Fly Fishing on the Dodder

kildare lad

ye, because i was talking to a fella before and he said although hatcheries are good for keepin trout numbers up. They weaken or alter the genes when they spawn with wild ones, even tho the fry comes from wild ones

bigjohn17

What's the best way to nymph fish on the Dodder? I can catch stocked trout on a lake all day long but fishing a river is completely different. I've been using 2 size 16 nymphs (one tied to the hook of the other, about 12 inches between them), casting upstream, letting it flow downstream and stripping in. I've been out 3 times and only caught one fish.

I've tried high sticking and tight lining, or least my best version of it.

I tried using an indicator last week, casting across and feeding out slack to let it drift down. Got a bite but it got off.

I've watched so many hours of videos but when I'm actually on the river I really haven't got a clue what I'm doing.

Also my bungs keep coming off the line. How do I stop them from coming off ?

I mainly fish around Milltown and the Dropping Well but would be willing to go wherever there's fish and decent parking.

rtc

Try fishing a weighted nymph size 14/16 on the point with a snipe and purple 18in-24in above it on a 6/7 ft 3lb fluorocarbon leader.Fish it across and down and retrieve it slowly when it has come into the bank.I caught 10 trout and lost as many last monday using this technique.You will probably find that most of the fish you hook will happen when the flies sweep into the bank and start to rise in the water.Most of the trout I caught were on the snipe and purple but I would suggest that if you aren't having any luck use the same technique but with diffferent flies unless of course there a rise on,in which case fish dries.Don't be surprised if you hook and lose as many as you catch with this method.Good luck..

ardinn

Downstream wet is the way to go as rtc says. Also the snipe & purple is the fly of the month - 100% success rate for me with 6 trips and about 29 fish, I was fishing teams of 3 and the snipe was winning at about 2.5/1

Other flies - march brown / rough olive

Again forget upstream nymphing, its a lot harder than it needs to be, if your not exactly correct on retrieving slack your going to be missing bites.

Get a snipe and a nymph and cast across and down, mend, follow the flies with the rod tip and allow to dangle at the end for anywhere up to a minute, then retrieve slow enough, but constant.

Most will be caught on the 45degree swing or 20/30 seconds into the dangle.

blackpearl

When mastered upstream nymphing beats downstream hands down about 3 to one and better size trout.

ardinn

blackpearl wrote: »

When mastered upstream nymphing beats downstream hands down about 3 to one and better size trout.

Bolded text being the point. Op just wants river fish at the moment!

blackpearl

With out a douth but should still stick at the upstream dont give up on it .Are you doing flytying gear at the moment.

thefisherbuy

ardinn wrote: »

Have a kit for 75 i'll let go for 60, Ive no tying supplies, just the kit. pm me if interested.

Upstream nymphing my rig is this
Maybe a bit hard but I've got used to it
17ft of floro
On the end of the line I have putty ( it's basically a weight)
Then have a dropper about 10 inches from the putty and then another dropper 18 inches apart
Then have a thingmabobber on the line, which is set over the depth of the river
Short casts but works good. The putty is to weigh down the flies where the fish are

blackpearl

Try this
https://incompleatangler.com/2015/03/28/how-to-make-a-spiral-indicator-for-nymph-fishing-2/ Igot it hard for the first year and stumbled on this i never looked back indicator must be the same distance from the water as the depth you are fishing size 12 czeck nymph dark olive on the point 6" to 8" above that size 14 or 16 gold head medium olive or pheasant tail nymph the indicator will open like a spring when you get hit by a trout sometimes also stuck on the bottom you strike at everything that opens the indicator dont forget to fish as close to yourself as you can ,i could not belive the number of good trout i caught a foot or so from my boots,the orange sea fishing line you get in tackle shops will do for this.

bigjohn17

How long should I wait to set the hook when dry fly fishing? Had at least 20 takes today, only caught one fish, 2 got off the hook.

Also how do I set the hook properly without yanking the fish out of the water?

thefisherbuy

Strike immediately. Sometimes when its a small par they come out of the water. The trout spits out the fly in a fraction of a second so you have to be very quick

bigjohn17

thefisherbuy wrote: »

Strike immediately. Sometimes when its a small par they come out of the water. The trout spits out the fly in a fraction of a second so you have to be very quick

I was striking immediately every time. Was I doing something wrong or is it normal to miss that many?

thefisherbuy

Very normal.. Missed some very nice fish from the river last day.. all decent fish. id say I missed about 10 very nice wild trout. It just happens sometimes you'll hook every time.

ardinn

yes it is in the beginning - but your reactions will get better - also angles make a difference, trout face upstream, so depending on where you are you need to strike at the correct time and try not strike head on - its not a major issue but definately helps!

Auldloon

bigjohn17 wrote: »

How long should I wait to set the hook when dry fly fishing? Had at least 20 takes today, only caught one fish, 2 got off the hook.

