Fly Recommendations

Zak Flaps

Hi,I'm fairly new to fly fishing. Have been 3 times in the last few months. Really enjoying it. So far i've fished in the same spot,a stocked lake in Offaly called lough cloghan.The season end on that lake on the 30th of november so i hope to go a few more times.
I wish to buy some trout flies for myself. Can anybody give me some good reliable trout fly recommendations? Dry and Wet?

Cheers.

Zak.

Doc Farrell

have a look around this site.

this is a chart for the Shannon region.

http://fliesofireland.buy.ie/reg_shannon.html

i'm hoping to get a little better informed myself over the winter and fish with a few older patterns next year.
(as well as with a few newer ones!)

Auldloon

What's it stocked with, rainbows?
Do you prefer to fish wets, drys, buzzers or lures or will you just be happy to catch a few fish?
How have you been doing so far?
If you could answer those questions I will give you a few suggestions.

Zak Flaps

Hi chuileog, I'd just like to catch some fish I suppose. It's stocked with rainbows and brown trout. Been 3 times,caught 2 fish. One on some sort of sedge. One on a booby. Like the dry fly fishing best. Although any suggestions welcome. Dry, wet , buzzers, lures etc .... Thanks very much.

DVD-Lots

I have fished Cloghan a few times lately with a couple of mates and have really gotten into it after complete failure on Ree for the last few months. We find dry flies the best as it is better sport tbh. Boobies always work well either static or stripped on the surface, daddies and dragonflies too have been a good success. Haven't had any success on lures or nymphs, matey got one on a buzzer on his first day ever fly fishing, with his first cast!!!

The trick is to fish into the evening and then head to the eastern end of the lake where there is a fantastic evening rise of mainly brownies if the conditions are right. Going into winter I'm not too sure myself what is going to be best so I would be interested in some advice too as I only really started fly fishing this year. Just got a small supply of poppers and some sedges and hoping to try them in the next week or so!

Tight Lines!

PS. Is it defo 30th Nov closing as I read that on the Fisheries Board too but wouldn't mind hearing it from the horses mouth? Are there any other fisheries in the midlands open this late for trout too?

Zak Flaps

DVD-Lots wrote: »

I have fished Cloghan a few times lately with a couple of mates and have really gotten into it after complete failure on Ree for the last few months. We find dry flies the best as it is better sport tbh. Boobies always work well either static or stripped on the surface, daddies and dragonflies too have been a good success. Haven't had any success on lures or nymphs, matey got one on a buzzer on his first day ever fly fishing, with his first cast!!!

The trick is to fish into the evening and then head to the eastern end of the lake where there is a fantastic evening rise of mainly brownies if the conditions are right. Going into winter I'm not too sure myself what is going to be best so I would be interested in some advice too as I only really started fly fishing this year. Just got a small supply of poppers and some sedges and hoping to try them in the next week or so!

Tight Lines!

PS. Is it defo 30th Nov closing as I read that on the Fisheries Board too but wouldn't mind hearing it from the horses mouth? Are there any other fisheries in the midlands open this late for trout too?

yeah,using the dry fly is more fun i'll agree...
what do you mean by "stripped on the surface"?
a mate of mine tends to go to (i think is) the east side of the lake in the evenings...
you need waders though to get out a little...i have none!!
he always seems to catch a few brownies...the daddy works for him...
i think it is closed on the 30th...not 100% sure though...

i know it's not in the midlands but rathcon in wicklow opens all year round...

Zak Flaps

Chuileog wrote: »

What's it stocked with, rainbows?
Do you prefer to fish wets, drys, buzzers or lures or will you just be happy to catch a few fish?
How have you been doing so far?
If you could answer those questions I will give you a few suggestions.

hi chuileog,still waiting to hear from ya!

Auldloon

Been busy but have also been thinking about my reply.
Im not in the best position to make suggestions having never fished that water, also where I live all brown trout fishing finishes at the end of the season which is in the next week or so.
The conventional thinking for catching rainbows in the colder months is to go deeper as the fish hold deeper in the water.
You may need a different line for this, say an intermediate.
If you still see fish feeding at the surface then drys fished static or wets/nymphs pulled just under the surface are worth a try.
If you cannot see any surface activity then you will need to present your flys deeper in the water where the fish will be.
If a method is not working for say 15 mins then you need to try something else.
Some of my favourites would be

Wets
Black spider plain, and with both gold and silver rib.
Black pennel
Waterhen bloa
Bibio
Ke-he black

Drys
Various klinks eg hares ear, black, olive
Cdc buzzer in olive and black
F-fly

Buzzers
Apps bloodworm
Black buzzer
Red hook(which is just a plain red hook no dressing at all)

Lures
Blobs in orange, lime green, pink and black. (These are deadly on their day)
Cats whisker
Damsel nymph.

