Irish Angling Update, 19/07/12

The weather is still wet, changeable and generally cooler in the past week, but while there is high water levels on many fisheries, there are parts of the country which have not seen any rain.  The prospects from Met Eireann are for a little warmer conditions and maybe not as much rain in the coming week.  Spawning cycles for coarse fish were early this year and the Mayfly was very early also but now with so much wet weather and poorer summer temperatures there is not much sign of any Green Peter showing in any number s yet which is quiet late this year.

There was a two day coarse angling festival on the Grand Canal at Edenderry and despite poor cool weather there was very good exiting match fishing with Paul Kelly winning the two day with nice catches of skimmer bream, roach and hybrids.  Down on the River Barrow, anglers reported good roach and dace fishing.  In Mullingar, a party of French anglers had some nice fishing on the Royal Canal catching roach perch and some pike.  On the River Shannon at Portumna there were reports of some good hybrid fishing and some bream were also reported in catches despite the high water levels.  High water levels in the midlands made coarse fishing on many venues very difficult but anglers are still managing to fish in back waters and slower parts of the River Shannon and on some Loughs.  The Ballybay festival attracted anglers from home and abroad and there was fine catches of Roach, Hybrids and some bream taken in catches.  Most venues all around the Erne catchment fished well in the past week despite higher water levels.

There was some pike fishing particularly in the midlands where a group of Italian anglers enjoyed some good fishing taking some fine pike on the loughs.  A 20lb + sized fish was caught and released by a group of Polish anglers fishing on the River Suck where they enjoyed good fishing.  Down in Lough Derg, the fishing was generally slower in the past week in the higher water levels.  Up in Kells, in Co. Meath,  angling guide Pat McLoughlin had a group of young anglers out fishing for pike and they took some lovely fish with a few over 10 lbs.  They also enjoyed fishing for roach, hybrids and bream.

Up in Donegal, salmon anglers have enjoyed the bit of higher water levels recording some good salmon both on the Owenea and on the Drowes.  Salmon up to 16.5 lb. were reported in the last week.  It was another good week on the Ballisodare River where there was plenty of salmon reported daily.  It was another good week for many anglers fishing on different fisheries on the River Moy where another 700 fish were recorded for the week.  The estuary fished well too for sea trout.  There was consistent fishing reported on Carrowmore Lake.  In Connemara, there was good salmon fishing reported on the Erriff, Delphi, and Kylemore and on Lough Inagh there was some wonderful sea trout fishing reported.  It was a good week on the Galway Fishery also for salmon fishing. There was some big salmon reported along with grilse on the Mulkear River near Limerick.  Strangely there was low water levels on the River Feale and fishing was reported quiet!  The higher water levels all around the fisheries in the Cork Kerry area produced some fine fishing during the week with anglers enjoying good salmon and sea trout fishing on Lough Currane.  There was good fishing reported from most fisheries in the Cork Blackwater River.  Up on the north east salmon rivers conditions were poor in the past week and fishing was described as tough.

There was plenty of sea angling reported including some dogfish and mackerel reported from the Coliemore area of Dublin.  There was some nice Ballan Wrasse reported by a shore angler fishing near Dunmore East.  A fine 21 lb. cod was the highlight of good deep sea fishing reported at Ballycotton.  A party of Dublin anglers enjoyed some superb fishing aboard the Lagosta 11 out from East Ferry taking big conger up to 40 lb. big ling and some nice Cod.  There was plenty of angling activity in the cork harbour area with the Bellavista fleet of small boats producing super fishing for a big range of species including Blue Shark and Bass.   There was a fine 11 lb. bass reported from the shore taken at Fanore in north Clare.  There was plenty of species taken by Irish and Dutch anglers fishing with charter skipper Hamish Currie but the highlight was a fine skate of 189 lb. for Commander Cornelius.

Angling guide Eamon Conway in Co. Louth reported some fine trout fishing on the River Fane in Co. Louth.  The other rivers fished poorly due to high water.  There was some fine trout reported from the River Rye in the Carton estate on sedges where the water levels were good despite rain.  Down in Waterford there was some nice trout fishing reported from the local reservoirs and over in Ennis there was some nice trout reported despite fluctuating water levels.  There was some very big trout reported in Lough Derg this week with fish of 13 lb. 12 oz. and 10.5 lb. the pick of bunch.  Warmer water temperatures on lough Sheelin and feeding trout made for better fishing. There was some nice trout reported from Lough Ennell but there was little or no sign of Green Peter hatching on Lough Owel so there was only some trout reported in the past week.  Over in the west, there was a fair bit of angling activity on Lough Mask where anglers had reasonable fishing in preparation for the World Cup.  In Derry, angler’s rainbow trout fishing had good fishing on the Cashel Fishery.  The Catch of the Week however was the best wild trout of the season reported from the River Maine at Shanes Castle where angling guide Sam Andrews caught and released a fish of a lifetime. While fishing for salmon, Sam landed an 18 lb. Dollaghan trout on a shrimp fly and quickly released the great fish after a quick photo.

