3 tough days

Three of the last four days have seen me out with a client on lough Corrib and tough days they were! The lough has been fishing well to the troll and buzzer in previous weeks but David was looking for some dry fly sport so we headed to Doorus first. I knew this was going to be a tough task as the weather forecast was for light winds. In fact, describing the winds as ‘light’ proved to be ‘way over optimistic as it turned out. I decided on the bays around the peninsular on the back of occasional recent reports the mayfly was up and fish were rising in that area. This type of jungle drum communication always has to be regarded with a healthy dose of scepticism in my experience. Just because a few duns are hatching it does not automatically follow that the trout just switch on and become intoxicated by the impending feast.

The first day we fished a couple of the wee bays that nibble into the peninsular but all we had to show for our efforts was one small trout that took David’s olive CDC dry fly. A handful of mays were hatching but of the trout there was no sign. It was cool, misty and virtually windless, so I decided a move was in order and we set a bead on Inchogil. By the time we reached the island our bellies were telling us it was time for lunch so we pulled in and had a bite to eat. One fellow angler was there and he told us he had nothing but had seen a few fish rise. Another boat pulled in just as we were leaving and they told us of meeting small fish but nothing of any size. The wind, which had picked up slightly as we cross the lake, now died completely and we were left looking across a mirror calm lough.

The afternoon was spent with me on the oars pushing the boat as quietly as possible to put David in casting range of anything that rose close to us. Mays were hatching out in fair numbers and a few trout were grabbing the unfortunate duns off the steely surface. One trout of about a pound fell to the olive CDC but it was fierce hard going. In the end we called it a day and motored back to where we had launched in the morning. The fishing had been poor but the scenery on that still and silent evening was breathtakingly beautiful.

The next day we launched at Lisloughry and fished the Golden bay on the northern shore in slightly better conditions. A steady southerly ruffled the surface under low grey clouds and I weaved between the islands and reefs over some of the most perfect trout habitat you can imagine. Huge limestone boulders litter the bottom, providing food and shelter where the trout can grow fat. The only thing missing was rising trout but that was because they had little or nothing to come up for. A derisory hatch of mayfly, a sprinkling of olives and a handful of small sedges failed to entice the trout to look up and the day was spent casting into the void. We returned fishless and disheartened to the slipway that evening. Even a late evening return for a couple of hours as the light faded met with not success. Again, when talking to other anglers fishing the same are they reported catching or, even seeing, nothing.

Suckers for punishment, Sunday saw us back out on the big lough in weather you would have been happy to have in the Bahamas. A fierce sun shore on the surface which was as flat as a ceramic tiled floor. I would have simply trolled for the day but I was hired to seek out surface feeding trout so Lord’s Bay was diligently searched before another run out to Inchogil and a leisurely lunch. More casting small dries on the blind filled the scorching afternoon but of mayflies there was little evidence and the fish were nowhere to be seen. The highlight of the day a single refreshing pint of the black stuff once we were back on dry land.

Hot, bright, windless days are the worst possible conditions for fly fishers on the Irish loughs. Add to that a very poor start to the mayfly hatch, probably delayed by the cold, wet weather all spring, and you have the makings of a near impossible task to catch a trout on the fly. I saw and spoke to rods who fished the buzzer all day and they blanked too. The only fish I heard of was a hefty three pounder which took a huge plug trolled in deep water. I am hoping this calm spell of weather ends soon and we get some proper fishing weather.

Evening fishing is certainly a much better option in fine weather. Failing that, a trolled bait is your best option and I always have a trolling rod in the car in case the day is going to be flat calm.