April Arrives.

I always look forward to April. Tyrone's River Mourne opens again and there is always a chance of a Springer from opening day. Of course, myself and Liam 'Switchboy' Woods got ourselves up to give the Sion Mills AC water a throw at the end of opening week. We both had some new toys to try out and the bitterly cold weather which had persisted for most of March was finally abating. Liam is a real fan of switch rods; in fact Guideline switch rods to be precise. During the close season however, he got his hands on a Guideline LeCie 14'8'' #9/10 and a range of Guideline heads to try out. The Mourne is a big river and a proper double hander is not out of place although a switch rod is great fun to use in low water and no wind. 

               The Gravenue

          Liam manages an ultra tight loop at Purgatory.

I had been on the lookout for a mid-sized double hander for a while and I decided to plump for a Sage Z-Axis 12'9'' #8. American anglers raved about this rod and I got plenty of advice for the members of the Speypages forum. I picked it up in the Bridge Guns and Tackle shop in Strabane before heading to the office in Sion Mills to get the permits sorted. Weather conditions for the day were very bright but it made a welcome change from the cold. I teamed the new stick with a Rio AFS Float/S1 head and a polyleader. A well balanced outfit is great to cast and the Sage didn't disappoint. The sinking tip of the AFS did seem to stick a bit initially, but I soon got the hang of it. Water conditions were low so we decided to start at Purgatory and work our way downriver. 

                             Purgatory

                             New toy!

                    Banana Bottle Tube

We fished hard all morning and worked our way down from Purgatory, through the Long Streams, the Back of the Mill and down to the Woodhole until the flow got a bit too sluggish. No fish on this occasion, however. This stretch of river is one of my all time favourite spots to fish, lovely streams which fish the fly really well and which can be very productive. 

                           Back of the Mill.

After dinner, we went down to the bottom of the Sion Mills fishery and fished Lords and the Blackstone. We took a walk down to Haggins' but the was another angler fishing the run so we left him at it. We headed up to give the Grevenue a throw before finishing off. Part of the Sion experience is sitting at the Grevenue and having the craic with the local characters and this evening was no exception.

All in all, a great day. No fish, perhaps, but one will turn up soon. 

                                Lords

                        Blackstone

The following day myself and Liam collected fishing buddy James Casey and headed, yet again, for the enigmatic Lackagh. Water levels were dead low and we were in no rush to start early. We aimed to fish at the top of the tide and perhaps intercept a fish fresh in, but it didn't happen.

The previous Tuesday, I fished the Slaney in Co.Wexford for the first time. Rumours had it that it was fishing well, so when I found myself with an afternoon to spare while in Dublin for a few days, I decided to take myself down to Wexford to check it out for myself. I fished at the Farmleigh beat between Bunclody and Enniscorthy. The Slaney is a far cry from the Foyle rivers of the North West. It flows from Carlow, southbound through Wexford and empties into the Irish Sea at Wexford town. I was advised that water levels were a bit high for Farmleigh but I got stuck in regardless with the 14' LPXe. Fishing at Farmleigh was tricky. The river was too high for wading in many place and stiff upstream breeze made for tricky casting. I didn't see any fish or get any touches, but it was nice to try out a new river.

Gin clear on the Slaney.

On a side note, it looks like the fishing will have to take back seat for the next few weeks. I spent the weekend on the IASC guiding course in the Loughs Agency HQ in Derry. The course means no fishing for a few weekends but it will be well worthwhile. I've met some great people, mostly from the North west area, but some from further afield also. I'm looking forward to the next few weekends of craic, learning and banter.

 Farmleigh, River Slaney.

 Hut Pool, R.Slaney.

Dee, Finn, Lackagh and Finn Again!

I've been very busy over the past few days and haven't had the chance to report on fishing.
Let me begin by confirming that the search for my first 2013 Springer continues.
I fished the Dee twice last week along with a couple of sessions on the Finn and a day on the Lackagh.
The Dee dropped to a nice height last week although the colour lingered about for the whole spate. I fished down through a couple of runs quickly using a sinking shooting head and a large RS Super Snaelda.
No fish succumbed to the fly, not even a kelt.


          Good water on the River Dee

           The Dee

        Swinging 'er through a nice tail.

           Rod cam. on a clearing Dee.

The Finn rose to 2ft on Friday so I decided it was time to get back up to Gleann Fhinne and resume the hunt for chrome up there.

