We headed to Easkey on the West coast of Ireland in July. There are hill loughs everywhere with shallow margins.
The standard approach is 9-10' rods and heavier lines, say 6+ to achieve distance. It raised eyebrows when I wandered the banks with a 6' 6" three weight and #24 footprint dun. When the breeze dropped and the surface calmed you could see gentle rises from trout out of casting range. It was impossible to know the size of fish rising - these are wild, land-locked trout and fishing pressure is low.
Aside from the static water, the shallow margins looked pretty much like the local streams at home on the North coast and you could just sense wild trout. Without wading you could adopt a systematic, search of the water starting just 10' from the shore and working across an arc, then at 12' and so on. It didn't take long to find wild trout in the clear, shallow water.
High water and high wind keeps me off stream. It's a consequence of a rigid, short rod - light line - small fly approach. I do wonder if I'm missing out on something at times with such a narrow tool bag, but I have a style and it's all I know. That said, this just may be a style with far wider applications than I'd realised. I asked around on the way back to the land rover and no one else was catching on Lough Easkey that afternoon. The experience opened my mind and reinforced confidence in my philosophy of approach.
