Shannon Estuary Fishing Report by Ray Byrne
Fishing in the Shannon Estuary is about par with last week with a good mix of fish about. The Tope are still showing in the estuary and with one young group I had 3 anglers who each had their first Tope in a short 1 hour session! As if to prove their luck I was on the same mark a couple of days later for a much longer session with a group of far more experienced anglers and out of 9 good runs just landed 3!! In fairness the Tope seemed very nervous that day and were also rolling a lot more than seemed normal. At least 2 good fish that were well hooked seemed to roll up the trace and part the line.
At sea the main change has been the lack of Mackerel close to the land. At the moment it is hard to get any inside a mile of the shore. However there are plenty of them just outside that and we have had a couple of sessions with fine Pollack raiding just under the shoals and providing a great surprise when you are geared up for Mackerel.
Indeed I am convinced that on suitable gear a Pollack approaching double figures, feeding hard in mid water is by far the best sport in these waters. Some of my Dutch visitors who fish a lot on mid channel Bass at home would be of the same opinion. This week the Pollack do seem to be of a bigger size and taking shads hard when on the feed.
At anchor we are still getting some fine Bullhuss and some Congers. On a nice day fishing in 60mtrs this is a lovely fishing with a mixture of mixed whitefish coming to the boat as well.