      Ivy Bridge


There was a hard frost on Friday night and with air temperatures dropping to a low of -5 in Donegal, the water dropped out of the Finn very quickly and by Saturday morning the river was under 1' on the gauge at Glenmore. According to the O.P.W. meter reading at Ballybofey, the water temperature was around 3.5c on Saturday. Seriously cold water conditions for salmon fishing. I called on Sim at Glenmore and met Joe Early, a Zpey, Echo and Airflo tackle dealer from Co.Derry as well as a couple of other familiar season rods. It was good to catch up and swap stories from last season and nobody was in much of a hurry to get to the river. I must confess that even when the fishing conditions are good, I prefer not to be in too much of a rush to get fishing. I find days out far more enjoyable when things are relaxed and chilled out.
Eventually, however, I managed to get myself sufficiently motivated to get down to the Ivy Bridge. I started off at the 'V', the pool just below the Ivy Bridge which is a great lie for salmon at any time of the year. Springers sit at the back of the pool after negotiating some heavy water. This is probably one of the most reliable throws on the whole river.

       Carlins
 I worked down through Carlins, Leonards, the Glebe and, of course, the Graveyard. The water was a bit on the low side for the Graveyard and I always find it a bit boring at this height. I also fished the Island Pools at the end of the beat but not a sign of a fish anywhere.

        Making my way down to the prime Spring lie on the Graveyard.
        It's important to hit the far bank here!

On my way back to the car, I bumped into Co.Antrim men Andy McGall and Andy Jaffrey. I bump into Andrew 'Easkey' McGall, from time to time in these parts, and it's always great to glean a few pearls of wisdom from fellow switch rod enthusiasts.


        Conehead Parkie and a Gamakatsu Octopus Single.

       Island Pool
An enjoyable, cold, first day out on the Finn. At least I have the season ticket sorted now and I can fish the open water as I please.
I hit the Lackagh for high tide on Sunday morning. I was delighted to see the river sitting just below 7 on the  guage and confidence was high.

        Covering the Eel Weir.

 Gin clear water meant that a stealthy approach was in order in case any fish were sitting at my feet. A stiff, biting wind swept up the river from the estuary down at the Ards, making life uncomfortable. Thank  goodness for Simms!

A bitterly cold upstream breeze on the Lackagh.

          Eel Weir

      Note the water clarity.

        Nice water height!
 I fished the Eel Weir using the Rio Scandi/Short Versitip for half an hour in the hope that a fish might have moved in off the tide, but nothing. I then headed up to the Grilse Pool and worked down through the Garden Pool and back to the Eel Weir.

     Tail of Grise Pool.
 I then set up my new Airflo Skagit Switch line with 10' T14 leader and a tungsten conehead Black and Yellow Snaelda. The Skagit line weighs 510 grains so overhead casting with this line on my 8wt. Orvis Access Switch will likely result in a broken rod. Using waterborne anchor casts such as the snap T and Perry Poke, the skagit flew out and turned over the level sink-tip effortlessly. This line has serious potential for dredging. It's sure not subtle but it has a worthy place in any salmon anglers armoury. I might try and get my hands on some of the Skagit Master DVDs and try to adapt some of the techniques used by North American Steelhead Rats for use on Irish Atlantics. It will probably be more difficult using the skagit on my local rivers where overhead casting is often needed but I'll try it out next week anyway. I finished up early afternoon on the Lackagh without a touch of a fish.

           Skagit Time!
It was back to the Finn on Monday morning. The bank holiday meant that an extra days fishing was possible. The Finn was relatively quiet Monday morning; sore heads were probably had by manys a man after the St. Patrick's day festivities. I fished down through Key's and then tried Martin's before heading up to McGinty's.
A few hours fishing sated my angling appetite for a few days and I headed back down to the Wee County. Easter holidays on Friday means that I'll get a chance to do some more fishing in the coming days and I'll endeavour to keep the updates regular while I'm out and about.


           Head of Keys

           Keys






      Tail of the Grilse Stream

         Gleann Fhinne; ag amharc i dtreo na Cruacha Gorma.

          McGinty's

      Top of McGinty's

I plan to fish local for the first week of the holidays. It's raining heavily at the minute so we'll probably have very high rivers around here for a good few days. Once they clear however, I'll be up on the Dee and Glyde searching for that ridiculously elusive springer.
I've a few new purchases to look forward to: A new jungle cock cape will inspire me to get to the vice; I've a load of half finished flies lying about the place. I've a 5wt Orvis Switch line on the way for my 5wt Access although this rod will not be brought out of hibernation until the grilse start running the Finn in earnest. I'm also selling my 13' #9 Grey's Greyflex Mk2 so if any of you want a nice spate river rod, get in touch!

First Local Cast of 2013

I ventured out on the Dee first thing this morning. The river was still very coloured and pretty much unfishable but I gave it a throw for an hour anyway. It was a bitterly cold morning so I knew I'd need to get down if I was to have any chance. I put on a sink1/2 power taper and a 7 ips Rio Versitip. I attached 3 ft of 15lb Maxima and the Black and Yellow Franc 'n Snaelda I tied up yesterday. It was pretty obvious though that I was hopelessly undergunned for this type of fishing. I was getting nowhere near deep enough. I stuck on the heaviest bottle tube Snaelda I had and still never touched the bottom once. The sink1/2 power taper is the fastest sinking shooting head I have so I'm going to have to make a few purchases this week. I reckon a skagit compact will be a big help along with maybe a sink3/4 shooting head. A skagit line will enable me to use really fast sinking T11 and T14 sink tips when required as well as the lighter MOW Tips for less extreme dredging.
The river's dropping fast and should be clear enough to fish tomorrow so I'll try and get out after work tomorrow evening.

