Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Irish Fly Fair and International Angling Show 2013
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Renvyle House Hotel, Connemara
http://www.renvyle.com/en/activity_breaks/fishing-academy/
Hardy and Greys Fishing Academy
Dates: Friday 20th Saturday 21st April & Sunday 22nd April , 2012
We will provide professional angling instruction from Hardy & Greys Tom ‘Doc’ Sullivan, Stevie Munn, Jackie Coyne and 2010 World Cup winner Mike Keady. They will show you how to tie knots and fly tying, explain the different flies and instruct you on the fine art of casting.They will also divulge when and where are the best times and places to fish.
The Weekend includes the following:
See the latest Hardy-Greys Equipment
Spate River Salmon Fishing
Trout River Fishing
Lough Style Fishing
Single Handed Casting
One on One Tuition
Salmon Flydressing
Trout Flydressing
Free Fishing throughout the weekend on the Hotels’ well stocked Private lake – Brown Trout up to 7 lbs. weight
Fishing Competition
Article in June 2011 Edition, The Irish Angler; A comprehensive review of the Hardy & Greys weekend held at Renvyle House in April 2011.
Price: €191.00pp
PRICE INCLUDES:
2 nights bed & breakfast
Dinner on an evening of your choice
All Hardy & Greys professional instruction
Hardy and Greys Fishing Academy
Dates: Friday 20th Saturday 21st April & Sunday 22nd April , 2012
We will provide professional angling instruction from Hardy & Greys Tom ‘Doc’ Sullivan, Stevie Munn, Jackie Coyne and 2010 World Cup winner Mike Keady. They will show you how to tie knots and fly tying, explain the different flies and instruct you on the fine art of casting.They will also divulge when and where are the best times and places to fish.
The Weekend includes the following:
See the latest Hardy-Greys Equipment
Spate River Salmon Fishing
Trout River Fishing
Lough Style Fishing
Single Handed Casting
One on One Tuition
Salmon Flydressing
Trout Flydressing
Free Fishing throughout the weekend on the Hotels’ well stocked Private lake – Brown Trout up to 7 lbs. weight
Fishing Competition
Article in June 2011 Edition, The Irish Angler; A comprehensive review of the Hardy & Greys weekend held at Renvyle House in April 2011.
Price: €191.00pp
PRICE INCLUDES:
2 nights bed & breakfast
Dinner on an evening of your choice
All Hardy & Greys professional instruction
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Ireland Angling Show 2012
This weekend its the Ireland Angling Show 2012. I will be there , on the casting pool teaching fly casting and giving a try before you buy with Hardy & Greys Tom Doc Sullivan so pop over and say hi and try a rod or get a free casting lesson .
Here is the PR for the show
Mara Media are delighted to unveil a very exciting line up for this years’ Ireland Angling show, which takes place at the National Show Centre in Swords, Co Dublin on the 11th and 12th of February 2012.
The Ireland Angling Show 2012 will cover all aspects of Sea Angling, Game and Coarse fishing with activities and demonstrations to suit both expert and novice anglers alike.
New for 2012 is special guest, John Wilson, who lives in Norfolk beside a Lakeland setting [one of the lakes he created himself] and is naturally a lifetime angler. He has fished in over 60 countries and filmed for television in over 30 of them. Making a total of 150 half hour angling programs, including no less than 17 consecutive yearly series for Anglia Television. Many of these are regularly shown on the Discovery ‘SHED’ channel. John has been writing for over 40 years and has contributed to nearly 90 books on angling, 38 of these being entirely his own works. For 25 years he ran his own tackle shop in Norwich.
In 2010 John was indicted by the IGFA based in Florida USA, into their Hall of Fame. A rare occurrence for a British angler.
Yasmin Morgan
With an emphasis on attracting a younger generation to angling we are delighted to welcome Yasmin Morgan aged 13. Yasmin is the UK Open Salmon Distance Champion and Welsh National Pairs Champion.
Yasmin first stepped onto a demonstration platform at the tender age of 2 years and since that day she has been demonstrating with her farther all over the UK in Game and Country Fairs. Having been his assistant for a few years, she has stepped out of his shadow and has competed in casting competitions to gain the title of ‘UK Casting Champion’. She is excited to be coming over to Ireland and can’t wait to share her skills and enthusiasm with everybody.
Fishing for families
A designated area hosted by the Dublin Angling Initiative aimed at encouraging youngsters to pick up a rod.
A selection of top fly tying experts from Ireland and the UK will showcase their skills.
