Lough Conn, Co. Mayo

I headed over to Foxford on a Friday evening after work, and i arrived at the pre booked B&B shortly after ten pm. After dropping off the bags at the B&B i headed down to the town for a few beers and some craic. The next morning after breakfast i met up with Declan at the local GAA pitch. It was a bad morning weather wise with persistant heavy rain and a strong wind. This was not going to deter us so we put on the rain gear and got the fishing rods ready for some casting. We started the morning  with single handed rods.

River Moy, east Mayo

As we all have experience in casting, the lessons were aimed towards improving whatever aspect of casting each of us felt weak at. The area i wanted to improve in was my distance casting. Most of the fishing that i do during the open season hardly ever calls for any distance casting. With the season now closed i am now fishing for Rainbow trout on private fisheries which are open throughout the year. Over the years i have caught many Rainbow trout at close distances but there are times when that extra distance can give you some advantage, like when lure stripping is the order of the day. The style of casting i wanted to achieve was to gain as much distance i could but without the need for too much false casting.

Lough Cullin, Co. Mayo

I am sure that there are many anglers who whilst bank fishing have come across other anglers who in order to achieve distance continually make false casts. While many will agree there is nothing wrong with this, i think that there are times when this continuous false casting does put the  fish down. This is more obvious when the fish are near the water surface and even more so when you are fishing in clear water. I also think that over the course of a days fishing if an angler is false casting 6/7 times for every cast this takes up a lot of time when your fly should be in the water fishing. The longer the fly is in the water the more chance there is of it attracting fish.  Time is scarce especially for those anglers who fish in competitions.

Declan Hughes

I asked Declan about ths style of cast that i had in mind and would it be possible to achieve. First he took a look at at the way i usually would cast when i want to get distance. He then pointed out a few errors he noticed in my casting technique whilst demonstrating how to get more distance from the style of cast i use. He left me to it and set about instructing the other two anglers on their particular needs. Declan kept an eye on us correcting each of us if needed while we were changing to different weights of rods and lines. We spent the morning practising on the football field before we had a break for lunch.

087 764 9571

After lunch we headed out to Lough Cullin to get some practice on water. The weather in the afternoon was the complete opposite to the mornings weather, full sunshine and a slight breeze. I stayed with the single handed rod while the others changed over to using double handed rods. I wanted to brush up on my roll cast and also on Spey casting for the single handed rod. Declan showed me a few tips on how to cast in these styles and the demonstrated them to me. He then left me to it and set about instructing the other lads all the while keeping an eye on my progress correcting me and giving me pointers. We practised in the beautiful surroundings of Lough Cullin until the sun started to go down. After packing up Declan suggested we meet up again at the football filed the following morning, we all agreed on this.

Casting on the Moy

Meeting up at the field the following day the weather was wild, wet and very windy. While deciding what we should set up for, Declan suggested setting up all singled handed rods and practice casting into the wind, good idea we all thought. He then instructed us on the technique for casting into the wind and then he demonstrated the the technique to us. We then all set about putting the instruction into practice. I was delighted when Declan suggested this to me as there are numerous times when casting into the wind will give an angler an advantage on a given day. I have noticed on many days, especially when i was bank fishing while it was windy, the fish were gathered feeding along the shore line on to which the wind was blowing. Along with a lot of insects getting blown on to the water and being swept across the lake towards exposed bank, the shore line was getting stirred up thus exposing lots of feed for the fish.  Days like these called for casting into a strong wind.

APGAII

We spent the morning practising at casting into the strong wind  which was blowing across the football field. After a break for lunch we headed out to Lough Conn for more lessons casting on water. I again stayed with the single handed rod while the others changed over to the double handed rods. Declan demonstrated a few more tips to me and then left me to get on with it. He then set about instructing the double handed rods. We stayed practising on Lough Conn for a few hours before calling an end to our weekend of flycasting tuition. It was an enjoyable and worthwhile weekend spent in excellent company.

Lough Conn

Thinking about the weekend as we drove home my thoughts were of why did it take so long for me to take some fly casting tuition and of what i had gained from the weekend. I have been fly fishing for a long time now without ever having a lesson on single handed rod casting, did i think that i did not need lessons because i thought i was good enough without lessons? I guess my answer to that is yes i did think there was no need to take lessons. My mind has certainly been changed after this weekend of tuition so much so that i am now going to book more lessons with Declan. I have come back from the weekend away with a sure sense of having gained valuable knowledge with which i can improve on the knowledge i already have. I can now reccommend to any angler be they a beginner or even experienced caster to at least take some lessons on their fly casting as it will give them further knowledge of their casting.

The lesson i had with Declan were enjoyable and i found his style of instruction easy going very informative. He instructed us in a very professional manner which put us at ease and he managed to correct us and give tips without being obtrusive. It was a great weekend of craic and banter mixed with gaining more knowledge of my hobby.

Contact Declan Hughes on 087 764 9571. email declanhughesfoxford@gmail.com. Check out Facebook.

Lough Muck

Lough Muck.

My first outing was to Lough Muck near Foxford, Co. Mayo. It is a small lake set in beautiful surroundings among the hills of the Foxford to Swinford road. It has a good stock of free rising wild brown trout. After enquiring locally as to whether a permit was required and also to find out if i could hire a boat, i got a phone number for boat hire. When i got to the lake i found that the boat was dry and ready for fishing. Looking around the lake shore to see was there any signs of fly life to give me an indication as to what flies to use, i saw some Mayflies on the reeds and on the boat.

