We had an enjoyable day on Sunday. The wind was a bit cold and quite blustery, but we still managed a few fish each. A lot of fish were coming short and turning away, and quite a few more were failing to hook up properly for some unknown reason...It may have been my striking was a little off or rusty, but other fish were well hooked so I don't think this was the reason.
It may have been due to the number of boats out trolling rather than fly-fishing, all that motoring often upsets the fish and makes them edgy.
It is to get very cold again this week, so I don't think I'll be out again for a few days.
Showing posts with label flies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flies. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
two good days on the river...
I fished two competitions last weekend, both on rivers. I won the club competition on Saturday with the best three fish (a 3 fish bag limit, I caught about 8 takeable fish in total).
On Sunday it was the provincial championships, where I came second on my beat behind the overall winner. He and the beat winners of the other 4 beats will represent the province later in the year. I ended up as first reserve, my points total being the highest runner-up out of all the beats. (In fact my points were higher than some of the other beat winners, but to allow each beat to provide more than one qualifier is unfair on those drawn on the poorer beats that cannot hope to compete against a better beat draw. )
I was happy with the result, the winner deserved his victory, and fished very hard for the day. I did not work nearly as hard, but just fished to catch and enjoy the day. I stopped and watched the eventual winner for about 15 minutes in the morning session, and knew he was going to do very well, his work rate was high and he had the right methods and flies for the day.
I had decided to fish a team of spider patterns and a gold-head nymph, rather than dry fly (the winner was fishing dry, and then covering the water again with goldhead nymphs!!) and perservered with the method. I caught a couple of good fish too, up to 35cm. I only caught one below the 20cm minimum size, so my techniques worked in that sense. My fishing was a lot more relaxed than would have been needed, but I wanted to enjoy the day, and with the company of my steward (umpire), who was extremely pleasant, I arrived back at the "weigh-in" (points tally- it was catch and release) feeling relaxed and happy with my day.
I was actually surprised to be top runner-up, because even though I knew I was 2nd on my beat I had thought others would have had more success on the other beats. I am looking forward to this Saturdays second leg of the club competition for the 'trout cup', I feel in the mood to repeat last weeks result and ensure I win it!
I really should fish the rivers more often...
On Sunday it was the provincial championships, where I came second on my beat behind the overall winner. He and the beat winners of the other 4 beats will represent the province later in the year. I ended up as first reserve, my points total being the highest runner-up out of all the beats. (In fact my points were higher than some of the other beat winners, but to allow each beat to provide more than one qualifier is unfair on those drawn on the poorer beats that cannot hope to compete against a better beat draw. )
I was happy with the result, the winner deserved his victory, and fished very hard for the day. I did not work nearly as hard, but just fished to catch and enjoy the day. I stopped and watched the eventual winner for about 15 minutes in the morning session, and knew he was going to do very well, his work rate was high and he had the right methods and flies for the day.
I had decided to fish a team of spider patterns and a gold-head nymph, rather than dry fly (the winner was fishing dry, and then covering the water again with goldhead nymphs!!) and perservered with the method. I caught a couple of good fish too, up to 35cm. I only caught one below the 20cm minimum size, so my techniques worked in that sense. My fishing was a lot more relaxed than would have been needed, but I wanted to enjoy the day, and with the company of my steward (umpire), who was extremely pleasant, I arrived back at the "weigh-in" (points tally- it was catch and release) feeling relaxed and happy with my day.
I was actually surprised to be top runner-up, because even though I knew I was 2nd on my beat I had thought others would have had more success on the other beats. I am looking forward to this Saturdays second leg of the club competition for the 'trout cup', I feel in the mood to repeat last weeks result and ensure I win it!
I really should fish the rivers more often...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
3 days to go....counting down to the new season
Three days away from the first trip of the trout season. We will be off to Lough Corrib for the 15th. I am hoping the mild spell continues, if it does we may get some fly life on the lough. The trip to Corrib on the 15th is always speculative though. It is more about getting out than getting fish. I still have to organise myself for the trip. I have been busy painting and travelling, details on my art-blog here .
I will fill you in on the trip on Sunday or Monday as I will not get a chance earlier. The next week or two are busy with Angling Club AGMs, it's that time of year with all getting ready for the main start of the season for eastern waters on March the first, followed by some on the 17th. It can be confusing, Here in Dublin the reservoir at the head of the Dodder river opens on the 1st of March, the river itself opens on the 17th. This may have something to do with the lakes at the top being fly only. I must get busy tying some flies now though.
I will fill you in on the trip on Sunday or Monday as I will not get a chance earlier. The next week or two are busy with Angling Club AGMs, it's that time of year with all getting ready for the main start of the season for eastern waters on March the first, followed by some on the 17th. It can be confusing, Here in Dublin the reservoir at the head of the Dodder river opens on the 1st of March, the river itself opens on the 17th. This may have something to do with the lakes at the top being fly only. I must get busy tying some flies now though.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
I have been out fishing twice this week. On Tuesday I drove down to Lough Lene to meet someone delivering a new club boat for the lough. Obviously I had to road test it after delivery...Noel and I had a pleasant days fishing, I managed to get ten trout to 2.5lb (2kg+).
I was back to lough Lene yesterday fishing a team competition. Sadly I didn't catch as many, I did manage to catch 3 'keepers'(the competition was catch and release) and a couple of small fish that didn't make the measure. The rod average was about 2.5 fish so it wasn't too bad a result. The team (6 anglers) ended up with 20 fish, which was the third highest total, but our size average was lower and we ended up in 7th place. The days fishing was hard work, but my boat partner was a pleasant companion and we had an enjoyable day on the lake. I can't give you the successful flies because if you include the undersized fish we caught ten in the boat we both had three to measure and two undersized, all fish were on different flies! Yes, it was one of those days when you really had to work for your fish. To be honest though you feel good after the day when you manage to get a few in hard conditions. The team competitions mean you work that little bit harder too so you don't let your team members down. With the team competition you need to catch at least the average so that if one member does well you don't pull his score down, and try to catch above the average yourself to pull other members up. Therefor even one fish is important, every point counts.
I was back to lough Lene yesterday fishing a team competition. Sadly I didn't catch as many, I did manage to catch 3 'keepers'(the competition was catch and release) and a couple of small fish that didn't make the measure. The rod average was about 2.5 fish so it wasn't too bad a result. The team (6 anglers) ended up with 20 fish, which was the third highest total, but our size average was lower and we ended up in 7th place. The days fishing was hard work, but my boat partner was a pleasant companion and we had an enjoyable day on the lake. I can't give you the successful flies because if you include the undersized fish we caught ten in the boat we both had three to measure and two undersized, all fish were on different flies! Yes, it was one of those days when you really had to work for your fish. To be honest though you feel good after the day when you manage to get a few in hard conditions. The team competitions mean you work that little bit harder too so you don't let your team members down. With the team competition you need to catch at least the average so that if one member does well you don't pull his score down, and try to catch above the average yourself to pull other members up. Therefor even one fish is important, every point counts.
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