Familiar angling personalities such as Charles Jardin, Hywel Morgan, Stevie Munn, Brian Cooke (Sea Angling), Cathal Hughes (Coarse), Neil Smith (Coarse), Mary Gavin Hughes (European Sea Angling Champion 2011), Jim Clohessy (Sea Angling) and a host of other experts from the angling fraternity will run casting demonstrations and present workshops over the two days of the show
A “Meet & Greet” area will be located close to the theatre where visitors can seek advice and chat with their favourite celebrities.
A huge selection of tackle and trade stands will offer products to suit every budget.
Visitor's can also avail of the special offer from Bewley's Airport Hotel, which has rooms from €59 (room only) per night and stay with large contingent of exhibitors, angling celeb's which add's to a great weekend's craic after closing hours. A courtesy bus will run from Bewleys to the exhibition free of charge.
Mara Media would like to thank the angling community for their support throughout 2011 and their continued support in 2012, we are eager to give visitors a value for money, fun filled experience with entertainment and attractions for the whole family.
For more information:
http://maramedia.ie/whats-on
Here is the PR for the show
Mara Media are delighted to unveil a very exciting line up for this years’ Ireland Angling show, which takes place at the National Show Centre in Swords, Co Dublin on the 11th and 12th of February 2012.
The Ireland Angling Show 2012 will cover all aspects of Sea Angling, Game and Coarse fishing with activities and demonstrations to suit both expert and novice anglers alike.
New for 2012 is special guest, John Wilson, who lives in Norfolk beside a Lakeland setting [one of the lakes he created himself] and is naturally a lifetime angler. He has fished in over 60 countries and filmed for television in over 30 of them. Making a total of 150 half hour angling programs, including no less than 17 consecutive yearly series for Anglia Television. Many of these are regularly shown on the Discovery ‘SHED’ channel. John has been writing for over 40 years and has contributed to nearly 90 books on angling, 38 of these being entirely his own works. For 25 years he ran his own tackle shop in Norwich.
In 2010 John was indicted by the IGFA based in Florida USA, into their Hall of Fame. A rare occurrence for a British angler.
Yasmin Morgan
With an emphasis on attracting a younger generation to angling we are delighted to welcome Yasmin Morgan aged 13. Yasmin is the UK Open Salmon Distance Champion and Welsh National Pairs Champion.
Yasmin first stepped onto a demonstration platform at the tender age of 2 years and since that day she has been demonstrating with her farther all over the UK in Game and Country Fairs. Having been his assistant for a few years, she has stepped out of his shadow and has competed in casting competitions to gain the title of ‘UK Casting Champion’. She is excited to be coming over to Ireland and can’t wait to share her skills and enthusiasm with everybody.
Fishing for families
A designated area hosted by the Dublin Angling Initiative aimed at encouraging youngsters to pick up a rod.
A selection of top fly tying experts from Ireland and the UK will showcase their skills.
Familiar angling personalities such as Charles Jardin, Hywel Morgan, Stevie Munn, Brian Cooke (Sea Angling), Cathal Hughes (Coarse), Neil Smith (Coarse), Mary Gavin Hughes (European Sea Angling Champion 2011), Jim Clohessy (Sea Angling) and a host of other experts from the angling fraternity will run casting demonstrations and present workshops over the two days of the show
A “Meet & Greet” area will be located close to the theatre where visitors can seek advice and chat with their favourite celebrities.
A huge selection of tackle and trade stands will offer products to suit every budget.
Visitor's can also avail of the special offer from Bewley's Airport Hotel, which has rooms from €59 (room only) per night and stay with large contingent of exhibitors, angling celeb's which add's to a great weekend's craic after closing hours. A courtesy bus will run from Bewleys to the exhibition free of charge.
Mara Media would like to thank the angling community for their support throughout 2011 and their continued support in 2012, we are eager to give visitors a value for money, fun filled experience with entertainment and attractions for the whole family.
For more information:
http://maramedia.ie/whats-on
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Rio Grande. Stevie Munn’s South American Experience.
Some News on the Hardy Web Site about my last trip .
THE PLACE
Hardy & Greys Pro Flyfisher Stevie Munn returns from the 4th National FLY FISHING MEETING OF THE RIO GRANDE-Tierra Del Fuego, held at the
Lodge: Maria Behety, where he was a special guest of the Association Riograndense fly fishing, Sponsored by INFUETUR (Secretary of Tourism) and hosted by Mr Angle "Goma" Carrillo. Stevie was among only two Europeans asked to give a fly casting clinic at this high profile event and was interviewed by Argentine T.V and sampled the fishing on the World famous Rio Grande River. The other was top caster Danish caster Henrik Mortensen. The show was a great success with Stevie showing fly casting with Hardy rods and reels which the local guides and anglers also tried and enjoyed. Stevie would like to thank all involved with this marvellous event and hopes he can return.