Mayfly (Green Drake)

I set up the rod with a team of dabblers i.e. pearly, olive and claret. The day was overcast with a good breeze blowing up the lake from the jetty. There also was some rain showers forecast. For the first drift i headed up the lake towards the opposite shore which is rocky and which also has a good growth of small trees along it. Setting the boat up for the drift i noticed some Mayfly coming off the water and a few fish rising to them. First cast and fish on. It took the olive dabbler and was a nice little fish of about twenty two centimetres. The first drift counted for four nicely marked hard fighting wild brownies. I fished the same drift for about three hours or so getting fish on each drift. The wind picked up along with heavy rain and the fish stopped rising so i headed back to the jetty. I finished the day with a total of fifteen fish all of which i returned to rise on another day. With the water temperature at sixteen degrees Celcius, Mayflies hatching and the trout rising i planned to get back fishing on Muck before the week was out.

Moher Lough

 Moher Lough.

To me no fishing trip to Mayo would be complete if i did not take a outing on Moher Lough. This time was no different as i had a few hours  fishing on Moher. The day was overcast with heavy rain showers and a strong wind blowing up and across the lake from the jetty. I set up the boat with the electric motor and i had my usual look around for any signs of fly life. I found nothing of note except a few small dark sedges that i disturbed from the bushes. I set the rod up with a team of flies which included the olive dabbler which had worked well on Lough Muck. I set off down the lake to do a drift across with the wind. Of all the times i have fished Moher this was my first time time to fish in with the wind blowing strong and across it. On the first drift i got one small wild brownie about twenty centimetres long. It was several more drifts across before i had another fish on. This was the way the day went only catching the occasional fish. Regularly changing flies during the session i finished with total of eight fish. The best one was a stocked fish of about thirty eight centimetres. Most of the fish fell for the olive dabbler. It was a struggle even to get that many fish, not one of my best days on Moher. I returned all of the fish for the next time i get to fish on Moher Lough.

Callows Lake Upper

Callows Lakes.

For my next outing i went out to the Callows Lakes. The Callows is another old favourite of mine which i try to fish on every time i get over to the west. There are two lakes the upper and lower which are connected by a narrow channel which flows under a little bridge. I usually fish on the upper lake however this time i fished on the both of them. Boat hire is available locally on enquiry. Getting there in the early afternoon i had plans to fish on up until dark. The day was mixed with some cloud cover and some strong sunshine along with a steady breeze which was blowing nicely down the lakes. Having my usual look around for fly life i found nothing of note so i set up with a team of traditional wet flies i.e. bibio, black pennel and a sooty olive. I headed up the lake to take a drift down along the shore opposite the jetty. I was fishing for about three hours without a fish getting caught. I decided to head down to the lower lake to give it a go to see if it was any better. More of the same down there. No fish. Things were not looking good at all. What to do next? Head back to the upper lake and try some of the shallower shores? I decided to head right up the lake to where i knew there was some shallow water. On getting there i saw a Mayfly lifting off the water so i tied on an olive dabbler to see could i at least tempt a fish to take it. At last a fish on. A nice wild little brownie of about thirty five centimetres had taken the dabbler.

Callows Lake Lower

Another hour or more passed before i had another fish again caught on the dabbler. I headed for the shore to take a break before it started to get dark. Before setting off again i set the rod up with a single fly to fish as an emerging sedge. The fly i choose was a Balloon Caddis. I have fished this fly before with great success on Callows when sedges are about. I remained fishless for another half hour or so before i had a fish on. With sedges now appearing in good numbers the fishing picked up. Finishing the day with a total of nine wild brown trout the best about thirty eight centimetres. On looking through my notes about fishing the Callows i found the best fishing was at night time to the sedges.

Cathedral Beat River Moy. 

Cathedral Beat

Eventually the time had come to fish on the river Moy. My first outing was booked on the Cathedral beat. I was allowed to fish on this beat from sun up until six pm. Checking on the time the tide was due in at i found out i would be able to fish from sun up until about twelve twenty. All reports from the previous few week were good with as many as twelve or more fish caught each day. I got to the beat at about seven am and there was already some other anglers fishing away. I enquired as to whether there was any fish caught only to be told ” none yet”. I stepped in and took my place and started to fish. After an hour or so another angler caught and released a small salmon of maybe two pounds. It was another two hours before another fish was landed, a fresh run fish of about four pounds. I fished on up until the tide was upon me. I headed of up the town for a bite to eat. It was around four pm before i was again able to step in and fish. There was one other small fish caught and returned for the day, not such a good day at all. 

Ridge Pool Beat, River Moy. 

Ridge Pool

The next day i was booked to fish on the renowned Ridge Pool. I was allowed to fish on it from Two pm up until sundown. The tide would have no effect on me this time. Getting down to the pool shortly after two o clock there was other anglers fishing in it. Enquiring as to how it fished on the morning session i learned that three fish were landed. The total for the whole day ended with seven fish being landed. I was not one of those lucky anglers who managed to land a fish. Some of the Salmon were caught on worms. I do not fish for Salmon with the worms as most of the fish will take the worms down  deep before they are hooked and therefore are not fit to be released.

Salmon Weirs

I heard all sort of reasons and excuses as to why the fishing was bad while i was there.  “You should of been here last week” , “very low tides”, “the fish are just running through”, “the river is too high”. I even heard it said that the refurbishment works on the Salmon Weirs was having an effect on the fish. I dont have any excuse or reason other than hard luck for not catching any fish this time. I will be back down in Ballina the Salmon Capital of Ireland in September as i have another few days salmon fishing book on the river Moy. Hopefully next time i won’t be listening to any excuses, I’ll be catching Salmon instead!