Some fishing in Ireland

[Binky]

WARNING: If you opened this post to see big, trophy fish, you're fucking shit out of luck. Nothing we caught will make you gasp and, frankly, we both suck at photography. On the other hand, we went fishing in Ireland, and that was pretty fucking cool.

Now, this was not a fishing trip per se, but a vacation on which we were able to do some fishing. In fact, we knew next to nothing about fishing in Ireland. Prior to our trip, we learned that most of the fishing at this time of year is on the loughs (lakes) in County Clare and that there is a decent mayfly hatch occurring on said lakes. We neither had the time, gear, nor money for expensive guides and boat rentals that would make lough fishing a reality. Instead, we had a Ford Festiva, a week away from responsibility and our kids, several B&B reservations, a fly rod each, as well as some spotty directions to spots where we could find fish.

Seeing that this was not a fishing trip, we only fished a few days while in County Kerry. We stayed on a farm B&B in Castlemaine. The fishing was somewhere down in this valley; we knew it.



Our hosts looked at us sideways when we asked where we could fish in the area. Apparently, not many Americans arrive with waders, boots, and rods. After being given directions--the Irish are really terrible at giving directions-- we set out in search of trout, and we got ourselves lost, even with the GPS. Finally, we decided to ask directions from a farmer who was tending to his cattle not far from a river we had been following. That landed us here, right beside his fields:





On our first day fishing this spot, it rained hard for most of the time we were in the river. This, by the way, is the River Maine. For those who are interested, and since TGR and most fishing forums shit themselves when GPS coordinates are posted, here they are:



I caught my first very small and very colorful native brown trout:









A few days later, following plenty of traveling about County Kerry, we returned to this spot. Since we knew there were fish here, and we could now find it (and so can you!), returning made sense. Plus, the sun was out; there was a rainbow; and, there was a small hatch of some sort (I am not an entomologist).









We met some locals spin-fishing just up river. They said that the size of the fish we caught was fairly normal. At this section of the river, fish are smaller. Later, as they grow, they move downstream. Some head out to sea and others grow up to 2lbs and hang out along the bank.

I will be posting a full travel review in padded room in a few days. I just wanted to drop this here. I don't give a fuck about how small the trout were. I caught fish far away from home in another country. That's good enough for me.

[plugboots]

Pretty fucking cool. I did the exact same thing on a trip to Italy.

[Binky]

It was worth the minimal hassle of packing gear. We fished until 11:00 PM both nights and there was still enough light to breakdown gear by the car. Crazy experience

[2FUNKY]

That's awesome man! Thanks for posting it! Looks like a great time, small fish be damned.

[Binky]

Last night, after reviewing close to 1000 pictures, I found two more fishing related ones.

We drove to this beach and castle on the way back from driving the Dingle Peninsula. The rocky beach itself was stunning. I happened to glance into the stream that flowed beside it as we were walking up to the castle. Of course, there were more small trout swimming around. We didn't have any luck landing them, but my wife has an awesome memory of fishing in front of a castle less than 10 yards from the ocean.

[ienjoydrinkingbeer]

Masterpiece of a TR. It's the size of the experience that matters; not so much the size of the fish. ^ Great pic.

[Sparky]

Thanks for posting, bars of gold in your hands there. Some will stay that size, some will grow on to a few pounds and some will migrate to sea and come back in double figures.

[skifishbum]

cool shit shared bump