The second part of his trip Stevie stayed at The Estancia Despedida lodge, hosted by Danny Lajous and Ozzie , This is where Stevie landed his biggest ever Sea Run Brown Trout which tipped the scales just over 24lb, taken on a fly given to him by his show interpreter and now friend Jorge Luis Calvo Laubli or Tato for short the deadly pattern was a Black & Red Articulated dressing. Stevie tells us the Despedida lodge is lavishness and relaxing set in a beautiful wilderness with not only fishing on the Rio Grande but also the beautiful rivers Rio Menendez and Rio Mc Lennan. Danny and Ozzie are the ultimate lodge hosts. Their kind nature coupled by a rich fishing knowledge made me feel right at home. As the only owner-operated lodge on the Rio Grande, Despedida has the comforting feel of staying with your fishing family. Danny’s son Tommy and his friend Jorge are fantastic guides with an uncanny ability to find big fish that will take. Ozzie’s entertaining conversation at the dinner table ranged from Argentine history to rock, Jazz and blues music to world affairs. Chef Oscar served excellent four course meals with elements of Argentine and European cuisine that were well-matched with best Argentine wines. Stevie definitely will be back hopefully as a guest again to the show and also Despedida lodge now want him to promote and host trips to this wonderful destination to U.K and Irish anglers, so anyone interested in sampling this magnificent part of the world and its great fishing contact Stevie Munn by email anlingclassics@aol.com
The Lodge
The Show
Me & Fanny Krieger
Casting Demo .
My Guide Jorge with a Great Fish
A View going fishing
The Above where some of our best fish ,
Driving Though the Andes mountains at the bottom of the World to fly back.
anyone interested in sampling this magnificent part of the world and its great fishing contact me by email at anlingclassics@aol.com
Hardy & Greys Pro Flyfisher Stevie Munn returns from the 4th National FLY FISHING MEETING OF THE RIO GRANDE-Tierra Del Fuego, held at the
Lodge: Maria Behety, where he was a special guest of the Association Riograndense fly fishing, Sponsored by INFUETUR (Secretary of Tourism) and hosted by Mr Angle "Goma" Carrillo. Stevie was among only two Europeans asked to give a fly casting clinic at this high profile event and was interviewed by Argentine T.V and sampled the fishing on the World famous Rio Grande River. The other was top caster Danish caster Henrik Mortensen. The show was a great success with Stevie showing fly casting with Hardy rods and reels which the local guides and anglers also tried and enjoyed. Stevie would like to thank all involved with this marvellous event and hopes he can return.
The second part of his trip Stevie stayed at The Estancia Despedida lodge, hosted by Danny Lajous and Ozzie , This is where Stevie landed his biggest ever Sea Run Brown Trout which tipped the scales just over 24lb, taken on a fly given to him by his show interpreter and now friend Jorge Luis Calvo Laubli or Tato for short the deadly pattern was a Black & Red Articulated dressing. Stevie tells us the Despedida lodge is lavishness and relaxing set in a beautiful wilderness with not only fishing on the Rio Grande but also the beautiful rivers Rio Menendez and Rio Mc Lennan. Danny and Ozzie are the ultimate lodge hosts. Their kind nature coupled by a rich fishing knowledge made me feel right at home. As the only owner-operated lodge on the Rio Grande, Despedida has the comforting feel of staying with your fishing family. Danny’s son Tommy and his friend Jorge are fantastic guides with an uncanny ability to find big fish that will take. Ozzie’s entertaining conversation at the dinner table ranged from Argentine history to rock, Jazz and blues music to world affairs. Chef Oscar served excellent four course meals with elements of Argentine and European cuisine that were well-matched with best Argentine wines. Stevie definitely will be back hopefully as a guest again to the show and also Despedida lodge now want him to promote and host trips to this wonderful destination to U.K and Irish anglers, so anyone interested in sampling this magnificent part of the world and its great fishing contact Stevie Munn by email anlingclassics@aol.com
The Lodge
The Show
Me & Fanny Krieger
My Guide Jorge with a Great Fish
A View going fishing
The Above where some of our best fish ,
Driving Though the Andes mountains at the bottom of the World to fly back.
