GAME FISHING IN IRELAND

e [Music] [Applause] this is us a land of waters a land of clear Rich Lakes where trout grow big and red fleshed of winding Rivers draining the Great Central Limestone plain of Rocky streams falling to the sea from Lonely locks hidden among the Moors and hills of the Far West from Christmas onwards the sea fed Atlantic salmon Ascend most of the larger Rivers they swim deep because the water is still cold and don't show themselves much but when the angling season opens in February or March they're lying in the pools fresh run strong and ready to seiz aure worked past them in the early months of the season it's usually necessary to get Allure deep close to the resting fish and in big Waters SP usually produces most [Music] action the bait is cast out and swings round in the current past where the angler hopes a salmon is lying in every reach of a river they have their favorite lies and low knowledge plus an eye for water is essential to success the likely spots are kep carefully fished salmon are unpredictable they don't feed in fresh water but seize aure because of curiosity or irritation or through reflex action developed during their sea feeding and triggered off by the flashing of a bait swinging past them in the river they must be tempted persuaded to take persistence is rewarded a salmon has taken the lure and B has [Music] joined some Anglers claim that the disadvantage of a tailor as against a gaff is that you must have someone to handle it for you you well this is a most interesting demonstration in view of that [Music] argument and finally a nice fish is grasped just tipping the scale at 10 [Music] lb in the spring the Angler's fancy doesn't always turn to thoughts of salmon the brown trout holds a special place in the affections of many fish and wet fly fishing in early spring when the world is waking up again has its attractions indeed trout is the favorite Quarry of most Irish [Music] Anglers with two or three small and lightly dressed flies on his cast The Angler searches the rippled water where trout lie among the stones are in the [Music] Eddies he's in a a state of constant expectancy sharply watching for the swirl or pluck of a rise now he tries a pool further down the flies swing round drifting with the current arise he strikes and a trout is on [Music] [Music] these Spring River trout usually average about a half a pound before very long there's another one on a bit better this time [Music] now a third one it seems to be much smaller than either of the others I'm afraid this looks more like kidnapping than Angling [Music] well there's only one thing to do with a chap that size carefully now he lived to fight another day in the big legs too the wet fly takes its share of trout in Spring these big sheets of water from 2,000 to 40,000 acres in extent hold good fish fishing is done from a boat drifting before the wind and the Flies are bigger than those used on rivers they're cast down wind and retrieved fast or slowly according to the breeze and the wave here on L mask in County Mayo two Anglers are trying their luck they rely on tried and proven wet fly patterns conamara black Clarett and malard and golden Olive Jack Stack also shows his own special contest winner which he's named Grace Kelly Patty hard feels hopeful there's a nice wave a mild Breeze and a broken Sky spring is in the air and things look promising Jack Stack gets the first one on Michael row goes into action [Music] the average weight of trout taken on the fly in these Lakes varies from a pound in some Waters to as much as 4 pounds in other [Music] waters some lakes also hold so-called ferox trout usually found in the vicinity of deep water feeding mainly on fish and growing to 30 lbs in [Music] weight these giant trout are caught mainly by trolling with large baits however but trout of up to 8 lb or more are regularly taken on the fly so the Limestone angler needs plenty of line on his wheel and must treat every rise to his fly with the caution necessary if his first contact with what may be a very is not to be his last contact with it [Music] [Music] by April the swallows have come and the trees are in leaf hatches of fly on the rivers have become abundant and more consistent in the more Placid streams on the Limestone the trout are taking a considerable interest in surface food now the dryly comes into its own Limestone waters are clear and limestone trout are [Music] big however the snags on these rich pastoral streams can be [Music] formidable the dryly angler finds this difficult challenging fishing but it's trout fishing at its best scanning the river we see plenty of rising fish there are some olives on the water so they're probably taking Olive duns let's pick out a likely fly a heckled Greenwell a ginger quill a ginger quill would be easy to see on the water and a dab of silicone floatant will keep it Riding High and Dry Bill Whitman stalks The Chosen fish carefully judging the length of the line by false [Music] casting now no not quite in the line of the fish try again just about right this time he has it and he's hooked in Clear Water like this you must be very gentle with the net one false move and he's off that's [Music] it a nice fish now let's see if we can do better Bill tries another Pool fairly free of snags luckily enough and there's another one on already and it's a real fighter this time [Music] catching a beauty like this really makes your day's fishing worthwhile despite the rushes and the reads from a limestone River to a limestone Lake lak sheilan a typical Lake of the Midlands as on most Irish Lakes various bodies have been busy restocking the waters as well as providing facilities for visiting Anglers such as signposts Landing stages car Parks Caravan sites and so