When dreaming of days on the big limestone loughs I am willing to wager us fly fishers imagine clouds driven across the sky by a brisk south westerly, the warm air still damp from recent rain and trout splashing as they intercept hatching flies. While we do get halcyon like that sometimes, more often the reality is we face suboptimal conditions. So what do we do then?
You only need to look at this spring to see that climate change is clearly having an effect on the Irish weather. Since March we have basked in virtually unbroken Mediterranean sunshine and temperatures in the mid-twenties. The lovely soft days of rain to top up the rivers have been replaced by wall to wall sun, so much so we are already facing water restrictions in some areas of the country. Nobody can recall a spring like this and while we all l love the shirt sleeve conditions, we have to ask what effect this change is going to have on our natural environment?
Without any shadow of doubt, the most important weather feature for lough anglers is the wind. Everything else can present challenges but what the wind is doing will have the greatest effect on the methods you use and the size of the resultant bag. We tend to focus on wind strength, with something equating to a force 4 being just about right for lough style drifting. As the winds get stronger we need to alter how we fish in the boat and focus on casting distance and retrieve rate. Shorter cast and faster retrieves are required in stronger winds, to ensure your flies are moving correctly in the water. The only other point to be conscious of on windy days are the safety issues. I’ll do a separate post on that topic.
Light winds are probably number one challenge for lough style anglers, it is the first consideration when we arrive at the lough. Is the wind? A small ripple or, heaven forbid, flat calm, elicits groans of despair, heads are shaken and sometimes a rapid departure to the nearest watering hole are seen as better alternatives. But these days we have alternatives, maybe not as exciting as lough style drifting, but we can still catch a few trout in light winds by adopting different methods. Also, it is worth remembering that this is Ireland, if you don’t like the weather just stick around for an hour and it will probably change.
The dry fly will be your first option in light winds. Don’t run away with the idea that there has to be a hatch of naturals and the surface peppered with rising trout for the dry fly to work. Fish will rise to dries fished ‘blind’, meaning casting them out despite no surface activity. If you have a lighter outfit with you, so much the better. A 4 or 5 weight rod is a lovely tool for this job. Use a leader of at least 15 feet, longer if necessary in the most extreme conditions. Drop your leader down to a fine fluorocarbon and thoroughly de-grease it. Fish either one or two dries. Patterns vary widely but CDC winged flies, small sedges and bob’s Bits have all worked for me. Sizes need to be small by lough fly standards with 12 and 14 being a good starting point. I look for shallow water, often around islands weed beds or rocky shallows to fish dry in light winds. Be aware that ‘chasing the ripple’ can be a frustrating business (but we all do it anyway). By this I mean you are in the boat looking around and see in the distance what looks like a change in the surface of the lough which for all the world looks like a wind is ruffling the surface over there. Lines are quickly wound in and the outboard is yanking into life, off you go at full throttle to set up a drift over there. You arrive to find there is no ripple, it was just an optical illusion. Hearts sink as your hopes of setting up the wet fly rod are dashed. If you are fishing over nice water then stich there for a while, gently casting your dries.
Perhaps the most effective way of dealing with light winds is to switch to buzzer fishing. Just mentioning buzzers is a sure-fire way of dividing any audience. A great many anglers here in Ireland abhor buzzers and refuse to have anything to do with this type of fly fishing. Personally, I use the buzzer when I feel it gives me the best chance of success and flat calm is right at the top of that list. My normal tactic is using three buzzers on a long, fine leader with a heavy pattern on the end and two lighter, scruffier patterns on droppers 4 feet apart. This set up is designed to let me present the the buzzers to the fish at different depths. Retrieve is glacial, takes tend to be be firm hook ups. I find that some bays respond to the buzzer much better than others, presumably because there are more naturals there.
Nymphing can work too. A floating line is perfect in a very light ripple, but for flat calm conditions I prefer a sink tip line or one of those midge tips, just to get the end of the fly line under the surface and reduce disturbance. Again, a light, long leader is required and I like a weighted pattern on the tail. I fish the nymphs slightly quicker than the buzzers but still very slowly. In the lee of islands would be my preferred location, or close in to the edge. Mayfly nymphs, damsels and stick flies all work when twitched slowly near the bottom. My tail fly varies a lot, but I love a roughly dressed GRHE on the dropper and this catches me a lot of trout each year.
The direction the wind comes from can have a bearing on sport too. The old adage about the East wind being useless for fishing is, by and large, true in my experience. Yes, I have caught fish when the wind was howling from the steppes, but an Easterly is never a productive wind. A bitterly cold north wind early in the season can make fishing not only horribly cold, but often a waste of time as the trout stick hard on the bottom. When confronted with these conditions I go for a sinking line, a big fly on the point and a pair of old reliable patterns on the droppers and fish slow and deep.
Next to the lack of wind, bright sunshine makes traditional fly fishing a tough gig here in Ireland. If you are really unfortunate, you get flat calm coupled with blazing sunshine and blue skies. In all honesty, I’d rather not fish under such onerous conditions, or just spend a few hours trolling along the edge of the shallow water where is slides off into the deeps. Or even wait until the evening and fish as darkness descends. If you really have to fish in flat calm under a blue sky then my only advice is stick to buzzers.
Trout don’t seem to like bright sun but that is not to say it will be impossible to catch them. Fishing finer is a must, your leader will be more visible than on a dark, cloudy day so it pays to go fine. Lengthening your leader so the flies are further away from the fly line is worth a try too. I find the fish can be incredibly picky when it comes to fly choice and on a bright day I repeatedly change flies until I find something they are willing take. Dropping sizes is another trick which can make a difference, say moving to size 14 instead of a 12 for example.
Light winds and bright sunshine are never going to be easy to catch fish in, but by changing to either well presented dry flies or going sub-surface with buzzers or nymphs, you can still have some sport.
Claretbumbler 