anyone interested in sampling this magnificent part of the world and its great fishing contact me by email at anlingclassics@aol.com
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
I had a dream. The Irish Fly Fair & Game Angling Show.By Stevie Munn
For numerous years I wanted to run a high-quality fly fair and game angling show in Ireland. I always thought that our art and passion was never well enough represented in this part of the world, though many have tried and done their best and some shows and I must say some have been very good that I worked at , although normally game angling and fly dressing have continually shared with other angling disciplines, I always thought the country deserved a proper game angling and fly fair like those I had demonstrated at many times in the U.K and Holland, after all its one of the biggest sports in the country. So several years ago I bought the domain name Irish Fly Fair and started thinking how I could make this dream come true. I have worked a 100s of angling and country shows over the years so I had the contacts, I knew so many wonderful fly tyers, fly casters, traders and well known names in the angling world and they knew me, so I had the basic plan, but what I needed was funders and sponsors or even better very good event organizers to team up with me. I wanted a top class show but never had the money to put into it to make it what I required. This opportunity arose when I was working at a show in Dublin the Angling Ireland Expo and met Hugh Bonner from Mara Media who were running this show; I must say they are excellent event organizers and impressed me immensely. Irish Angler editor David Dinsmore knew I owned the name and suggested I talked to Mara Media, so I did and our first meeting went pretty good though Hugh did not agree to anything there and then but suggested we should meet again after he got his head around the idea . On the next meeting Hugh and Grace McDermott from Mara’s sales team, both attended and we all agreed that we should work together on the show.
We then started thinking about venues I originally wanted to have the show in Belfast or Dublin because of their large populations as I wanted a good turnout at the door as I knew this is how to keep the traders and everyone contacted with the event happy as I have had a lot of experience from that side of the fence, I wanted it when the game fishing season was over also for that reason , but Hugh suggested that perhaps Galway would be an excellent venue for a game angling show and the more i thought about it ,the more it seemed to make perfect sense, the west although it is in the midst of so much great game angling with world famous names like Corrib, Mask, Conn, Galway weir ,the Moy and the Delphi to name just a few, but this part of Ireland had never had a great angling show and this one would be dedicated to Game Angling which the west of Ireland has been a Meca for hundreds of years for Trout and Salmon anglers.
I wanted this show to have some of the best attractions for game anglers not just a show that the public paid into to browse angling shops, although trade stands are a major part of any show and it’s a great place for the anglers to get a deal on some new tackle but also with a large foot fall good for the trade stands who want to show off their products. I wanted a mix of top quality trade stands, fly casting demos, common interest stands, teaching, talks, fishing simulators, competitions and at its core a large host of the best fly dressers in the World that would keep the public entertained and pass on their knowledge. So this is what I and the Mara Media team went about trying to create.
The Venue for the show had to be impressive too. I wanted elegance, style and comfort for all that attended the show, the guys and girls that were working and demonstrating and the public alike, so Hugh suggested we used the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill, and what a venue it is overlooking Galway Bay and the Clare Hills, it is an Award winning 4 star hotel considered by many to be one of the top hotels in Galway. It has massive function rooms for prefect for trade stands and a huge conservatory which would be fabulous for fly dressers to give demos, so that’s where we have it .On the first morning of the show last year everything was in place we had an impressive list of fly tyers from all over the world, though with a strong Irish back bone, we had a large number of trade and interest stands, we had our fly casters and angling instructors, we had our well known angling celebrities, we had our experts like Dr Ken Whelan to give talks. We had everything in place to run our event, after many months of planning and hard work by me, my sister Elaine who built the web site and the Mara Media team ,who where a dream to work with I must say. We had promoted it to the best of our ability at great expense to Mara Media, with me pulling some favors from my contacts in the angling world. I remember standing at the front door alongside Hugh silently praying for the game angling public to arrive, I had not slept the night before the show, I was so worried that all our hard work, effort and their money was going to be in vain, I remember standing at 10.15am 15 minutes after the doors had opened thinking’ S##t’ what have I done. But then all of a sudden people started turning up and the door numbers became great the interest in the show from anglers was incredible they came from all corners of the Isle and many even from overseas. The feedback we had last year was fantastic with many saying it was the best angling event they had attended , you can read the feedback on our web site www.irishflyfair.com .
This year the show should be even better for the public as we have assembled the largest group of fly tyers ever to dress flies at a show in Ireland ,more than last year, at the moment I have no more space left for fly tyers we have around 60 of the World’s Best Fly Tyers from 15 different countries, we have also a larger number of trade stands selling all the top brands , we have great talks and fly casting by World Campion fly casters among them Scott MacKenzie, Glenda Powell and Hywel Morgan, we have tuition by APGAI- IRE that in their ranks have some of the highest qualified game angling casting instructors on the island such as Peter O'Reilly, Pat Hughes, Paddy Mc Donnell , Joe Stitt and Jim Hoy, we also have for the first time the youth fly tying competition, we have the fishing simulator from France and much much more, to keep you the angling public happy.
