Good fishing trips in Ireland?

bigjohn17

Looking for somewhere to possibly camp for a weekend in a place that offers good fly fishing for trout. I don't mind going anywhere in the country but it needs to be accessible by public transport. I'd be going alone also.

Paying for accomodation is an option if it's cheap, but again must be accessible by transport and the water must be within walking distance.

Has anyone got experience doing this sort of trip in Ireland?

ardinn

Pick an area or a river and you will get a more detailed response.

I live on the slaney, plenty of places to cam I could show you but trout wouldnt be massive, but coming into great seatrout fishing now up to 5lb!

SeaFields

Yes I could equally say come down to Kerry and you'd be spoilt for choice for venues and places to enjoy a refreshment afterwards.

Had you anywhere particular in mind in a general sense?

bigjohn17

SeaFields wrote: »

Yes I could equally say come down to Kerry and you'd be spoilt for choice for venues and places to enjoy a refreshment afterwards.

Had you anywhere particular in mind in a general sense?

No where in particular as long as it offers good trout fishing with reasonably priced day permits.

Preferably a river as I don't want to get into renting boats at the moment.

As long as it can be accessed by bus/train then it's an option. I've read that Ireland has some of the best trout fishing in the world so I'd like to explore it a bit.

pheasant tail

Where are you coming from John? What you hear about Ireland having the best trout fishing etc is generally referring to our big lakes. As regards rivers, there's lots of great wee brown trout rivers all over the country that you don't have to pay to fish, only thing is getting transport etc, I bet there's some good rivers not too far from ya..

bigjohn17

pheasant tail wrote: »

Where are you coming from John? What you hear about Ireland having the best trout fishing etc is generally referring to our big lakes. As regards rivers, there's lots of great wee brown trout rivers all over the country that you don't have to pay to fish, only thing is getting transport etc, I bet there's some good rivers not too far from ya..

Living in Dublin. I have fished the Dodder and Liffey. Know any decent rivers that are free to fish? The Avoca and Avonmore look lovely but you have to be a club member and I can't justify joining another club this late in the season.

pheasant tail

bigjohn17 wrote: »

Living in Dublin. I have fished the Dodder and Liffey. Know any decent rivers that are free to fish? The Avoca and Avonmore look lovely but you have to be a club member and I can't justify joining another club this late in the season.

I don't know anything about the rivers in Dublin, but there's lots of great wee rivers in the likes of Cavan, the problem is you getting to them as their not in the towns as such to make it feasible by bus..

david_1888

Similiar request to Johns, looking to get out of the (Dublin) city for about two nights. Looking for somewhere within a two hour drive or so, camping friendly, lake or river, happy to pay for day pass/passes for the couple of days. Trout or pike prefareably!

david_1888

Have since looked into Lough Ree and Lough Derg.. for boat hire I was looking at http://annacarriga.com/ or http://loughreeboathire.ie. Has anyone used either, or more so woul recommend one lake over the other? Last piece is accommodation.. may camp or if any reommendations for B&B's..

pheasant tail

david_1888 wrote: »

Have since looked into Lough Ree and Lough Derg.. for boat hire I was looking at http://annacarriga.com/ or http://loughreeboathire.ie. Has anyone used either, or more so woul recommend one lake over the other? Last piece is accommodation.. may camp or if any reommendations for B&B's..

Are you going for the sake of just getting out or are you serious about catching pike. Their both top lakes, Derg especially seems to he where the fishing is at at the moment, but your going to struggle without knowing them huge waters. If you where serious about catching fish and your around for a few days, id invest in a guide for the first day and take it from there. Likely he might have a boat he can rent ya out thereafter

ardinn

If your looking for trout gimme a shout anyway, have a few options you can look at!

david_1888

pheasant tail wrote: »

Are you going for the sake of just getting out or are you serious about catching pike. Their both top lakes, Derg especially seems to he where the fishing is at at the moment, but your going to struggle without knowing them huge waters. If you where serious about catching fish and your around for a few days, id invest in a guide for the first day and take it from there. Likely he might have a boat he can rent ya out thereafter

Not necessarily looking for the biggest pike or trout in the lake, just more so far a nice couple of days out and be happy with a couple of fish to c&r.
Any ideas on how much roughly a guide would be for the day?

pheasant tail

david_1888 wrote: »

Not necessarily looking for the biggest pike or trout in the lake, just more so far a nice couple of days out and be happy with a couple of fish to c&r.
Any ideas on how much roughly a guide would be for the day?

