The last couple of days have seen temperatures tumble, but the weather has been mostly dry though sometimes blustery. Some parts of the north west had more persistent rain but most rivers are running at normal levels for the time of year. Sea anglers are definitely making up for last time now, particularly as the bass seemed to have returned to the coasts they were missed from all summer long .

It’s competition time at the moment and the calendar is choc-a-bloc with events, international festivals and club competitions. Congratulations to Phil Jackson and Cathal Hughes, the Lakelands & Inland Waterways World Pairs Champions who won the top prize, a cheque for £30,000 and loads DIAWA tackle. Over the five day period the pair caught 117kg 560g of fish and took the championship by just over 4kgs. Fishing at the inaugural Arva King of Clubs, Kevin Johnson emerged as the winner with 78.170kg. Recreational anglers also enjoyed some great coarse fishing last week and good bags of fish were reported from the lakes in the Carrickmacross area despite the unusual weather and water conditions. Meanwhile the Longford area is also fishing well with bream to over 7lb and plenty of hybrids and roach along with a few tench making up the catches.
Salmon anglers reported another relatively productive week was had on the Moy, with a total of 199 fish caught. A few grilse were taken from the Newport River and one angler had 12 sea trout in an afternoon on Lough Beltra. Sea trout anglers fishing at Kylemore, the Erriff and Delphi also had good fishing and though salmon were scarce at Kylemore a few made an appearance at Delphi and in particular on the Erriff. While low water has been problem for anglers in the south west, the Ouvane River had 6 salmon landed for the week, one of these was a fish of 15 lb. The Laune, though running low, also saw a few nice salmon to 11lb caught. On Lough Currane the fishing was variable but some anglers did well with a good number of sea trout between 2 and 3 lb reported and some good salmon to 10lb were also taken. Some good salmon fishing was had on the Fane and an occasional salmon also showed on the Boyne, but the rivers of the south east and south coasts are all waiting for fresh fish.
Many trout clubs are busy with competitions at this time of year and the Rex Beaumont Cup, fished on Lough Ennell was won by John Brennan won with a fine trout of 5.792 lb. Lough Owel was fairly quiet last week but some anglers did well with fish to 3lb 3oz reported. Trout fishing picked up on Lough Conn and anglers reported lively sport on wet fly. The sometimes windy weather made conditions uncomfortable on Lough Corrib but anglers are making the most of the late season fishing there and wet flys have produced trout to 9lb. The 2012 Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association Inter-provincial Match was held at Lough Melvin on Saturday 15th September. Congratulations go to John Ruby who won the Lennon Trophy for the heaviest overall basket and the McCarty Cup for the heaviest basket from his province.
The Rosslare Small Boats festival proved to be a great success again this year despite the challenging weather conditions for the competition. For the third time in the last four years ‘Screaming Reels’ (Martyn Rayner, Seirt Shults, Neville Murphy) from Rosie’s sea angling club in Cork won the competition with 24 different species of fish, beating 28 other boats from the UK. 30 species of fish were caught overall. Today is the last day of Cork Small Boats Festival and ‘Screaming Reels’ is leading on the last day with 30 species. Bass angling on the Copper Coast has really taken off and celebrity angler Henry Gilbey enjoyed a very productive holiday in the area with some super fishing reported. Echoing Henry’s experience is angling blogger Steven Neely who had some exceptional fishing including culminating in a 7lb 3oz bass. The Wexford coast also saw a resurgence in bass numbers and anglers fishing with Jim Hendrick enjoyed some thrilling sport on fly and lure. The 7th leg of the Grauvell West Coast Shore League took place on Saturday 15th September at Mullaghmore beach. Flounder and turbot were the main species, with sea trout (not counted in competitions) also freely taking bait. The winner on the day was Frank Rixon .
The outlook for the weekend is generally dry and clear weather, but on Sunday it may become unsettled again. There are suggestions that Monday and Tuesday next will see periods of heavy rain in some parts of the country, accompanied by strong winds and temperatures much lower than normal. Through the midweek period, a change to showery weather may come about, and it will remain cool.
Tight lines especially in Ireland,
Myles Kelly
Catch, Photo, Release
Headlines
Salmon fishing reports
- Yet another impressive week on the River Moy
- Poor salmon fishing reports as low water conditions prevail on many of the Cork Kerry salmon fisheries
- A quiet week at Ballisodare
- A few grilse off the Newport River and good sea trout reports from Lough Beltra
- Good sea trout fishing reported from Lough Currane
- Sea trout fishing improves at Kylemore
- Erriff continues to produce salmon and sea trout
- Perfect conditions on the Owenea but fresh salmon needed
- Not many on the Drowes but some good salmon caught
- Salmon Success for Jonathan on the Kells Blackwater
- Delphi in flying form with fish up to 12lb weight
- Philly trout angler meets Atlantic salmon on the Boyne
Trout fishing reports
- Some nice trout fishing on the River Rye in the Carton House Fishery.
- Great trout wins the Rex Beaumont Cup on Lough Ennell.
- Visiting anglers enjoy good sport on Lough Conn
- Corrib produces good late season fishing
- End of season in sight on Mask
- Golden Boy “Ruby” wins ITFFA Inter-provincial Match on Melvin
- A top class fish for a top class 12 year old on the River Suir
- Excellent trout fishing but Nire a salmon
- Klinkhammers most successful fly with the evening rise at Rathcon in Wicklow
Sea angling reports
- A variety of fish from the Kerry shores
- Antrim shark for fisherman Dave
- Grauvell West Coast Shore League heats up
- Solid gold bass fishing on the Copper Coast
- Eric enjoys the fishing in Tramore
- Top boat on 23 species already in Cork Small Boats Festival
- A week of big fish on the Beara Peninsula
- Screamin Reels catch 24 species and win Rosslare Small Boats festival
- Bass chasing mackerel close to the shore as Ashley and friends go fishing
- On a species hunt…..let the journey begin.
- Aubrey’s enthusiasm and passion for fishing is contagious!
- Voice star Berney hits high notes when she plays bass
- Belmullet vs East Belfast in the flatfish fishoff !
- Normality resumes with some nice bass coming to hard lures in Waterford
- A fine Conger off the pier for David Murphy
Coarse angling reports
- Great bream fishing reported from Melview Lodge in Longford for a party of English anglers.
- Kevin Johnson wins the Arva King of Clubs with 78.170 kg
- Cracking Coarse Angling in Carrickmacross
- Irish Angling Development Alliance Open Feeder Day 2 Update and Results
- Phil Jackson and Cathal Hughes take top £30k prize in Lakelands & Inland Waterways Word Pairs Angling Championship.
- Irish Angling Development Alliance Feeder Event on Lough Muckno
- World Pairs Update Lough Muckno Day 5
News clippings
- Louth starts preparing for The Gathering 2013 to ensure it is ultimate success – Dundalk Democrat
- Carpet sea squirt ‘found in lough’ – Irish Independent
- Big day on 12th lock – Reels on Wheels – Irish Times
- ‘Guerilla warfare’ between fisheries and Achill fisherman – Mayo News
- Save Bantry Bay claims rejected by Marine Institute of Ireland – West Cork Times
- Cavan pair angling for win – The Anglo Celt