For some, 6am is an early start. For others it’s even earlier.
The day started at 9am. Christophe and Gerome, 2 young lads from France, had just finished their breakfast when I rolled in. A quick how do you do and a breakdown of what, where, when and we were off.
The wild garlic fragranced the air as we drove down the long back road onto the Ballinagh rd passing hunting dogs and tractors. Fifteen minutes later and we were admiring the Annalee River at Ballyhaise, my standard starting point for most of my trips. At the car we discussed what flies and techniques to use and ten minutes later we were thigh deep in paradise. Starting at the tail end of a lovely riffle run, we fished up stream nymphs high sticking as we went along. In the first ten minutes, Christophe was into his first fish. Beaming from ear to ear, he held up his pretty, hard fought, six inch roach. Not the start we wanted but a start none the less. Gerome took a bit longer to catch his first but when he did, they came fast after. Ten meters up from the start and already they had six fish between them. We fished up to where the river splits and I had Gerome fish the right hand stream while Christophe fished the left till they met at the weir at the three hundred year old Ballyhaise Bridge. At the weir the two lads picked up another five a piece. At this stage I suggested a lunch break. We walked back to the cars where we had a quick lunch. Allan and his lovely wife Audrey kindly packed the lads a light lunch to get them through the day. Soon, tales long and tall were being told of varying size fish with various methods at as many venues. A quick change of tactics and we were off again. This time I had Gerome fish from the riffle tail up stream with a French leader and Christophe I had far upstream fishing across and down with a PTN on point and a soft hackle on the dropper. Gerome hooked into a few fish and loss a thirteen incher. Remarkable as it was Gerome first attempt with this method. Christophe did very well and caught most of his fish on the PTN at the bottom of the swing. Having exhausted that stretch of the river we moved onto the Cavan River which runs through the town of Cavan for a spot of urban fishing. Unfortunately we had limited success and decided to move onto the next part of the day. Back onto the Annalee River, down at a stretch called Deradus. This is a mixed fishery area with Trout, Perch, Roach and Pike in the large pool. Unfortunately the water was a bit too high for this part and no fish were caught. At this stage the lads were exhausted and starving for the dinner Audrey prepared. The sun was painting the sky crimson and orange as we made our fond fare wells and went home tired but well satisfied with a day spent in pursuit of those elusive speckled gold bars of joy.
The day started at 9am. Christophe and Gerome, 2 young lads from France, had just finished their breakfast when I rolled in. A quick how do you do and a breakdown of what, where, when and we were off.
The wild garlic fragranced the air as we drove down the long back road onto the Ballinagh rd passing hunting dogs and tractors. Fifteen minutes later and we were admiring the Annalee River at Ballyhaise, my standard starting point for most of my trips. At the car we discussed what flies and techniques to use and ten minutes later we were thigh deep in paradise. Starting at the tail end of a lovely riffle run, we fished up stream nymphs high sticking as we went along. In the first ten minutes, Christophe was into his first fish. Beaming from ear to ear, he held up his pretty, hard fought, six inch roach. Not the start we wanted but a start none the less. Gerome took a bit longer to catch his first but when he did, they came fast after. Ten meters up from the start and already they had six fish between them. We fished up to where the river splits and I had Gerome fish the right hand stream while Christophe fished the left till they met at the weir at the three hundred year old Ballyhaise Bridge. At the weir the two lads picked up another five a piece. At this stage I suggested a lunch break. We walked back to the cars where we had a quick lunch. Allan and his lovely wife Audrey kindly packed the lads a light lunch to get them through the day. Soon, tales long and tall were being told of varying size fish with various methods at as many venues. A quick change of tactics and we were off again. This time I had Gerome fish from the riffle tail up stream with a French leader and Christophe I had far upstream fishing across and down with a PTN on point and a soft hackle on the dropper. Gerome hooked into a few fish and loss a thirteen incher. Remarkable as it was Gerome first attempt with this method. Christophe did very well and caught most of his fish on the PTN at the bottom of the swing. Having exhausted that stretch of the river we moved onto the Cavan River which runs through the town of Cavan for a spot of urban fishing. Unfortunately we had limited success and decided to move onto the next part of the day. Back onto the Annalee River, down at a stretch called Deradus. This is a mixed fishery area with Trout, Perch, Roach and Pike in the large pool. Unfortunately the water was a bit too high for this part and no fish were caught. At this stage the lads were exhausted and starving for the dinner Audrey prepared. The sun was painting the sky crimson and orange as we made our fond fare wells and went home tired but well satisfied with a day spent in pursuit of those elusive speckled gold bars of joy.