Sligo SWFF 2.2.2013

People: me

Duration: 4 hours

Tide: arrived 2 hours before low

Weather: flat clam and clear blue skies

Bait: fly

Rigs: 7wt sink tip

Results: 3 sea trout all around 1 lb



Report:


Woke up to an absolute cracker of a day, and my first thoughts turned to sea-trout - checked the tides, which were spot on and hit the road for the first session of 2013.

Conditions were flat calm, with the tide dropping back nicely. Fished for about an hour and a half without a touch and was beginning to think i was nuts, despite the warm weather, standing waist deep in freezy water had me wishing i had a pair of long johns!

However there were a few fish moving and i tracked back up the beach to cover a fish i had seen breaking the surface - soon after i rose the first fish - nothing like a big swirl under the fly to wake you up! shortly after i hooked the first of the session - with an incredibly acrobatic fight that had him spending more time in the air than in the water! I missed another, before seeing a slight disturbance in the surface - just a hint of movement - i covered it and had him on the second cast. I lost another fish and saw an absolute stonker break the surface - might well have been a salmon - but easily in the 6-7lb mark - i tried covering him but he was just out of casting range. Landed a third fish soon after - all the fish were hooked within about an hour, and were in great condition - tho with a few sea-lice, kept 2 for the pan and released the 3rd. Also had a total buzz watching an Otter fishing in front of me - only about 40 or 50 yards in front of me - stunning creature.

a really superb session and a great start to 2013.

Bitch

Sounds like a great day out, well done man . Enjoy 'em!

Nice! Well jealous!!

Very nice session Davy well done, I'm hoping to get my first Trout of the year next week!!!

sounds absolutely ideal
great stuff davyp

i'd be interested in seeing any pics that you might have of the flies you would be using davy
im goin to add a few pics of my own to the 'Saltwater Fly Pattern Database' here, to include a few flies that i have tied up for s.trout, hopefully you can add a couple..
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=9338

well done again. sounded like a cracking wee day out

your staking paid off mate ,,,,nice one...

Well done! Just one thing, is it legal to target sea trout at this time of year? (Just asking, I don't know) I know you need a licence, but that's it.

cheers for all the replies lads
Last cast - yea - you need a license to target sea-trout and open season for sea trout in the sea is 1st january to 12th october, any fish over 40cm have to be tagged, a bag limit of 3 fish per angler per day also applies(under 40cm) - if in the tidal estuary stretch of a river the open season for the river applies. - more here

http://www.fishinginireland.info/salmon ... agging.htm

the fly these were caught on was the same as these ones - they have great movement in the water

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400268623689? ... 1438.l2648

i generally fish with two flies - one of these, a hugh falkus sunk lure, or something similar on the point and a popper or wake fly on the dropper. tho generally i find they aren't fussy and any blue and sliver, or back and silver fly tied with a longish tail will work - standard sea trout flies have also worked - esp. muddler bumbles - fished fast on the surface.

Super fishing Davy, youre lucky to have a sea trout venue at this time of year. Sounds like a brilliant session. No pics? sorry thats probably been asked already.

cathalger - i had posted a pic, but it was removed by one of the mods as it showed 2 untagged dead sea-trout. As these were under 40cms they didnt need tagged, so there wasnt really an issue - and hopefully it will be re-added. check out the latest thread for a wee pic of a live one tho

For years i would never dreamt of fishing for sea trout in feburary, but a few years ago some of the guys reported some really crackin sea trout in the 3 - 3 1/2 lb mark from around sligo in feb - so it made me wonder, and i had a go for them with the flies last year in feb and got a few decent fish, but from march on i did almost all my fishing in fresh water for Salmon and sea-trout on Lough Beltra in mayo - though i hope to do a bit more SWFF this year - esp. on those calm days that would be useless on the lake.

the fly these were caught on was the same as these ones - they have great movement in the water

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400268623689? ... 1438.l2648

i generally fish with two flies - one of these, a hugh falkus sunk lure, or something similar on the point and a popper or wake fly on the dropper. tho generally i find they aren't fussy and any blue and sliver, or back and silver fly tied with a longish tail will work - standard sea trout flies have also worked - esp. muddler bumbles - fished fast on the surface.

cheers davy. nice looking fly there that EZ Sandeel, might consider tying up something similar

i am about to add a few flies to the database now.. if its of any interest to you..