Here is a list of international fly tyers that I must thank as they are all giving their time for free, Alice Conba - Ireland, André Miegies - Netherlands, Andy Boekholt - Netherlands, Andrew McGall – Ireland, Arthur Greenwood - Ireland, Brian Burnett - Scotland, Caroline Emmet - England, Chris Reeves - England, Chris Sandford- England, David Wolsoncroft-Dodds - England, Dean Armstrong - Ireland, Declan Tuffy - Ireland, Dougie Loughridge - Scotland, Emyr Breese - Wales, Erik Strijker - Netherlands, Fergal McKiernan - Ireland, Frankie McPhillips - Ireland, Frank Moors - England, Frank Reilly - Ireland, Gary Bell - Ireland, Gerry Teggart – Ireland, Stephen Moates-Ireland , Glyn Davies - Wales, Ian McKenzie - England, Jim Lees - Scotland, Jeanette Linnarud - Sweden, Marc Fauvet - France, Jens Pilgaard - Denmark, Joe McDonald - Ireland, Joe Stitt - Ireland, Johan Put - Netherlands, John McLaughlin - Ireland, Lawrence Finney - Ireland, Michael & Betty Hayes - Ireland, Michael Monahan - Ireland, Mike Keady - Ireland, Mike Shanks - Ireland, Mikko Stenburg - Finland, Moreno Borriero - Italy, Pat Mulholland - Ireland, Dr Paul Davis - England, Paul Molloy – Ireland, Peter Dunne -Ireland , Peter O'Reilly - Ireland, Robert Reilly - Ireland, Sean Cassidy - Ireland, Sean Dempsey - Ireland, Stoyan Filipov - Bulgaria, Stuart Wylie - Ireland, Riny Sluiter - Netherlands, Ryan Houston - Ireland , Terenzio Zandri - Italy, Tom Delahunty – Ireland, Trevor Jones - Wales, Vytas Markevicius - Lithuania, Wendy Gibson - England, Roger Salomonsson- Sweden, Skuli Kristinsson- Iceland, David Edwards – England, Evert Eenkhoorn- Netherlands, William Heckel - USA,Walter Bayer - Germany and more . A pretty impressive line up you must agree.
This show is a must for the angling enthusiast with many clubs and anglers coming down and making a weekend out of it, we have entertainment on the Saturday night on top of all that. So I hope to see you all there please come along and give it your support, we need events like this to work in Ireland in these challenging times. If there are any companies out there who can help us in any way with sponsoring please contact us we would be only too glad to listen. I also must add again it is a pleasure to be working with all the Mara Media events team and I hope this event goes from strength to strength. See you all there in November.
19th-20th November 2011.
Hotel: Galway Bay Salthill Galway
Duration: Two days (Saturday & Sunday)
Times: Saturday 10-6pm - Sunday 10-5pm
For more details www.irishflyfair.com
For further information:
Hugh Bonner - (074) 9548935 - hugh@maramedia.ie
Grace McDermott - (074) 9548936 - grace@maramedia.ie
Stevie Munn - anglingclassics@aol.com
We then started thinking about venues I originally wanted to have the show in Belfast or Dublin because of their large populations as I wanted a good turnout at the door as I knew this is how to keep the traders and everyone contacted with the event happy as I have had a lot of experience from that side of the fence, I wanted it when the game fishing season was over also for that reason , but Hugh suggested that perhaps Galway would be an excellent venue for a game angling show and the more i thought about it ,the more it seemed to make perfect sense, the west although it is in the midst of so much great game angling with world famous names like Corrib, Mask, Conn, Galway weir ,the Moy and the Delphi to name just a few, but this part of Ireland had never had a great angling show and this one would be dedicated to Game Angling which the west of Ireland has been a Meca for hundreds of years for Trout and Salmon anglers.
I wanted this show to have some of the best attractions for game anglers not just a show that the public paid into to browse angling shops, although trade stands are a major part of any show and it’s a great place for the anglers to get a deal on some new tackle but also with a large foot fall good for the trade stands who want to show off their products. I wanted a mix of top quality trade stands, fly casting demos, common interest stands, teaching, talks, fishing simulators, competitions and at its core a large host of the best fly dressers in the World that would keep the public entertained and pass on their knowledge. So this is what I and the Mara Media team went about trying to create.
