Dan O’Neill is back for the first issue of his ‘The River Whispers’ blog of 2025.
First of all, Happy New Year to you all. It won’t be long now before our season begins here on the River Nore, so let’s take a look at our preparation and concentrate on what we really need. Where do trout hang out early season? is a question asked quite a lot along riverbanks in March / April. My pike on the fly season is well underway, and I had some great trips; one very memorable trip was with Tomasz Zwierzynski of Pheasant Flies, which makes some great pike flies. (TikTok). Roach on the float has been quiet, and Anthony and I worked quite hard for a couple of warriors this winter.
Early Season Trout Tactics
Hello, 2025. Very exciting is the feeling of a new trout season approaching. Scanning the internet for advice and tips on what we may need, but for where? I see a lot of people come to me with fly boxes and say “I saw a guy on Youtube use this and he caught loads of trout” which he probably did but on a different river or area. Now, I am not for one second saying it won’t work on the river you fish, but if we listen to everything we hear works, we would end up causing huge expense to ourselves. My point here is to focus on where you’re going to fish, in my case, the R.Nore. My early season fly box is quite simple, I cover nymphs, dry dropper, wet fly and streamers mostly, perhaps a couple of dry flies just in case, such as the Adams. I have kept a record of what I find works over the past seasons, so stock my fly box according to that. What patterns have I got in my fly box – I always have Pheasant Tail Nymphs in sizes 12 to 18, Woolly Buggers in black and olive size six usually, Adams in size 16 and 18, Coch – y – Bunddu size 14 and then some Klinks tied by my good friend John McCullagh.
I clean my lines before storing them for the winter, it’s a good idea to pull the line off your reel as it may hold some memory after being on the reel over the winter. In your hand, take about 18 inches of fly line and stretch it, then move down along the fly line till you get to the end. Try a cast and if it still holds a little memory, then repeat the process.
Trout hang outs – Many a time I have been that angler walking down the river early season wondering where are all the fish gone. The fish remain in their protective lies’ early season and until the water warms up and levels drop a little. Seek undercut banks, rocks and other things that provide protection over the winter months. I tend to find it helps to really look at the area you’re going to fish, study the water and really home in on your rivercraft skills. Think of the current as wind, where would you go to shelter from the wind? I use Woolly Buggers mostly early season, at times I will use a heavy tungsten nymph to get me down to where the fish are.
Set up – 9ft 6wt rod with a floating line and an 8ft di3 Polyleader, if deeper water or moving a bit faster I will use a di5 Poly leader, from the Polyleader to my fly, I use 8-pound fluorocarbon, about 20 inches, this set up works well for me early season when fishing Woolly Buggers or some of the streamer patterns Kelly Gallup uses.
Pike on the fly
What an exciting few trips I had for pike recently. Just before the snow I went fishing with Tomasz from Pheasant Flies. Tomasz wanted to learn a little more about the casting of heavy flies. I gave Tomasz a lesson on the double haul, and then we went downstream to have a few casts. Tomasz gave me a couple of flies to try out; I was fascinated by the movement in the water and how easy the flies were to cast, given their size. I did meet a fish about 8/10 pounds on one of the flies and missed a take further downstream. It was a wonderful day with great company; I look forward to getting out again with Tomasz.
-
A fine river pike for Dan Anthony and I also went out for a few casts chasing pike, I was using large flies to start with and got a lot of follows but nothing committed to taking, I changed down to a smaller fly and after 10 minutes lifted into my first pike. A few more fish came after that all on the smaller fly, nothing big, but it was all about seeing the smile on Anthony’s face when a pike grabbed the fly. We fished right into dark and met 10 pike in total. We were travelling light, so we covered quite a bit of ground, which was exciting. It was an area I fished when I was 8 or 9; it was great to revisit the area with Anthony and watch him pick out the same spots I did when I was his age.
-
A nice pike for Anthony Set up – I use a 9ft 10wt rod with a sinking line (Di5). I had 2ft of 20lb fluorocarbon, then an 18-inch wire trace to my fly. I found this to be the most productive method. I did try a floating line with a 10ft Di5 Poly leader, but it just didn’t produce on the day; there are days where it works wonders, but today, they just wanted it down deep.
Roach on the Float
I spent many years chasing roach, a wonderful fish and one that most young anglers meet first on their journey. Over the years, in search of a roach, I focused on a certain piece of river and spent a day plumbing the depths along it to see if there were any drop-offs or deep spots. I found a slope that was carved into the riverbed just at the mouth of the canal. The roach really favoured this area especially when the water was a little more energetic after some rain. In most rivers I fish, dace are a problem when targeting roach. I tried many ways to deter them but ended up catching one after the other with perhaps an odd roach through them. The only way I did manage to get the roach feeding and to bully the dace off the feed a bit was by using crushed hemp mixed with brown crumb. The hemp seemed to really get the roach’s head down to feed and they pushed through the dace. I did hair-rig some hemp on a small hook and caught some nice roach; there is an art to drip feeding the hemp to the roach, which I learned from an angler on the river one day. He would throw in 5/6 seeds, allow them to sink, and leave it for a couple of minutes before introducing 4/5 seeds, allowing them to do the same before reducing it to 3 or 4 seeds. Casting along the area, he would almost always hook a decent-sized roach. The man would walk along the bank slowly, watching the river carefully before stopping and trying this method. It’s amazing to see someone do this and almost always succeed in catching a roach.
-
A typical roach setup Set up – I use a 12ft float rod with 3lb main line. My hook link is 2lb and about 18 inches to a size 18 or even sometimes 20 hook, depending on the bait and how wary the fish are. I put a float stop on either side of the float and plumb the depth before I add my shot to the line. I find this the best way as I can space my shot out more evenly. I use no8 shot if shotting near the hook. The further away the shot is from the hook, the more natural your presentation will be, which matters greatly when targeting larger roach. Ensure your float is set sensitive so the least touch will take it under.
-
A nice winter roach Fishing lessons and courses for 2025
Between now and the 17th of March I will be doing a limited number of casting lessons for €25 per lesson. The lesson will also touch on other aspects of getting ready for the season and I will speak about equipment as well. For more details, contact me by email or on any of my social platforms.
Pike fishing 2025
I am now taking bookings for pike on the fly courses and guided trips for pike. If you have any questions about the trips or booking feel free to contact me.
For some videos on this week’s edition take a look at my Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok pages.
Coming Soon
Soon I will be posting short clips on the things I cover on each edition to try to help out a little more.
Go Fishing
Growing up in the countryside of Gowran, Co.Kilkenny, I started my fishing journey on the River Barrow with my dad, which is where I caught my first fish, a lovely brown trout. The Gowran River was also a short walk from my homeplace, and on the days my dad couldn’t fish, I would walk through the fields and fish the Gowran River. My love for fishing grew and took me to Mount Juliet Estate, where I began guiding at 13. I went on to become fisheries manager at Mount Juliet Estate and, to this day, enjoy taking out hundreds of clients every year fishing on the River Nore. I enjoy all types of fishing and guide all over Ireland. I am an Apgai Ireland-qualified casting instructor and have Ambassador roles with Cadence and Yeti. I joined Fulling Mill as an endorsed pro guide and am part of the Patagonia pro team. My angling journey has been an exciting one and hopefully will continue to be.
I take out all levels of anglers, from beginner to experienced. I enjoy what I do and count myself very lucky to be able to meet and guide new people to what might be their first Irish fish.
Trending Products
