Ireland on the Fly

This week we’re joined by Julie Gerry, former winner of the World Cup on Mask – and the only woman to have won it to date, she’s captain of the Irish Ladies Fly Fishing team, and now also Youth Officer with the Irish Trout Fly Fishers Association. Julie tells us how, despite the success of Irish fly fishing teams, it is still a struggle to get more youths and women into the sport, and how maybe we...

This week’s guest on Ireland on the Fly is a fly tyer and fly angler well known to many from fairs around Ireland and abroad and it was only when he moved to Ireland over twenty years ago that he discovered fly fishing and quickly embraced the sport, especially fly tying. Having been originally from the Caribbean it’s no surprise that saltwater fly fishing remains his first love, but John also has...

This week on Ireland on the Fly, we turn our attention to the famous River Slaney.  The river that was once the doyen of spring salmon rivers in Ireland has suffered more than most in recent times but there are still anglers and custodians of the Slaney that are fighting to keep it going and recover. And to hear more about their work, as well as those halcyon days, we’re joined by Richard Burgess,...

This week’s Ireland on the Fly is another book club episode with returning author, Dan O’Donovan, whom we spoke to previously about his book, The Salmon of the River Lee. Dan has also written a very popular monograph on Sidney Spencer, who was a renowned angler and author on lough-fishing for salmon and sea-trout in the north-west of Ireland and the Western Isles of Scotland, and we speak to Dan a...

Some of you may recall the devastating fish kill that occurred last May on the Ballymacraven River in Ennistymon, Co. Clare. It is estimated that in excess of 2000 fish were killed in this incident.  This culminated in a court case on February the 16th, taken by the I.F.I. where Uisce Éireann admitted liability for this event and were fined over €15,000.  Tom spoke to Jane Gilleran who is an Envir...

John Lalor, the well-known Tipperary salmon and trout angler, joins us on the latest Ireland on the Fly podcast to talk about his fishing life on the River Suir and beyond. John’s new book, ‘Fish Scealta: Game Fishing from Alaska to Lapland and the Swedish Arctic’ covers his remarkable fishing life beyond Tipperary covering many of the bucket list destinations we can only dream about – as well as...

Jimmy Tyrrell, the well-known fly tyer based outside Abbeyleix in Laois, joins us on this week’s Ireland on the Fly. Jimmy talks about his fly fishing and fly tying journey from tying flies he could fish with on his local rivers to supplying shops and customers as far afield as Australia.  And for those of you who want to know the perfect way to mix your dubbing, it involves a Chinese takeaway car...

For this week’s episode we’re joined by Dave O’Donovan, the Cork-based international angler who loves nothing better than fishing his local Awbeg and Funcheon rivers. With most of the rivers in Cork and Kerry open for trout from February 15th, we spoke to Dave about fishing in the early season and why wet fly tactics are a particular favourite. Listen on Apple or Spotify: Early Season Buzzer Tacti...

With the opening of the Blackwater on February 1st, we caught up with Conor Arnold, the guide and casting instructor who we spoke to previously on the show, to find out how opening day went on the river and what we can expect over the next few weeks. Conor also has some good advice on how to tempt the early season springers, plus he tells us how he fared on his recent trip to Patagonia where doubl...

Neil O’Shea, the long-standing ghillie on Lough Currane whose family have been guiding on the lake for nearly 150 years joins us on this week's Ireland on the Fly and what Neil doesn’t know about Currane probably isn’t worth knowing….. We speak to Neil about the opening few weeks on Currane, the good and the bad days for the lough, why you’ve a good chance of a springer in the coming months and ho...

For this week’s episode we’re joined by Eamonn Conway, a well known angler from Dundalk, who in 2016 took the leap and decided to set up his own fly fishing company called Táin Fly Fishing. Its range includes fly rods, reels, lines and leaders and Eamonn talks to us about the challenges of setting up and running a fly fishing company and why he wants Táin to be like the Tayto of fly fishing in Ire...

For this week’s episode we speak to an Irish fly angler who is now not only living and fishing in Sweden but also represents his adopted country at World Championship level. Wicklow’s Graham Reynolds tells us about the incredible fishing that’s to be had in Sweden and how, despite his early struggles in the competition scene over there, he kept at it and in a few years it led to him fishing at the...

