Ireland on the Fly - the people & places of fly fishing in Ireland

• Patsy Peril – a Limerick netsman’s fight to save the salmon

  This week it’s a book club episode with Patsy Peril, who co-wrote (with Deirdre Nuttall) ‘Swimming Upstream: one man’s fight to save the Atlantic salmon’. It’s a fascinating memoir about the life of a netsman on the River Shannon.  Patsy talks to us about the importance of the salmon to the communities and villages along the Shannon and how the building of Ardnacrusha decimated a way of life for so many. He talks about his work as a netsman and the increasingly difficult years, dealing with industrialisation, pollution, salmon farms and overfishing which led to the decline of salmon numbers before his eyes. But he also details his efforts to fight for the salmon and a friendship with the lifelong wild salmon campaigner, Orri Vigfússon, that developed along the way. ‘Swimming Upstream: one man’s fight to save the Atlantic salmon’ is available in all good bookshops.  Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

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• The mystique of Donegal’s hill loughs with Ronan McWilliams

  He’s The Scientific Angler on YouTube whose videos of Corrib, Arrow and Sheelin show brown trout fishing in Ireland at its best, but what’s also great about Ronan McWilliams’ fly fishing videos is his honesty. He’s not afraid to say when he’s blanked and when he’s found it tough – authenticity as he says is what it’s all about. Ronan also tells us about the mystique of the Blue Stacks in Donegal and why he loves nothing better than getting away from it all fishing on remote hill loughs.  For more from Ronan, visit his channel at https://www.youtube.com/@thescientificangler.  Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

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• Empowering communities to be custodians of their local rivers

  Education about and local engagement with rivers and water catchments are vital for empowering communities, kids and parents to be custodians of their local environments and one group that has been doing fantastic work in this area since the 1990s has been Streamscapes. It came about after Paul Kearney and Mark Boyden set up the Coomhola Salmon Trust in West Cork in 1989 and evolved then into Streamscapes, working with local communities and schools in the area of aquatic and biodiversity education. Mark joins us on this week’s episode to tell us more about the work that they do, the importance of empowering local communities and how it can help with the next generation in realising the importance of their environment and river catchments near them. Images thanks to Streamscapes.ie and for more information visit Streamscapes.ie Irish Youth Fly Fishing Team Fundraising Raffle We wanted to also mention the Irish Youth Fly Fishing Team Fundraising Raffle with prizes of a lake boat, fly rods, engine, hotel stays, angling vouchers all up for grabs.   Tickets are €50 each and limited to just 500 and all proceeds go towards the youth team costs for attending the World Youth Fly Fishing Championships in the USA later this year, so all for a great cause and tickets are on sale now from Frank Dempsey on 087 2351830 or email fgdempsey@gmail.com.  The draw takes place on June 21st.  Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

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• Bonus Ep: Saol ar an tSiúr (Life on the Suir)

  George McGrath is well known to listeners of the Ireland on the Fly podcast, a friend of the show he has joined us on numerous occasions. If you have listened to him before you will no doubt be aware that he and Tom Doc will at times, break out into speaking Irish. George has a great love for the Irish language and is a fluent speaker and Tom, hailing from Joyce Country, is fluent as well. It was with this in mind that we decided to record a bonus episode during Seachtain na Gaeilge last week. This is a week where the Irish language is promoted throughout the country.Tom interviewed George and the whole episode is in Irish. It is about George’s background in fishing and his life on his beloved River Suir.   For those listeners who only have a little Irish here are a few pointers to help you along and here is what is discussed in the interview in this order:-       Where George got his Irish, neighbour from Connemara, evening meetings-       Where George hails from-       How he started in fishing, eels and then on to trout, his first fly rod, the polar opposite of a travel rod. Thumbing and travelling to the fishing.-       An unusual lift from a blind man-       Pollution problems and the environment -       His YouTube Channel and why he does less hunting, once again the problems in the environment. Swimming against the tide-       Opening day 2025, Euro Nymphing (The Lob) and streamer fishing. He talks of some of the big streamers.-       Salmon on the river. His biggest trout, no catch and release when he was growing up, fast food Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

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• Evo Smyth’s fly fishing & fly tying journey from Latvia to Ireland

  This week we're joined by Evo Smyth, originally from Latvia, but living and fly fishing in the Irish midlands for the last twenty years. Although only taking up fly tying ten years ago, Evo quickly made a name for himself as a fly tyer of some skill and his flies have been in demand around the country. Evo tells us about his fly fishing and fly tying journey and has some really helpful and insightful advice for anyone looking to improve their own fly tying skills. Keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

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