Spring Templedogs

There is just  over a week to go until the start of the 2013 season. The River Drowes which straddles the Donegal/Leitrim  border usually produces the first fish. The first fish of 2012 however was caught on the Liffey. The River Lackagh in Donegal opens on January 1st 2013 for the first time in a number of years. The Lackagh, filtered by Lough Beagh and Glen Lough runs gin clear and gets some very big fish. The Lackagh is very short but finding a January fish will still be a mammoth task but I'm going to give it a go anyway.

I'm told that flies with badger hair in them are a must for the Lackagh. I don't know why, but badger hair is regarded as having almost magical pulling power on many Donegal rivers, I have an inkling however that it might have something to do with the natural translucency of the hair. I'm going to get tying some badger tubes for the Lackagh but I'm also going to try some templedogs.

First up is an Em Silver. This pattern was created by Per Palm and it appeared in the pages of Trout and Salmon recently. I think it could be useful for springers and could be worth a go on the Lackagh. It is dressed lightly, for a Templedog and does have the translucent quality I'm looking for.

Next up is a TD tied in the classic colours of that Scottish springer machine, the Willie Gunn. I've copied Per Palm's style of tying TDs by tying the final wing short and wide. This accentuates the teardrop profile that should be present in every Templedog.

View from above.

The Banana TD is a fly from Mikael Andersson. It has gathered a cult following in Scandinavia. I'll be trying it out for the first time in 2013. First up is a Turbo Disc version.

Banana TD with a tungsten cone and a summer duck collar hackle.

Samurai style black and yellow TD. 

Kind of a souped up Sunray.

Shrimp Flies for Spring

I've been tying a few shrimp flies recently. The winter solstice is only a few days away which, for me, signals the beginning of the end of the winter (I'm a bit of an eternal optimist). The countdown for me to the 2013 season has begun in earnest so I'm busy stocking up the boxes. I must admit that I often find it difficult to find the motivation required to tie loads of the same pattern yet I tend to use the same patterns and probably catch 90% of my fish on 2 or 3 patterns. The Park Shrimp reigned supreme for me in 2012, followed closely by a small Red Frances conehead (top fly in 2011).
For many years the Bann Special Shrimp was my most successful pattern yet I have found myself using it less and less- I don't really know why. To be honest, I think I just fancied changing things round a bit. This season however I'll have plenty of Bann Specials ready and waiting.

Bann Special tied on Daiichi 2150 curved salmon hook.

A quartet of Bann Specials, with dyed hot orange GP tails.

Most of the rivers I fish are designated Catch and Release fisheries. If I'm brutally honest, I find myself drawn to catch and release rivers because they tend not to be subjected to the same intense hammering that other rivers get. I absolutely loath fishing in crowds and crave the peace and quiet. Anyway, I digress... I'll save my musings on catch and release for another day and get back to discussing shrimp flies. Legislation governing rivers in Ireland that are catch and release dictates that only single barbless hooks are permitted. The fly angler, therefore is faced with two options; use tube flies with single barbless hooks or use a flies tied on singles. I believe tubes used with single hooks provide the best hook hold. My mate Liam has used tubes with singles almost exclusively this season and has lost very few fish. Check out his blog where you can see the lethal carp hooks he uses on his tubes. http://theamazingadventuresofswitchboy.blogspot.ie/
Shrimp flies tied on single salmon irons really look the part though. They 'spey' scene has really taken off in the US where steelhead have a cult following. The range of singles available in the US is far wider than here so I started ordering hooks from there. I personally love the buggy profile that the straight eyed Daiichi 2150 creates.
Alec Jackson Steelhead Irons are another really strong single. These look similar to the Partridge salar singles readily available  here only far stronger and minus the upturned hook point. They are available in bronze, black, nickel  and gold.
Shrimp flies tied on singles look elegant and to my eye, inspire confidence.

The Yellow Shrimp is a fly that I haven't used much before. I know however it is a favourite on the Foyle system. Yellow is a favourite colour for springers while the front silver badger hackle adds a touch of confidence inspiring translucency. Jungle cock is probably unnecessary since the fish can't even see it, but I think it looks deadly, so in it goes.

Yellow Shrimp on Alec Jackson  Salmon and Steelhead hook.

A trio of Yellow Shrimps, all set for an assault on next seasons springers.

You'll notice a sneaky Silver Wilkinson shrimp at the top of the picture above. This pattern was responsible for the capture of my first ever springer. I caught it at the top of the Graveyard Pool on the Finn. A May fish, it weighed 13lb and I caught it on a rapidly rising river on one of those magical evenings when almost every cast resulted in a pluck or pull. In hindsight I should have caught a load of fish that day but I was so excited I could barely cast a straight line for the rest of the session. Spend a few months on Irish Rivers and you'll soon realise that the Silver Wilkinson is one of those flies that anglers either swear by or avoid like the plague. No prizes for guessing which category I fall into. My brother Alan is another who no doubt has more than a passing affection for the Silver Wilkinson. He caught his first ever salmon, an August Reelan grilse on a     one. 

