Time: 10:00AM – 4:00PM

Location: Private water.

River Nire 06/03/2025 Photo Album

With streams raging with run off in Colorado, I booked two days of fly fishing with Clonanav Fly Fishing in Ireland. The trip was not purely for fly fishing; as Jane, Amy, and Amy Jo joined me. Jane is my wife, Amy is my daughter, and Amy Jo is a friend. We launched our self-planned tour of Ireland on May 26 in Dublin, and the ladies dropped me off at the Glasha Farmhouse on Monday, June 2, and then they proceeded to Dungarvan on the southern coast for a couple days of relaxation, before we all returned to the states on Thursday.

Deep Pool

Enough about our trip. The purpose of this blog is to report on my fly fishing adventures, so I will move on to that topic. My guide, Kevin, collected me at 9AM on Tuesday morning in his spiffy Range Rover, and he transported me to the fly shop only a mile or two away. I pulled my provided waders and wading boots on and then slid into my light down coat and a raincoat. It was quite overcast and windy (common in Ireland), as we proceeded to the River Nire. We drove through a pair of gates and over a rough and barely visible two track, and we eventually parked in a pasture next to the stream.

Off and Running

Proud Fisherman

The River Nire was just as I imagined an Irish stream. Long and placid, deep pools were separated by short sections of sluicing faster water, and large deciduous trees arched over the waterway. I opted not to bring my fishing gear, and Kevin had two GuideLine rods rigged and ready to cast. The rods were secured in rod holders over the hood of the Range Rover. The four weight GuideLine was far softer than what I was accustomed to, so it took me a bit to adjust.

Another Irish Brown

Like a Lake

On my first cast I failed to load the rod, and this resulted in a short cast to some slow water twenty feet from my position. I lifted to execute a better cast, and I was shocked to feel the weight of a decent fish. Unfortunately it escaped, but what a start!

Surprised by This One

At the outset I was using a Klinkhammer dry with a pink and white wing post, and beneath this attractor was a size 18 flashback pheasant tail nymph. During the morning I primarily persisted with this arrangement, and it resulted in ten magnificent brown trout in my net. My expectation going into this trip to Ireland was catching five to ten small brown trout per day. Guess again. I landed thirteen in total on the day, and nearly all were in the fifteen to twenty inch range along with a pair of browns twenty inches or more. Wow, did these fish fight. Diving and head shaking were integral to their combative repertoire.

Look at the Bulk

After lunch I added three additional magnificent browns, and I had at least another four temporary connections. Two of the afternoon catch extended beyond twenty inches. It was simply outstanding.

This Section Really Produced

As mentioned earlier, the Klinkhammer and pheasant tail produced early, but the pheasant tail got swapped for a Frenchy perdigon part way through the morning. Two trout crushed the dry with the remainder duped  by one of the nymphs.

And Again

After lunch I fished mostly the dry/dropper, but we experimented with a tiny gray streamer as well. I detected one strong bump with the jigging streamer, but the pursuer failed to grab the fly a second time. My day ended in a stunning pool with a size 16 caddis with a yellow indicator on top for visibility. I fished it solo, and although I only landed three in the PM, two represented the largest of the day.

All In

Fishing in Ireland is more akin to Pennsylvania than Colorado. I made relatively long casts, and in many cases it reminded me of lake fishing. Patience was a necessity in these instances, as the fly chugged along slowly, but often enough a grab occurred after I waited out the drift. Tomorrow is another day. Hopefully Kevin was exaggerating how much today was above the norm to lower my expectations.

Fish Landed: 13

Nice Bend

Splendid