Ireland on the Fly

For this week's Ireland on the Fly we’re joined by Darius Simkus, who only started fly fishing after he moved to Ireland from Lithuania and within a few years he was fishing for Ireland, winning national titles and is the 2023 captain of the ITFFA Irish rivers team.

 

Darius tells us why competition fishing is so important to him, how he learned so much through self-belief and learning on the water himself, plus he has some useful tactics and tips for river fishing at this time of year and discusses the difficulties and intricacies of fly fishing on rivers v loughs.

 

 

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Plus you can sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.irelandonthefly.com

While we may be still a few weeks off the summer runs of salmon and sea trout, in advance of that, we thought it would be worth finding out more about catching sea trout on the fly in both daytime and night time conditions from one of the leading experts, Steffan Jones.

 

Steffan is based in Wales but has fished for – and caught – big numbers of sea trout all over the world and he has some great insights and tips on the set-up, tactics and flies for catching the elusive white trout.

 

Steffan will also be appearing at the Irish Spring Angling Fair at Ardaire Springs on 29th and 30th of April which is well worth checking out and for more information visit IrishSpringAnglingFair.com

 

You can also check out Steffan’s guiding business at fishtravel.co.uk.

Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.  

 

Plus you can sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.irelandonthefly.com

This week we wanted to find out about the Salmon Summit that was held recently in Iceland.

 

It’s an annual get-together of NGOs, scientists, policy-makers, researchers and scientists run by the North Atlantic Salmon Fund to discuss the current state of salmon stocks and possible solutions to help the future of the fish.

 

So, what did they discuss and what of note came out of the summit?  We speak to Elvar Fridriksson, NASF's program director in Iceland, to find out more, including the alternative, sustainable options for land-based fish farming that now exist.

Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.  

 

Plus you can sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.irelandonthefly.com

It’s a very special guest for this week’s episode of Ireland on the Fly.  He was an inspiration for us  as well as thousands of other fly anglers around the world, and with every new release, his musings, essays and reflections on a life lived through fly fishing have kept us entertained down through the years.

 

For the latest Ireland on the Fly Book Club episode it’s an honour to be speaking to John Gierach, the prolific and best-selling fly fishing writer, whose first collection Trout Bum, in 1986, opened the door to so much.

 

John explains why he sees himself as a writer first and angler second, discusses the hard work and process behind his writing success and also delves into why he headed west to Colorado to begin a life lived based solely around fly fishing.

 

John’s latest book, All the Time in the World, is out now.

 

 

Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.  

 

Plus you can sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.irelandonthefly.com

We’re turning our attention to fly tying for this week’s episode and our guest is a bit of a legend in Irish fly tying circles it has to be said and yet his flies might never have graced our waters and caught so many fish if it wasn’t for a sliding doors moment in the life of Frankie McPhillips when he was looking for work…..

 

Frankie describes a different time in the 1970s and 1980s when good, quality flies were hard to come by and how after 45 years he’s still as much in demand.  Don’t forget to visit www.frankiemcphillips.com to see the flies for yourself.

 

Looking back on his fly fishing life, Frankie talks about friendship and fishing with Ted Malone who was still casting and catching on Lough Corrib up until the age of 96. 

 

Frankie has also written a poem called, ‘Under Tattenweir Bridge’ which he reads out for us on the podcast.

 

‘I cast my fly under Tattenweir Bridge

And as it floats back to me,

overhead, I hear a forty tonner roar

carting packed pallets of “best before”

to vast warehouses of plenty

I cast my fly under Tattenweir Bridge

and as it floats back to me

I hear the sighs of famine men

lift stone after cut stone

clacked into place

to form the perfect arch…

I wonder, to stave the hunger

did they ever take a rising trout in May

or grape the November salmon on his lie

 

I cast my fly under Tattenweir Bridge

And as it floats back to me

I see you, crouched in the long bank grass

flint spear by your side

no catch and release then

for salmon, trout or thirsty deer…

river food, brought back to rath or home

beside the standing stones

of Ballyreagh or Topped

As darkness falls under Tattenweir Bridge

The little trout swim side by side

hunger squawks in the redwood nest,

the heron begins his river glide.’

 

 

Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.  

 

Plus you can sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.irelandonthefly.com

With all this rain the last while I’m sure many of you are still itching to get out fishing and for this week’s episode we’ve got some great insights and advice on where to fish for those early season salmon along the Atlantic seaboard from Markus Muller.

 

When the rains do finally subside and the waters come back into contention Markus pinpoints some of the most likely places where you have a high chance of landing a salmon.  

 

Plus he also has some interesting points about the 2022 season and trends to look out for the 2023 season and beyond.

 

You can read more from the IFI’s document here:

https://www.fisheriesireland.ie/sites/default/files/2023-03/the-status-of-irish-salmon-stocks-in-2022-with-catch-advice-for-2023.pdf

 

 

 

Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.  

 

Plus you can sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.irelandonthefly.com

It’s St. Patrick’s week and for so many fly anglers this really is the start of the brown trout season in Ireland, especially on the rivers, including the River Suir, which has been called the finest brown trout river in Europe.

 

So for this week’s episode we wanted to find out how and where it fishes best and we speak to George McGrath of Gundog & Fly YouTube fame, who has also spent a lifetime fishing the Suir.

 

 

Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.  

 

Plus you can sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.irelandonthefly.com

Continuing our focus on spring salmon fishing, this week’s Ireland on the Fly podcast turns its attention to the Upper Caragh Fishery in county Kerry and we speak to Mike O’Shea the fishery manager to find out about the salmon run on the system from springers right through to the summer grilse and back-end of the season.

 

Mike also discusses the introduction of the hatchery, how that has been a success with 30% of the salmon caught coming from it and why he believes an enlightened, supplemental approach is key to its development. 

 

Based in the spectacular Reeks district between Killorglin and Glenbeigh, even if you don’t catch a fish, just going there alone is worth it for the scenery….well maybe the first time, but after that you do want to be landing a salmon or two and if you’re hoping for a springer, the Upper Caragh could be the place for that.

 

Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.  

 

Plus you can sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.irelandonthefly.com

For this week’s episode we speak to Sean McManmon, a hugely experienced fly angler, and someone known as Mr Salmon in some circles in Ireland.

 

After decades working in the K Club he has guided US Presidents, rock stars, supermodels and golfing greats such as Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara.

 

From tales of giving the Secret Service the slip to catching 19 salmon in a day, Sean has a lifetime of memories, insights and most importantly, great stories and sums up exactly what fly fishing is all about in a life well-lived.

 

If we get to fish half as much as Sean has and seen half as much as he has seen, well, I think we’ll be happy with our fly fishing lives....

 

Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.  

 

Plus you can sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.irelandonthefly.com

It's a first for us this week on Ireland on the Fly as we find out about catching mullet on the fly in early season.

 

It’s a fish known as the Irish bonefish and not one that has been targeted a great deal but maybe that’s about to change.

 

After all, if you’re like our guest, West Cork guide and angler, David Norman, you could be landing five mullet on the fly in a single session in February on your five weight.

 

If you’re interested, then stay tuned as David explains how and where to target the mullet in Irish waters.

We also speak to David about his plans for the coming season with high hopes for double-figure pollock and bass and to find out more, you can contact David at https://www.anglingadventureswestcork.ie.

Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.  

 

Plus you can sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.irelandonthefly.com