September is here and as usual with the return to school of thousands of children around the country the weather has finally switched to something more summery. The dry weather of the last 10 days or so has seen angling conditions at most freshwater venues improve although water levels on the Shannon and most of its tributaries are still quite high. At sea anglers enjoyed some great fishing afloat during the settled periods. Though winds were an issue on some days the spring tides made for some memorable fishing with remarkable tope fishing at Carlingford Lough and excellent bassing around Cork Harbour.

67.5lb tope was the best of the day
67.5lb tope from Carlingford Lough - unofficial record breaker - and Catch of the Week

Catch of the Week goes to Martin Heffernan for his huge 67.5lb tope caught in Carlingford Lough on Sunday. Martin went on to catch more tope on Wednesday morning and the fishing there is exceptional at the moment. Reports from the Cork coast are also quite exciting with some great blue shark fishing and incredible bass reported. One angler had an 11lb bass one morning earlier in the week and followed this with a breath taking 20 fish in an evenings session. Staying in Cobh the 46th Cobh Deep Sea Angling Festival takes place this week and so far the angling has been quite good. Good fishing was also reported from Clare, Kerry and Antrim.

With water levels finally settling on the Moy, anglers enjoyed an improvement in conditions and catches in the past week resulting in a weekly reported catch of 221 salmon. The Munster Blackwater is coming into its own now as levels improve all the time. The Suir is also expected to start fishing well with excellent clarity and good water. Connemara salmon fisheries report that fishing has been slow but that sea trout are providing some sport for anglers. In Donegal the grilse run is not meeting expectations but on the east coast anglers on the Fane are delighted to report that their run has started in earnest and that water conditions could not be better.

While fishing the River Deel before its closed season, Gerhard Seck hooked into a good sized fish, spinning with his own version of a solid brass spoon. The fish was a large male brown trout, weighing an impressive 11lbs 3oz, and measuring 77cm length and 56cm girth. The River Suir also produced some big trout recently. On Saturday afternoon Philip Maher had a 7lbs 4oz trout on fly fishing from a drift boat at Kilsheelin. Meanwhile fishing on the Kells Blackwater on Monday Pat McLoughlin had a 5.5lbs trout on a size 14 red sedge. Fishing on the loughs has been a bit more difficult but good evening fishing was reported from a number of lakes, particularly Loughs Sheelin and Owel.

Some good catches of coarse fish were made at Lough Mucknow with bags to 80lb reported. During the Annual Gowna Festival Simon Stott had the biggest individual catch, just over 100lb on day day 2 of this 5 day event and he went on to win the competition. Kevin Lyons reports that fishing in and around the Longford areas has been very good with catches ranging from 85lb to 189lb, feeder fishing has produced the best catches using various bait cocktails. Prebaiting has also been the key to big catches and though water levels on some places are still high the fish have continued to feed well.

Pike angling is in a quiet spell at the moment with a few jacks reported from venues in the north east.

Federation of Fly Fishers event

Kilsheelan’s iconic Castle Beat will be the venue for a day of workshops and demonstrations in fly casting on Saturday SEPT 15th. This event is open to all.

Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) Master Casting Instructors from Germany, Holland, Italy and the US will work with Irish and British masters to provide quality tuition. For more information see Tipperary to host International Fly Casting Event

The outlook for the weekend is good, winds will swing from the west to the south and it should remain dry until Sunday. Needless to say you should get out there and make the most of it while it lasts!

Tight lines especially in Ireland,
Myles Kelly
Catch, Photo, Release


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Salmon fishing on the Munster Blackwater
Salmon fishing on the Munster Blackwater