Fly Fishing on the Dodder

dos30 · 22-04-2009 2:54pm #1

I started fly fishing recently, over the last few weeks I've gone to Rathcon and Annamoe lakes at the weekends. I caught a few nice trout using a nymph.:)

With the nice weather we're having I was looking for somewhere to go after work in the evenings and I came across an old thread where somewhere suggested the Dodder.

So I'm going to join the Angling club and give it a try. Does anyone have any advice for me? I've only fly fished in stocked lakes so any advice is appreciated.

Type of flies to use, technique to fish it?
Length of leader?
What are the best stretches of water for fly fishing, rapids, slow moving etc??

Maybe I should get a few books.:o

coolwings · 22-04-2009 3:46pm

Use a floating line
Use light leaders, eg 3lbs mono, or 5lbs fluoro clear
A rod length leader is about right for surface, 2/3rds rod length for sunk work.
Regard size 16 as standard size, going up or down by 2 sizes to cover 90% of all circumstances.
White midge, black gnat, large dark olive, red spinner, caenis, iron blue dun are very useful dry patterns. Olive nymph, gold ribbed hares ear nymph, pheasant tail nymph, same with beadhead, are very useful wet patterns.

Nozebleed · 22-04-2009 4:05pm

Was fishing the dodder today..down by bushy park. hundreds of trout laughing at me! me and my chandlers thats is...i was dropping the worm in front of the fishes nose and still they wouldn't bite..i also tried sweet corn and garden worms without luck,eventually i tried floating a fly and on my first cast i got a fish unfortunately he managed to wriggle off the hook. but just to let yall know..bushy park end of the dodder is full of fish. licence is only €10!which is great.

dos30 · 22-04-2009 4:13pm

Cheers lads,

I can't wait to get out there now, just waiting for my gear to get delivered.

I came across this blog by an English guy who was over here fishing, sounds like there's plenty of fish in it.

http://jeremiahquinn.blogspot.com/2007/09/dublin-dodder.html

stevenmu · 22-04-2009 4:30pm

First bit of advice is do it! There's plenty of fun to be had. I was out for a few hours last Saturday and Sunday and had a fantastic time, I didn't actually manage to catch anything but I had 4 or 5 takes each day, just kept missing them, I actually hooked one on the Saturday, my fly had drifted back past the fish I was targeting & I was looking upstream to see if anything else was rising when I felt a tug on the rod and looked back just to see a nice brownie dissapearing off

. The sunday in particular was mental, I found a nice little spot with 4 fish in it all rising (or at least 2 moving around a lot), and they were going for my fly but the current kept snatching it away from them, great fun all the same

.

Some more practical tips:
-The area from Rathfarnham Rd all along Bushy park seems to be quite good, and access is very good.
-As usual, the fish like features, bends in the river, pools after weirs, underneath overhanging trees/plants and areas of mixed water (shallow faster water with deeper slower spots).
-look for swarms of flies hatching and you may see fish rising to them, then just cast a dry 5/6 feet upstream of them and let the current take it down over their heads. Traditional wisdom when fishing dries is when the fish takes it to wait a second before striking to set the hook but I've been told that on the dodder you need to strike straight away. I think that's why above I kept missing them, I was waiting too long, whereas with the fish I've caught I've panicked and struck straight away

-I've been getting away with a leader of about 7/8 foot of straight 6lb flourocarbon, but that's overkill, I should really switch down to 3lb mono like coolwings suggests. And you definitely want to go shorter again for nymphs, it's very shallow unless you try one of the deeper pools and you'll spend a lot of time getting caught on the bottom (could be a good idea to use a float/indicator, not sure).
-There's a lot of trees and large bushes/shrubs etc along the banks which makes casting kind of tricky, but forces you to improve it greatly at the same time, if you haven't already read up on the basics of roll-casting, spey-casting and side-casting ( a good site is http://www.sexyloops.com/flycasting/tbasic1.shtml), it's a narrow river and you'll generally be casting fairly short distances so you don't need to be very good at them or know advanced techniques, but knowing the basic principle will be essential to getting your fly out in many places.
-The flies Coolwings suggests sound good to me, the one I was using at the weekend was an Iron Blue Dun, I've also had luck on an Olive CDC Parachute Emerger and I've been told by a few people there that Grey Dusters are good.