Also how do I set the hook properly without yanking the fish out of the water?

Like most things there's not a simple answer. If they are actually taking the fly then you want to let them turn back down before you strike. If they are tiny then this will be very quick, if bigger it won't be as quick.
Strike is a bad description of what you need to do. It's more a lift of the rod and a tightening of the line, think tighten into the fish rather than strike.
You will often get tiny parr and the like slashing at the fly, they're not really taking it. If that's the case you're better off leaving them and moving on to another bit of water as you don't want to be targeting parr.

bigjohn17

Saw a mayfly drift past me today on the river, brownish red in colour.

katy39

bigjohn17 wrote: »

How long should I wait to set the hook when dry fly fishing? Had at least 20 takes today, only caught one fish, 2 got off the hook.

Also how do I set the hook properly without yanking the fish out of the water?

Can I ask what fly and size you were using ?

jack01986

Do the stocked trout have any fins clipped or any features to differentiate them from the wild ones?

bigjohn17

jack01986 wrote: »

Do the stocked trout have any fins clipped or any features to differentiate them from the wild ones?

As far as I can tell, wild trout usually have much more vibrant colours. Golden bellys and red spots.

Also apparently stockies can have rounded/torn tail fins from the hatchery. A wild trout should have a sharp well defined tail fin.

katy39 wrote: »

Can I ask what fly and size you were using ?

Size 16 black gnat

Captain Snow

Had over 40 or more fish yesterday from 4pm to about 11pm on a size 18 Dry Yellow Midge from Rathfarnam Waterfall to the Dart Bridge below Ballsbridge. My biggest fish was over half pound. Most fish were small about 6 to 8 inchs. The River is in Top condition. All fish were wild. Few salmon par aswell.

All Fish were C & R

bigjohn17

Captain Snow wrote: »

Had over 40 or more fish yesterday from 4pm to about 11pm on a size 18 Dry Yellow Midge from Rathfarnam Waterfall to the Dart Bridge below Ballsbridge. My biggest fish was over half pound. Most fish were small about 6 to 8 inchs. The River is in Top condition. All fish were wild. Few salmon par aswell.

How long were you out?

Captain Snow

bigjohn17 wrote: »

How long were you out?

7 hours approx

bigjohn17

How do you catch the big fish on the fly?

Was catching small fish for hours today then someone comes up with a worm and catches the biggest fish that I've ever seen on the Dodder within 60 seconds of his first cast.

Makes me wonder why I bother with the fly sometimes.

ardinn

bigjohn17 wrote: »

How do you catch the big fish on the fly?

Was catching small fish for hours today then someone comes up with a worm and catches the biggest fish that I've ever seen on the Dodder within 60 seconds of his first cast.

Makes me wonder why I bother with the fly sometimes.

Most of catching the big fish is reading the water. The best lies hold the biggest and best trout. The better the lie, the bigger the fish sitting in it as they will run the smaller fish out.

Learn to read the bottom from the top and your fish size will improve!

thefisherbuy

The fly is very special I think compared to other methods..

You need to be their late when sedges are our the big trout go mad for them but late is key also.. try and find somewhere that's deep but has a decent current with it.. you have to recon different areas late and see if you see decent fish rising

bigjohn17

thefisherbuy wrote: »

The fly is very special I think compared to other methods..

You need to be their late when sedges are our the big trout go mad for them but late is key also.. try and find somewhere that's deep but has a decent current with it.. you have to recon different areas late and see if you see decent fish rising

How late? Was out til 11pm today that's pretty much the latest I can do.

bigjohn17

ardinn wrote: »

Most of catching the big fish is reading the water. The best lies hold the biggest and best trout. The better the lie, the bigger the fish sitting in it as they will run the smaller fish out.

Learn to read the bottom from the top and your fish size will improve!

What kind of flies will they take?

ardinn

bigjohn17 wrote: »

What kind of flies will they take?

Depends on whats about - match the hatch, but sedges are the pick at the moment.

If dries are flummoxing you, learn to wet and nymph (if you dont know already) makes a nice change if the dries are being very picky

fishfoodie

Captain Snow wrote: »

Had over 40 or more fish yesterday from 4pm to about 11pm on a size 18 Dry Yellow Midge from Rathfarnam Waterfall to the Dart Bridge below Ballsbridge. My biggest fish was over half pound. Most fish were small about 6 to 8 inchs. The River is in Top condition. All fish were wild. Few salmon par aswell.

All Fish were C & R

As someone who kayaked in that section of the Dodder, in the late 80s; & after a dousing in it, felt like I needed a bath in dettol; it's great to hear that the river is in rude health again !

jack01986

The bigger weir pools on the Dodder hold some better fish. My best trout have been from them around this time of year on the sedge.