The rain came, the rivers rose and the anglers are out. Records were broken this week with most places reporting a new lease of life with plenty of anglers out. By Sunday the Munster Blackwater had fined down to a grand level and the clarity was good. Anglers were in their element, with 20 salmon averaging 11lb in weight being caught. A good number of grilse and larger salmon were on the move in the River Suir too with some fine catches downstream below Clonmel and up as far as Ardfinnan. On Tuesday young Evan Browne from Waterford landed a very fresh sea liced trout on Roxborough while Tony O’Dwyer had a super 17lb salmon. A very successful week was had in Ballisodare too with 134 salmon caught, many taken on the fly with prawn accounting for the others.

But leave it to the River Moy… 1,000 fish caught! What a brilliant record, surely we’re the land of Saints, Scholars and fish ! Saintly enough to wait patiently during the heat wave, clever enough to plan our bank holiday when the weather broke and well……sure God provided the fish! With that in mind ‘Catch of the Week’ goes to the Moy, an anglers paradise.

 

With over 1,000 fish caught this week the Moy is our 'Catch of the Week' winner

Kylemore Abbey Fishery in Galway broke it’s record again with 37 fish landed to just 27 rod days. Heavy rain raised the rivers enough to allow more fish into the system. Out of the 37 fish, 25 were released, 12 killed (two of which were fin-clipped hatchery fish). Down at Lough Currane Ivor O’Connor surpassed himself with a cracking 6lb 10oz sea trout on the spin from the Commeragh River. Ghillie Michael O’Sullivan’s grand-daughter took on the seasoned anglers and proved herself an able bodied adversary with three sea trout ranging from juniors up to 3½lbs. Not bad for a ten and a half year old !!

Fishing on the Liffey is proving temperamental this week with reasonable hatches of Blue Winged Olives and a fall of Sherry Spinners in the late evenings but it is very localised. Rob Love tells us that the trout are rising well at Carton House on the Ryewater . Also enjoying an improvement after the rain is Lough O’Flynn in Roscommon and Lough Inichiquin in Clare, not too bright and plenty of fresh water about with the trout rising to the olive.

Templemore town lake continues to fish well. Chris Cummins broke his personal best record with over 50 tench and a cracking rudd. A few lads over from Blackpool enjoyed the delights of Melview Lodge with Kevin Lyons and had an excellent bag of Bream, Hybrids and Roach. When the fishing was done it was off to the races. As Kevin says Ireland has the full package to offer all anglers.

International angling week is running at Fanore/Lisdoonvarna. The festival will continue till August 10th. Les Rixon caught a massive 5.4kg Bullhuss from the shore at Ballyreen, near Blackhead, Co. Clare. With over 40 anglers a day and their families secretary James Linnane is right when he says anglers do their bit for the local economy.

Wicklow boat charters report that when targeting they can catch an average of 50+ hounds a day. Kit Dunne tells us that superb catches of Tope, Hounds, BullHuss and Homelyn are to be had. From Valentia island to Courtown and back up to Donegal this week has been busy.

Weather outlook…

Tomorrow Friday will be a drier and brighter day, with sunny spells and only occasional light showers. Highest temperatures will be between 17 and 20 degrees, in light to moderate westerly winds

Changeable overall with no sign of any warm settled period of fine weather. But rainfall should be below normal.
Mainly dry on Friday night with just the odd shower. Lowest temperatures 8 and 11 degrees. Some mist and fog patches may form in the light winds.

A dry, bright start to Saturday. However some showers will develop and a few will be heavy in the northwest and north. There is still a threat of a spell of heavy rain affecting southern coastal counties for a time, but that is still very much in the balance. A fresh day with top temperatures only reaching 16 to 19 degrees. Winds will be light and variable in direction. The night will be mainly dry but a few showers may affect Atlantic coastal strips. Lows of 10 to 12 degrees.

Sunday will be a fresh breezy day, with a mixture of bright or sunny spells and occasional passing showers. These showers mainly over Ulster and Connacht. Highs of just 15 to 18 degrees, so much fresher and cooler than of late.

It will be a similar day on Monday, showers in the west and north with very few elsewhere. Some bright or sunny spells, but some cloudy periods too. Winds fresh west to northwesterly. Highs on Monday in the mid to high teens.

It will be changeable well into next week. Some rain or showers at times, but dry sunny interludes too, but with temperatures back to normal or slightly above.

Tight lines,

Nancy Hearne
Catch, Photo, Release

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Jason Mccarty with 2.38lbs Owel perch - Photo Michael Flanagan