Actually, might pop up there this evening

coolwings · 22-04-2009 8:58pm

I'm just back from the Dodder. (9:45pm)

Countless rises from trout fingerlings and parr in the riffles as the evening rise got underway.

It's a difficult combination to deal with, one second you're striking into greased lightning fast baby trout, one after another, trying to get fast enough to hook one. Suddenly you hit a big one too fast, and lift it out of his mouth before he clamps down! I rose 2 good trout but missed the strike.

After a while I figured it out and stopped striking into the little guys, and it came right for the next trout to take. One 1/4 pounder on a dry Yellow Midge (size 18), returned.

An hour and a half of sheer pleasure.

stevenmu · 22-04-2009 9:25pm

Just back in a short while myself, I probably saw you there, was that you in wading?

Had a pretty similar situation to yourself except I struck into a fingerling and yanked the poor little guy clean out of the water and on to the bank, I got him back in lightening quick and he seemed unhurt and shot off straight away so hopefully he'll be ok. Had a take from a decent sized fish after but I was probably too cautious and he got away.

Not as much moving as at the weekend, but still a lovely evening out (apart from the little mishap).

coolwings · 22-04-2009 10:01pm

stevenmu wrote: »

Just back in a short while myself, I probably saw you there, was that you in wading?...

PM sent.

dos30 · 12-05-2009 2:40pm

So I finally got to fish on the Dodder last night.

Don't ever order anything from harrissportmail it took over 3 weeks to deliver my gear that was supposed to be in stock and dispatched the next day when I ordered it.

I started at around 7.30 at the bridge on the Rathfarnham rd and went down towards the Milltown direction, but it soon got too deep for waders.
So I turned around and made my way back up towards Bushy park. I couldn't see any fish rising so I was fishing a gold headed hare's ear nymph, but didn't have any joy with that. Probably due to me not knowing how to fish it properly:o.

Just when I was giving up hope and was making my way back to my car I spotted a trout rise. So on goes the little white midge, it was practically dark at this stage and nearly impossible to get the tippet through the eye of the hook. I eventually managed it and cast just upstream of the trout and up he comes and takes it.

He broke free after about 3 seconds, but that one take restored my enthusiasm and I'll be heading back down after work today.:D

So any tips on nymph fishing lads, I'd say the nymph I was using was around size 10-12, as that's all I have in the bag until the weekend. Is there any point even trying one this size? What kind of water is the best on the dodder for nymph fishing? Are the riffles too shallow?

coolwings · 12-05-2009 3:36pm

dos30 wrote: »

... Are the riffles too shallow?

During daylight, yes, but they are ideal at dusk, when trout will feed in inches of water if there is food for the taking.

Blackgrape · 12-05-2009 7:55pm

Register with this forum.

Very nice bunch of lads and very helpful

http://www.flyforums.co.uk/

dos30 · 13-05-2009 9:03am

Thanks for all your help lads, I went back down again yesterday after work armed with a wealth of information from here.

Caught 2 beautiful little brown trout using a pheasant tail nymph as suggested by coolwings.

PLOPS · 13-05-2009 12:36pm

Hey guys- i see you seem to fish the dodder a bit so i'm on here to ask if any one is interested in cleaning the dodder up and also make a few nice pool with the stones thats are in the river. Me and a few of the guys from the Dodder Angling Club do meet up and make a few pool and also clean up the **** thats floating around. I dont know if anyone was in the small park at the dropping well lately but we did a great job cutting down trees and forming weirs. The problem is i dont seem to see many people fishing the dodder ay more- and i think its become neglected. We have tried talk to Red ohanlon to encourage him to organise clean ups- but they dont happen. We all fly fish on the dodder so we do try make pool to suit fly fishers. If any one is interested write up on the thread and we see if we can get a few fellas together to make it the river i think it should and can be.

Plops (i'm a regular boards user, but decided to make a second profile):D;)

PLOPS · 13-05-2009 12:42pm

oh and a tip for anyone looking for flier to use- the smaller the better.
Very basic flier seems to work well- Black and silver spider- or grey duster(dry fly) if any one ties uo there flies- black and green works very well and black and orange work well too. Dusk is the best time as i see people have said on this thread. One problem for fly fishing at the moment is its a bit cold and the hatches dont seem to be happening.

coolwings · 13-05-2009 1:48pm

The hatches are diminished somewhat due to cold evenings this week, but I'm happy to say the trout are still rising freely to the midges still present.

firephish · 24-05-2009 8:56pm

hello,

just started fishing the dodder recently, great little stream. I'll definitely be trying some of the tips posted here, so thanks for the useful info

for inspiration here is a dodder jewel that come out (returned) at millstream a few days ago on an elk hair caddis. Missed about twenty others ... damn these dodder trout are fast!

picture.php?albumid=195&pictureid=1603

stevenmu · 25-05-2009 12:56pm

dos30 wrote: »

Caught 2 beautiful little brown trout using a pheasant tail nymph as suggested by coolwings.

