Fly Fisherman Magazine - Destinations 2023

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IrelandS TRIP HOSTS FOR FRONTIERSTRAVEL, WE ARE CONSTANT-LY LOOKING FOR INTERNA-TIONAL DESTINATIONS THATNOT ONLY OFFER GREATFISHING BUT ALSO TOURINGAND SIGHTSEEING OPPORTUNITIES FOR NON-FISHING PARTNERS. You wouldn’t want to take a nonanglerto our favorite lake in Argentina, Lake Strobel, aka Jurassic Lake.Yes, it has huge rainbow trout, but a grueling truck ride into thelodge is required, and when you get there you must deal with thewind, waves, and boulders the size of small cars. It’s barren, remote,and if you don’t fish, there isn’t a lot of anything else to do.I remember a client who brought his new bride on a peacock basstrip to the Amazon. He talked up the beautiful swimming pool,the tropical location, and the exotic birds. Two days later, she wasbored to death in the hot sweltering jungle. She had 100 insect bitesfrom swimming in the pool, and she wanted out. If your travelingcompanion doesn’t fish, it’s best to choose a destination that offersexciting experiences for both of you. Ireland is that place.As with England and Scotland, Ireland has a rich history whenit comes to trout and salmon fishing. Fly fishing in England startedsometime in the 13th century and its popularity soon spreadthroughout Ireland and Scotland. We have found that it’s Ireland—with green rolling hills and winding hedge-lined roads—that todayis home to some of the best fly fishing in all of Europe.SALMON FISHINGWhen it comes to fly fishing, Ireland offers everything from coldwater lakes and freestone rivers to limestone spring creek environments—allwith robust trout fisheries. There’s also some very goodsalmon fishing.Actually it’s on the storied salmon beats at Ballynahinch Castlewhere we first got our feet wet in Ireland. The castle estate is aworld-renowned salmon and sea trout fishery located in the picturesquesetting at Connemara, County Galway.The Ballynahinch River runs through the estate and continuesthree miles down river to where it enters the Atlantic Ocean atBertragboy Bay. Every Atlantic salmon and sea trout must travelthrough the castle water on their upstream migration to spawn.Although the season officially opens February 1, the prime salmonrun generally starts in late June and can go into the later partof September.Tradition prevails here, and fly fishers cast from jetties or platformsstrategically located to give anglers the best position to coverall of the holding water. Spey rods with 7- or 8-weight floating linesare generally used with smaller single or double flies working best.Popular fly patterns include Silver Rats, Badgers, and ConnemaraBlacks. You will use sinking lines only during high water levels.The fishing guides on the estate are quite a bunch. Depending onMay the holes in your net beno larger than the fish in it.- Irish Proverbthe age of the guides, their fishing attire ranges from contemporarySimms waders, hip packs, and ball caps, to more traditional deerstalker hats and tweeds.For some, their heavy brogue accent is hard to follow. In otherwords, you’ll know you’re in Ireland.On our first two visits to Ballynahinch Castle, our guide MichaelVan Muren was a flamboyant chap. Michael is the real deal andcame complete with a heavy wool sweater that had many seasonson it, sparkling blue eyes, and a sense of humor that immediatelyput us at ease and had us laughing.We climbed in his little car and when we got to the water,he decided to teach Cathy how to cast a fly rod. He walked herthrough the steps of making a snap T cast, he then made a beautifulcast, and then suggested that she try it. Cathy took the rod andcopied Michaels cast perfectly. Without saying a word, Michaelturned and walked up to me and said in his heavy Irish baroque,“That woman can f*****g cast!”DESTINATIONS G L O B A L F L Y - F I S H I N G A D V E N T U R E S45
Listen to the sound of the riverand you will get a trout. –Irish ProverbLTHOUGH THE SALMON FISHING ISSTEEPED IN FASCINATING HISTORY,IT IS TROUT FISHING THAT BRINGSUS TO IRELAND TIME AND TIMEAGAIN. Frontiers put us in touch with AndrewRyan years ago. Ryan owns Clonanav Fly Fishing,a specialty fly shop and guide operation near the village of Ballymacarby,in County Waterford. Andrew Ryan is a household wordwhen it comes to fly fishing throughout Ireland and Europe, and isrecognized as the premier authority for trout and salmon fishing, flyfishing schools, guiding, and general information. Virtually everybrand of fly-fishing gear is represented in his shop—Hardy, Simms,Patagonia, Sage, RIO, and lots more.Clonanav Fly Fishing is conveniently located and has access tobeats on the Suir, Nire, and the Tar rivers. The three rivers havevery different personalities with the Suir being the largest. The Suiris Ireland’s third longest river and without a doubt is our favorite.It’s birthplace is in North Tipperay and begins in a southward floweventually turning north then east in the direction of WaterfordHarbour, where it empties into the Celtic Sea. We spend most of ourtime on the limestone-rich flows that run through Clonmel. Herethere are both trout and salmon. In fact, the largest Atlantic linecaughtsalmon was caught in the Suir. Along with that, the Suir isrecognized as one of the best dry-fly rivers in Europe.When we first saw the Suir it reminded us of the historic Test inEngland, but after learning its