Wild Brown Trout of Ireland

by | Jun 11, 2016 | Uncategorized

blog-June-11-2016-1-lake-fishing-in-irelandGuide Mike Drinan brought us to a spectacular small shore fishing lake 30 minutes out of Oughterard.  The lake was shallow and weedy.  The skies were gray and blue with wind and occasional drizzle then sunshine.  Connemara ponies watched as we set up our rods then disappeared into the grassy hillsides.  This was Ireland exactly the way I always imagined it to be.

 

blog-June-11-2016-2-flyfishing-in-irelandInstead of running all over the lake firing casts I suggested everyone on Team USA take 50 meters of lake and fish it for three hours just like the two shoreline lake beats in the tournament will be done.  I personally wanted to test my skills at managing such a small piece of water for three hours and see if I could put a few measurable fish in my net.  I also wanted everyone else on my team to experience the same so our team has a chance to win next week.

 

blog-June-11-2016-3-wild-brown-trout-in-irelandBased on Thursdays practice I fished dries the first hour cautiously from shore keeping low and out of sight of these wild fish.  In the second hour I went with nymphs on a floating line and cautiously waded the shallows.  During the third hour I waded deep firing casts with my intermediate Stillwater Line WF6I with three different colored Wooly Buggers to try for bigger fish further out.  My plan worked like a champ.  I picked off three measurable brown trout on dries, three more on nymphs then ended with three more on the Buggers.

 

blog-June-11-2016-4-flyfishing-in-irelandWhile the browns you’ve seen on the blog this week are small these are wild as wild can be.  In many of the small waters here in Ireland the brown trout don’t get much bigger.  Ones that do are rare.  They are no less than stunning fish and test your fly fishing skills to the max.  Think of the wild brown trout here like you would the wild brook trout of the Smokey Mountains and it puts this place in perspective.

 

blog-June-11-2016-5-irish-pubsWe stopped in Oughterard on the way back to Galway at the same pub we ate at the first night.  The food is exceptional and this was the best fish and chips I’ve ever had in my life!  Tomorrow its back to Lough Corrib to try and figure out how to catch fish on what very well be the toughest beat in the entire tournament.

 

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing

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I started fly fishing at age 7 in the lakes and ponds of New England cutting my teeth on various sunfish, bass, crappie and stocked trout. I went to Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, where I graduated with a Naturalist Degree while I discovered new fishing opportunities for pike, muskellunge, walleyes and various salmonids found in Lake Superior and its tributaries.

From there I headed west to work a few years in the Yellowstone region to simply work as much as most people fish and fish as much as most people work. I did just that, only it lasted over 20 years working at the Jack Dennis Fly Shop in Jackson, WY where I departed in 2009. Now it’s time to work for "The Man", working for myself that is.

I pursue my love to paint fish, lecture on every aspect of fly fishing you can imagine and host a few trips to some of the most exotic places you can think of. My ultimate goal is to catch as many species of fish on fly possible from freshwater to saltwater, throughout the world. I presently have taken over 440 species from over 60 countries!

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