Congrats on the fish, I still haven't managed to get one on nymphs yet but there was an article about them in this months Irish Angler so I'll have to give it a go again.

damn these dodder trout are fast!

They really are lightening quick. I get countless missed takes every time I go out, conventional wisdom is to wait a second after a take before striking, but I got a tip from someone that on the Dodder you need to strike almost before the fish even takes the fly and that's helped my catch rate hugely.

coolwings · 25-05-2009 2:17pm

The other strange bit of Dodder trout that happen to live alongside the linear parks: some smaller ones have great familiarity with bankside walkers, with the result that so long as the rod is low you get in impossibly close to some of them and they keep on rising. It's weird if you fished other rivers before.

stevenmu · 25-05-2009 2:48pm

Very true, I've been amazed to see a fish rise moments after a dog has been in splashing around beside it. And it may just be my imagination but they seem to rise more whenever someone stops to chat, I wonder if they can hear voices and know you're distracted so they pop up just to taunt you a bit

PLOPS · 25-05-2009 10:24pm

thats a lovely trout you got there. i've been missing trout too, they really are so quick. an one caught any thing big so far this year? half pound is as big as i have caught. i was down in the dropping well tonight- missed a few- was a bit cold and not much of a rise or a hatch.:mad:

firephish · 10-06-2009 11:48am

Here is a query for the dodder gurus. I understand that the dodder is stocked annually, but that it also supports a small head of wild fish that reproduce natuarally. Is there anyway to tell if you have caught a sticked or wild fish?

I know some waters mark stocked fish by clipping a fin or injecting dye? Anyone know?

Thanks,
m

Kippure · 21-06-2009 6:48pm

Remember this wednesday the 24th of june, dropping well carpark, 7pm. The maimi Cup.

Kippure · 25-06-2009 11:12am

A 6lb 9oz brown trout won the Miami Cup. Caught at the rathfarnam Water fall on a Peter ross.

It was a stocky from last year or this year maybe. There going to take scales and plot the history of the fish.

PLOPS · 25-06-2009 11:37am

Kippure wrote: »

A 6lb 9oz brown trout won the Miami Cup. Caught at the rathfarnam Water fall on a Peter ross.

It was a stocky from last year or this year maybe. There going to take scales and plot the history of the fish.

He looked older than that- he was the biggest fish i've seen on the dodder! i've got a picture whcih i will post up later- he made 2nd and 3rd look like minnow! He was some catch

Tarzan007 · 25-06-2009 12:00pm

stevenmu wrote: »

Very true, I've been amazed to see a fish rise moments after a dog has been in splashing around beside it. And it may just be my imagination but they seem to rise more whenever someone stops to chat, I wonder if they can hear voices and know you're distracted so they pop up just to taunt you a bit

It's bizarre all right. But like smelling, they have no sense of hearing.

coolwings · 25-06-2009 12:28pm

Oh they can hear allright.
On the Liffey you can close your car door.
The minnows instantly scatter out of the shallows and trout within 30 metres stop rising.

Kippure · 25-06-2009 4:26pm

PLOPS wrote: »

He looked older than that- he was the biggest fish i've seen on the dodder! i've got a picture whcih i will post up later- he made 2nd and 3rd look like minnow! He was some catch

Ill be tieing a couple of peter ross,s over the next few days.....

b.w.ollie · 10-07-2009 9:43pm

A clean up is being held on 15 july (weather permitting) meeting Rathfarnham bridge 7pm. we were out last wednsday (8th) too.
Plops (i'm a regular boards user, but decided to make a second profile):D;)[/quote]

Kippure · 13-07-2009 10:45am

There was still some rubbish not collected by the Co Council at rathfarnam bridge.

Each big flood brings down debris from the old dump beyond tallaght. You,d think the council would sort it....

