Sweltering heat and brilliant sunshine last week had a lot of the anglers embark on other ventures rather than taking to the rivers. Water levels were low, fish showed little interest in the bait and anglers found conditions difficult. This week as bands of rain crossed the country things cooled down, water levels improved at many fisheries and angling improved. Sea anglers enjoyed the conditions more than their freshwater counterparts though not as many reports came from our coasts this week.

Howard with part of his catch of Tench and Bream
Howard and Nigel from Torquay win Catch of the Week for a holiday bumper catch of about 750lb of Tench and Bream

Catch of the Week goes to angling duo Nigel and Howard from Torquay who had a great week fishing with Kevin Lyons at Melview Lodge. The pair landed roughly 750lb of bream and tench for a week’s fishing in the Longford area. 75 anglers took part in the five day Arva Senior Classic which was held last week. Kevin Johnson was the eventual winner with 37.210kg. Ross Macklin of Lee Angling Services recently took two guests from Dublin carp angling on the Cork Lough. The anglers had 22 runs and landed 12 fish to 20lb in three hours. Brian Bohan reports good catches of bream and tench from some of the upper Shannon fisheries.

It is no surprise that salmon anglers found most of the spate rivers running low last week. Those fisheries with a lake to keep levels up reported better fishing. Over the weekend some good grilse were reported from the Drowes despite the bright sunshine. Anglers fishing on Lough Beltra report fresh salmon to 10lb are still entering the system, and are in a taking mood. Yet another extremely productive week was had at Ballisodare, where over 140 salmon were recorded, 60 of those released. There were over 200 salmon reported for the week on the Moy, including nine from the Moy Fishery with many more fresh grilse now appearing. Like elsewhere, rivers in Connemara suffered with low water and high temperatures. However,  fishing should improve following the recent rain and sea trout to 4lb have been reported from Lough Inagh and a mix of salmon and grilse are running Costello and Fermoyle. One Connemara fishery that bucked the trend was Delphi where some great fishing was had considering the difficult conditions that prevailed. The lower water levels, coupled with an excellent run of grilse, produced a great week for anglers in Galway where 31 fish were landed, all grilse. On Lough Currane flat calms and bright sunshine made for very difficult fishing but just before the rains some fine salmon and sea trout to 8lb were landed. Salmon fishing on the Munster Blackwater improved following a poor enough May and some good catches were recorded on the Blackwater Lodge and Fort William fisheries.

The Mayfly hatches that took so long to materialise this year are drawing to a close now though fish continued to take greenfly and spent patterns at a variety of fisheries from Corrib and Mask to Conn and Cullen and Arrow and Sheelin.

Shannon trout study

Inland Fisheries Ireland is conducting a brown trout genetic and abundance survey of the Shannon system and anglers are asked to retain about 15 scales from behind the dorsal fin of every brown trout that they catch. Trout can be released following sampling without consequence and these scales can then be used for the study. Scale samples should be placed in an envelope noting that date and area of the lake in which the trout was caught. Scale samples can be given to Dermot Broughan of Inland Fisheries Ireland (087 2595286) or they can be left with club committee members.

On Monday the change in weather started a feeding frenzy on Lough Allua, Co.Cork and several good pike to 24lb were caught by anglers fishing with Greg Latour of Tir na Spideoga.

Although mackerel have been described as scarce on most coasts recently, reports from Donegal Bay indicate no shortage of bait fish in that part of the country. Charter boat anglers fishing with Max Couque on Galway Bay enjoyed catching fine pollack and cod to 9lb in the glorious sunshine last week. Shore anglers in the area also did well and Alan Kelly had a tope of around 40lb from a favourite mark near Galway. Luke Aston out of Carrigaholt also found  big shoals of mackerel and herring last week and his anglers had plenty of pollack up to 9lbs mixed with ling, haddock, whiting and spurdog to over 10lb. Anglers fishing with Paul Harris on the Beara Peninsula enjoyed some great fishing with plenty of thornback ray, pollack and wrasse to keep them busy. Good rays and smoothhound too were reported by smallboat anglers fishing in the Wexford area. A little further up the coast at Wicklow Kit Dunne reports on another excellent weeks fishing with specimen fish smoothhounds, good ray and some handsome ‘huss.

Saftey

The Irish Coast Guard  launched its new ‘Stay Safe on the Water’ TV advertising campaign aimed at families, leisure users and the fishing industry earlier this week. This is the Coast Guard’s first TV advertisement and the 20 second adverts will run from now until the end of August.  There were a total of 11 deaths by drowning in Irish waters up to last weekend which was the Irish Coast Guard’s busiest since 1991 for search and rescue incidents. Last Saturday and Sunday saw more than 53 Coast Guard search and rescue incidents taking place around the country. You can make sure you don’t add to their workload or become one of their tragic statistics by taking some obvious and sensible steps…

Before taking to inland or coastal waters check local weather conditions and tides in the area. Wear correctly maintained and fitting lifejackets that are suitable for the activity. Lifejackets are of no use unless they are worn. Ensure your craft is fit for purpose. Always advise someone as to where you are going and the time of your intended return. Do not overload the craft. If you are in difficulty or see someone in difficulty and requiring assistance dial 999/112 and ask for Coast Guard

Prospects

Today will be wet and windy, with the rain heaviest in the south and west this morning and in eastern and northern areas this afternoon, with some local flash flooding. Though it will brighten this afternoon there will be more showers. The weekend has more of the same forecast and winds will change from southerly to westerly and stiff easterly breezes are expected on Sunday. The outlook is for changeable unsettled weather.

Tight lines,

Myles Kelly
Catch, Photo, Release

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Lough Inagh
Lough Inagh and Derryclare Fishery