Plenty there to be looking into.
I would also suggest that you think about where you buy your flys. For myself my catch rates have gone up dramatically since I stopped using cheap mass produced flys.
I get some of mine tied for me by various guys on a fly fishing forum who I can strongly recommend.
Or you cant go far wrong with fulling mill.
I will try and get back to this again but im very busy at the mo, also if you cant understand any of the above just ask. I will get back asap.

coolwings

When you are tooling up, it's hard to buy every pattern that the fish may decide to eat, and in the colour and sizes that that particular pattern can be purchased.
There is a value in knowing which fly patterns imitate several naturals approximately. The "ah sure it will do" principle allows you to go out with fewer flies, but most of the bases are still covered.

With that in mind here are some ideas:

Midge Pupa, size 12, 14, versions:silver body, black body, (summertime - green body), Silver Spider, Black Spider
General purpose dark nymph: size 12, 14, Black & Peacock Spider
Corixa: size 12, either white, cream or gold body
General purpose olive nymph: size 12, 14, Olive spider
Damselfly nymph and general purpose bottom living bugs: size 10, 12, Olive Woolly Bugger.
Sedge Pupa: Amber Longhorns, Green Longhorns or equivalent in size 12
Dry fly fun ... daddy long legs .. I probably would leave this out, but some folks like to doodle a lot.
Lures when you want a change: fancy lure : Blob; imitative fry lure : Alexandra

That boils it down to fourteen flies/sizes, and you know what? The B&P Spider and Midge Pupa do 2/3rd of all the work.
If you only got three it would be them and the Corixa, since the Corixa also doubles as a passable sedge pupa.

When you fish high in the water put on the 14s, when you fish mid water try the 12s, and for bottom crawling use 10s to 12s.

DVD-Lots

Zak Flaps wrote: »

yeah,using the dry fly is more fun i'll agree...
what do you mean by "stripped on the surface"?
a mate of mine tends to go to (i think is) the east side of the lake in the evenings...
you need waders though to get out a little...i have none!!
he always seems to catch a few brownies...the daddy works for him...
i think it is closed on the 30th...not 100% sure though...

i know it's not in the midlands but rathcon in wicklow opens all year round...

Stripped on the surface is using a fast retieve, creating a wake on the top of the water. This supposedly triggers some of the bigger teritorial fish to attack, I hav had some big hits and a couple of good takes on it. Ususally I leave the boobie just sitting there for 6-10 secs then start retrieving, using different speeds on each cast, just to vary it.

Yeah waders are good on the east side but there is 1 platform there that I caught 3 lovely fish from 1 evening, 2 brownies and a nice 3lb rainbow.

Going to Pallas on Sunday which is just down the road from Cloghan too, SFB Permit needed but no fees after that. Was there early in the year and got 14 small rainbows in a 4hr session, great fun!!!

Zak Flaps

Been busy but have also been thinking about my reply

wasn't trying to rush you chuileog!!
thanks for your detailed reply,very kind of you....
lough clochan finishes up on the 30th of october so still have a bit of fishing left...
at the moment,the fish are still rising so will stick with the dry fly for a while...

is intermediate line,line that sinks a little?
someone mentioned it to me recently...may buy some so...weight forward perhaps?
i will purchase some of the flies you mentioned...
i actually just oredered around 20 from John Norris of penrith....
good reputation...has fulling mill flies...
can't buy direct from fulling mill online...

one thing though,what exactly is a lure? how do you fish it?
is it wet or dry? i presume it's wet and you fish it deep???

sorry,i'm not long at fly fishing....2 months to be exact...but i'm enjoying it...

I will try and get back to this again but im very busy at the mo, also if you cant understand any of the above just ask. I will get back asap.

there is no rush,you've been very helpful and i appreciate it greatly...

zak.