Running Bing · 13-07-2009 7:29pm

Any point in fishing the Dodder during the day?

We're would be the best spots during daylight? Would it be more wet fly during the day?

yank_in_eire · 13-07-2009 9:03pm

I've caught fish on dries all day in the shady stretches near Bushy Park - nothing big mind you but plenty of fun.

b.w.ollie · 13-07-2009 10:21pm

[the council know about the rubbish at Rathfarnham. hopefully weather permitting we wlll be adding to it this coming wednesday . as regards the old dump I do not know if any thing is to be done.The Irish wildlife trust called off their clean ups in protest as they felt they were wasting their time while rubbish from the old dump was still getting in the river.
As regards daytime fishing ...well if they're rising...depending on how bright it is I would fish the fast water.. you will get fish in slow sections if it is overcast, but they have plenty of time to examine your fly and cope on to the cast etc.on bright days . an Olive Klinghammer works well in fast water if there are olives hatching as it is easy to see and floats well. The fish in fast water (in the weirs) do not have the same amount of time to examine the fly as it belts past so they tend to take even on bright days add the foam, eddies,noise etc which help hide the leader.your main problem is DRAG make sure the fly looks as if it is floating with the current .watch a bit of stick, or a leaf and how it floats if your fly is not going the same way or is going across the current because another stream is affecting your main line or leader you wont get a take. This applies to slow water as well. I have to admit I don't know much about wet fly though.

LFC5Times · 22-07-2009 10:27am

PLOPS wrote: »

He looked older than that- he was the biggest fish i've seen on the dodder! i've got a picture whcih i will post up later- he made 2nd and 3rd look like minnow! He was some catch

Have you had a chance to post up a pic of it yet, cheers.

disgruntled · 22-07-2009 3:34pm

There is a photo of that fish on the CFB website, I have to say that its some fish.

http://www.cfb.ie/fishing_in_ireland/catchofweek.htm

firephish · 23-07-2009 8:34am

disgruntled wrote: »

There is a photo of that fish on the CFB website, I have to say that its some fish.

http://www.cfb.ie/fishing_in_ireland/catchofweek.htm

Big fish for a small stream! Must say it looks more like a stewpond fish than anything that has come from a river ...

stevenmu · 23-07-2009 8:42am

I don't know how deep the pool in front of that weir is, but I've fished nymphs at 11 or 12 feet and they only seemed to touch bottom back in near the bank. For most of the pool the current is very slow too so it's a pretty good spot for a trout to just sit and feed off the easy pickings swept in by the weir.

b.w.ollie · 23-07-2009 9:13pm

the fish looked like it did because it was originally a stockfish (that the maggot boys missed. it must have got sense fast) .someone reckoned it could have been in the river up to three years, it was full of minnow when it was caught.
scale samples have been sent to the fishery board so hopefully we will learn more about it.The guy that caught it would have returned it had it been a 'wild' trout.. a true angler.

flyfisher123 · 03-08-2009 10:07pm

im fishing about 4 months now im 14 and im just wondering is it anygood fishing in the dodder of the m50 spawell

coolwings · 03-08-2009 11:05pm

It's a tad overgrown, in that area, but has plenty of trout.

The river is more acid upriver, and the trout don't grow quite so fast as downriver, but wild trout of over the pound have been caught further upriver in the Firhouse area.
So occasional trout there are that big if left alone.

I don't think it has been stocked this far up, at least I haven't heard of stocking there. The wild fish are a bigger challenge, being of such a size that they fit the available food supply, and are therefore not so hungry as to make mistakes easily.

A fine place to fish and find out.

JMB88 · 05-08-2009 10:29am

Any reports or even sightings of any sea-trout around the Dodder yet?.

Kippure · 05-08-2009 11:35am

JMB88 wrote: »

Any reports or even sightings of any sea-trout around the Dodder yet?.

Ive been catching half pounders / pound fish the last 6 weeks. Lots of small sea trout to for some reason. Best place is between herbert park and the back of landsdowne road. The concill have put in a track for diggers in the river at ringesend, at low tide some great fly fishing.....

Im using alexanders, olives, butchers, wet. and hares ear dry.

Use a size 14 or 16 if you can and a size 5lb lead.

5 weeks ago a young lad took out a sea trout about 7 pound. Its was badly damage from drift nets by the looks of it.