on the Hawthorns are in Blossom on the Lake Shore and up from the mud of the lake bed after 2 years of lava life the mayfly nymphs are [Music] ascending they mol at the surface and the green Drakes ride on the water like little Yachts after they emerge from the cast skins [Music] the Skins drift away forly like tiny drowned [Music] ghosts as their wings dry the green Drakes flutter off and make for the bushes running the gauntlet of swallows and wagtails those that survive take refuge among the Hawthorn and [Music] Alders already the boats are out dapping the Dappers have long light rods and light lines which the breeze will waft out ahead of the boat blow line dapping is a method of fishing peculiar to the big lakes of Ireland two mayflies are put on a hook when carried out by the wind they drift or dap on the surface of the water even if John Reynolds had forgotten his carefully collected box of flies he would have no worry for in a good hatch everything in sight becomes covered with mayfly a swirl in the water and the Flies are gone give the trout a moment to get hold of them then strike usually the trout makes a long deep run at first The Long Rod bends over now he breaks the surface again however he's under control all the time and Bill Whitman soon has him in reach of the [Music] net and this is the score for the [Music] afternoon as evening Comes The Wind Falls light then dies away in the trees along the lake shore the mayflies gusted in the foliage are stirring already clouds of male mayflies are dancing above the trees and the females fly up through them soon the females will fly out over the lake to lay their eggs that task done they fall on the water wings outstretched [Music] dead in the evening the dead mayflies the spent Nets are sucked down by the big trout not yet satiated by the days feeding on nymphs and green draks the evening calm is the dry fly anger's opportunity to lure heavy trout with an artificial spent net a rising trout is located watch carefully for the Rings lake trout have no current to bring food to them so they crws in search of it the boat is handled to give the angler a chance to put his fly in the track of the feeding fish watch the fish rise left and right of his cast the fish is approaching and nerves are tense and he's taken it [Music] during the mayfly season the fish feed on after sunset in fact until it's too dark to see them [Music] anymore e when conditions are right for the spent net this performance can go on until 3 in the [Music] morning next morning in the Lakeside hotels stock is taken of the previous evening's catches notes are compared and lost fish be [Music] mourned and once again plans are made for another attack on the big trout that during the magic Fortnight of the mayfly keep even the most hardened anglers in a Perpetual state of dither delight and sometimes [Music] Despair and by the way there are comfortable hotels to be found close to all angling centers in Ireland when the hathorn and the mayfly are no more the game fisherman often turns from the streams and lakes of the Limestone to the small Morland rivers of the West Coast where the summer salmon are running in the Solitude of these Hills salmon and trout find the Primitive environment their nature needs for [Music] survival these are livelier salmon than the spring fish of the bigger Rivers they are ready and willing to swim up from the bottom to take aure there's no need to go down after them with big baits on these Rivers small flies will serve the anger's purpose [Music] better the fly is switched out over a likely pool the line has been greased to make it float and is mended Upstream so that the fly drifts slowly if there is no immediate response it is worth persisting action a lively salmon a light rod and a little river add up to thrills [Music] just about the same time these fish were caught a little further up the river The Familiar brown trout and the Silvery bright fish the Irish angler calls white [Music] trout summer showers bring welcome rain a small fresh down the streams brings the white sea trout up from the salt water into the coastal lakes and rivers these are not big fish but they're the pluckiest most dashing of all the salmon tribes and there's no better way of catching them than with fascinating names like Ross Watson's fancy bloody butcher the rise of a sea trout to a fly is quick and vigorous it plays with spirit and fire out of all proportion to its size [Music] Lake fishing for sea trout is probably one of the most enjoyable experiences an angler can have something to cherish for many a long day afterwards [Music] [Applause] [Music] however you can't keep Bill Whitman away from the hill streams [Music] Danny grick is in trouble he's caught the Weir as well as the [Music] fish but Bill has his own fish to look [Music] after unfortunately it's too late to help help Danny [Music] now but at least he did get his hook [Music] back salmon brown trout and nomadic sea trout have frequented Irish Waters since the glaciers retreated at the end of the Ice Age but in a few experimental Waters such as this Lake and County sigo rainbow trout have been stocked in recent Years also [Music] natives of the west coast of North America rainbow trout are a colorful hard-hitting hard fighting [Music] fish they've done very well in some of the places where they were introduced [Music] the [Music] the game Fish the salmon tribe demand clean Waters in The Rivers streams and lakes of Ireland fed by the shs of the Atlantic tempered by the Gulf Stream largely unspoiled by the industrial progress that has cost us so much of what is best in nature the salmon tribe find conditions to their liking and flourish accordingly for this reason Ireland has much to offer to the game fisherman [Music]