Zak Flaps

coolwings wrote: »

When you are tooling up, it's hard to buy every pattern that the fish may decide to eat, and in the colour and sizes that that particular pattern can be purchased.
There is a value in knowing which fly patterns imitate several naturals approximately. The "ah sure it will do" principle allows you to go out with fewer flies, but most of the bases are still covered.

With that in mind here are some ideas:

Midge Pupa, size 12, 14, versions:silver body, black body, (summertime - green body), Silver Spider, Black Spider
General purpose dark nymph: size 12, 14, Black & Peacock Spider
Corixa: size 12, either white, cream or gold body
General purpose olive nymph: size 12, 14, Olive spider
Damselfly nymph and general purpose bottom living bugs: size 10, 12, Olive Woolly Bugger.
Sedge Pupa: Amber Longhorns, Green Longhorns or equivalent in size 12
Dry fly fun ... daddy long legs .. I probably would leave this out, but some folks like to doodle a lot.
Lures when you want a change: fancy lure : Blob; imitative fry lure : Alexandra

That boils it down to fourteen flies/sizes, and you know what? The B&P Spider and Midge Pupa do 2/3rd of all the work.
If you only got three it would be them and the Corixa, since the Corixa also doubles as a passable sedge pupa.

When you fish high in the water put on the 14s, when you fish mid water try the 12s, and for bottom crawling use 10s to 12s.

thanks so much coolwings for your detailed advice...i've ordered some of the flies you mentioned...actually oredered around 20 flies from John Norris online...

Zak Flaps

DVD-Lots wrote: »

Stripped on the surface is using a fast retieve, creating a wake on the top of the water. This supposedly triggers some of the bigger teritorial fish to attack, I hav had some big hits and a couple of good takes on it. Ususally I leave the boobie just sitting there for 6-10 secs then start retrieving, using different speeds on each cast, just to vary it.

Yeah waders are good on the east side but there is 1 platform there that I caught 3 lovely fish from 1 evening, 2 brownies and a nice 3lb rainbow.

Going to Pallas on Sunday which is just down the road from Cloghan too, SFB Permit needed but no fees after that. Was there early in the year and got 14 small rainbows in a 4hr session, great fun!!!

never heard of pallas...must check it out...
just purchased some flies online,just to start my collection...
cheers dvd lots...

Zak Flaps

I get some of mine tied for me by various guys on a fly fishing forum who I can strongly recommend

Do any of these guys have a website that I can buy from?

Auldloon

Zak Flaps wrote: »

Do any of these guys have a website that I can buy from?

Yes Phil does. Not the quickest as he ties to order but excellent quality and service. I have never met him btw so its not a plug:)
http://www.spidersplus.co.uk/

An intermediate is a slow sinking line. Weight forward should be good and be a little easier to cast for a beginner.
If you register on here
http://www.flyforums.co.uk/
a member called The Pitsford Pirate sells all sorts of lines at good prices. He will give you any advise you would need in helping to choose a line. Phil is also a member of that forum.
Again no connection with either guy.

Zak Flaps

Chuileog wrote: »

Yes Phil does. Not the quickest as he ties to order but excellent quality and service. I have never met him btw so its not a plug:)
http://www.spidersplus.co.uk/

An intermediate is a slow sinking line. Weight forward should be good and be a little easier to cast for a beginner.
If you register on here
http://www.flyforums.co.uk/
a member called The Pitsford Pirate sells all sorts of lines at good prices. He will give you any advise you would need in helping to choose a line. Phil is also a member of that forum.
Again no connection with either guy.

thanks again chuileog,checked out phil's site...great looking flies...
i'll give him some business...
also,i'll contact pitsford pirate and check out his prices...i was on the forum and lots of people there recommend him...free advice is welcome also!

Zak Flaps

Chuileog wrote: »

Yes Phil does. Not the quickest as he ties to order but excellent quality and service. I have never met him btw so its not a plug:)
http://www.spidersplus.co.uk/

An intermediate is a slow sinking line. Weight forward should be good and be a little easier to cast for a beginner.
If you register on here
http://www.flyforums.co.uk/
a member called The Pitsford Pirate sells all sorts of lines at good prices. He will give you any advise you would need in helping to choose a line. Phil is also a member of that forum.
Again no connection with either guy.

cheers for the heads up chuileog...i was in contact with the Pirate and he's sorting me out with some line...
he was also great with the advice....

alfranken

flyforums is a great website if you've just started, next stop fly tying.