After a long hiatus we have another book club episode this week and this time we’re focusing on O’Gorman and the Practice of Angling from 1845. Who was O’Gorman you may be asking?  In many ways he was the Izaak Walton of Irish fly fishing (albeit a lot better at writing!) whose book in the 1800s gives a glimpse of the halcyon days of Irish fishing. This week’s guest is Patrick Gageby, barrister an...

We’re back for another year, another season and more interviews and conversations in 2024, and to kick things off we’re joined on this week’s episode by Shane Gallagher of the Drowes Fishery where the season traditionally starts on January 1st. Shane has all the latest from the opening few days, including news of the first salmon of the season from the Leannan River which was a fresh fish off Watt...

It’s only a few days to Christmas and if you’re looking back on the year that was or looking ahead to the season to come, we’ve put together a special second volume of our Most Memorable Fish on the Fly series. Sit back, listen and enjoy as some of our guests from the past year bring us on a journey across lakes, rivers and oceans to tell us the story of the fish that means so much to them…..Our t...

If you're a fan of fly fishing writing and magazines then you've most likely heard of The Drake - an American quarterly that's been running for 25 years featuring some of the best writers covering the why rather than the how of fly fishing. It's got a unique voice run by its founder, publisher and editor, Tom Bie, who is also a regular visitor to these shores, sampling the brown trout and salmon f...

We hear plenty of stories of sea trout on the west coast of Ireland, but what about sea trout in the salt on the east coast where the fish are bigger, and if recent catches are anything to go by, fish numbers are improving as well? Mick McShane is a well known fly angler from Dundalk who will throw a fly at pretty much anything that swims, but he has a special grá for the sea trout around Carlingf...

As we head into December and are stuck in winter – although fear not, the opening of the Drowes is only a few weeks away – you’re also probably stuck at the vice dreaming of the fly to tie to catch your first salmon of the season in 2024. So, for this week’s episode we wanted to concentrate on salmon flies and fly tying and we’re joined by Anthony McCann from Belfast who, although only taking up s...

You might remember we covered the FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championships back in September with daily updates from Ireland team captain, Dec Conlon, and one of the star Irish performers from the tournament was a young angler by the name of Sean Dempsey. Sean joins us on this week’s show and having fished three Worlds already in his 20s, he gives us some real insights into the elite level of f...

If you’re not into rugby, stick with us as we do also cover fly fishing on this week’s episode with Mike Cosgrave, the former coach and centre for Connacht who is also a passionate fly angler and who fished Corrib and Mask as a kid growing up. While he still fishes the Western Loughs, Mike’s other great love is Montana.  He has fished the fly fishing spiritual home of America over a dozen times an...

Last year we covered the impact of salmon farming on the famous Loch Maree in Scotland, but what about its impact on the wild salmon and sea trout here in Ireland and just why is the government looking to help the industry develop further in the face of its damaging ecological effects? For this week’s episode we’re joined by John Murphy from Salmon Watch Ireland, to tell us more about the work the...

We’ve all seen the pictures of far flung fly fishing destinations with anglers holding huge fish and a guide beside them looking just as happy to have seen such a monster fish landed, and I’m sure you’ve probably thought, now that’s a job I wouldn’t mind doing. Working, living and fishing in some of the most incredible fly fishing destinations in the world, how could you not love it? But what’s it...

For those of you kicking your fly tying season into gear over the coming weeks and months we’ve a special guest on this week’s show. Davie McPhail, the legendary Scottish fly tier, joins us to discuss his career in fly fishing, how he got started in fly tying, his huge online following via YouTube, and he gives us some tips and advice for improving your fly tying….. Rate, review and follow the sho...

With the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having lately – although this is probably going to be the new norm anyway – it’s also a good time to be casting a fly in the salt with bass fishing particularly good at this time of year. But how has the 2023 saltwater season been overall?  Were the bass biting and what about other species like pollack and mullet?  Guide and instructor, Jason O’Riordan...

You may have seen the disgraceful stories in recent weeks about the terrible pollution of Lough Neagh that has been occurring unabated and which has been poisonous for humans and animals, since May. Lough Neagh is the largest freshwater lake in Ireland or the UK and due to an overload of nutrients, with agriculture mainly responsible, scientists are saying it could take 20-30 years for the lake to...