'And what about dog biscuits?' I asked. 'Not dog biscuits,' they said. 'Cat biscuits....' 'I don't suppose,' I asked again, 'that it has to be any kind of - any particular brand of - cat food, does it?' Stupid of me to ask. The reply came not even in a reverential whisper but with a hushed kind of awe.

'It's got to be Go-Cat,' they said.

Small sea-trout

2010-07-08T11:59:00.002+02:00

I wish I could have titled this post 'Big sea-trout'- but then again, in Ireland I seem to catch what are mostly smaller fish, often finnock running to 12oz. along with a smattering of larger sea-trout running to 2lb. Still, I love these little fish, and these days invariably return them to whence they came via barbless or debarbed hooks. They're precious future stock; it's always lovely to see them, admire them briefly....and slip them back.

Casting under the Mountains of Mourne

2010-07-08T11:57:00.002+02:00

The Mountains of Mourne are visible from many place around the shore of Strangford. Strangford lough, and neighbouring coastal waters such as the Dundrum estuary, the Whitewater estuary and so on, often hold interesting stocks of sea-trout along with a mind-blowing head of mullet.

The entrance

2010-07-08T11:51:00.002+02:00

An image which somehow seems to capture what we're about in so many parts of Ireland: ruined gateposts leading to nothing but a path around a tump on the shores of Strangford lough.

Strangford (1)

2010-05-07T17:14:00.008+02:00

Just returned from Strangford Lough, where the wind blew from the north and where there was a hard, cold, glittery light. My catches (CBMcC) were almost non-existent, but I learned a great deal about this sensitive and lovely environment. One thing which delighted me was to catch (and of course, release) two tiny juvenile sea-trout which had clearly run into saltwater as smolts mere weeks before. The fact that these important fish are all wild and healthy is in my view hugely significant, and a tribute to the potential of Strangford as an environment in which totally wild sea-trout can grow and thrive.

Many warm thanks to all those who supported and helped my travels, and particularly to Stephen Kennedy, whose knowledge of the lough is unrivalled. Stephen is also the instigator of the Dibney River Conservation Trust and the forthcoming Irish International Fly Fair at Killyleagh (http://www.irishinternationalflyfair.com/).

Strangford (2)

2010-05-07T17:14:00.005+02:00

Wild light on a beautiful and remote part of Strangford Lough.

Safely released

2010-05-02T14:25:00.004+02:00

A cracking underwater release shot of a pristine Irish sea-trout at the end of a cold and grey March.

Angler: Chris McCully.

Image: James Sadler.

Fin-perfect

2010-05-02T14:22:00.005+02:00

Chris safely lands another fine sea-trout. This time from the Gweebarra Estuary.
Image: James Sadler.

A bonnie sea-trout

2010-05-02T14:16:00.007+02:00

This one was taken by Chris on the last day. It eagerly grabbed hold of a free-lined sand eel within a few feet from where Chris was standing. [Chris writes: This fish puzzled me. It was relatively silvery and in fairly good condition, so I wondered whether it was a sea-trout which had skipped a spawning year or a veteran which had spawned the previous November and returned immediately to the sea, feeding thereafter in saltwater during the winter period. I wrote to Ken, who knows everything: sea-trout only very rarely skip spawning years, he wrote in reply, and it seemed likely to him that this fish is that veteran who spawned in November 2009 and returned immediately to the salt. So there you are.]
Angler: Chris McCully.
Image: James Sadler.

One last run

2010-05-02T14:13:00.005+02:00

A good Erne sea-trout makes one last turn right before the end of its tussle. Note the sand eel in the side of its mouth.
Image: James Sadler.

Picture perfect

2010-05-02T13:04:00.004+02:00

A small break in the weather on the beautiful Erne estuary at the end of March.
Image: James Sadler

Sea-lice damage

2010-05-02T12:59:00.005+02:00

Notice the sea-lice damage along the back of the dorsal fin.

Angler: Michael Patton.

Images: James Sadler.

More from the Erne

2010-05-02T12:32:00.006+02:00

A lovely sequence illustrating the sand eel rig, the epic battle and smiling release of a stunning Erne estuary sea-trout.
Angler: Michael Patton.
Images: James Sadler.