The Venue for the show had to be impressive too. I wanted elegance, style and comfort for all that attended the show, the guys and girls that were working and demonstrating and the public alike, so Hugh suggested we used the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill, and what a venue it is overlooking Galway Bay and the Clare Hills, it is an Award winning 4 star hotel considered by many to be one of the top hotels in Galway. It has massive function rooms for prefect for trade stands and a huge conservatory which would be fabulous for fly dressers to give demos, so that’s where we have it .On the first morning of the show last year everything was in place we had an impressive list of fly tyers from all over the world, though with a strong Irish back bone, we had a large number of trade and interest stands, we had our fly casters and angling instructors, we had our well known angling celebrities, we had our experts like Dr Ken Whelan to give talks. We had everything in place to run our event, after many months of planning and hard work by me, my sister Elaine who built the web site and the Mara Media team ,who where a dream to work with I must say. We had promoted it to the best of our ability at great expense to Mara Media, with me pulling some favors from my contacts in the angling world. I remember standing at the front door alongside Hugh silently praying for the game angling public to arrive, I had not slept the night before the show, I was so worried that all our hard work, effort and their money was going to be in vain, I remember standing at 10.15am 15 minutes after the doors had opened thinking’ S##t’ what have I done. But then all of a sudden people started turning up and the door numbers became great the interest in the show from anglers was incredible they came from all corners of the Isle and many even from overseas. The feedback we had last year was fantastic with many saying it was the best angling event they had attended , you can read the feedback on our web site www.irishflyfair.com .
This year the show should be even better for the public as we have assembled the largest group of fly tyers ever to dress flies at a show in Ireland ,more than last year, at the moment I have no more space left for fly tyers we have around 60 of the World’s Best Fly Tyers from 15 different countries, we have also a larger number of trade stands selling all the top brands , we have great talks and fly casting by World Campion fly casters among them Scott MacKenzie, Glenda Powell and Hywel Morgan, we have tuition by APGAI- IRE that in their ranks have some of the highest qualified game angling casting instructors on the island such as Peter O'Reilly, Pat Hughes, Paddy Mc Donnell , Joe Stitt and Jim Hoy, we also have for the first time the youth fly tying competition, we have the fishing simulator from France and much much more, to keep you the angling public happy.
Here is a list of international fly tyers that I must thank as they are all giving their time for free, Alice Conba - Ireland, André Miegies - Netherlands, Andy Boekholt - Netherlands, Andrew McGall – Ireland, Arthur Greenwood - Ireland, Brian Burnett - Scotland, Caroline Emmet - England, Chris Reeves - England, Chris Sandford- England, David Wolsoncroft-Dodds - England, Dean Armstrong - Ireland, Declan Tuffy - Ireland, Dougie Loughridge - Scotland, Emyr Breese - Wales, Erik Strijker - Netherlands, Fergal McKiernan - Ireland, Frankie McPhillips - Ireland, Frank Moors - England, Frank Reilly - Ireland, Gary Bell - Ireland, Gerry Teggart – Ireland, Stephen Moates-Ireland , Glyn Davies - Wales, Ian McKenzie - England, Jim Lees - Scotland, Jeanette Linnarud - Sweden, Marc Fauvet - France, Jens Pilgaard - Denmark, Joe McDonald - Ireland, Joe Stitt - Ireland, Johan Put - Netherlands, John McLaughlin - Ireland, Lawrence Finney - Ireland, Michael & Betty Hayes - Ireland, Michael Monahan - Ireland, Mike Keady - Ireland, Mike Shanks - Ireland, Mikko Stenburg - Finland, Moreno Borriero - Italy, Pat Mulholland - Ireland, Dr Paul Davis - England, Paul Molloy – Ireland, Peter Dunne -Ireland , Peter O'Reilly - Ireland, Robert Reilly - Ireland, Sean Cassidy - Ireland, Sean Dempsey - Ireland, Stoyan Filipov - Bulgaria, Stuart Wylie - Ireland, Riny Sluiter - Netherlands, Ryan Houston - Ireland , Terenzio Zandri - Italy, Tom Delahunty – Ireland, Trevor Jones - Wales, Vytas Markevicius - Lithuania, Wendy Gibson - England, Roger Salomonsson- Sweden, Skuli Kristinsson- Iceland, David Edwards – England, Evert Eenkhoorn- Netherlands, William Heckel - USA,Walter Bayer - Germany and more . A pretty impressive line up you must agree.
This show is a must for the angling enthusiast with many clubs and anglers coming down and making a weekend out of it, we have entertainment on the Saturday night on top of all that. So I hope to see you all there please come along and give it your support, we need events like this to work in Ireland in these challenging times. If there are any companies out there who can help us in any way with sponsoring please contact us we would be only too glad to listen. I also must add again it is a pleasure to be working with all the Mara Media events team and I hope this event goes from strength to strength. See you all there in November.
19th-20th November 2011.
