Newsletter 2001
What a topsy turvy year 2001 has been at Grasshopper Cottage. We had a premature beginning to our season as Sorcha and Roy spent a fortnight in South Island, New Zealand at the end of January/early February. This provided an interesting contrast to our fishing at Grasshopper Cottage (Anybody interested should see "New Zealand trip" ).
We returned to Grasshopper Cottage towards the end of what had been a relatively cold Winter and early Spring. Our fishing season opened on February 15. Early fly fishing was very slow but not totally hopeless. The lower sections of Lough Corrib appear to fish better at this time of year and it does seem that the colder the water temperature the slower the early fly fishing becomes.
Early March dealt us a devastating blow with the emergence of Foot and Mouth Disease in the United Kingdom. The over-reaction (in my opinion) of the Irish Government was to introduce a total ban on angling, including lake fishing and sea fishing, from March 3 to April 20. Such was the furore of the tourist industry that this ban was partially lifted allowing us to fish from March 23 onwards. However, primarily through ignorance, hysteria and mis-information in the local farming community, visiting anglers were actively discouraged from coming to Ireland and the situation did not rectify itself until May. Meanwhile, the duck fly season came and went. The actual quantity of duck fly was disappointing in our area, however, the quality of fishing was superb. Particularly successful was fishing deep with pupa patterns. Emerger patterns also performed well. Slightly disappointing was the dry fly fishing due, undoubtedly, to the low quantity of fly actually hatched.
The slightly cooler than normal conditions continued into early May. This resulted in a definite reluctance by the trout to come to the surface during the olive hatch. Slightly disappointing top of the water fishing during the above hatch was more than compensated for by superb nymph fishing, particularly weighted nymphs. The excellent stock of fish was always evident with some superb catches of trout - 20+ being recorded. Thankfully, the ever-increasing trend of 'catch and release' ensured wholesale slaughter did not take place.
The Mayfly hatch was quite superb over most of the lake, with the exception of the lower eastern shore of the lake from Headford to Galway. Do not ask me to explain why Mayfly should be prolific in one area and virtually absent in another - I cannot. This is not a recent phenomenon and is something I have witnessed over different parts of the lake throughout the last 40 years. I remember, as a child, collecting mayfly on Lough Derg to come to fish on Lough Corrib (where they were absent). The mayfly fishing was excellent with all disciplines of fly fishing - dry fly, emerger, wet fly and nymph - producing excellent results. Fishing conditions at this time of year are of vital importance. Hot, bright, north-east breezy conditions are the least favoured. A dull, moderate westerly breeze is the most favoured.
The annual Mayfly Competition (last Sunday in May), a light-hearted event, produced the most successful competition day for many, many years with most participants recording an excellent day's fishing.
Characteristically, the trout fishing slowed down after mid-June. The ever-recovering population of perch in the lake was evident this year with the emergence of much more perch fry (pin fry). This, coupled with the brighter sunny days of June, made fly fishing for trout extremely difficult during the daytime. Late evening and night-time buzzer fishing was very successful from mid-May onwards when the appropriate calm conditions prevailed. Lough Carra produced some excellent late evening and night fishing with some very large fish caught.
A much improved run of grilse (one sea-winter salmon) into the lake provided added entertainment for the fly angler. This was particularly so in July and August. When good conditions prevailed, i.e. wind, wave and not too bright at any stage, it was not unreasonable to expect to rise 3 or 4 grilse per day/rod or to land one, perhaps two, grilse to the boat for the day. With a couple of good sized trout this all added up to a respectable day's sport. The secret at this time of year is not to set your expectations too high, unless the fishing conditions are absolutely perfect. Be prepared to go touring or sight-seeing when the weather is fine and fish when the weather is not so good.
In recent years, September has produced some quite exceptional fishing, both over shallows and deeper water (daphnia feeders). This year the fishing was not so good. Whilst there were some large fish caught on the shallows, there did not seem to be the same concentration of fish feeding on daphnia in the deeper water. Whether or not the daphnia was at a deeper level than usual I cannot say. Some of the better daphnia fishing this year was over exceptionally deep water - 100 foot plus. The same was experienced on Lough Mask where September fishing, off the Tourmakeady shore, was very good indeed.
