‘It’s been the strangest of seasons,’ George McGrath tells us on this week’s Ireland on the Fly.    George is a friend of the show and well-known fly angler based in Tipperary on the River Suir.  We’ve spoken to George previously about the nitrification of his stretch of the river that has seen it clogged with weeds during the summer making it all but unfishable.   But now, it’s so bad on the water, George has been forced to give up the trout rod during the summer months and go pike fishing...

It might be the off-season for many of us, but have you considered grayling fishing in the UK at this time of year?   Known as the Lady of the Stream, the grayling are best fished for in winter time and Mark Driver, one half of Piscari Fly, has plenty of experience fishing for them in Wales in the winter months and he joins us on this week’s Ireland on the Fly to give us the ins and outs of where and how to catch grayling on the fly.   Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on...

We’ve already released our river trout and salmon reviews of the season so now it’s time for this week's Ireland on the Fly episode focusing on Corrib, Sheelin, Melvin, Arrow and other loughs.   We spoke to Eamonn Ross and Mike Keady to find out how the fishing went throughout the season and what key learnings there were from the difficult conditions at times during the year.   Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on...

It's time for our salmon review of the season and who better to talk to than one of the most knowledgeable salmon anglers we know, Paddy McDonnell.   Paddy gives us an excellent run through of the season on the Moy, as well as the Owenduff, Owenmore and Carraghmore, plus we get into seal predation, coping with the conditions, the place and importance of the salmon in Irish culture and the vexed question of hatcheries – to hatch or not to hatch.   Plus, this week we’re linking up with the...

We’ve got the first of our season review episodes this week and we’re focusing on river brown trout with River Nore guide, Dan O’Neill, who gives us the lowdown on his local river as well as those nearby including the Kings and the Suir.     Dan will be telling us about conditions throughout the year, hatches and of course some of the fish highlights as well….   Thanks also to everyone who entered the competition for tickets to the Irish Fly Fair, the answer was Fermanagh as to what county...

We’re into October, the nights are closing in, and for some of you, pike fishing awaits, or evenings fly tying at the vice.   But the off season also means the Irish Fly Fair in November and this week’s guest is Darryl Mooney who tells us about his involvement as the fly manager and some of the incredible fly tyers who will be jetting in from around the world.   And we have two tickets to give away to the event – just listen to the question we ask about the fair during the show and email your...

It was very saddening to hear the news that John Gierach, the world famous and beloved fly fishing writer, has passed away at the age of 78. He was a huge inspiration to us here on Ireland on the Fly for his books, personality, style and approach to fly fishing as well as life.  There was much we could all learn from him. And so, in honour of the late, great John Gierach, we remember him with a repost of an interview we did with John in April 2023 when his last book, All the Time in the...

So, that’s pretty much it for the season for brown trout, sea trout and salmon fly anglers.  Currane, Sheelin and a few other lakes are still open until October 12th but for the vast majority of you the rods are being put away for the winter.   Over the coming weeks we’ll be reviewing how the season went on the rivers and loughs around Ireland for salmon and brown trout so stay tuned for those episodes…   But this week we catch up with a salmon angler who moved over from England just three...

This week we’re ‘following the fin’ with Louth native, Joe Quinn, who has been based in Mayo for the last fifty years, and is a well-known international angler who has fished for salmon, sea trout and his first love, brown trout.   We talk to Joe about brown trout on Lough Conn, night time sea trout fishing, why he ditched the salmon rod over twenty years ago and find out some special fishing stories from New Zealand.   Plus, he tells us how a GoPro retirement present to himself has seen him...

We spoke last week about the disastrous escape of thousands of farmed salmon from Killary Harbour and the consequences that will have on the wild fish stocks on the west coast of Ireland.   Billy Smyth is chairperson and co-founder of Galway Bay Against Salmon Cages which has been instrumental in fighting the development of fish farms and raising awareness about their dangers in Irish waters and so for this week’s episode we spoke to Billy to get more information about the Killary Harbour...

For the last few weeks of the season we wanted to speak to fly anglers to find out how their season has gone.   You hear different stories about how conditions have been and how loughs and rivers have fared around the country, so what has it actually been like for anglers on the ground?   This week, James Barry, the fisheries scientist and highly accomplished all round fly fisherman, joins us with some of the highlights from his 2024 season, including a first trip to Patagonia, some...

It’s hard to believe but we’re into the final few weeks of the salmon and brown trout season and while you’re trying to fit in as much fishing as you can, for this week’s Ireland on the Fly we wanted to find out how some of the loughs are fishing for brown trout in September and we’re joined by Dominic Kerrigan, a fanatical fly angler who regularly fishes Melvin, Erne and Sheelin and he gives us his tips for this month.   Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on...

