Ireland on the Fly

Another fish to target over winter is pike, with pike on the fly becoming increasingly popular in Ireland.

 

For this week’s episode we wanted to find out more about the set-up, the flies, the tactics and why fly fishing for pike isn’t just for Christmas either and we spoke to Markus Muller, an advisor to IFI and pike fly fishing aficionado, as well as Bodo Funke, the well-known pike guide based in Roscommon.

 

If you’re interested in finding out more or wanted to organise a day out fly fishing for pike, you can contact Bodo at anglingservicesireland.com

 

 

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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

You might be wondering why we’re talking about salmon for this latest episode in December, but as we get closer to the start of the season on January 1st, the IFI are busy finalising the data from the salmon tags for the 2022 season to make the final decision on what rivers will be open next year.

 

So, we decided to speak to Kevin Crowley from the IFI to find out more about the data they have, to give us some insights into the salmon numbers from this year and how the whole process works.

 

Kevin also has some interesting insights into policy and strategy around the salmon and it’s worth a listen.

 

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

Although it’s winter time it doesn’t mean you have to hang up your rods in the close season with a number of stocked fisheries around the country a great place to still catch fish - even if it is sometimes in near freezing temperatures.

 

But with stockies, it’s not just about chuck it out and pull em in as you’ll find out on our latest episode with Denis Goulding, a well-known Irish international angler who has fished for them for over thirty years and who also runs the winter bank league.

 

Denis gives us a bit of a masterclass in how to fish for rainbows and it’s well worth a listen.

 

As he says, just get out there, relax and go fishing on these fisheries over winter time, ‘they’re ready and waiting for you.’

 

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

On last week’s episode we spoke to Eoghain Maclean, a ghillie on Scotland’s famed Loch Maree which has collapsed as a fishery since the arrival of fish farms.

 

We wanted a ghillie’s perspective on it to sound a warning as to what could happen to other fisheries in Ireland being similarly affected.

 

And now, as a follow-up, we have a bonus episode from Wild Fish, the UK fish conservation group, which made a video on the demise of Loch Maree.

 

You’ll hear from Jeremy Paxman, Eoghain Macclean and fishery scientists about the effects of sea lice on salmon and sea trout and how this has impacted what was once a jewel in the crown of Scotland’s lochs.

 

It has also happened before in Ireland with the sea trout fisheries in Connemara, and it can happen here again.

The audio is courtesy of www.wildfish.org and you can watch the video on their YouTube channel.

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

As fly anglers we have become all too aware of the environmental dangers and unwanted consequences of fish farming and what was once touted as an answer to more productive fish production has now been proved to be anything but.

 

Scotland is a case in point - the west coast of Scotland in particular, where salmon and sea trout runs have practically disappeared – much like what we’ve also seen with sea trout in Connemara.

 

Loch Maree was once the jewel in the crown for Scottish loch fishing but since the 1980s and the arrival of fish farms nearby, its fish numbers have been decimated.

 

So, for this latest episode of Ireland on the Fly we wanted to highlight how quickly a fishery can collapse, the effects on the fishing, the environment and the economy, whilst also finding out about some possible green shoots that are now emerging. 

 

Eoghain Maclean has been a ghillie on Loch Maree all his life and has been outspoken about the damage that has been done to the loch from fish farming and so he joined us to give us his perspective on the changes that he has seen in his lifetime.

 

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 wanted to start a bit of a book club here on the Ireland on the Fly podcast to discuss the best Irish fly fishing books and so, for this the 50th show, we’re beginning with an episode on Kingsmill Moore’s A Man May Fish, the seminal work on fly fishing in Ireland.

 

To help us give context and background to Kingsmill Moore, we spoke to Patrick Gageby, a barrister and fly angler who also co-wrote the foreword to an edition of O’Gorman’s The Practice of Angling in Ireland.

 

Patrick reveals some fascinating first-hand insights about Kingsmill Moore and the places he fished as well as how Moore’s background and legal career helped influence his writing of the book.

 

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 officially winter and that means, for many fly anglers, the longer nights will see the vice dusted down and plans made for new flies to be tied for next season.

 

On this latest episode of Ireland on the Fly, we hear from one of Ireland’s finest fly tyers, Jackie Mahon, to get some of the secrets to his fly tying success – and he tells us the extent he will go to for just the right shade of magenta!

 

Visit Jackiemahonfliesandguiding.com for more on Jackie’s guiding and flies to order.

 

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

The 2022 salmon and trout season has come to a close and so, for this episode of Ireland on the Fly, we’re doing a review of the brown trout lakes around the country to find out how the fishing has been, what the conditions were like and, most importantly, what the catch numbers were on the different waters.

 

Paul Bourke is a name many of you might be familiar with through his forty plus years with Inland Fisheries Ireland as well as his monthly updates to Trout & Salmon magazine and we thought who better to give us the round-up of the Irish fly fishing season on the lakes just gone.

 

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

Keith McDonnell is well known in this country for being one of the early advocates of streamer fishing and his many incredible catches are a testament to his skills and use of the tactic.

 

And having seen his pictures of 20lbs sea trout from a recent trip to Iceland we had to get him on the show to talk about the trip and the experience and to also find out how the 2022 season went for him overall…..

 

For more about the fishing near Reykjavik that Keith mentions, visit the website at svfr.is and can you can also visit StreamerFishing.com for more tips and advice on streamer fly fishing.

 

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 International Women's Fly Fishing Day held recently, for this latest episode of Ireland on the Fly, we wanted to speak to young Irish female fly anglers to find out about their love of fly fishing, how they got into it and what can be done to encourage more inclusivity in the sport.

 

Almha McDonnell and Rebecca Moffitt McGinn have progressed from the Irish youths teams to currently fishing on the senior Irish Ladies fly fishing team and have a wealth of knowledge and insights about the sport and are still just in their 20s.

 

They tell us about the importance of clubs in encouraging their early interest and how they quickly progressed onto youths and then senior international teams and how they hope they are recognised not just as female fly anglers but fly anglers instead.

 

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