The recent weather has not been very pleasant, but it’s not clear if anglers were paying attention. We were inundated with angling reports this week from all branches of the sport. Though at times the cold temperatures, high winds and flood conditions did make angling difficult and even impossible for some anglers at sea and inland, there were plenty of opportunities for others to enjoy some excellent sport.

Ghillie Frank Donnelly with Mr. Patrick Duperat, France with a sea trout of 5 lb. and a salmon of 8 lb. on fly and is our Catch of the Week

Salmon rivers have been, for the most part, crying out for water and while some have continued to produce fish despite low water conditions many have had their (anglers’) prayers answered. The recent rains have raised water levels and hopes on rivers across the country. The Munster Blackwater should fish well as the water clears following its flood. The fresh water stirred up the salmon on the Rivers Feale, Laune and Owenmore and Lough Currane in Kerry and more good fishing is expected. The Galway Weir may see a rise in water levels, but there are plenty of fish showing in the river, and prospects for the coming weeks are quite good. In  Connemara the Kylemore Abbey Fishery had its first salmon of the season, while over in Delphi there were 9 more salmon caught with prospects improving for the coming days. Despite the unsettled conditions of late, Carrowmore Lake produced good sport last week with salmon to 13lb landed. Anglers had much better fishing on the River Moy, where twenty-five salmon were reported, the majority of which were taken in the mid Moy fisheries. Despite low water on the Drowes last week 12 salmon were taken by anglers and those on Melvin had some fish to show for their efforts despite the conditions. On the east coast,  fishing on the Boyne was described as slow on the Navan waters and only two salmon have been reported taken last week.

The trout season is well and truly under-way now, with buzzers, olives and mayfly up on the lakes and some hawthorn fly hatching on rivers. Loughs Derg, Arrow, Derravaragh and even Corrib have all seen trout coming to mayfly patterns, though the recent cold spells will quash any hopes of spent fishing, even on Derg which has seen very early fishing in recent years.  Buzzers, Duckyfly and traditional wetfly patterns should continue to be productive while passing the next week waiting for the Mayfly fishing to kickoff.

Although much of the Shannon saw the fortunes of coarse anglers suffer a reversal there were still some good sized bream and hybrids showing up and bags to 57lb were reported. At Portumna two English anglers made up a 100lb catch between them. On the Erne system some good fishing was reported from Drumalee and Bakers Bridge. The Arvagh Breffni King of Clubs will be fished from 9-14 September and it promises to be a big occasion. Irish Ferries are offering entrants to this event a special cruise ferry fare, more information here. For anglers who can’t wait until September there is theThe I.F.I. Ballybay Angling 2 Day Open Coarse Fishing Festival on 14 and 15 July. There is a first prize of €1,000, more information here.

A group of French float-tubing, fly-fishing, pike-specialising anglers reported catching over 800 pike between on a recent visit to the waters of Leitrim. Two Belgian anglers also sampling the fine pike fishing of Leitrim caught and returned 55 pike in 3 days. Another angler in the area reported landing 100lb of pike in a day with his best fish weighing 27lb. Angling guide, Bodo Funke reports that while most of the pike his anglers have encountered recently have been in the low to mid teens one angler did catch a fine 25lb hen. Anglers on Lough Derg also report a good head of fish with 15 to 20 pike per outing. For those looking to up their game Terry Jackson offers some insights in his Terry Jackson Goes Fishing blog.

Shore anglers, especially those targeting bass have enjoyed some good fishing recently. Soft plastics and lures have been quite productive. The best reports have come from Wexford and Caherciveen. Bass anglers fishing from boats also faired well with fish just under specimen size landed in Cork Harbour. Wrasse specialists reported excellent fishing in Kerry recently with 46 fish taken on soft plastics. Donal Kennedy, skipper of the ‘Leah’, reports that fishing recently was slow but steady, with some good pollack up to 8lbs caught. Galway Buccaneers club reported 11 species on their first boat competition of the year, which was fished in Galway Bay aboard the Maighdean Mara skippered by Kevin MacGabhann.

Prospects for the weekend are mostly good though wind and rain may have some adverse effects. The outlook is for cool and breezy weather over the rest of the weekend with occasional showers. It is likely to remain unsettled and changeable well into next week with some heavy rain at times. Keep an eye out for small craft warnings.

Paul Bourke

Angling Information Officer.
Catch, Photo, Release

Headlines

Coarse angling reports

Pike fishing reports

Salmon fishing reports

Sea angling reports

Trout fishing reports

News clippings

Other news