Outside Days » fishery

Free Salmon Fishing

Howard — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:15:58 +0000

As those who know me will know, free is my favourite price. When an accidental encounter with Charlie Baker, owner of a stunning beat on the River Moy led to the opportunity to offer all of you free fishing I jumped at the chance.

The River Moy in County Mayo Southern Ireland is the most prolific salmon river in Western Europe with an estimated 100,000 fish running it every year. This beat is situated above and below the town of Foxford (about 30 mins from Knock airport), about 7 miles from the tidewater so sees tens of thousands of fresh run fish and an exceptional number of springers. The fishery has been developed during the last five years to make it the best fly fishery on the lower Moy. Unlike much of the lower water down to Ballina, which is all slow water, this beat has a considerable gradient and a good flow throughout the beat. It is an exciting stretch to fish, although not at all difficult, particularly in the lowest two pools.

The beats fishes equally well with the floating line in normal conditions or intermediate or sinking lines when the water is higher.

This offer runs for all of May and the first two weeks of June 2012, if interested please contact me for further details.

The catch, if you can call it that is to stick to the following rules for booking.

To qualify you have to stay in one of the b&bs or the hotel in
Foxford. No exceptions to this.
This is a fly only water.
All anglers need to follow the rules for Salmon fishing laid out by the local rivers board (http://fishinginireland.info/salmon/salmonregs.htm).
All applicants must email me and I will email back with fishing permission.
Last but by no means least, this is a first come first served offer.

From Our Foreign Correspondents: Fishing North Carolina

Jennifer — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:14:33 +0000

Friends from home (the American south) are adept at keeping me in the loop and homesick! Gene (more affectionately known as Bubba) loves his fishing and his whisky, and just as soon as he gets his passport, we expect him to be joining us on Scottish lochs, Hampshire banks and anywhere the fishing is fine. Until then, we will have to join him (vicariously in this case) streamside in the States.

The Nantahala makes Trout Unlimited’s top 100 American trout waters, having a diversity of stream types and species as well. Gene was fishing in a stretch of hatchery supported waters with native brook trout and introduced brown and rainbow all reproducing naturally. As the sign in the photograph indicates, the fishery is fly only and catch and release from October through June.

“I had to get a non-resident 10-day license and a special trout license – year-round,” says Gene. He was fishing with wet, “brown stonefly, brown woolyworm and chartreuse beaded inchworm- little early for that, but it worked” and dry flies, “sulfur dun, caddis, really anything mayfly like in the afternoon – size of fly (wet and dry) came into play a bit, but all worked well.” If your travels take you to the States and you find yourself with a day or two to fill in the itinerary, we can usually find you fishable water and the right fluff to flick. (Jennifer)

Gamekeepa Fishin’

Howard — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:32:59 +0000

All of us need to escape the daily grind now and then, and flicking the fluff for mayfly-delirious brown trout is an addictive relaxant. Headkeeper Martin Broad stole away from the rearing field and the eagle eye of his underkeeper (and wife) to spend an evening on the banks of the River Test. The fishing was still challenging – all that rain has taken its toll on the hatch and the trout’s enthusiasm…or visibility.

A beautiful four pound plus brownie was ample reward for an evening’s patient work. Martin went back to preparing for the arrival of his partridge and pheasant chicks with lower blood pressure and a big smile.

Swan Replaces Trout on the Nation’s Plate?

Howard — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:00:41 +0000

One of the local river keepers is taking issue with the Queen’s diet: she’s not eating enough swan and, unchecked by natural predators, the mute swan population is booming. So, you might ask, what’s the problem? The charge laid at the swans beaks boils down to diet: by grazing on weed, the swans are uprooting valuable insect habitat and reducing the invertebrate populations on the chalk streams.

This, in turn, affects the amount of available fish food, reducing the size of populations sustained on a given stretch and the size of individual fish. Which upsets fisherman and keeper alike. Add to that the swans habit of joining sheep in field to graze, and the farmers aren’t all the keen on the population explosion either.

Over-grazing of weed is less of an issue in years like this one with plenty of water, but in a dry year it can be devastating. Weed works as a semi-permeable dam, helping to maintain water levels. Strategic weed cutting can make or break fishing on a beat. It comes down to conservation or preservation and species priorities when managing a population.

