The 3-Day Workshop–Saltwater Fly Primer

Eight places of nine now filled – one remains open at this time.

Jim Hendrick

__________________________________________________________________

Fly fishing for bass or seatrout at sea is a specialised and challenging aspect of sea angling that can elevate your fishing experiences to a completely different level. 

Any interested newcomers can of course learn the basics of fly fishing by reading about rods, reels, lines, leaders, knots, casting and fly tying on their own. But a much more efficient and enjoyable way to get started is to enrol in a fly fishing course and or take a fly casting lesson. 

The 3-Day Saltwater Primer was designed in order to

• Help the beginner to avoid many of the frustrating pit-falls that you can encounter
• To help reduce the considerable learning curve in the disciplines of casting, tying and fishing at sea with the fly. 
• To share the experiences with other saltwater fly fishers

It was also created to ensure that experienced saltwater anglers would

• Benefit from world class fly fishing instruction through Glenda’s workshops
• Improve their tying skills and techniques by working with Brian
• Have an option to develop those skills on the water with Jim

Because one of the most wonderful things about saltwater fly fishing is that there is always something new to learn none of us are going to loose over the three days – and to be honest we could all do with more time on the water!

All the fly fishing, tying and casting workshops have a low student to instructor ratio (3:1) and are facilitated by

Glenda Powell – Casting Instruction

Brian Healy - Fly tying

Jim Hendrick – Saltwater guiding / Fishing

The aim and objectives in all of the  instructional workshops is to teach you the skills necessary to be successful at saltwater fly fishing on your own for bass and seatrout. To help and improve any aspects of your fishing you may have trouble with, in fact its worth considering that all of us can benefit from the workshops!

We never lose sight of the fact that fishing is a form of relaxation, not a matter of distance, numbers or size of fish. So, the over-riding theme is for all fishers to relax, enjoy the days and have a lot of fun.

See you there in April 2014.

Predictable fishing?

At the sitting of the Dungarvan District Court on Wednesday 26th March 2014, Mr. Arthur Daly, Dungarvan, County Waterford was prosecuted by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) for illegal netting of salmon on the river Colligan, Dungarvan. Mr. Daly pleaded guilty to breaches of Sections 94(1), 96(1) and 97(2) of the 1959 Act as amended.

Mr. Jason Moran, Fisheries Officer with IFI, told Judge Terrance Finn that while on a routine patrol at approximately 9pm on the evening of the 20th of August 2013, he and three other fishery officers observed Mr. Daly and an accomplice setting two nets in a pool in the river and throwing stones in the pool to drive fish into the nets. The fish had no chance to escape as they were trapped between the two nets and were being forced into the nets by the action of Mr. Daly throwing stones at the fish. Mr. Daly and his accomplice had already succeeded in netting two salmon which were in Mr. Dalys bag.

The river Colligan is a very important wild salmon and sea trout river but is only open for catch and release angling for salmon in an attempt to conserve the salmon population. Illegal fishing activity, particularly netting activities have potentially devastating consequences for fish stocks.

Judge Terrance Finn convicted Mr. Daly and imposed fines totalling €2,000.00 and awarded legal costs of €997.39 and expenses of €597.64 to Inland Fisheries Ireland.

…Ends… Source - http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/Press-releases/man-prosecuted-for-illegal-netting-of-salmon-on-the-river-colligan-dungravan.html

Congratulations to the IFI.

What does a bass guide pack in his bag?

Anybody who knows me, knows too of my quest (some say fetish) for the perfect guiding gear pack solution type thing. I think I may have found it. I have a preferred pack for my own personal fishing which is the Patagonia Stealth Atom Sling but for times when I’m guiding I need something a bit roomier.

Thing is, I don’t like being weighed down or having too much gear either, even when I’m guiding. The original contest existed in my mind between the Stealth Atom Sling and the Orvis Safe passage sling pack. Now I’m conscious of course that both of these packs are fly oriented and don’t provide a lure fishing solution as such.

And then along came the Orvis Safe Passage Guide sling pack , which as of today I am now the happy owner of one. Sometimes things just feel right and this is definitely one of those things. Its colour, its weight, its orientation and when I opened the cardboard box today the simple and unique Orvis packaging was already giving me an experience. You can read the specs yourself at the link above.

It can easily double as a lure solution as the internal fly holder is simply velcro’d on, the versatility is really cool.

