News

Mount Falcon and the River Moy

Fishing for salmon has never been something I’ve given a lot of thought to over the forty-odd years I have been fishing. Every other kind of fishing, yes, but salmon, no. So when a customer talked about fishing the Moy in the Republic of Ireland and the quality of the Mount Falcon Estate, the seeds of a plan were hatched!

In our Fly Fishing Department at North West Angling Centre we have a young man called Terry Mann who fishes for the England Fly Fishing Team. Terry introduced me to fly fishing on brooks and rivers and very soon I was hooked. The feeling of standing in a river that’s moving past you while trying to cast a fly line up into the flow just gives me such a feeling of relaxation, whilst at the same time keeping you totally transfixed by the water and the thought that a trout might fancy my nymph is simply fantastic.

Fishing for Salmon was to prove a totally different game altogether…

Ryanair to Knock was booked online, and the 6th July could not come round quick enough. The tackle I was to take would include a 10ft Worming Rod and Shimano reel with the choice of 15lb braid and 12lb mono on the spare spool, along with hooks weights and accessories. I also took a 9ft Spinning Rod with 18lb braid and a box full of flying c’s, and I also packed my 10ft Streamflex 4pc Fly Rod just in case I found time to fish the well stocked 3 acre estate lake at Mount Falcon that holds a good head of Rainbows.

If like me you get really worked up about the thought of going somewhere new to fish for something you’ve never caught before and start looking at weather reports every day leading up to your trip, then you can appreciate how I felt when I rang Stuart Price, the Fishery Manager at Mount Falcon, who told me that there had been no rain to speak of for the last ten days and that if I wanted some sport that I’d better start praying for rain!

With two days to go before the trip the heavens opened and I rang Stuart again. His words came as a great relief when he told me it was raining in Ballina, and that the river had started to rise and things were looking much better. On telling me that Salmon had started to show my anticipation levels went through the roof!

The flight time is only forty minutes or so, and before I could practise my “Top o’ the monin’ to you” and the rest of my not so impressive Irish slang, I had touched down and was on my way to the Mount Falcon Estate. Thirty more minutes and I trundled up the long driveway and there she was – one of the most impressive buildings I have ever seen, set in a stunning woodland landscape with lovely manicured lawns. Wow! What a place to be spending three days in – never mind the salmon fishing!

My room was called ‘The Ditches’ after one of the salmon pools on the Moy. Mount Falcon is a Four Star hotel and you could see why – it was breathtaking! The place was just as beautiful on the inside as well, and the owner, Alan Maloney, had spent a small fortune renovating Mount Falcon House into a hotel and leisure complex with all the trappings that came with such a quality building.

Now there’s a guy at Mount Falcon called Stuart Price, the Fishery Manager; Stuart’s the guy who will sort out any tackle you need from rods to reels and terminal tackle to worms! I already had my own gear with me but Stuart put me right on a few things and showed me how they fish with worms on the River Moy, and I can tell you it’s very different to the way I had tried to fish at the back end of last season on the River Ribble without any success.

One of the stunning Suites available at Mount Falcon

Stuart very quickly took me down to the river and put me on the ‘Sandy Bank’ pool and took time to show me how and where to fish with worms on this pool. Controlling the speed at which the worms trundled down the pool and their depth was to be key to any hope of catching my first salmon. The river was still rising and had a murky brown colour to it and was perfect for big lobworms and redworms on the hook.

After a few hours fishing I’d not had a bite so I decided to go back up to Mount Falcon, unpack my gear, get showered and have a meal in the restaurant and start again refreshed the following morning.

The restaurant at Mount Falcon is unbelievable. Quality is an over used word sometimes, but not here; from start to finish the food was fantastic. A selection of fresh breads to start. Then a pâté starter followed by a salmon starter. After that I had white fish for my main course and to finish with a selection of freshly made chocolate cakes! A few beers to follow and I was soon planning my next mornings fishing.

I was up early and out with my fly rod on the estate lake. A few casts and soon my first Rainbow was in the net. Fishing dry fly in the margins can be great fun, you can sometimes see the trout shoot out from cover to grab the dry fly before any of his mates do! Six more trout banked and it was time for a big Mount Falcon breakfast.

Stuart came in to see me and advised me to fish the Wall Pool on the opposite side. He said where to start worming and exactly where to end my run through with the worming rod. Stuart said that the ‘killer’ spot was exactly opposite the big bush growing on top of the wall, and that this is where he would expect me to get a fish if there were any salmon in the pool.

Stuart gave me the key to the rowing boat and I was over to the other side of the river and setting my worming rod up as advised. The first run through in the dirty water told me that there were a few big boulders opposite the big bush just as Stuart had said, and this is where the salmon like to rest up before their next push up the mighty River Moy. The next cast went in and I watched with great anticipation as the float gently moved down and then stopped just before the big bush, and just as I was about to give it a sharp tug to get it moving again the float bobbed, and then bobbed a second time. I took up the bow of line in front on the float and then watched as the float jumped up and then down in rapid speed, up again and then it disappeared.