But how do you manage a protected species with a population that is getting out of control? Unique to this protected species is the Queen’s right of consumption: Her Majesty remains the sole legal predator. So the ‘keeper hopes Her Majesty will be serving swan to all her guests this summer.

Blast and Cast: Fishing the Derbyshire Dove

Howard — Tue, 27 May 2008 08:57:53 +0000

No, not another Orvis open day. This time I bagged an invite from an old college mate to join him on the Derbyshire Dove (or in, more accurately). In typical British style, the bank holiday weather was rough. We made the best of the weekend’s weather, fishing on Saturday with only the wind to compete with. Galeforce wind made casting…interesting. There was a reasonable hatch of mayfly, although any chance of a fall of spinners was slim as the wind whisked them off over the fields as soon as they took flight.

Tony’s resigned to his appearance on these hallowed pages, suggesting I might mention the tightness of his loops while casting into a headwind. Or perhaps his accuracy, placing a fly within a gnat’s breath of where he wanted it. Personally, I think it far more pertinent to mention his skill with the kettle: he is the country’s champion at the slow-boil. A demerit only compensated for by the quality of his wife’s baking (thanks, Claire). And then there is his skill at wader repair (his not mine, thankfully)…he was wearing more Aquasure than wader and still got wet feet.

The rest of the weekend was pretty much a washout for countrysport…the Highclere Country Fair had some fine weather, but by the time we rocked up on Sunday, it was damp. Unfazed by the inclement weather, our friend John Bye was exhibiting his latest paintings with enthusiasm. While his focus of late seems to be on wildlife, his portraits of dogs are stunningly accurate. Hector the Clumber’s father Rufus has been immortalised in paint. And if his son turns out to be any good, John will have him hanging on our wall in the future.

Lake Fork Largemouth Bass

Howard — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 08:19:37 +0000

On our last full day in Texas, we joined guides Steve and Rob and ESPN journalist Lynn Burkhead in a pair of bass boats on Lake Fork. At an impressive 27,264 acres, Lake Fork is in three counties. An incredibly successful bass fishery, it was flooded in 1979 over existing forest. The clear boating channels are the former streambeds. Thirty-six of the fish on the Texas Top 50 Largemouth Bass list were caught in Lake Fork, including the top six. The Texas record stands at 18.18 lbs. Lake Fork is also home to a large population of coots and cormorants.

Flyfishing for bass is hardly flicking the fluff: casting 3 inch flies in a wind requires 8 weight tackle and some serious elbow grease. Using the new Orvis Helios rods made it easier…and sold me on their virtues, although explaining to my wife why I need ANOTHER rod will require all my creativity. The volume of water in Lake Fork warms slowly in the spring, so early in the season the bass are less active. Where we were fishing with surface flies on the cabin’s lake, here we fished with sinking flies in the shallows where the sun warmed the water enough to get the bass moving. As with everything in Texas, the boat engines were BIG (at least by British standards) – 200hp to propell an 18ft bass boat. All that power came in handy when we had to rush Lynn back to the marina: he had a heart attack just as we had started to contemplate lunch. After a rough journey across the lake at speeds topping 60mph, we were met by the paramedics who rushed Lynn off to hospital. We are pleased to say that he has recovered completely. Having had our fishing curtailed, we retreated once more to the hallowed halls of Cabelas and Bass Pro to fill the afternoon and the remaining space in our bags.

Cabin Fever: In which the Brits meet Texas Largemouth Bass

Howard — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:58:56 +0000

After a hectic few days shopping and pursuing hogs and quail, the pace slowed when we arrived in Golden, TX to stay with our friend Chris Wiesinger of Southern Bulbs at his little red cabin by the lake. The ‘lake’ is a 6 acre pond populated in equal number by turtles and largemouth bass.

We spent two delightful days fly fishing from the shore and boat for bass, tiptoeing through Chris’ narcissus fields, and ‘roughing’ it in the cabin. None of our bass were record-breakers, but they put up a hard, fast fight before surrendering.

Outside Days shoots into the Blogosphere: Adventures of an Intrepid Sporting Agent

Howard — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:57:24 +0000

For the more technically literate among our friends and clients, you may feel this addition to our website long overdue. Over the season, many of you express interest in what I do with the rest of my time (aside from attempting to appease my wife). Distaining from shoot reports (snore), I will post the more amusing of the incidents and anecdotes that are the sporting agent’s lot. Shooting availability for specific dates will be posted here, including any last minute bargains or spots in a line.