Theres some big sea trout coming in on each tide now, along with the 40 or so mullet.

Some of the mullet are at least 5 pound, Been trying to catch them on the fly, unsuccessful so far.

remember you need a licence to catch the sea trout, or just put them back in.

Over the years the is now a huge increase in sea trout running up the dodder along with salmon too.

The only problem they have is them poxy water falls at smurfits, 2 at either side of the 9 arches, orwell falls and rathfarnam falls.

How much would it cost to put in a few fish ladders, or blow blow holes in them falls...

It would become a great tourist attraction to fish for salmon and sea trout right through out the dodder.

I know the dodder anglers are a small club, but i wonder is there any possiblity that at least one fish ladder could be priced and fitted at smurfits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_ladder

coolwings · 05-08-2009 7:16pm

I watched a shoal of small sea trout last week there. Thought of fishing for them, but decided to let them alone so far. Scanned the mullet shoals for possible bass infiltrating amongst them, but they were all mullet.

Th Dodder AA has never supported migratory fish passes for the lower Dodder. Afraid of having to buy game licenses I guess, although other reasons have always been given.
It's a big regret of mine, since that river is almost pure spawning gravel from one end to the other, and could support large sea trout fishing effort. East coast sea trout are fast growing which shows sea feeding is good.
Like I said ... a big regret they don't see the possibilities, only the potential problems.
I had an 11 pound seatrout in it a long time ago, hooked a 9 lber too and summer salmon. All these fish have only a tiny place to spawn, compared to what they should have.
It's all lost opportunities as far as migratory fish are concerned.

Kippure · 05-08-2009 8:03pm

coolwings wrote: »

I watched a shoal of small sea trout last week there. Thought of fishing for them, but decided to let them alone so far. Scanned the mullet shoals for possible bass infiltrating amongst them, but they were all mullet.

Th Dodder AA has never supported migratory fish passes for the lower Dodder. Afraid of having to buy game licenses I guess, although other reasons have always been given.
It's a big regret of mine, since that river is almost pure spawning gravel from one end to the other, and could support large sea trout fishing effort. East coast sea trout are fast growing which shows sea feeding is good.
Like I said ... a big regret they don't see the possibilities, only the potential problems.
I had an 11 pound seatrout in it a long time ago, hooked a 9 lber too and summer salmon. All these fish have only a tiny place to spawn, compared to what they should have.
It's all lost opportunities as far as migratory fish are concerned.

If i ever won the euro millions i,d pay for it myself, State of the art fish ladders and flood control. Theres huge potential there.

b.w.ollie · 17-08-2009 7:14pm

The reason given by Dodder A A for lack of interest in migratory trout has to do with policing the river, any fishpass would become a poachers paradise, ( thats what I was told) ps Coolwings Hi from an old Friend ! I remember that big Seatrout..

david_1888 · 19-08-2009 6:44pm

Most of you have mentioned from the Dropping Well upwards, another decent spot is from Herbert Park down to Lansdowne Road Dart Station, plenty of fish, mostly small but there is the few nice ones along the way. Havent been out this area in a few weeks, has anyone else been?

It wasn't me! · 20-08-2009 3:23am

Anyone ever fish it up as far as Bohernabreena or even further, and if so, is it worth trying?

Kippure · 21-08-2009 2:40pm

It wasn't me! wrote: »

Anyone ever fish it up as far as Bohernabreena or even further, and if so, is it worth trying?

I use to fish the upper lake alot. Lots of small fish, good sport. I wandered above the upper lake above the bridge, Again lots of easly spooked small fish. Best to fish in the evening time. Be carefull of cattle etc. I used a small dung fly on the upper and lower lake. Fish 2 if possible. At the dam i used a fast sinking line and a buzzer on the end. Rainbows went mad for it.

berman · 18-09-2009 12:02pm

Nice evening hatch last night from 6 til dark... lots of action - but I was too slow for them all

Kippure · 18-09-2009 12:24pm

berman wrote: »

Nice evening hatch last night from 6 til dark... lots of action - but I was too slow for them all

What part of the dodder were you on. Have you tryed down around ballsbridge....back of herbert park area?

berman · 18-09-2009 12:30pm

I was up from Milltown... I'l try behind herbert park next time...

stevenmu · 18-09-2009 12:36pm

Sounds good, was hoping to get out there this evening.

Fly Fishing on the Dodder

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