A look at saltwater sea-trout flies: Ragworm (1)

2010-04-29T15:16:00.003+02:00

I thought it might be useful if I detailed some of the saltwater sea-trout patterns I tie and use myself in Ireland and Denmark, or which others tie and use themselves. What follows (April 2010) is a very quick tour of some useful artificials, particularly those representing what are the stars of the piece at this time of year - ragworms, sandeels, shrimps, and various kinds of small fish. (Actually, those food items, perhaps with the exception of the ragworm, are the stars of the piece between March and August each year.)

The shot shows one of my own ragworm patterns tied on a size 8 longshank hook. It's weighted with 10 wraps of lead wire, and the tail is made from a Spey hackle. I tie in a small loop of nylon at the rear of the fly to prevent the hackle fibres wrapping round the bend of the hook. I suppose that really the fly is a sort of posh Nobbler....

I'd be delighted to hear from other sea-trout fishers who'd like to share some of their own favourite saltwater patterns. Perhaps putting together a data-base of such patterns might be something we could do together?

Ragworm (2) and sandeel

2010-04-29T15:13:00.003+02:00

Here's a sandeel pattern (above) tied by Lindsey Clarke. What I really like about it is its slim suggestiveness together with the tough epoxy head, which last will help the fly to sink head-down. A small pull on the retrieve, and the fly will rock upwards again....

The generic fish-suggesting pattern (below in the shot) was tied by Rudy van der Meer. I promised him back in March that I'd give the fly an extended trial, but so far this season have wickedly failed to live up to my promise. But I shall.

Pink shrimps

2010-04-29T15:08:00.002+02:00

Like everybody else, I've been completely convinced over the past few years by the effectiveness of various kinds of Pink Shrimp for saltwater sea-trout in Denmark. I have no reason to suppose they won't work in Ireland, though I've never, for some reason, given them an extended trial there. The Pattegrisen is tied on sizes 8-12 hooks (I use Partridge saltwater hooks, and for the bigger sizes, Owner carp hooks, which last have a lovely bend). The shrimps I find off the Danish coasts are pink/buff/cream in colour, so I tend to white, grey-pink variants, and reach for fluo. pink patterns on days where the water seems full of sunlight, or by contrast on dull, overcast days where lateral vision through the water might be limited.

White and grey shrimps

2010-04-29T12:55:00.005+02:00

These sometimes work spectacularly well in Denmark, and I've also caught fish on them in Donegal estuaries during the summer. I like fishing white patterns in the salt: how often it happens that you spot a green-grey ghost-shape following that speck of white towards the end of the retrieve. The grey/brown/pink/buff pattern, which Danes know as the Gra Frede, is lightly weighted with turns of lead wire and thus sinks readily. It's a nailer of a pattern, perhaps because of the mobility and therefore the attractiveness of the marabou fibres.

Both on size 8-12 hooks. I tend to use Partridge Sea Prince saltwater irons for these patterns.

Gadgets and Storm Fry

2010-04-29T12:43:00.007+02:00

The Gadget, tied on a size 6 or 8 hook, with a silver body and a back and tail of mallard fibres, was the creation of the great Michael Rogan, who in turn was adapting the pattern of a great friend of his, who (I'm very reliably told) made the prototype from silver cigarette paper. The dressings shown were tied by Lindsey Clarke - a wonderful fly-tier.

The Storm Fry, with a silver and/or silver/back or green/black body wrapped in plastic strip, was the creation of that great Northern Irish fly-dresser, Robert McHaffie. I love the simplicity and sparseness of both patterns, and often fish either or both when small fry - known as sprit, sparling or brit - are around in the spring and summer.

Into the light

2010-04-28T22:50:00.003+02:00

Casting at a cold, pale sun on the coasts of Funen in Denmark. Image: James Sadler.

Thin nomads in Denmark

2010-04-28T22:44:00.003+02:00

To Denmark (Funen) for three days. The sea temperatures were still very low (7-8C) and although the handful of smaller sea-trout we caught were in good nick, the largest (a fish of around 55cm) was painfully thin. Although it had a silvery coat and was clean-scaled, it had clearly run back out to sea around a month ago and since then had found little to eat. There was little life apparent in the coastal shallows - no sandeels, few shrimps, and the eel-grass beds had only just started to grow. Still, better times will lie ahead for that returned sea-trout.

The shot shows a small sea-trout - the sort of trout the Danes call a 'Greenlander' - being safely returned. We encountered a few of these splendid little fish, and enjoyed one hectic spell one evening as a shoal of them moved in to the waters near the beach, where they were feeding on small, buff-coloured shrimps.