I realise however that I'm looking at the forthcoming Spring through rose-tinted glasses. The chances of there being the sort conditions in January and February that allow the use of size 9 shrimps, are somewhere between slim and none. the likelihood is that there'll be high water and rotten wintry weather conditions. "January?" I hear you say. Yes, January. Usually, due to the constraints of a hectic football calender, my Spring fishing is confined to opening day on the Drowes and a few days on the Finn at Easter. This year, as a result of a frustrating injury, it looks like I'll be 'flat out' after springers. The Lackagh in Donegal is open again for catch and release so I'll be up there in January and February. March heralds the start of the Finn and if there is water locally, I'll be on the Dee and Glyde looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. 

Next up therefore, is a selection of templedogs and tubes for springers.

Spey and Dee Style Shrimps.

     I've had a productive weekend at the vice. First up are a few Spey flies, an Ackroyd and a few variants.
I've been reading a lot recently about steelhead fishing in the US and Canada. Over there, Dee and Spey style flies are used an awful lot with great success. Indeed, it could be said that they have a cult following in certain circles. Take a quick browse through the flytying section of the american forum, Speypages (http://speypages.com/speyclave/) and you'll see a plethora of Dee/Spey style patterns.
I really like the translucency these flies have and I think they have great potential for Irish rivers.
Foyle anglers swear by yellow flies for springers so the Ackroyd will get an extended trial this season.
Of course, Spey/Dee flies bear more than a passing resemblance to the Irish Shrimps many anglers swear by.

Sourcing spey hackles can be problematic however. I've used yellow sclappen in the Ackroyd, but I would prefer use longer hackles.

 On a Daiichi 2151 with a yellow FF Softhackle.

 Pink hackled version.

 Sunburst & Grizzly Orange FF American Softhackle.

Sunburst Spey

In the variants, I've used the longest hackles I could find in packets of Future Fly American Soft Hackle.
They're too short, resulting in flies that are like a cross between and Irish Shrimp and a Dee/Spey fly.
Aficionados of Dee/Spey flies use materials such as Lady Amherst pheasant, blue eared pheasant, ringneck pheasant rump and heron. A suitable spey hackle should be long, mobile and the fibres should not clump together. Another material which is used is goose shoulder; readily available from most fly-tying material retailers. Goose shoulder must however, be subjected to a treatment known as burning before it can be used as a spey hackle. This involves soaking the feather in bleach to remove the barbules that connect each feather fibre. It appears however, that many tiers do not like burned goose because many feathers end up damaged and unusable.
We tend to use small sized flies in the summer for grilse so schlappen should be effective as a spey hackle for smaller sized flies. I think they could be useful on the Dee and Glyde where the flow in many places tends to be smooth and even where a mobile fly should score well.
These are fishing flies as opposed to authentic classic flies. Hopefully they do the biz!

Next up will be a selection of Shrimp flies.

June 2012

There was plenty of rain in during the month of June 2012. Repeated spates in in the North West, resulted in the grilse run hitting the Finn earlier than usual. Great sport was had and it is good to report that there were plenty of good sized fish in the 6-7lb range caught.

I nailed this fish at long range.

About to go back.

 Petsie into a good sized fish at Keys

 Great to see good sized fish in June.

Another good sized grilse. 

This time from just below the Cummirk on the Upper Finn. 

 30th June.

 The Upper Finn grilse goes back. By the time I landed the fish, the river had become unfishable. The Finn runs off Na Cruacha Gorma and can be volatile. Once it rains, the river rises rapidly. Later in the season you can go up into the mountains and be able to find fishable water and if you are staying locally you'll get to fish sooner or later. If you have to travel for a couple of hours you just take your chance.

When I first started fishing the Finn, I found it incredibly frustrating. Often conditions would be perfect but the river would be seemingly devoid of fish. I soon realised a few things. Firstly, given repeated spates, fish will move through in pods so if you're lucky to be at a pool when fish come through, you'll get them! Hardly rocket science, right? However, it can be frustrating if you are fishing in good conditions, and fish don't seem to be there. On my early visits, I spent my time driving here, there and everywhere trying to find fish. Luckily, I discovered a few spots where, given water of a certain height, fish can often be caught. This is especially true on the Reelan. The Reelan is a tributary of the Finn that flows off the wild slopes of the Bluestacks. study an OS map of the area and you will notice there are numerous small rivers that flow into the Reelan. The Reelan is not lough fed and the water runs off it very quickly. One of my favourite ways of fishing the upper reaches is to drive away up into the mountains and fish my way back down the river covering a lot of water. Armed with a light line rod and small shrimp flies and of course a wee Red Frances, this is a very enjoyable way to fish. It's certainly not the textbook type salmon fishing with double handers and manicured riversides but in my opinion, it's wild fishing at its best. Donegal is full of rivers like this where you can find wild countryside and seclusion and more than a decent chance of a few fish.