Glenda Powell, who is well known in Ireland and abroad as a fly casting instructor and guide on the river Blackwater joins us on this week’s Ireland on the Fly.   In recent years Glenda has also been organising trips for salmon, sea trout and Arctic char to places such as Patagonia, Greenland and Iceland and having just spent two months in the land of fire and ice catching her personal best Icelandic salmon as well as some incredible sea trout and brown trout, we decided to catch up with her...

This week  we speak to Judd Ruane, the well-known sea trout fishing guide on the Moy Estuary.     Judd talks to us about the incredible days he has had as well as some of the famous names that have been in his boat, plus you’ll also hear about 16 years on the road touring Ireland, the UK and America with a Glen Miller style big band.   It’s fair to say that Judd has more than a few stories to tell about sea trout and a whole lot more….   And if you want find out more about fishing on the Moy...

The Costello & Fermoyle fishery in Connemara is one that evokes historic nostalgia mentioned as it was in Kingsmill Moore’s A Man May Fish as a favourite location of his for sea trout.   The fishery comprises the Casla River and a series of lakes, including Glenicmurrin, Fermoyle, Clogher, and the Schoolhouse Loughs, set in beautiful scenery against the backdrop of the Twelve Pins mountains.   Although the numbers of sea trout are not as they once were, the Costello & Fermoyle fishery...

This week we’re joined by the prolific angling writer, Chris McCully.   Chris has been a regular contributor to Trout & Salmon magazine and in his spare time has written not just on fishing, but also English academic works as well as poetry.   In Ireland though he’s probably best known for 'Nomads of the Tides: Fishing for Irish Sea Trout', which he wrote with Ken Whelan back in 2013 and it’s still a hugely respected and definitive book on sea trout fishing around Ireland.   We’ve plenty...

Joining us on this week’s show is Paul Molloy from Oughterard whose family has been steeped in Irish fly fishing for generations living and working by the shore of Lough Corrib.   And as a kid growing up, Paul tells us of the mayfly market where they would be selling mayflies by the dozen and then as he got older how he got more and more into the fly tying side of things becoming an All Ireland Youths champion.   These days Paul lives in Tipperary but the call of the loughs is strong and he...

We’re nearly at the end of July and how has Ireland’s most prolific salmon river, the Moy, been doing in what’s been another difficult season?   We wanted to find out if the grilse run had given any positivity to anglers this summer and so we decided to catch up with East Mayo Angler Garrett Ruigrok to find out more.     Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple or Spotify, plus you can sign up for our newsletter on...

Mick O’Farrell is an Irish fly angler and is that rare breed who moved to the UK and subsequently established a high reputation for himself on the stillwaters in England, in addition to his prowess in Ireland.   He became well known for his book, ‘A Passion for Trout’ and could often be read in UK fly fishing publications discussing stillwater tactics and flies.   With best intentions to retire to Ireland, he has a new book out called, ‘Trout and Grayling Flies: An International Masterclass'...

For this week’s episode we’re focusing on salmon and the recent decision in Norway to close thirty-three of the country’s most prolific rivers in the southwest including the Gaula and Orkla.   It was a decision that caught many unawares, including anglers who were on their way out to Norway and one such angler was Johnny Casey who we spoke to before on the podcast about his love of salmon fishing and the next generation of the sport in Ireland.   Johnny tells us of his shock at the news when...

You may not be into competition fishing but when the FIPS-Mouche World Championships are on surely you can’t help but wonder how the Irish team fared when pitting itself against the best in the world at fly fishing on rivers and lakes?   This year the Worlds were held in the south of France where John Buckley, the Killarney angler, was the team captain, and while we might not be expected to medal going up against the likes of the French and the Spanish, the Irish team went out as always with...

Stevie Munn is a well-known name in Irish and UK fly fishing circles as someone who has worked in the tackle trade, guided and instructed and also set up the Irish Fly Fair first in Galway before moving to Enniskillen.   Stevie is a fanatical fly fisherman who will cast a fly for salmon, sea trout and brown trout – especially the beloved dollaghan trout of Lough Neagh which have included 20lbers in the past.   Growing up in Belfast at the height of the Troubles, Stevie tells us why fly...

The Dodder is a unique and special river that flows through Dublin’s south city boundaries with salmon, sea trout and incredible brown trout in it – a fact not many capital cities can claim.   But as an urban river it faces many, ongoing challenges and Mark McAndrew, who is on the committee of the Dodder Anglers Association and fishes the river practically every day during the season, joins us this week to tell us about the remarkable survival and growth of the Dodder river as well as the...

The 2024 salmon season is well under way and we're waiting for the grilse run, but having spoken to anglers around the country it appears that numbers are still down and following a similar path to 2023.   However, if you’ve been despondent and down in the dumps about the salmon, fear not, for this week’s guest, Sean McLaughlin, who is a salmon angler based outside Derry and a Loop Tackle ambassador, is here to put some positivity and hope back into the season.   He gives us reasons why we...