Hotel: Galway Bay Salthill Galway
Duration: Two days (Saturday & Sunday)
Times: Saturday 10-6pm - Sunday 10-5pm
For more details www.irishflyfair.com
For further information:
Hugh Bonner - (074) 9548935 - hugh@maramedia.ie
Grace McDermott - (074) 9548936 - grace@maramedia.ie
Stevie Munn - anglingclassics@aol.com
Monday, 6 June 2011
Silver Bullets on the Fly. Mullet the Irish Bone Fish . By Stevie Munn
Being a fly fishing fanatic i will cast for any fish as long as i can do it on a fly rod, although there are some fish i love to catch more than others, these are normally species that fight hard or are a challenge or both, if I’m lucky. As a boy I grew up fishing mostly for wild trout and Atlantic salmon as these where the fish my late father who was a very keen angler introduced me to, and they are both still a large and wonderful part of my fly fishing, but when home in Ireland i also now fly fish for Pike and some saltwater species and when on my travels i fish for Pacific salmon , steelhead , grayling, wild rainbows, you know the sort of stuff that almost all fly fishing fanatics like to chase, but there is a fish that i now target in the summer months in my native land that has to be one of the best sporting fish on a fly rod ,this fish is fast and strong and there are 100s of places around our coastline that we can fish for them ,it is the Grey Mullet. Now i know Mullet have always thought to have been almost impossible by many anglers to get to take on a fly rod some say you need to lure them by feeding them with bread flake and maggots then fish fly patterns to imitate what you have just fed to them, but this is not the way i like to fish although I’m not knocking anyone that does it , it’s just i don’t want to carry maggots and as for bread it makes me ill so I’m on a strict wheat free diet ,i don’t even like being near the stuff. So when i go fly fishing i like to travel light, it’s one of the things i adore about fly fishing all i want to take is my rod, reel and a box of flies, that’s about it I’m not bringing bait boxes and the contents of the nearest bloody bakery.
Now if you talk to anyone who has actually caught a mullet on a fly rod they will all tell you they are great fighters but talk to anyone who has been lucky enough to have fished for tropical bone fish in somewhere like Mexico or Cuba and has also been fortunate to have caught a mullet on a fly rod , they will tell you that mullet reminded them of the legendry ghost of the salt flats as they speed off ripping backing from your reel, and for this reason Mullet are often called in my part of the world called the Irish bone fish dew to being a speed king and silver bullet of a fish and one well worth fishing for and like the Bone fish in shallow water there is not many fish faster than them , so when i was asked few years ago by fellow casting instructor Leslie Holmes to come fish with him for them, i simply jumped at the chance as i knew Leslie is an angler that catches these fish on a very regular bases. Leslie lives on the North Coast of Northern Ireland where the River Bann renowned for its Salmon flows to the sea at Castlerock, the locals know this spot as the bar mouth, it is a huge estuary and i could not wait to fish it. When i arrived there i asked Leslie how he started to target Mullet he told me, it was while fishing at the Bar Mouth for Seatrout many years ago he often noticed very large shoals of Mullet cruising the margins in the estuary as the tide filled, which he tended to ignore other than having the occasional throw at them with his sea trout patterns but never having any luck with them he always gave up and went back to fishing for Seatrout. Then on a number of days Leslie made a point of walking the estuary as the tide filled, with no rod, solely to observe shoals of Mullet as they had begun to intrigue him . He then noticed that there was always a number of fish in front or to the rear of the main shoal. As the front runners moved up the shoreline in approximately 6 to 8 inches of water it became obvious that there was a sprinkling effect on the surface, seconds before an eruption of fish broke through the top of the water. This was one of those chance discoveries, as the conditions were extremely hot with not even a whisper of a breeze on the water, so Leslie was able to study these fish , he then returned home to give them some thought , where they chasing sand eels or small fry? They were definitely chasing something! He went through all his fly boxes and found some sand eel patterns and threw them into a salmon fly box which had a few other flies in it and grabbed a 9 weight rod which he used for Bass and got into the car and went back to the estuary.
He then went up the shore with a small sand eel pattern on, seen fish approaching, covered the front runner, and hooked the mullet but straight away the fish got off! This happened a dozen times. He then kept cutting the sand eel pattern tail back, and then the savage takes stopped. Exasperated he couldn't work out what was happening. Then for the hell of it, he did something strange he put on a small salmon Irish fly a size 16 Orange and Gold shrimp pattern. Fly on!! Shoal approaching, front runners pushing stuff up, covered with the little salmon fly, long straight draw on line and bang!!!! The rod practically got wrenched from his hand and off the fish went like a speed train , full fly line out through the top eye, backing screaming off the reel, blood flowing from his line finger, 80yards backing gone. Then the silver missile decides to turn and head back at him, and he is now running backwards to keep the tension on the fish. Eventually 15 minutes later a 6.5lb silver grey power house slips into the net, with the Currys red shrimp stuck in the side of a car tyre of a lip. So Leslie had cracked it but was it a fluke, so he sat down, shook for while and watched another pod moving towards him. Could it work again only one way to find out? He did exactly the same as before and BANG similar fight, HAPPY DAYS!!! 15 mins later 3lb Mullet lay in the net. (So the 1st one was not a fluke) Time to change the fly, just to see? On goes another Irish Salmon fly this time a size 16 Foxford Shrimp and another 4 fish in the net, the last one he dispatched to eat and also to check the stomach contents. Yes you guessed it, it was crammed full of sand shrimp!!! These were the little things sprinkling or fleeing the mighty Mullet. Since that day roughly six years ago Leslie has landed hundreds of Mullet with this method and now his secret was out.
