Lough Corrib

trevp

Anyone had much luck on the corrib yet? Been out once and no luck. What flies are they taking if you've got any. Hoping to get up there this weekend. Not looking good up there with all the weed i noticed.

ive been out a good bit seen loads of small black flies on the water but not a single rise to them

Paparazzo

I heard an 18 pounder was caught on a rapala in the first week

stevie_b

Bring the net!

http://fishinginireland.info/news/trout-reports/big-ferox-on-corrib/



Buzzers and Duckfly patterns are catching fish from what i've heard.

Caribs

Was out yesterday afternoon in the Oughterard Bay area. Too much sun, not enough wind and a huge amount of fly hatching meant I didn't even see a rise let alone be able to cast to one.

Often wondered in the midst of a huge hatch how many buzzers and emergers are being taken sub-surface so the chances of fishing coming up to the surface are lessened?

First time out this season so didn't care, great to be out and tight (and safe) lines for the season..!

slowburner

Caribs wrote: »

Was out yesterday afternoon in the Oughterard Bay area. Too much sun, not enough wind and a huge amount of fly hatching meant I didn't even see a rise let alone be able to cast to one.

Often wondered in the midst of a huge hatch how many buzzers and emergers are being taken sub-surface so the chances of fishing coming up to the surface are lessened?

First time out this season so didn't care, great to be out and tight (and safe) lines for the season..!

I fished Oughterard bay donkey's years ago with a group of well known Welsh anglers in very similar conditions - calm, sunny, a big duckfly hatch, and no fish rising.
It seemed like a total waste of time to me (I never even touched, let alone caught a fish), but the Welsh boys nearly filled their boats.
Naturally enough, I had to find out what they were doing differently.
They fished an intermediate line for starters. Their leaders were around 20 feet long and they fished two flies.
They targeted deeper pockets of water amongst the shallows, or drop-offs, especially around islands. A long cast was followed by a long delay to let the flies go down, and the retrieve was so slow the flies almost went backwards.
The theory is straightforward; you need to present similar fly patterns to the fish at the same depth, and at the same speed as the naturals.
The pupae of the ducklfly drift motionless towards the surface during a hatch. The trout are probably taking them at some point on the way - it's up to the angler to figure out the right depth.

ironbluedun

Caribs wrote: »

Often wondered in the midst of a huge hatch how many buzzers and emergers are being taken sub-surface so the chances of fishing coming up to the surface are lessened?

yes, when buzzers are hatching and you cant see any fish at the surface, you can be sure that some fish are feeding deeper down. time for a slim fast sinking buzzer on the point.

Caribs

@Slowburner - what you describe is very like the approach using buzzers which I haven't tried but can be very effective.

I was using an intermediate line and was drifting over the shallows and drop offs but had wet flies as opposed to the buzzers.

Might sneak out and use some buzzers when no one is looking

slowburner

Oh it's effective alright

Caribs

Tried the buzzers yesterday but no luck.

However I did see fishing rising (behind me of course once I'd drifted past) and at one point saw two lovely trout feeding on the surface right beside me. It was like watching grey mullet in a harbour they were so close and were feeding freely on a big hatch of fly on the surface. They bolted as soon as they saw me and I didn't have any other flies with me to change tactics as my time was limited.

Not telling anyone where I saw them though, they're my precious and I'll be back..!!

slowburner

Caribs wrote: »

Tried the buzzers yesterday but no luck.

However I did see fishing rising (behind me of course once I'd drifted past) and at one point saw two lovely trout feeding on the surface right beside me. It was like watching grey mullet in a harbour they were so close and were feeding freely on a big hatch of fly on the surface. They bolted as soon as they saw me and I didn't have any other flies with me to change tactics as my time was limited.

Not telling anyone where I saw them though, they're my precious and I'll be back..!!

Sounds like you're on the money.
Time for a floating line and an anchor :eek:. Locate the feeding fish, drop the anchor (very quietly). Let things settle for a little while.
After that it's all about delicate casting and having the confidence to just stay in touch with the flies - no retrieve at all is best - all you are doing is keeping the line straight in anticipation of the strike.
When fish take under these circumstances, it is very gentle. That's a good thing because you know you have fooled a feeding fish rather than just making him attack something.
Were they 'head and tailing' by any chance?

Caribs

Whats head and tailing?

gary29428

Had 9 with buzzers on Wed. Best was 4.5. Fish are only coming on for short periods which is what you'd expect with so much fly about. All the fish were taken in 2 short periods throughout the day including 3 in 3 casts in the afternoon. I've never seen the lake so quiet with very boats out. I don't know if the early hatch has caught people out or visiting anglers are not travelling. One thing is for sure there are countless fish saved over the period of this years duckfly as normally the lake is very busy with boats everywhere.....

slowburner

Caribs wrote: »

Whats head and tailing?

It's when the trout take the suspended pupa of the buzzers from just under the surface. It can happen too if they are taking snails from the surface film.
It's easily recognised by the way the fish take them - in a slow arc where you often see the trout's head break the surface, followed by its back, and its tail.
A bit like the way you'd see dolphins break the water as they travel, only more leisurely.
At other times, the trout take them with a very gentle sip, which hardly breaks the surface at all - sometimes you can even hear a sort of popping sound when they're feeding like this.
It can be the most exciting trout fishing of all, I think. You just never know what size of fish is making those tiny little dimples.

Stealth and boatcraft are crucial to success in these circumstances.

ironbluedun

gary29428 wrote: »

Had 9 with buzzers on Wed. Best was 4.5. Fish are only coming on for short periods which is what you'd expect with so much fly about. All the fish were taken in 2 short periods throughout the day including 3 in 3 casts in the afternoon. I've never seen the lake so quiet with very boats out. I don't know if the early hatch has caught people out or visiting anglers are not travelling. One thing is for sure there are countless fish saved over the period of this years duckfly as normally the lake is very busy with boats everywhere.....

that's good fishing 4.5lb on buzzer would give a great fight.

Caribs

The fish weren't head and tailing as you describe but you could certainly see them feeding. At first it was only really small dimples on the water as they sucked down the flies from the surface but then you could see the dorsal and tail fins coming out of the water as they swam along the surface.

I've never seen this before but it was very calm so might be a normal behaviour. It was very exciting though and the fish were a good size judging by the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail.

Lets hope they are still there for next time

slowburner

Tight lines!

stylie

Caribs wrote: »

The fish weren't head and tailing as you describe but you could certainly see them feeding. At first it was only really small dimples on the water as they sucked down the flies from the surface but then you could see the dorsal and tail fins coming out of the water as they swam along the surface.

I've never seen this before but it was very calm so might be a normal behaviour. It was very exciting though and the fish were a good size judging by the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail.

Lets hope they are still there for next time

Its very normal behaviour. When feeding on large quantities of small flies, chrimonids or ceanis they will feed like this, has to be calm obviously. They cruise around like little basking sharks in the sun. Its exciting watching them but frustrating at the same time. I have seen some very large fish doing this, 6lb + also when the Mayfly are think on the water they trout will do this aswell. You have to be very quiet and stealthy. They are boat shy and it only takes a small knock of an oar and they will go down