A small Reelan grilse. No need for the 15 footer here.

 A likely looking pool on the Upper Finn.

 Looking for light line sport on the Reelan.

Rock hopping on the Reelan. 

Plenty of drinking water is a must when you plan to cover miles of water. If you fish as a team, a couple of fishers can cover a lot of water by leap frogging each other down the river. If someone discovers a pod of fish, concentrate on the spot for a while before leaving them in peace again and continuing downstream.

Locally, we had good water on the Dee and Glyde in June. We thought this would be a good chance to get an early fish but it never happened. We saw a fish or two and I lost one below Castlebellingham on the Glyde, but no landings. Maybe next year I'll get an early local fish.

 Liam has a go at the weir on the Glyde in Castlebellingham. Fish should pause here before going over and there's a nice flow here for the fly.

July 2012

For myself, July usually means grilse time on the Finn. 2012 was a bit different because a lot of grilse had already run the Finn due to June being very wet. We had an overnight stay on the Finn at Glenmore on the 14th of the month. There had been a small spate a couple of days before but by the time we got up to fish the water had run off altogether! Plenty of grilse had run however, and the heads of some of the holding pools had plenty of eager grilse.

 Low water at the Ivy Bridge.

Liam into an evening fish above Carlin's.

July is always a nice time to be on the Finn especially when you don't have a long journey to make. If you are able to be on the water early in the morning and late into the night, great sport is to be had. Of course, given spate conditions, sport can be great all day.

A fresh Finn grilse.

A couple of fish attempt the leap on the Finn.

 Giving the 'V' a throw.

 Into a fish at Carlin's.

 Nice and fresh.

Tight loops over Carlin's from Switchboy!

August 2012

Once August arrives, most fish have already run the Finn. The Upper Finn around Letterbrick can provide great sport with resident fish on every spate. Small flies are most effective on the upper river. The Upper Finn looks quite similar to the Upper Dee in Scotland, only on a smaller scale. The water on the Finn is very dark and peaty, whereas the Dee is often gin clear. Oranges and yellows work well on the Finn but at the backend, I find dark flies with claret very effective. A red Frances is also a lethal fly when it's twitched though the pool fairly aggressively.

Evening on the Upper Finn

In August 2012, most of the grilse in the upper Finn were already well coloured but good sport was to be had nonetheless. On one notable occasion a trout sized Fiery Brown Dabbler did the damage, providing memorable sport on my 9' #6 Demon. My 5wt Orvis Access Switch rod saw plenty of action too. This was a rod I got this year for grilse fishing on the Finn and other Donegal rivers. Although rated for a #5, this is a spey line rating and is the equivalent of a #7 single hander. The rod is a joy to use when coupled with a 300grain Airflo Scandi Compact.

A Finn grilse taken on the 5wt Orvis Access Switch.

 A nice pool on the Upper Finn.

Upper Finn above Annick.

The Dee and Glyde started to fish in August and I managed my first off both rivers. Plenty of rain meant we got water towards the end of the month. the Dee is an excellent Sea Trout river but the high water meant they were well spread out from July onwards. My favourite small Park Shrimp conehead did the business on both the Dee and Glyde as well as the ever effective Red Frances. In fact I lost a good double figure fish on the Glyde. 

 A nice sea trout caught while after Salmon.

My first Dee fish taken on a Red Frances twitched through a really slow stretch of river.

The Dee and Glyde are really clear rivers and a lot of the time you see the fish when it takes.

 A fresh Glyde salmon from Castlebellingham. Another victim to the Park Shrimp conehead.

Glyde fish are lovely deep 'barrels' of fish.

Nice August light on the Dee below Tallanstown. Typical Co. Louth arable farmland.

      September is prime time on our local rivers. Fishing can be great when suitable conditions prevail. Luckily, we had plenty of water in 2012. When the water is good, I fish as much as possible. For me, September also means it's back to work time so I only get out in the evenings, or at first light if I'm particularly keen!
The Dee and Glyde close at the end of September. This was my first season fishing these rivers and since they aren't fished much with the fly, we were faced with a blank canvas in terms of flies and tactics.
We are lucky here on the East coast because captures double figure fish aren't unusual. On the 2nd September, I hooked a big fish on the Dee. The fish head and tailed over a small conehead Park Shrimp fished on a floating head with an inty polyleader. I eventually lost the fish after a 50 minute scrap, during which the fish stayed deep and bored up and down the river. The Dee is catch and release at the minute and only barbless single hooks are permitted. I had run out of my favoured Daiichi D1648 tube singles and was forced to use a Kamasan Specimen hook. Typical that I should hook a monster. We reckoned the fish was definitely 20lb+.

Battling the big fish on the Dee.

I concentrated on the Dee and Glyde for most of September and managed a few fish, but no monsters.

A nice run on the Dee.

 A small Fane fish taken before work one morning on a big templedog.

Back she goes.