By Michael Martin, Six Mile Water Trust
The New Season Beckons
To be afloat on an Irish Limestone Lough during the Mayfly is a magical experience.
W
alking through the frozen countryside it’s hard to imagine the transformation which will occur over the next few months. The desolate landscape seems bereft of life but beneath the frozen earth the pulse of Mother Nature is beating strongly, the fallen leaves of Autumn are leaching nourishing nutrient through the soils and when the warmth of longer days calls new life to spring forth a new landscape will appear, lush herbage, a forest canopy to welcome and sustain a new generation of plants and animals. Beneath the frigid waters of lough and stream, life goes on as normal throughout the winter, the shrimps, nymphs and caddis busy themselves foraging and the trout recover from their autumnal spawning activities. Now that the shooting season is behind us, the angler’s instinct kicks in and we are thinking about the new fishing season. The game shooting will provide a stock of fly-tying materials – pristine bronze mallard, pheasant tails, teal and partridge. Angling club meetings (now virtual meetings), WhatsApps and Facebooks are buzzing, new fly patterns are discussed, the older traditional patterns are given a 36
makeover, new materials breath life into old ideas. Everyone likes new toys and there’s usually a new reel, rod or net to added to the list of (essential!) items to be acquired. I still have a beautiful ten foot, four weight Guideline Fario rod bought last year which unfortunately didn’t see a lot of action but hopefully this year it’ll be guiding nymphs and skating sedges through my local river and maybe delicately dropping dry buzzers and sedge patterns at dusk on Lough Erne or Arrow should we be allowed to travel. By St. Patrick’s Day new life is evident along the river, snowdrops, (Galanthus or milk flower of the snow) will have been in bloom for a while, the primroses and daffodils will just be starting, the bright yellow stars of lesser Celandine show at the foot of hedgerows and woodlands’ edge bringing colour to a barren landscape. The dawn chorus will start with robins and blackbirds, joined by wrens and warblers as the days grow warmer. Below the surface of the cold, clear river nymphs of the large dark (spring) olive are stirring, Baetis Rhodani are the first up-wing fly to stir the trout and luckily they are quite widespread and fairly resilient to pollution.
Spring/Summer 2021 Irish Country Sports and Country Life
Nymphs are agile darters and are very capable swimmers Normally my trout fishing starts on St.Patricks Day, it’s my birthday and I always like to snatch an hour or two around midday in the bracing outdoors before retiring to the comforts of the pub and an open fire. Weather conditions are important for fishing the large dark olive, a cool, wet day will delay the emerging flies escape from the waters surface leaving it vulnerable attack by hungry trout, on dry days they hatch too quickly and on very bright days the hatch is usually sparse. The nymphs are agile darters and are very capable swimmers, they can be represented by hares ear or pheasant tail nymphs though I much prefer to imitate the duns with dry flies, a Greenwell, Kites Imperial or quill bodied emerger pattern is just the ticket. A typical early season recce would see me arrive at the river about eleven, a nice upstream wind blows skiffs of rain up the valley but the biting cold has gone and daffodils and primroses nod in the breeze. Occasionally the sun will glint through the sullen clouds bringing some colour to a dull day. I walk slowly upriver, thinking I’ve too much clothing under the waders but there’s a lot of
