This week it’s a fly tying book club special with Barry Ord Clarke aka The Feather Bender.

Barry’s new book, Advanced Fly Tying Techniques has just been released and is a must-read for anyone looking to develop their fly tying skills further.

We spoke to Barry about his incredible fly tying career, his hugely successful YouTube channel and his unusual introduction to learning to tie flies.

For more from Barry visit:
https://www.thefeatherbender.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@Thefeatherbender

Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

It’s a first for us I believe on this week’s episode as we speak to Ulster man Willie Holmes from the fishing shop he manages

by the Ch’illiwack river outside Vancouver in British Columbia in Canada.

Willie was originally a building contractor who then set up and ran the well known Moorbrook trout fishery in Coleraine before making the leap and moving to Vancouver full time where he now gets to fly fish for incredible steelhead and Pacific salmon.

Willie tells us about his journey and why he now calls British Columbia home.

You can also view a live feed of the Vedder/Ch'illiwack river that runs by the fishing shop at:
https://www.pacificrivers.com/camera/

Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

Image: https://tourismchilliwack.com/

While we’re into February and slowly the season is beginning to come to life, you may not have much of a chance to wet a line in the coming weeks so have you thought about building your own fly rod?

Brian Martin is a Fermanagh angler based in Galway who last year set himself the goal of doing just that and as he explains on this week’s Ireland on the Fly, it’s actually not that difficult and he encourages any fly angler to give it a try.

If you’ve been dreaming of a specific rod for your own fly fishing needs, then maybe you won’t have to shell out a fortune for a branded one and could actually build one yourself.

Plus, Brian also tells us about his love of dry fly fishing and the incredible migratory lake brown trout that he targets during the summer months.

Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

You may have seen the report recently about a tagged salmon that was detected in the Erriff and was subsequently discovered to have travelled nearly 2,500km from south west Greenland.

It’s incredible and direct evidence showing the journey that the Atlantic salmon has to endure to spawn in our rivers and so to find out more we spoke to the IFI’s Glen Wightman who told us about the discovery and what it means for our understanding of the salmon’s life.

The full story from the IFI including the map of the salmon's journey is at:
https://www.fisheriesireland.ie/news/press-releases/ifi-picks-up-trail-of-salmon-that-swam-from-greenland-back-to-mayo-0 

Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

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.

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

www.Woodcocksmokery.com

Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

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.

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 with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

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.

Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

We hope you're enjoying the Christmas break and relaxing at the vice, reading a fly fishing book or even heading out to a fishery....we'll be back in the New Year with new Ireland on the Fly episodes but in the meantime, enjoy an episode from August 2024 with Paul Molloy from Oughterard whose family has been steeped in Irish fly fishing for generations living and working by the shore of Lough Corrib.

And as a kid growing up, Paul tells us of the mayfly market where they would be selling mayflies by the dozen and then as he got older how he got more and more into the fly tying side of things becoming an All Ireland Youths champion.

These days Paul lives in Tipperary but the call of the loughs is strong and he tells us why Corrib is still so special to him.

 
Pic: https://www.Instagram.com/Pauly_Molloy

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This week we're revisiting an episode from June 2024 with the infectious enthusiasm and positivity from salmon angler, Sean McLaughlin.....

The 2024 salmon season is well under way and we're waiting for the grilse run, but having spoken to anglers around the country it appears that numbers are still down and following a similar path to 2023.

However, if you’ve been despondent and down in the dumps about the salmon, fear not, for this week’s guest, Sean McLaughlin, who is a salmon angler based outside Derry and a Loop Tackle ambassador, is here to put some positivity and hope back into the season.

He gives us reasons why we should remain optimistic and eternally hopeful and always enjoy our salmon fishing, no matter what.

‘Never stop in search of happiness,’ as Sean tells us.  

You can follow Sean at:

https://www.instagram.com/sean_mclaughlin21/

https://www.youtube.com/@seanmclaughlin5258 

Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple or Spotify, plus you can sign up for our newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

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.

Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.