I panicked a bit and struck, but all I seemed to get was slack line, before realising that the fish had moved quickly across the pool towards me, and as I wound down fast she moved away at incredible speed across the river. The clutch on my Shimano clicked away as the fish stripped twenty yards of line from my reel, what’s more, the bend in my rod told me there was no way this was a big Moy river perch or pike – this had to be a salmon!

The guy on the opposite bank shouted across “Have you got one?” I shouted back “I hope so!” She came to the top quite quickly after that and into the waiting salmon net. A beautiful bar of silver about 4lb I guessed and with quick use of the priest lay on the grassy bank looking as perfect a fish as you could ever wish to see.

I shouted the weight over to the guy on the opposite bank and then grabbed the rod and stuck some more juicy worms on the hook – you never know there might just be another salmon with my name on it! And guess what? The float moved down the Wall Pool Swim again for the third time and just after the bush it started to bob again – I could not believe what was happening! The float jumped up and down again and I got excited again and struck hard. This time the salmon moved quickly and harder than the last, again downstream. The clutch clicked round and the line whistled in the wind. I love salmon fishing, and I love the River Moy I thought, this is easy… what’s all the fuss about I wondered, piece of cake as my second fish, bigger than the first, slipped into the net.

I looked up to see the guy opposite and before I could say I’d had another, he was playing one on his side. Jesus, I thought – this place is stuffed with salmon. I again despatched the fish and lay it upon the grassy bank and took a few photos.

Stuart arrived in his boat from upstream at Mount Falcon. He could see I’d had a few fish, shook my hand and told me I’d had two fish more than anybody else, and to get my rod sorted and get it back in again! No problem I said, just watch this, I’ll catch a salmon for you, it’s easy here. Well guess what, not only did I not get another bite all day, I did not have any luck the following day either!

Would you believe it I thought – one minute a fish a cast, the next, nothing! Despite that I was told all the other anglers caught and that was good news. Being in the right place at the right time could never have been more true. I spent the evening before I flew home fishing the dry fly on the estate lake taking more Rainbows which was great fun.

To sum up my three days fishing on the Moy and my stay at Mount Falcon would be easy – fantastic!

Enjoy your fishing…

David

David Hunt
North West Angling Centre

Useful Contacts;

Mount Falcon Country House Hotel
Foxford Road,
Ballina,
County Mayo,
Ireland
Tel: 00353 (0)96 74472
Fax: 00353 (0)96 74473
Email: info@mountfalcon.com
Web: http://www.mountfalcon.com

Discover Ireland (Fishing)
http://www.discoverireland.com/int/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/activities/fishing/



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Having to stand for hours in ice-cold, fast-running rivers is guaranteed to test any sportsman’s dedication.
Anyone prepared to do that as a matter of course since the age of four without loss of appetite or ambition, deserves all the success that comes his way.
So it came as no real surprise to those in the know when Atherton teenager Terry Mann was selected for the England team to compete at the World Youth Fly-fishing Championships next summer.

The 17-year-old has been on the competitive circuit for many years and has already represented England’s youth team in major events in Wales, Ireland and the Czech Republic, where the world championships will be staged next July.

“I’ve fished in some good company in the past but this will be against the best of the best,” said a delighted Mann after making the six-strong team.

In fact the England selectors have even higher hopes for the local youngster and run the rule over him tomorrow when he fishes in an eliminator for the full international team for next year’s senior squad.

“Fly fishing is everything to me. All my family are into it – that was why I started when I was four,” he added.

“It can be a real test of dedication. I finished second in the Europeans – England’s top rod – recently on the River Dee at Llangollen. The temperatures were as low as minus-five and we were out there all day. We left the hotel at 7.30 in the morning and only got back at 5.30pm.

“It was cold, but I don’t let things like that bother me.”

Five months seems a long time to wait for the big event but Mann, whose favourite location is the River Wharfe in Yorkshire, will spend his time productively, raising funds for the trip – including an essential week of pre-tournament fishing on the river the teams will compete on – and making sure his equipment is in top condition.

“It will cost a couple of thousand (pounds),” he explained. “We do get a bit of help from the English association but we have to pay for more or less everything, including our travel.

“That’s just the way it is. You just have to get some fund-raising work done.”

Working at North West Angling Centre in Hindley helps, but Mann’s fly-fishing career is very much a self-help enterprise. Like many enthusiasts, he makes his own flies and devotes hours of his time to practice, amassing as much knowledge as he can on the characteristics of the rivers he fishes.

“Fly fishing is about concentration, a lot of practice and learning all you can about the rivers you are fishing,” he said.

“We’ll go to the Cech Republic for the week before the world championships and practise on the river as much as we can. It will be new to the six of us but it’s up to us to adapt our methods as quickly as we can to the conditions. It’s demanding but it’s exciting.”