Ireland, July 2010. Can life be better ?

Don’t really know where to start from, the country, the people, the fishing…. Have you ever had that kind of feeling that EVERYTHING has been perfect or nearly so? Well, this is the taste my latest Irish trip had; one week spent filming two fishing documentaries for Sky TV in Italy.

I spent a jolly good afternoon roaming around Dublin waiting form my friends to come, and had the chance to take some photos of this beautiful city. I missed Dublin since mid nineties and I was very happy to be there again. At nigh an enjoyable dinner and some pubbing and clubbing completed the day. Travelling with me Boris Salnikoff, the director of the show, and Vania Corá the cameraman, both great guys to travel with. The plan was to film fishing for Sea Bass and Pollock both on flies and lures, from shore as well as from the boat. The shore fishing was in Kerry again, with John Quinlan, and the bay of Cork was our scenario for the boat fishing, with guide Kevin Murphy.

This is a blog so I won’t make it too long; I think that the photos will speak mostly for themselves. The first two fishing days in Kerry have been a tad slower than usual. We had to work a bit harder to find the fish and due to a severe change of weather happened the week before our arrival; the Sea Bass wouldn’t cooperate too much. I managed to land 5 fish mostly on softies and Boris had none, fighting against the wind and with fish swimming too far for his fly rod. Fishing for Pollock has been another story altogether. We found them good, in a place with not such difficult access and caught a good deal of them. Boris with an ultra fast sinking line had 4 and I hooked the same on soft plastics and landed 3. John, our guide I think had more that any of us, even though he fished for a shorter time. As usual great food and relaxed atmosphere at the Thatch cottage lodge. (John just dropped me an e-mail 5 minutes ago: Suprise, suprise the bass have turned up in numbers not long after you left. Two of us have had about 40 in the last 3 days up to 7lbs. All were caugh early in the morning on the beaches. Its a pity we did not find them when you were here but I suppose that's fishing)

In Cobh we found a different environment, and a whole new experience was waiting for us. Kevin Murphy had put us on a nice non stop fishing plan, and boy, was it good or what? We arrived at the Bellavista hotel, had a chance for a brief chat and a tea with Kevin and Michael Hennessy, and hopped on the boat for our first afternoon of fishing. For some reason we couldn’t find the Sea Bass willing to snack on our candies but the Pollock were just swarming all over the place. Probably Boris caught 20 plus while I was skimming the surface in search for Bass, and three of those hit my walking the dog without being hooked. Eventually, when the sun went down the Pollock came up and hit the surface lure ravenously, and I had my share of fish too.

Next two days in the Cork Bay have been nothing short of amazing. The Bass showed up, in numbers and in size. Boris lost his virginity on the Irish Labrax and managed to land 5 of them on small gurgles and streamers and I had 9 fish up to 7lb on quite a big walking the dog, (Habano by Alle’s Lures) and on a Molix T-Jerk chartreuse that nailed 3 fish, including the biggest of the week, in less than half an hour fishing downcurrent a large pylons bridge.

Ok, if you like fishing light tackle, if you are a fly fisherman, if you love Sea Bass, enjoy being in a nice place with nicer people, drink good Guinness or Murphy beer and have a jolly good time, go to Ireland and fish with my friends. They will not only put you on fish, in the best spots, at the right time, but also make you laugh and feel at home.

There are few sincere thanks I’d like to put on writing. Fabiana Marraccini and Orla Woods at Fâilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority, you girls are just great! Lynn & John Quinlan at Thatch Cottage Ireland in Kerry, Kevin Murphy at Bass Fishing Ireland and Michael Hennessy of the South Western Fishery Board. Knowing you and being with you has been a true enjoyable experience I’m very much willing to repeat as soon as possible. Thanks for everything!