So what is it as a bass fishing guide that you pack for a 4 hour guiding session lets say for Saltwater Fly Fishing with two customers on the shore? It surprised me when I loaded the sling pack today

The Gear

• First aid kit – full kit at car
• Kershaw knockout knife
• Ross Saltwater pliers
• Waterproof mini binoculars
• Fishpond pitchfork clippers
• Stainless forceps
• Braid scissors
• Loon reel lube
• Wader repair kit
• Zap a Gap
• Small sun block
• Extra pair of glasses
• Phone in ziplok bag
• Hook sharpener
• Tape measure
• Waterproof torch

And then there’s the fishing terminal tackle as such

• Braided loop connectors
• Pre-tied leaders both mono and fluoro
• Tapered saltwater leaders
• Poly leaders, various
• Tippet material
• Two boxes of flies, various types
• One wallet of flies, various types
• One spare reel with intermediate running line
• Optional shooting heads (F, I, Sk)
• Water bottle
• IFI scale collection kit

I think that’s about it from a fly point of view, there’s a few more things no doubt that could be added but you have to stop somewhere!

A trout and bass note from Denmark

Hi Jim

Haven't heard more from Alan so I hope he's got everything sorted out. The Danish coast is on fire at the moment with nice fish being caught all over the country. Some of the bigger ones have reached the 8 kg mark. Got my biggest of the year this weekend. 57 cm and 1,8 kg. 

I have been looking at the bass locations that I fish in the summer and one of the spots look like it's going to be a hotspot this year if the bars of silver show up. Some sand bars have formed during the winther storms creating rips. Same conditions we had a few years ago when we had a good bass year. The troughs on the inside of the bars tend to hold a lot of bait which gets flushed through the rips on the falling tide. I think/hope  it's going to be a good bass year here. Has your season begun? Really looking forward to working with you on the film project

Caspar saltwater fly fished for bass in Wexford some while back HERE and HERE

How a dishwasher helped me see the invisible

Our dishwasher stopped working last Tuesday. We have, since then, re-learned the forgotten, and in some cases i.e. Dan and Ruth learned new, the skills of washing and drying up,under duress might I add. As is the way in our house things get put on the long finger so the dishwasher is in the backyard just outside the back door, still!

There is a film of water trapped on top of the machine which was reflected through the back door this morning – this is what I saw on my kitchen wall.

-

 

Wind wave and light from jim Hendrick on Vimeo.

Spring begins–April days ahead

Its starting soon for me, another season of bass guiding on the Irish coast, in 15 days time in fact. Its an early start for me April 02 with Myles, but we’re chasing some trout on the fly in the sea and possibly light lure if we need to.

There’s something about trout fishing in the sea that really does it for me, in ways similar but often very different than bass on the fly. More later.

I’m looking forward to getting started and its not very long after April begins, that I’m down to the Dungarvan area to guide Daniel from the UK and his two pals for three days. This is a combination workshop/guiding trip for me and I really like these kind of days,this is rapidly followed with another six day series in Kerry in Mid month and then some fly fishing workshops.

That brings me almost to the end of April and the 3-Day Saltwater Fly Fishing Primer kicks into place. This is a big adventure for us, with 7 of 9 places filled its slowly but nicely falling into place. I guess having a world champion fly caster / instructor, an incredible fly tier and a very experienced bass fishing guide in the one place at the one time at The Bella Vista Hotel provides a good solution and opportunity to fish, learn and have a bit of fun too. I’m really looking forward to these few fishing days.

That’s my April fishing days for 2014, and its really after the 09th when I will have finished my degree that I will feel true relief and freedom from the shackles of study, its been a quick and at times tough three and a half years but I have no doubt it has already helped me make valuable decisions about the business and the way I will move forward and develop with it. I have met and worked closely in teams of some amazing people over these years, people I can trust and network with on a genuine basis.

Accommodation providers on the west coast, salmon fishers on the great river Blackwater, angling providers in the North West, photographers and travel writers and many more, and now I have access to all of their unique strengths, knowledge, facilities and friendships too. I intend to fully utilise all these services and new found opportunities over the next few years.

The strength of any future successful bass fishing development will always be greater than one person or organisation, it is of course largely a creation and action question of ‘networked’ openess and trust', a shared belief facilitating a range of sustainable partnerships whilst recognising other peoples skills, resource inputs and concerns too.

After ten years of bass guiding in Ireland I know what the job comprises of, ALL the aspects of the job and I know too the keen financial pressure it can place on a guide and his or her family. I have always believed that to make it work you needed to be a ‘Velcro’ type of person in as much that for winter you can attach yourself to a means of income that you could un-attach from again in spring – not an easy task at all! Because without some financial momentum the whole thing stalls and slows to a treacle. All of this of course is relevant to personal circumstances and what it is you want from life.

What I want and what I want to do is to continue to saltwater fly fish for bass and seatrout when ever I can for the rest of my life, simple.