pools, flats, and runs, we came to understandthat like most rivers, the Suir has its own distinct personality.Luckily we’ve spent most of our time on the river with Andrew Ryanat our side. Ryan controls a number of beats on the river, and takingadvantage of his knowledge of the water is like fishing with the late ErnestSchwiebert. Andrew knows the insect hatches and the right flies,he’s fun to be with, and his history of the river is impressive. This levelof professionalism persists in all of his guides as well, which contributesto his success and popularity.The Nire is our second favorite and a tributary to the Sur. For themost part, it is a smaller river, maybe 35 feet wide, a perfectly clearfreestoner that drops from the Comeragh Mountains and throughthe Nire Valley until it joins the Suir. Andrew also holds leases onsome of the best beats here and it is often his “ace in the hole.”It’s no secret that Ireland gets a lot of rain, and rivers like the Suircan blow out in a hurry, but the Nire is a spate river—it comes upfast and drops fast. In 2022, we had a torrent of rain and the Suir wasabout to spill out of its banks. We left the Suir and drove to the Nire,which was also high and off color. Ryan said, “No worries lads, it’sstreamer time now, and we’ll be fishing drys by noon.” We thought,no way, but Andrew was right. The streamer fishing was hot, a blackSuper Bugger and a slow retrieve produced some beautiful browns.By noon the stream had dropped and was clearing. By 2 o’clock wehad clear water, Blue-winged Olives were hatching, and the troutwere sipping. This kind of river can save the day, as it did ours.The third river is the Tar, and it certainly reminds us of an Englishchalkstream. Although we may have first misjudged the Suir, thereis no mistaking the Tar, it is exactly what you would expect of a Europeanlimestone river. At nearly 200 miles long, the Tar enters theSuir between the towns of Ardfinnan and Newcastle. The sectionswe’ve fished are wader friendly, basically because it’s a wide, shallowriver punctuated with flowering ranunculus weed. The Tar is adry-fly angler’s dream with prolific insect hatches and rising fish.In addition to the Blue-winged Olives and other mayflies, there areabundant caddis populations.Most of our trout fishing in Ireland has been with 9-foot 5-weightfly rods and floating lines. If we had only one outfit to travel withit would be this one, but on calm windless days especially on thesmaller water like the Nire, a 3 or 4-weight is a lot of fun. If facedwith a spate and muddy water, a sinking-tip line and a fast 6-weightrod can be a game changer.Our favorite fly patterns are what most spring creek fly fishermenwould already have in their boxes—Blue-winged Olive dunsand spinners in sizes 18 and 20, along with an assortment of caddisadults in size 16 and 18 in tan, black, and dun gray. Terrestrial patternslike black ants and smaller black beetles are good choices forsurface patterns. For searching flies, a black Super Beetle in size 12has found us some really big fish.Underneath, don’t even think of going to Ireland without a selectionof Pheasant-tail Nymphs. Carry sizes 16 through 20, all withbead heads, and take some of your favorite Euro nymphs, also in 16through 20. There are so many Euro patterns today it’s hard to keepup, but Europe is where this style of fishing first became popularand patterns like Perigons, Croston’s Full Metal Jacket, and Olsen’sBlowtorch all work here. British author G.E.M. Skues first began theidea of tight-line nymphing in the later part of the 19th century andthe technique has continued to be refined to where it is today. TheSpanish, Polish, U.K., and French teams have all had a big impactson the modern version of this type of fishing, hence the collectivename “Euro” for both flies and techniques involving this style. It’salso very popular and effective in Ireland.Over the years, we’ve had may opportunities to spend time withRyan’s guides. From the get-go you know they take their job veryseriously. Looking through their fly boxes one will see a good varietyof Pheasant-tail Nymphs, mostly in smaller sizes. I wonder ifFrank Sawyer, the English river keeper and originator of the Pheasant-tailNymph, could have imagined how important his contributionwould be to the world of fly fishing. Along with the PheasantTails, there will be Hare’s-ear Nymphs in mixed sizes, a lot of Perdigons,a smaller number of olive or black beadhead Woolly Buggersin size 6 or 8, and just a smattering of other streamer patterns, whichindicates that they don’t do a lot of streamer fishing. Pheasant-tailNymphs and all the variations on that theme reign here.A lot of water has traveled downstream since our inaugural dayof fishing with Andrew Ryan. We remember the first time we comparedfly boxes. Ryan’s boxes were well stocked with all of the aboveflies, as were ours, but then he pointed to our squirmy worms andsaid, “You fish with those?”Next he touched a mop fly and gave us a less-than-approving look.And then, after fishing this storied water with the Squirmy well,let’s just say that the next year, you guessed it—there were SquirmyWormies in all the guide’s fly cases. Think whatever you want, thedarn things work and at times they save the day.
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Fly Fisherman Magazine - Destinations 2023

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