Ireland on the Fly

Sally Barnes is a remarkable woman who has been at the forefront of the Irish artisan food revolution since the 1980s, when she first started smoking wild salmon.

But what has a smoker got to do with fly fishing? Sally, who has been married to a fisherman, and lives on the west Cork coast, has seen and experienced first-hand the decline the Atlantic salmon has undergone in modern times.

Sally’s story is a remarkable one and her insights perceptive and well worth listening to for anyone concerned about our changing environment and its effects on the Atlantic salmon.

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To find out more about Sally’s work and courses go to:

www.Woodcocksmokery.com

Keep up to date and get regular updates on https://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’re finding out about the unique and special Lough Carra, renowned for its marl bottom which gave the water an alluring blue and aquamarine appearance.

Not only that but the fishing – and mayfly fishing especially – was pretty spectacular. But like so many things in nature, Lough Carra went into decline due to eutrophication.

However, the Lough has many interested stakeholders, not least the local communities, which have been vociferous and active in their attempts at restoring Carra to its once greatness.

And Tom Byrne, of the Lough Carra Catchment Association, and lifelong angler, joins us to tell us more.

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A great resource on Lough Carra is at:

https://loughcarra.org/

And here’s an interesting paper on the marl crusts of the lough:

https://loughcarra.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/The-Marl-Crusts-of-Lough-Carra-by-Dr-P.-Doddy-2019.pdf

Keep up to date on https://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

Happy New Year to you all and we’re into the start of another year and another season which can only mean one thing and that’s catching up with Shane Gallagher from the Drowes Fishery to find out how the opening days went on the river.

Shane also looks back on the 2024 season, discusses the fall off in the spring run and why 2025 just might be a year to be hopeful.

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Keep up to date and get regular updates on https://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

Newfoundland might be a couple of thousand miles from Ireland but the Irish influence is a strong one in the most eastern part of Canada in terms of people, culture, language and fly fishing.

Jamie Pike is a Newfoundlander of Irish descent who is a passionate salmon angler and professional fly tyer and he visited these shores for the first time to tie at the recent Irish Fly Fair.

We caught up with Jamie to find out more about fly fishing in Newfoundland and why we need to try bombers and the riffled hitch more on Irish waters.

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Keep up to date and get regular updates on https://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 been the strangest of seasons,’ George McGrath tells us on this week’s Ireland on the Fly. 

George is a friend of the show and well-known fly angler based in Tipperary on the River Suir.  We’ve spoken to George previously about the nitrification of his stretch of the river that has seen it clogged with weeds during the summer making it all but unfishable.

But now, it’s so bad on the water, George has been forced to give up the trout rod during the summer months and go pike fishing elsewhere.

George joined us to highlight what he sees as the lack of care and lack of action against the pollution of our rivers and waters and asks where it will end and what is going to be done about it?

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***For more from George visit his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@springerspanielful and here is his video on the River Suir:

Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly and get regular updates on https://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 might be the off-season for many of us, but have you considered grayling fishing in the UK at this time of year?

Known as the Lady of the Stream, the grayling are best fished for in winter time and Mark Driver, one half of Piscari Fly, has plenty of experience fishing for them in Wales in the winter months and he joins us on this week’s Ireland on the Fly to give us the ins and outs of where and how to catch grayling on the fly.

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Keep up to date and get regular updates on https://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’ve already released our river trout and salmon reviews of the season so now it’s time for this week's Ireland on the Fly episode focusing on Corrib, Sheelin, Melvin, Arrow and other loughs.

We spoke to Eamonn Ross and Mike Keady to find out how the fishing went throughout the season and what key learnings there were from the difficult conditions at times during the year.

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Keep up to date and get regular updates on https://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 time for our salmon review of the season and who better to talk to than one of the most knowledgeable salmon anglers we know, Paddy McDonnell.

Paddy gives us an excellent run through of the season on the Moy, as well as the Owenduff, Owenmore and Carraghmore, plus we get into seal predation, coping with the conditions, the place and importance of the salmon in Irish culture and the vexed question of hatcheries – to hatch or not to hatch.

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Plus, this week we’re linking up with the Conservation and Science Podcast by Tommy Serafinski of TommysOutdoors.com which is focused on hunting, the outdoors and conservation that we thought might be of interest to the Ireland on the Fly listeners, so we spoke to Tommy to find out more about his show.

Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly and get regular updates on https://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’ve got the first of our season review episodes this week and we’re focusing on river brown trout with River Nore guide, Dan O’Neill, who gives us the lowdown on his local river as well as those nearby including the Kings and the Suir.  

Dan will be telling us about conditions throughout the year, hatches and of course some of the fish highlights as well….

Thanks also to everyone who entered the competition for tickets to the Irish Fly Fair, the answer was Fermanagh as to what county the event is being held in and the winner was Mark Dunne.

Stay tuned over the next few weeks when we will have our salmon and loughs trout season review episodes as well.

Listen & Follow on Apple or Spotify:

Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on  https://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 into October, the nights are closing in, and for some of you, pike fishing awaits, or evenings fly tying at the vice.

But the off season also means the Irish Fly Fair in November and this week’s guest is Darryl Mooney who tells us about his involvement as the fly manager and some of the incredible fly tyers who will be jetting in from around the world.

And we have two tickets to give away to the event – just listen to the question we ask about the fair during the show and email your answer to [email protected].

Plus Darryl tells us about an incredible trip to Bosnia for grayling that he had this summer and with his years of being involved in the fly fishing tackle trade, he tells us why we maybe need to be looking more towards the carp industry for innovation and insights.

Listen & follow on Apple or Spotify:

Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://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