Now it was my turn to fish for them, i had like most kids that fished growing up on Belfast’s Shore Road fished at times for Mullet in Belfast Lough with very little success, so i wanted to put Leslies tactics in to good practise and i did landing 3 great fish in my first outing with him all on small salmon flies and they all fought like express trains just fantastic sport on a fly rod. I have also caught them since then on small brown flies in very calm water, simple trout flies like the hares ear sometimes work, but i must admit the small salmon flies on size 16 and 14 hooks work so well i keep going back to them and it’s my belief that this tactic triggers a response similar to the behaviour of Daphnia feeding trout or at times pulling a small lure though Caenis feeding trout, they just can’t seem to help themselves so they chase and attack your fly , this can be really exciting especially if fishing in perfect Mullet conditions which is in a flat calm then at times just like trout fishing , you get huge bow waves flowing your fly , if this happens don’t slow down keep stripping back at pace and with luck the fish will stop you and then with a Mullet all hell will brake lose as he heads out to sea ripping line from your screaming reel . MAGIC. I now have fished many times for these great fish and am always looking around my coast line for new hot spots they are truly super on the fly rod , get out there and try them.
Gear
Myself and Les strongly recommend the use of a 9 foot 8 or 9 weight rod as he has experimented with 6 and 7 weights , with these lighter rods it’s almost impossible to set the hook with, you need something with a bit of backbone. My own preference is a Hardy Zane 9ft 8 or 9 weights with a Zane No 1 reel. Use a saltwater proof large arbour reel with a serious amount of backing attached with a WF 8 Floating line, a Mullet will test your equipment to the limit. Leader material consists of 10 feet of 10 or 12lb Fluorocarbon. Fly selection is dictated by weather conditions the flatter the water the smaller the pattern i.e. 16 for flat calm and 14 to a 12 when there’s ripple or wave on it.. One more tip that will hopefully bring you success is once you feel anything at your line strike as hard as you can, as if your life depended on it you have to set the hook, these fish do not have soft mouths as often heard amongst the angling fraternity.
The Orange & Gold Shrimp
Hook 8 – 16 single, treble or double.
Tag Fine oval or flat gold or silver tinsel
Rear Hackle Golden Pheasant rear red body feather, wound
Rear Body Gold Tinsel
Rib Gold oval tinsel or wire
Centre hackle Hot Orange
Front body Black Seal’s fur or Floss
Rib Gold or silver oval tinsel or wire
Front Hackle Badger
Head Black
The Foxford Shrimp
Hook 8 – 16 single, treble or double.
Tag Fine oval or flat silver tinsel
Rear Hackle Golden Pheasant rear body red feather
Rear Body Black Seal’s fur or floss.
Rib Fine or medium oval tinsel
Centre hackle Badger cock
Front body Fiery brown Seal’s fur
Rib Fine or medium oval silver tinsel
Wing. Jungle cock
Front Hackle Natural red (brown)
Head Black or red.
Info on Guiding for Mullet.
There are good guides in N.Ireland contact Stevie Munn and he can point you in the right direction. Email anglingclassics@aol.com
Leslie Holmes can be contacted on Email info@stonefalls.co.uk for fishing around the Bann estuary. Packages including accommodation can be arranged also Stephen Kennedy is a saltwater guide and runs the Strangford guiding company on Strangford Lough where you can also fish for mullet and Seatrout StrangfordGuidingCo@BTInternet.com
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Fact File --Stevie Munn has fished many places in the world but grew up fishing on rivers and loughs of Ireland where he now often guides. He is a Hardy Greys Academy indorsed game angling Instructor, and helps run teaching courses in Ireland and hosts trips to Canada, he is a qualified Advanced Professional Game Angling Instructor in Fly Casting (APGAI) and a Association Professional Game Angling Instructor in Fly Tying & Fly Casting (APGAI-Ireland) he can be contacted by email anglingclassics@aol.com or via the web sites www.anglingclassics.co.uk or www.hardyfishing.com
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
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