A lovely conger taken from a deep water mark north of Rathlin Island
This fine conger taken from a deep water mark north of Rathlin Island wins Catch of the Week

Overall conditions have continued to be mild which has suited anglers at sea and on freshwater. There was a break in the winds which saw a few boats fishing off shore and inshore at venues from Red Bay to Cork Harbour. In many areas rivers are still running a bit high but as the weather is to remain dry prospects should improve at these fisheries over the weekend.

Coarse anglers on the River Barrow were delighted with the quality of the fish and size of the bags caught recently. Despite the cold weather and a rising river there were a number of catches in excess of 50 lb.  Roach/bream hybrids to 4lb, perch to 2lb and dace to 2lb featured in one catch. The biggest bag was taken by Paul McLaughlin and weighed 69lb. A recent float only match on Lough Garadice and the canal at Ballyconnell saw more modest catches and a group of young anglers on Lough Ramor enjoyed catching a variety of coarse fish with the Dublin Angling Initiative.

UK anglers are welcome to “Enjoy a Taste of Ireland” and an angler’s night out with Ireland’s Angling Tourism Experts. And you might win a holiday for two!   You will receive a complimentary draw ticket to be drawn during the evening – a prize that will whisk you off to one of Ireland’s top angling centres. See Irish Angling Road Show at UK venues – win a holiday for more details.

The Cavan lakes are fishing well for pike and both the angling duo from Top Tackle and Peadar O’Brien had good sport there recently. Lures accounted for all the pike landed and though nothing over 13 lb was caught the fishing proved very enjoyable.

Cod continue to feature in the catches of anglers on Cork Harbour and fish to over 10lb have been landed on soft plastics. Anglers fishing with Hamish Currie from Red Bay took a number of specimen spurdogs from a mark off Rathlin Island. Some good conger and bullhuss were also brought to the boat.

Courtown Sea Angling Club are running their annual RNLI fundraising competition on Sunday next 15th January 2012. Fishing will take place from 2pm till 6pm and all are welcome to attend and participate in the event. If you would like to take part in the competition or simply attend and support the event you can get details from Joe Byrne, Courtown Angling Centre at 087 6613145.

Water levels fell on the Drowes over the week, but no more fish were reported and angling effort has been light. The Laune, Killarney Lakes, Lough Currane and a number of other Kerry rivers open for salmon fishing on the 17th.

Most areas will remain dry tonight with sharp frost and a risk of icy patches, especially in the midlands, north and east.  Tomorrow, Friday, will be a dry, bright day in most parts, with sunny spells, especially in the east. Atlantic coastal areas will be cloudier, with a little patchy drizzle. Maximum temperatures 7 to 10 Celsius, with light mainly southerly breezes.  Saturday will continue cool and mainly dry with some sunny spells initially; however, cloud will tend to increase and a little drizzle is likely to develop near southern and southwestern coasts where southeast breezes will freshen also. Sunday will remain cool as winds back southeast to east, light to moderate. A good deal of cloud may persist during the day but clear spells are likely to develop overnight into Monday, leading to a hard frost for most areas and some freezing fog patches. Monday itself will be dry with sunny spells but fog and frost may be slow to clear some places and it will remain cold overall despite light winds; another hard frost will set in on Monday night.

Tight lines especially in Ireland,

Paul Bourke
Angling Information Officer
Catch, Photo, Release

Coarse angling reports

Pike fishing reports

Salmon fishing reports

Sea angling reports

Trout fishing reports