Not sure but they don't be cheap, probably talking 100-150 for the day, probably best fire away at what you where planning and see how you get on

thefisherbuy

If your fishing big loughs like that and want to be in a fair chance of getting fish a guide is a must, also for safety there dangerous lakes to go out and fish if you don't know them well!

david_1888

Cheers @ Pheasant tail. The boat rental place say that they supply a guide with recommended spots etc. Whether that's anyway decent I don't know but we may try without the guide on the first day anyway.

@thefisherbuy - do appreciate that the Loughs can be dangerous if you haven't been out on them before.

It's looking like Lough Ree, won't be heading down till nearer August but I'll put an update on this thread with how we got on!

mechanical aid

Get Peter O'Reilly's Rivers of Ireland,has info on locations and maps.The Boyne and its tributaries around Kells and Trim might be worth a look and also the Nenagh river,Suir,some of the upper reaches of the larger rivers.Could be worth contacting some of the clubs to find out about local transport and ease of access.Very frustrating experience trying to find places to fish without a car.Lough Ree is a fantastic lake but a guide is essential as its so big and has many hidden rocks.If you do come down this way send me a message and I can bring you to some local rivers.Hope you get some nice fishing.

david_1888

mechanical aid wrote: »

Get Peter O'Reilly's Rivers of Ireland,has info on locations and maps.The Boyne and its tributaries around Kells and Trim might be worth a look and also the Nenagh river,Suir,some of the upper reaches of the larger rivers.Could be worth contacting some of the clubs to find out about local transport and ease of access.Very frustrating experience trying to find places to fish without a car.Lough Ree is a fantastic lake but a guide is essential as its so big and has many hidden rocks.If you do come down this way send me a message and I can bring you to some local rivers.Hope you get some nice fishing.

Thanks a lot for this, very useful info from yourself and the others that posted into this group.
I assume there are many tourists or first timers who visit Lough Ree and do their own thing, without having a guide?
I'm based in Dublin, fish the dodder often and do a bit of sea fishing.
Just looking to branch a little out of the comfort zone!

Reedsie

You can always get a depth chart or map for Lough Ree. Enquire about this to the boat hiring company and they might be able to sort you out.

mechanical aid

With any of the big lakes a guide is essential unless your an experienced lake angler,for safety as much as to learn the lake.People die on the lakes every year,it can get very rough with only a modest wind.Also the sheer size of them means theres lots of empty water so local knowledge is money well spent.
I dont have a boat myself otherwise I would offer to help you out.

david_1888

Thanks for the replies folks.

Heading down next Tuesday for the day.

Has anyone fished it recently and is there any particular dead bait that'll get better results than the rest?

pheasant tail

david_1888 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies folks.

Heading down next Tuesday for the day.

Has anyone fished it recently and is there any particular dead bait that'll get better results than the rest?

If your dead baiting only, I'd recommend freshwater baits on float, whatever on bottom, I usually use smelt. Best of luck with it

david_1888

pheasant tail wrote: »

If your dead baiting only, I'd recommend freshwater baits on float, whatever on bottom, I usually use smelt. Best of luck with it

Cheers

Bringing down a mixture of lures and spoons also!

thefisherbuy

Smelts a good bait hard to get.. mackerel will do the job too.. gives us an update on ye get on!

david_1888

thefisherbuy wrote: »

Smelts a good bait hard to get.. mackerel will do the job too.. gives us an update on ye get on!

I will indeed!

david_1888

Quick question re trolling - if you come into a pike when trolling, would you tend to stay static in that area for a small period of time to see if there's anything else happening or continue on as normal?

pheasant tail

If your out fishing any of them big lakes which you don't know too well and you pick up a fish, yes cover that area well as there's a reason the fish are around. Even come back to it again. Pike aren't evenly distributed around the lake like some people think

david_1888

Not too long back from a day out on Lough Ree. Great day had, unfortunately only one pike caught, about the 2 pound mark. Caught on a silver spinner. Tried mackerel, smelt, rapalas throughout the day but to no avail. Really enjoyable day and will be back for another shot soon!

pheasant tail

david_1888 wrote: »

Not too long back from a day out on Lough Ree. Great day had, unfortunately only one pike caught, about the 2 pound mark. Caught on a silver spinner. Tried mackerel, smelt, rapalas throughout the day but to no avail. Really enjoyable day and will be back for another shot soon!

Good stuff David, putting in time is the only way to get anywhere on them big lakes but the rewards can be big 😊