Our flight from Heathrow to Shannon was uneventful. Collected the cars then queued up to exit Shannon in the rush hour; not helped by several road diversions. Perhaps they need a congestion charge. Arrived in Cahir, Co.Tipperary and everyone made straight for the steak house where the sirloins are just as God intended. We learned that the weather had not been good: a fair bit of rain had fallen and the Suir was high and coloured. Not the news we wanted to hear.
The full Irish breakfast was a work of art and a great way to start what was going to be a long day. The rain had stopped but the Suir was still very coloured so we went to the other beats to seek clearer waters.
Ken, Torsten and Tim went on to the Aherlow, a smaller river, to try that out and met with great success taking four or five fish each; the biggest running to ¾ lb. Newcomer Tim managed his first river trout and first on the dry fly with just his second cast ever on a river and went on to take several more from some very tight spots.
The rest of our group went higher up on the Suir. Bob and Peter had their first trout on the dry fly on their first time river fishing. Neil and Glenn got some takes but couldn’t hold onto them.
That evening, Hughie took Geoff and Quentin up to the tiny little river Ara as the Suir was still very dirty and coloured. Everyone fished till well into the evening and returned to the pub for a well earned meal and a pint or two of Ireland’s finest and to swap stories. With the late sunset and high spirits many did not feel the need to turn in till the wee hours.
The Suir had fallen in level and was clearing quite well. Ken and Torsten had heard the reports from the Ara and took Tim for some streamcraft lessons. This little stream turned out to be Ken and Torsten's love of the trip. They managed several fine fish in the morning on dries and in the afternoon returned to the Aherlow where Tim showed just how much he had learned.
Most of us went off to Holy Cross which is about 20 miles up the Suir. We had a great evening where Bob our novice river fisherman had a trout over the pound. Hughie caught and released at least a dozen and Quentin also had a few. James hooked up with more trees and bushes than fish but took it all in good humour. WEFF regular Geoff got a few and also provided a helping hand to the newcomers.
Neil and Glenn tackled the Ara further upstream where, surprisingly, the river is wider and deeper. They had no luck there and so headed back to the Suir near Cahir which had settled down considerably and was clearing. They fished till dark for a couple of small wild brownies.
Glenn, Ken and Torsten were up with the birds to try the Suir early on. They managed several small fish around the margins but not the big ones they were looking for.
Ken and Torsten returned to their beloved Ara where careful spotting put them onto what the fish were doing and led to a great session of dry fly fishing among the weed beds where they stopped counting the fish taken after they ran out of fingers.
Neil and Glenn took up an offer to fish a “secret” stretch of the Suir where Czech nymphing accounted for several fish during the day. After dinner they returned to the regular stretch for the evening rise.
Most waited for the evening rise which was not to disappoint; quite a few fish being caught. Best fish went to one and a quarter pound - again caught by that star dry fly novice, Bob.
Once it got dark and the fishing was done it was time for some refreshments back at the pub. In Ireland it doesn’t get dark till almost midnight at this time of year so needless to say it was a late night for many.
On our last day, Hughie was on the river Suir at 5:30 am for a last attempt for that elusive two pounder plus. He had six decent trout, but alas, no two pounder.
Ken and Torsten braved the elements, which were quite nasty, to be rewarded with quite a few fish on the Ara including one plump fellow that went over the pound mark.
The rest of the day was spent between the packing up, the local tackle shop, and Irwin’s bar, before a final group meal at the Italian restaurant near the Cahir town square. It was a great meal in excellent company and a fine end to a successful trip. Most everyone has booked to return same time next year and the very keen will be on the September trip.