I have grown beyond the delights of the Wexford coast and now having worked along the further coast I can travel confidently to many regions to not only guide but to also do what I have been missing – personal fishing and adventure.

I have through hard work made my own luck, secure in a contract that’s both flexible and demanding. I look forward to a busy and different 2014, my reduced days are booked with interesting people from France, UK, Italy, Denmark and Holland. My gear is almost ready, when is it ever? And the changed and different coastline lies like a new challenge before me.

With time to think and grow who knows what may happen!

One for the weekend

Sorry about all the videos as of late – just simply to busy to get here in any great detail – all will change around mid April as I get space at last. Looking forward to a good and different season for 2014.

GEOBASS trailer

In the series, the GEOBASS team searches the planet to locate and catch unique bass species, and experience the adventurous waters where they live. The crew will receive tips and advice from B.A.S.S owner and TV fishing legend Jerry McKinnis, as well as some Bassmaster Elite Series tournament pros, on how to conquer some of the most sought-after bass worldwide.

"In addition to being a story about unveiling Earth’s greatest fishing frontiers, GEOBASS is about our overriding urge to explore the world,” said Robison. “If a fish has the word ‘bass’ anywhere in its name, we’re going to try and catch it, no matter where in the world it lives. From the infamous record breaking largemouth bass of Mexico, to the legendary peacock bass of South America and the mysterious Indonesian black bass, our mission is to find bass in the places they thrive – many in places no one’s seen before – even if it means using extreme measures to get ourselves there.”

Bullshit

The Fish: SCOF issue #9 Moving Pictures from Southern Culture on the Fly on Vimeo.

Easy to learn and quick to tie–The tying workshops I

The flies that have proven themselves over countless hours fly fishing for Irish bass are undoubtedly three

The classic deceiver

The bucktail deceiver

with Hollow fleye variants

The clouser minnow

Tying saltwater flies that are easy to learn quick to tie, and probably equally as important, easy to cast and fish is what the fly tying workshops are all about during our Season 2014 primer.

Brian, during his first workshops, will take you, in is normally relaxed fashion, through the thought processes of both Lefty Kreh and Bob Popovics designs and functions especially when tying with natural materials.

Learn about sparcity, density, profile,shape and size plus on the water crossover techniques for both seatrout and bass

Because of the successes we have experienced in using both the BTD and the HF we have decided to dedicate one of your workshops almost exclusively to these two flies.

The Hollow Fleye is an expansion of Popovics’ Bucktail Deceiver. Rhode Island fly tier Kenney Abrames was impressed with the Bucktail Deceiver, and  he urged Bob to continue developing this pattern. Popovics decided to find a construction method that used less material to build a fly with a large profile.

He soon discovered a new technique that allowed him greater control over bucktail than he previously thought possible. He found that by tying the bucktail on the hook in reverse and then propping it rearward with a wall of thread, he had infinite control over the angle of the bucktail. This technique allows him to sculpt baitfish patterns using varying lengths and angles of bucktail. When tied in this manner, the cone of bucktail forms an outer layer that gives the fly its hollow appearance and name.

Watch and build with Brian as he unfolds Bob Popovics and Lefty Krehs patterns for you – all will be revealed!

See you at the Bella Vista (April 28th, 29th and 30th) – Jim 

Saltwater Fly Workshop–casting tying fishing April ‘14

Saltwater Fly Fishing Primer Ireland by Jim Hendrick

Sea trout secrets

Next week

At last, next week, it looks like a beginning - get out there!

Why

Director Wes Anderson said of the scene:

"There were some people who didn’t like the wolf scene. In particular one very important person. And he said, I don’t understand what this scene is doing in the movie. And I would always say to him, I’m not cutting it. That scene is why I’m making the movie."

GANGSTAAS

Self obsession and new fishing found!

“I was investing more belief and time in the impossibility of getting it done the further I stayed away and avoided the challenge of finding the new fishing. I did this because I began to convince myself, of the many crazy reasons I conjured up, that I didn’t need to stretch myself again, I wasn’t good enough to do it for myself, I was getting lazy. But there was something else too, something deeper that ran differently.

I had thought I was avoiding the complications around trying to understand the fishing, getting there and back, finding accommodation, the costs, weather, tides, the usual challenges and countless, thankless hours of trying something new in a new place far from home, trying to figure it all out, fish, no fish, timings, patterns rhythms if any.

This is a guide learning to do his job, normal stuff.

But that was only the first part – trying to achieve this and then to present it responsibly as a marketable option to the world on a fishing guide’s budget, well that was just another challenge.

The main difficulty was the scope of the learning challenge on a new coast. I had to do this of course for myself.

I had always worked out my own fishing, and always will. I thought – “To hell with it this!”

