There has been a definite change in the weather. Cooler, blustery, wet conditions have replaced the dry, bright days to which we had grown accustomed. The change has come a bit too late for most salmon and trout anglers who have had a long summer dogged by hard sunshine and low water, but coarse and pike anglers will welcome the cooler water temperatures and overcast conditions. Sea anglers have found the change to be a bit of a mixed bag as the winds made it difficult for many boat anglers to get afloat.

Mike Fretwell's 17Ib 9oz pike.
Mike Fretwell’s 17Ib 9oz pike wins him Catch of the Week

Seatrout fishing continues on Lough Currane until 12 October and there have been some decent catches of sea trout to 3lb reported in the last few days. The Munster Blackwater has an extension to 12 October for salmon angling and the heavy rain has seen a rise in water levels. Although the flood has not yet fined down a few salmon have been taken on small bright flies fished on intermediate sink tips. Last week Andrew Ryan had a last salmon on the Suir on a novel technique; the New Zealand dropper. Most fisheries that closed on 30 September had a quiet end to the season due to the prolonged low water conditions.

Crab bait is proving productive for bass at some east coast marks while fishing with soft plastics saw some good results for shore anglers in Donegal. Before the weather changed there was some great fishing for charter boat anglers at Dungarvan where shark, ling, conger and more made for some great days out. Courtmacsherry was also good to charter boat anglers last week with plenty of species landed including garfish to over specimen size. Some great bass fishing from small boats was also reported from the area.

Wild brown trout fishing is almost finished for another season, but there are still a few fisheries open until October 12 including Lough Sheelin. The fishing there was tough enough last week but some good fish were landed, including a fine trout caught by Gary McCiaran of  7lb.  The Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association fished their fourth and final qualifier in Eskragh Lough in Co. Tyrone. Twelve anglers fished the competition and between them caught 37 rainbow trout.

German pike anglers fishing in Co. Longford made a 60th birthday for one of the group all the more memorable by catching 30 fish in 2 days. Another tourist angler from Germany reported 9 pike all around 90cm on Lough Derg and a Belgian angler had 16 pike over 2 days to 114cm from the lake. Further down the Shannon system at Castleconnell, Ireland beat Great Britain in the 23rd Pike Challenge. The Irish team had amassed an 80lb lead on day 1 and comprehensively beat the visitors by almost 200lb by the end of the competition.

Two anglers from Ipswich, regular visitors to Ireland, had good fishing for bream, hybrids and big roach at some Co. Longford venues.

In other news Ireland was confirmed as the venue for the 2015 FIPS-ed World Championships for Bank Fishing with Lures. The announcement that the competition will be fished at Craigavon Lakes comes on the back of a 7th place finish for the NCFFI Predator Club Team at the World Championship Boat Fishing- Lures competition fished in France last week. Team members Steven Powell and Andrew Powell managed to boat the largest pike ever caught at a World Championship Boat with lures event at a massive 117cm and estimated at 30lb.

Anglers will be interested to hear that FishTalk.tv, a weekly, live online, sport fishing show brought to you by Reel Passion Media Ltd, hosted by well-known anglers and broadcasters, Alan Broderick and Richie Johnston will start next week. For more information see Get ready for FishTalk.tv – an online fishing programme for everyone.

As always if you are going out fishing in Ireland in the next week, don’t take any unnecessary risks and if going afloat please wear your lifejacket or approved floatation device.

More mixed weather with rain, wind and thunder is forecast for tomorrow. For the next few days temperatures are to remain cool with the possibility of frost at night. There will be sunny spells and widespread heavy showers, some thundery or of hail, on Saturday. Sunday will be a bit brighter and there will be a further improvement into Monday and Tuesday, but from Wednesday on the wet weather will return.

Tight lines – especially in Ireland,

Myles Kelly
Catch, Photo, Release

If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to [email protected].

Salmon fishing reports

Sea angling reports

Trout fishing reports

Pike fishing reports

Coarse angling reports

News clippings

Other news

Trout flies
A selection of trout flies, all likely candidates for late season fishing on Lough Sheelin