This has been a dream of mine for a very long time, so this was a rather rewarding fishing trip. I packed my 4wt with a double taper and a box of buggy nymphs with a couple of small streamers, along with some basic nymphs and dries.
The stream was small and brushy and casting was going to be tough but it looked like it opened into some good pools in the section I could see from the bridge access. As I waded into the pool below the bridge I saw 3 wakes move out of the head of the riffle into an undercut bank. I heard that the fish over there could be tough to catch but that didn't seem to be true on this morning. I caught a lot of trout, mostly around 5-10 inches long and they were all over the place.
This little creek was beautiful (much like the rest of Ireland), so I was driven to cover ground and quickly took off the prince nymph and tied on a wooly bugger and did my best to roll cast it to every good looking cut, riffle drop, and stripped it in the deepest parts of the pools. I also stripped a streamer in some of the better pools. This worked just as good as the smaller nymphs and I hooked two better fish that were in the 12-14 inch range. It was a hell of a good time, can't wait to do it again someday.
I just found this website, since, I guess it has taken me the past 30 years of fishing to realize I may actually have a fishing addiction. Your blog is definitely entertaining and makes me miss being out on the water! Just came back from a Salmon trip and I wish I was back out there already rather being stuck in a major metropolis here on the North East coast. Beautiful photos. I had another question, when traveling with your significant other to an overseas destination, with the knowledge that you will probably be able to only fish for one day, do you bring your waders? I usually don't bother because they take too much space (unless very frigid) and rough it out in the cold water.
ReplyDeleteThere are much worse addictions to have. Salmon fishing in the US? Atlantic or pacific salmon? Keep fishing as much as possible, as it is the only treatment for a fishing addiction.
ReplyDeleteI took my waders on this trip, as I knew the water would be very cold. I have wet waded in frigid water before, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again if I did not have my waders to catch a few fish. You have to be very careful when traveling with waders, as movement of invasive species is possible. I take a small bottle of bleach and soak my wading boots and waders overnight to make sure that I have killed off any potential invaders.