The simple fact was I was avoiding myself and the truth, and when both were confronted, I realised that I didn’t feel like doing it at all. It took me another incredibly difficult season(2012) to realise I was tired in my fishing soul, my spirit was lagging, energy gone. This was a new and emerging challenge for me. Had I reached an end of something?

And then somehow through the gathering debris and dust of many months of false excuses, diminishing hope, lost patience and confidence, I managed to shake off the building creeping inertia and clear a path to the endgame.

After more and more exploration and fishing and testing and re-testing I got it done. At last for myself and by myself. New fishing finally found.”

What it means to be a fishing guide working in Ireland in order to develop something like THIS and more can be found throughout this site.

Saltwater Fly Fishing Casting and Tying Workshop

 

3 Guides 3 Days 3 Disciplines

SALTWATER FLY FISHING SEASON 2014 PRIMER

April 28th, 29th and 30th.

BELLA VISTA HOTEL, COBH, Co.Cork

Glenda Powell, Brian Healey and Jim Hendrick

__________________________________________________________________

Its an idea that came together for me last year, over the past few days the idea has turned to reality and is now a real opportunity for any person who already enjoys or would like to learn more about saltwater fly fishing on the Irish coast.

Glenda, Brian and I have teamed up to provide three days of integrated and blended workshops that will compliment each other and provide you with a solid base of saltwater fly fishing knowledge and techniques for your 2014 season and beyond. Improve your fly casting, fly tying and fishing techniques and have a lot of fun too along the way!

Running over three days the primer is limited to nine places. The intention being that each person will experience two workshops in each of the disciplines over the three days, total six workshops! Because there’s such a lot going on timings are spaced nicely.

• Fly casting techniques SH - delivered by Glenda – improving line speed, casting bigger flies, body positioning and much more.
• Fly tying techniques – delivered by Brian – tying techniques for BTD’s, saltwater sea trout patterns, and material management.
• Fly fishing – delivered by Jim – take your new improved casting and your own newly tied flies and go fishing on the wild coast with Jim

I am delighted that we will be based at one of the countries longest established and well known bass fishing centres – The Bella Vista at Cobh, in Co.Cork – Kevin has vast experience both of bass fishing and bass fishing anglers!

So if you have had a difficult forced ‘hibernation’ over the past ten weeks and are looking forward to season 2014 what better way to shake off the cobwebs in enthusiastic good company, good food, excellent accommodations and wild fishing on the Cork coast.

Cost for three days Saltwater Primer, (six workshops) two nights B+B, –€375.00 – evening meals at the Bella Vista or at local restaurants can be arranged and are a little extra. For more details of the primer and workshop content please download a .pdf file HERE  __________________________________________________________________

Irelands world fly casting champion and fishing guide

Glenda Powell has achieved an enviable reputation both for her tuition capabilities and casting skills.
Her knowledge of the physics & mechanics of fly-casting embraces all of the latest technology, tackle & equipment.
She is always on the lookout for new developments which will enable newcomers and more experienced fisherpersons (!) alike to both improve their skills and gain more enjoyment from their sport.
She talks with ease & vast knowledge about the latest spey lines, rod development and casting techniques.
She can teach all levels from complete beginner to the highest levels of advanced.She has a very gentle manner with her tuition, and has an uncanny ability to judge the needs of clients and tailors her approach to their lessons to ensure that they feel at ease and gain the maximum benefit.

Glenda is currently the chairperson of APGAI Ireland.

Saltwater fly fisher, fly tier and fishing guide

One of the most unassuming and capable fly fishers I have ever met, Brian Healeys saltwater ties and flies have integrated themselves into both my fishing (and many other peoples too) and guiding service over the past few years.

The flies have resulted in a much greater level of both confidence and a sense of ‘rightness’ that is hard to explain, its part of a dual process. With many many years of top level guiding and personal fishing experiences along the Irish coast Brian has a treasure trove of knowledge across many aspects of saltwater fly fishing that he is more than willing to share

We have worked together with people from Holland, the UK and France and hope to build on that relationship with this new venture.

Bass fishing guide

If you are reading this blog well you have some idea about Jim Hendrick. Guiding for bass on a professional basis since 2003 both on fly and lure along the southern coasts of Ireland I hope to be able to share with you some of the possibilities of the Cork coast and the learning of not only the last ten years but the experiences I have garnered from other people and their influences too.

Being married to a Cork woman has its merits and I guess it has given me time to explore and fish the Cork coast on guiding ‘down time’ over the years. A place of unique beauty and opportunity all of its own.

If you would like more details or to reserve a place on this exciting three day opportunity then please don’t hesitate to call me at any time on 086 3444557

Best Regards

Jim