Fishing on the River Nore Tomastown

Located just 30 minutes drive from Waterford and 15 minutes from Kilkenny this limestone fishery is a series of fast runs, rifles and glides, and is arguably the most picturesque river valley in southern Ireland. I have had the pleasure of fishing this fabulous stretch of river over the last few seasons.The quality of fishing here is outstanding to say the least.
The season starts on March 17th and finishes September 30th. There are some eight miles of river to explore; stocked with an abundance of native wild brown trout and prolific fly hatches throughout the season you are promised a memorable outdoor experience.The Brown Trout average from 20cm to 30cm in length and the deeper pools hold some fish in excess of 5lbs. Under certain conditions all of the recognized methods of wet fly, dry fly, and nymph fishing will work successfully for catching trout on this water.

 

The river is quite wide and an angler will have plenty of fishing in a single run. As you begin below the fast water on the dry dropper techniques and when you move into the heavier nymphing water you can spend hours fishing all the pockets and shelves picking up dozens of good quality fish

Salmon fishing is regulated by the local club and national bodies to find out more information on current regulations for salmon fishing please contact the local club or guides in the area. Sea trout have been known to migrate through the waters in this region and with the conditions correct there is a chance that you will connect with some using the right methods at the right time.The river and area offers the angler plenty of variety in there fishing experience and cracking sport in the long, wide glides, smooth flats and fast rapids running of the natural and man-made weirs. 

If you haven't fished here then I would recommend strongly that you give it a day this summer. Day tickets for this section of the Nore are reasonable at 15 euros and I would advise you to contact the local club before you head down. You can contact them through the local guide Noel Molly at noresideflyfishing.com and he will be happy to help you out. Also day tickets can be bought in the local hardware shop beside the town bridge. 

Thomastown Anglers will also be hosting their annual Fly-Fishing competition this July where 18 of the countries top Fly Fishing Teams compete with each other over 3 sessions and two days. This competition is a catch and release bases and it would be an opportunity for individuals to witness some of the top competition techniques in action. Everyone is welcome on the weekend and if you wish to get involved, then contact the club chairman Tom Moylan on 087 7515828 to see if there is spaces available for stewards. It promises to be a great weekend of fly fishing.

Here are a couple of good nymphs that you would want to have in your box before hitting this streach of river:

Caddis are a favorite food of the Nore trout and I would keep several sizes of this simple nymph in my box . These along with simple pheasant tails and hare's ear nymphs you wont go wrong. Over the next couple of weeks ill be getting on this section of river regularly practicing for the coming competition and  I will keep you updated on the progress. Thanks for reading if you would like any more information regarding this venue please give me a shout on my contact information on the right of the blog. 
Tight Lines....

Rockets - Perdigon Nymphs

As any Fly Tyer, I love to trick around with different materials and flies, to try and give something a little edge over the old variations. This is what I have been working on for a while now. They are perdigon's with a twist and are proving to be very effective indeed.





To begin I put a size 16 301 Dohiku hook in the vice and tie on my Kevlar 50D thread.
I then add in a severally times folded, length of this hot orange UV reflective thread by Tommy-Fly, I love this stuff for doing these nymphs as it is fine and sits flat, and when you UV resin it it dose not become transparent and lose its impact on the nymph. Tie it out the front end of the hook and then tie of the tying thread.
Place in a 3 mm bead of your colour choice and tie in your base colour thread, for this fly it is black Tommy-Fly black UV thread.
I tie in the tail which is Coq De Leon fibers and my ribbing which is White UV reflective thread.I then form the body with the black thread and pull over the orange thread and secure it down with the rib, which gets several spins on the bobbin to tighten up the strands.Once the body is ribbed, I add several turns of the black behind the bead to secure in all the threads and tie off.
To finish the nymph add a good coat of UV resin and there you go!!!!
You can also leave the thread that comes over the back as a hot tail instead of the Coq De Leon. When you are messing about with these guys try different base and back colours for great looking nymphs that will catch you lots of fish.

Perdigon Nymphs are becoming very popular through Europe and Ireland, and there is a reason why, that is they are very effective in our fast streams and rivers. I hope you enjoy fishing and tying these nymphs and thanks for reading my blog, if you would like any other information or some of these nymphs please feel free to drop me a line on my contact details here and if you are looking for Dohiku hooks or top quality Tungsten Beads feel free to give me a shout for the best prices. 

Watch out for my new website coming shortly......