 Wintry conditions on the Dee.

 Coloured water: chances virtually nil...but you never know!

 Franc 'n Snaelda

 Bringing out the heavy tubes and the woolly hat!

This evening I became acquainted with my Hardy Bougle. I've wanted one of these for a long time and boy does it make a noise. I got it off a really nice chap called Timmy from Coleraine. Hopefully I'll get to wet a line with Timmy up on the Finn in the not too distant future. In the meantime, the Bougle will get it's first outing on the Dee tomorrow evening. I kitted it out with 100m of backing and Rio's .30 Powerflex Shooting Line. Because I'm left handed, the first task was to convert it from left to right hand wind. Luckily this is a simple task and now she's ready to roll.

Rained off!

      Ok, the Dee and Glyde are still out of order. The Dee is dropping away at the minute but absolutely rotten dirty and the Glyde's still rising. The Glyde has a number of lakes at the head of it's system and takes quite a while to rise, the flip side of this is that it drops relativley slowly and good fishing can be had for an extended period of time.
I spent this morning at the vice and knocked out a few Curry's Red Shrimps and a Canadian pattern called the Aldo. The Aldo's a lovely pattern that I came across on a speypages thread about Canadian tier Marc LeBlanc. The flies are truly stunning and I am definitely gonna be swimming them in Irish waters this season.
      Fly fishing for salmon is a strange sport. It's a kind of affliction, an addiction that needs regular fixes. A fix can take many different forms; an hour at the vice, several hours browsing through the myriad of forums and websites dedicated to salmon fishing, money spent on some of the latest gear or tying materials, a chat at the tackle shop or on the phone with similarly affected buddies. The ultimate fix of course is actually getting out and at it on the river.
       I've my first Hardy reel on the way later on today. I'm picking up a Mk VI Bougle so hopefully it won't be long till I get my knuckles rapped by an angry springer.
In the meantime, here are a few of today's creations:

 Franc 'n Snaelda

 Ackroyd

 Modern v Traditional

 Aldo

Curry's Red Shrimp

High water on the East Coast.

I headed up for my first throw on the Dee today to be met by a rising river, colouring up fast. The Glyde was creeping up slowly, so there was only one thing for it... hit the vice. Spent the evening tying up Dee style flies.

I tied this Ackroyd and Liam took a couple of shots on his new DSLR (below).

I also tied up a couple of Franc 'n Snaeldas for a shot at a local springer over the weekend.

I'll wait till daylight and post up a few pictures before I head out to the river. The Franc 'n Snaelda was recommended to me by my friend Simon Cassidy who fishes the Boyne. I tied one all in black with yellow feelers and a yellow hackle. The Dee is probably gonna be too coloured tomorrow but I'll try it anyway. The Black and Yellow Franc 'n Snaelda should have a nice strong profile in the water and may offer some chance of nailing a fish. 

Busy times at the Vice

I've been working steadily at filling up the flyboxes for this season.

The Monkey Fly has been a revelation throughout the last decade. Originating on the Dee in Scotland, the Monkey quickly became a real success story on the Dee, initially, in Scotland and subsequently further afield. The original Monkey was tied with a yellow underwing followed by a black overwing but of course, the original spawned many variations. I like to tie the monkey more sparsely than regular Templedogs, but I must, at this point, admit that I have never caught a fish on the Monkey. To be honest, I haven't really fished this pattern. The simplicity of the pattern allows discerning tyers/fishers to tinker with the fly to suit the waters they fish. I've tied up a selection of Monkeys with both clear and peaty water in mind. Some on bottle tubes and some on 1/2 in aluminium tubes finished off with a conehead.

 A selection of Monkeys.

Flies on the left are tied with a grizzly yellow FF American Softhackle.

Flies on the right have a sunburst underwing and sunburst FF American Softhackle.

 FITs cones are my favourite. I remove the lining from the aluminium tube and reline it with FITs tubing and a chartreuse cone.

                                            Nice wide profile whilst keeping the dressing sparse.

Of course, my current obsession with Spey and Dee style flies continues. 

 My latest creations.

 Dunt from above.

First attempt at a Lady Caroline. Our American friends across the pond swear by this pattern. 

I stripped the fibres from one side of the feather for the body hackle on this fly. It's bound to have great movement in low water where a subtle fly is required.

Work continues on filling a large double tier box with doubles.

Parkies

 Tritton Shrimps

 A pair of Tritton Shrimps.

Sparse Blue Charms, Crathies and a few Silver Doctors.