Ireland on the Fly

We’re into the last few weeks of the salmon and trout season and for this week’s Ireland on the Fly, we’re joined by Peter Driver, founder of Piscari Fly in Kilkenny, and a highly accomplished trout angler who just recently captured the National River Championship.

 

Peter talks to us about the importance of mindset and mentality in enabling him to capture the national title, plus he talks tactics for September river fishing and how the 2022 season went for him.

 

Peter is also returning with his popular, weekly winter fly-tying on Facebook from 8th October so keep an eye out for those video demonstrations.

 

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 latest episode of Ireland on the Fly, we're focusing on, what some might say is a bit of an esoteric branch of the sport – tenkara - and the art of fishing on mountain streams with minimum line and no reel that first developed in Japan.  

 

So, what is it, how does one do it and most importantly, how relevant is it to Irish waters?

 

David Anchell is a passionate fly angler in south Tipperary and knowing he was a keen advocate of tenkara, we decided to find out more from him and why it works so well on Irish mountain streams.

 

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 sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and 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 latest episode is a little bit different and a bit more far flung as I’ve recently returned from a week’s fly fishing for sea-run Arctic char in Greenland and what an experience it was.  

 

You’re going to hear from the local Inuit, the Danish chef, the German camp manager and the Welsh guide to get an insight into what made the trip so special and what it’s like catching char in one of the remote fly fishing destinations in the world.

 

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 sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and 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

One key aspect of the Ireland on the Fly podcast is to also bring you information and insights into the different fisheries around the country and so, every few weeks we will be bringing you episodes focusing on fisheries from those who know them best.

These fishery focus episodes will help anglers who are maybe thinking of visiting a new river or lough, to find out when it fishes well and where to get good information also 

 

And if you want your fishery to be featured on future episodes then you can get in touch with us on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly

 

This episode is on the River Bandon in Cork and we speak to Jason Nash, who grew up fishing the river along with his father and grandfather and where he is now a guide and fisheries consultant as well.

Keep up to date on IrelandontheFly.com as well as 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

River Suir angler George McGrath got in touch about an issue that has energised him and many of you in the Irish fly fishing community in recent weeks in relation to weed growth in Irish rivers and lakes that has been as bad in living memory.

 

So, what’s going on?  Who’s responsible and more importantly, what can be done about it?

 

George McGrath joins us to tell us what he has seen and fisheries scientist, Ken Whelan, gives his scientific explanation as to what is most likely the reason, plus who to contact and what pro-active measures can be taken to ensure that this problem does not go unaddressed.

 

If you have seen similar weed growth and conditions that George McGrath has described, then get in touch with LAWaters.ie to start the investigation.

 

Keep up to date on IrelandontheFly.com as well as 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’s guest is Garrett Fallon - someone who grew up in Ireland fishing the Boyne, Corrib, Deel and other rivers and lakes around the country but since the 1990s he has been in England working in publishing and design. 

 

The last few years however has seen him combine his love of fishing, writing and publishing to create the very popular fishing quarterly magazine, Fallon’s Angler, which is dedicated to longform writing about every type of angling with the likes of Chris Yates and Kevin Parr featuring in each issue.

 

Garrett is also the son of Niall Fallon, an Irish Times journalist who wrote the well-respected Fly Fishing for Irish Trout in 1983 and we speak to Garrett about his father’s influence growing up, his own memories of fishing in Ireland and why Fallon's Angler has helped him find the soul of angling along the way.

Keep up to date on IrelandontheFly.com as well as 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 mid-summer St Johns Eve celebrations at the end of June signalled the traditional start of the sea trout run in Ireland and if you’ve read Kingsmill Moore’s A Man May Fish you’ll get some idea of just how magical and plentiful the sea trout fishing in Connemara once was.

 

So for this latest episode of Ireland on the Fly, we wanted to find out more about that time, what made it so special and just why it all collapsed so dramatically in the late 1980s and we spoke to Joe Creane, a lifelong Connemara fly fisherman who is now a guide on Lough Inagh.

 

Keep up to date on IrelandontheFly.com as well as 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 summer and while brown trout anglers might be taking a hiatus and salmon anglers complain of low rivers, these summer months are an opportunity to escape to the ocean in pursuit of a different type of silver – that of the sea bass.

 

Jason O’Riordan is a well known Dungarvan-based angler and guide with Mackenzie who throws a fly at pretty much anything that swims, including bass around the famous Copper Coast and he joins us on this week’s show to tell us more about the bass and how to catch them.

Don’t forget to rate, review and follow the Ireland on the Fly podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts from.  Plus you can keep up to date on IrelandontheFly.com as well as 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

To hear how the mayfly season went this year on Lough Sheelin, for this episode we spoke to Eamonn Ross from the Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association.

 

Eamonn describes it as a tough time for him on the lake with the better days coming at the start of the mayfly period while it was hard to get the trout to move for the fly, he says, unless it was right on them.

 

Eamonn also talks about his memories of Sheelin from the 1980s to its current popularity and he explains why it is so special and magical for so many fly anglers, especially during the mayfly.

 

Don’t forget to rate, review and follow the Ireland on the Fly podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts from.  Plus you can keep up to date on IrelandontheFly.com as well as 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

To celebrate and raise awareness of the recent #WorldEnvironmentDay the IFI’s National Fisheries Habitat Development Manager, Declan Cooke, gave a webinar on ‘Habitat Restoration in Irish Rivers’.

As a bonus episode for Ireland on the Fly listeners, this is the audio from Declan's webinar which you can also watch in full on the IFI's YouTube channel at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAniQ2RZbBc

Don’t forget to rate, review and follow the Ireland on the Fly podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts from. 

Plus you can keep up to date on IrelandontheFly.com as well as 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