Ferox Fishing
A feature of 2001 was the greater effort deployed in fishing for ferox trout. I cannot remember a year when so many large trout were caught. Deep trolling using roach dead-bait was the most successful method. Indeed, many large trout are accidentally caught whilst dead-baiting for pike later in the season. Such was the case when Frank Costello, of Cong, landed a magnificent 25lb. trout after the trout season had closed on September 30. The fish was successfully returned alive to the water having been witnessed by two other anglers. Doubtless in 2002 we shall see many other anglers attempting to catch specimen brown trout from Loughs Corrib and Mask.
October saw excellent runs of trout in the spawning streams. Many of the local farmers reported more spawning fish than they had seen for many years. Sadly, pike continue to predate heavily upon these spawning fish as they enter and leave the streams. This is an excellent time to fish for pike as they appear to congregate at the mouths of the rivers. My best pike this October was 26lbs.
Wishing you all the best and tight lines for 2002.
Roy E. Peirce
December 30 2001
New Zealand Trip
Trip to the South Island of New Zealand, January/February 2001
I will not attempt to describe trout fishing in the South Island of New Zealand but, rather, give my first impressions and overview from the perspective of a lough fisherman from the West of Ireland travelling around.
The first rivers I encountered were either dry or virtually dry. Water extraction for irrigation is a serious problem in some areas. The rivers are extremely large when in full flow, boulder strewn and fast flowing.
Without a guide I simply did not know where to start. Fish do not show themselves readily, frequently only appearing from nowhere to feed on sedges just before dark. Spotting fish is not easy in the fast water and there also appears to be a constant wind disturbing the water surface. Dry fly fishing is extremely difficult and not very successful under these conditions. The preferred method of fishing is with a weighted nymph in surprisingly small sizes (14-16) often using an indicator or a dry fly as an indicator.
As a lough fisherman, I thought I would feel more at home on the lakes of the western seaboard. These are very different places to what I am accustomed to - tinged milky white by glacial "flour" and apparently with no tradition of "lough style" fishing, as we know it. I was confined to shore - fishing bays, inlets and outlet streams. The relatively low numbers of trout I could see surprised me. However, the average weights and condition of those I did encounter was superb. As a touring angler, one does not have the time to familiarise oneself with any one location and, to be successful, you must seek local advice immediately.
With this in mind, I allocated myself three days at Wanaka in order to fish the Upper Clutha River. My first sight of the river was of a raging torrent! How could anybody fly-fish this? I had not realised that Lake Hawea, above the Clutha, is used as a reservoir for the major hydroelectric scheme further downstream at Lake Dunstan. Just my luck to arrive on the day they decided to release water. It would take at least a week for this river to be fly-fishable again. To make matters worse, in the occasional back-eddy, I could see the shapes of monster fish moving in and out of the current. Yet again, I was confined to fishing lake margins and bays, hard going during daytime, building to a thirty-minute frenzy of sedge feeding before dark.
It was not until I reached Gore (Southland), proclaiming itself to be the Brown Trout Capital of the World, that I finally began to come to grips with New Zealand fishing. The Mataura river was slightly less intimidating than most of the rivers I had encountered up till then. I was extremely fortunate to meet Mike Roche, ex. school teacher, Town Crier and fanatical angler of Gore. Without Mike's expert guidance and advice I would still be "all at sea" in New Zealand. Within hours of meeting, we were fishing the Mataura river to the late evening hatch when large trout come into the shallows, with backs out of the water, to feed on whatever is going. Mike introduced me to spectacular Lake Onslow, 3000 feet up in the hills, where cicadas were being blown on to the water: incredible dry fly fishing. The mind boggles as to what dapping "Irish style" might achieve here. Mike was directly responsible for my catching a 7.25lbs. of pure Mataura muscle in about 9" of water on a size 14 Gold Head Pheasant Tail Nymph. God willing, I shall return again some day - certainly, next time, much the wiser. Thanks again to Mike and Helen Roche for their hospitality and advice.