Tight lines, especially in Ireland,
Paul Bourke
Catch, Photo, Release

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Headlines

Coarse angling reports

• From Abu Dhabi to Mullingar for the Trout
• Paul Kelly wins the two day festival on the Grand Canal at Edenderry.
• Good reports of Roach and Dace for the Carlow anglers
• Roach and Bream fishing improving in Portumna
• Good coarse fishing catches recorded at the Ballybay Anglers Assoc. event and good coarse fishing reported from many parts of the Erne Catchment.
• Roscrea anglers report 40 hybrids in a days fishing on the Shannon at Portumna
• High water levels make fishing difficult around Longford, Leitrim & Strokestown

Pike fishing reports

• Italian couple savour the quality fishing in Mullingar
• Pike fishing very slow due to high water in Lough Derg
• Good Pike fishing on the River Suck over 20lb mark
• Pat Produces Plenty of Species for Young Anglers

Salmon fishing reports

• 16½lb salmon caught on a spinner at Owenea Fishery by John McGlashan
• Good run of Salmon continues unabated on Drowes river
• Great sea trout sport at Lough Inagh
• Salmon and sea trout at Kylemore
• Good water and salmon fishing on Erriff
• Good salmon fishing in Galway
• A fine salmon for Joseph Bennett on the Mulkear river
• Good salmon fishing reported from many rivers in the Cork Kerry area
• Salmon to 15 lb. and sea trout to 6 lb. reported from the Lough Currane area.
• River Moy update, over 700 salmon reported, once again!
• Consistent salmon fishing reported from Carrowmore Lake
• Another great week at the Ballisodare Fishery, with over 260 salmon recorded!
• 36 hours of rain drives water levels up on Lough Inagh
• Tough Conditions on the Castletown, Fane and NE Rivers
• River Feale salmon scarce at the moment with low water levels
• Californian Mary finally catches a fish at Delphi !
• Some nice salmon showing themselves on the Munster Blackwater
• 98 Sea Trout landed on Lough Inagh last week and prospects good

Sea angling reports

• Some fine Ballan Wrasse while out fishing in Dunmore-East
• Fanore Bass grabs the bait but quick thinking Johnny brings him ashore
• Cod, Pollack, Conger and Blue Shark for the Bolding Brothers in Cork Harbour
• Commander Cornelius wins the battle with the 189lb skate in Red Bay
• Brilliant weather and excellent fishing in Cork Harbour
• The Lagosta heads off to the wrecks in search of some fine Ling and Congers
• A whopping 21lb cod for the Sarah Marie off Cork
• One boy and his spotted dog out at Coliemore Harbour

Trout fishing reports

• Dry sedges and damsels provide the best day time fishing in Waterford
• Small sedges are working well for good brown trout on the River Rye in the Carton Estate
• World Cup fever as anglers warm up on Mask
• Lough Lene Angling Association will host their first evening competition on July 20th
• Good sport for Co. Wicklow pair on the Moy Estuary
• Eamonn Still Taking Some Nice Trout on the Fane
• 10.5 lb. Trout for Seamus Molloy while fishing out of Dromineer
• Some nice trout during the rising flood in Ennis but conditions hard for angling
• Midland Lakes and River Inny report
• Warmer water temperatures on Sheelin and feeding trout make great fishing
• Good consistent rainbow trout fishing reported from the Cashel Fishery
• 18 lb. Dollaghan Trout taken on fly on the River Maine at Shanes Castle for Sam Andrews
• DICK KIERNAN WINS THE EUGENE MULLIGAN MEMORIAL CUP
• Dominic heads out in Killaloe with Fishing for Kids and catches a lovely 13 lb. 12 oz trout
• Anglers on Lough Owel take a rest

News clippings

• Smart phone app to help fight war on aquatic Invasive Species – Mayo Today
• Salmon-feeding mystery – Irish Times
• Salmon counting commences on Maigue – Limerick Post

Other news

• With orders to Identify, Clarify and Classify – Minister O Dowd Launches Invasive Species Smart Phone App
• EVENTS SPONSORED BY INLAND FISHERIES IRELAND FOR JULY 2012