The weekend saw quite a bit of rain and the weather has been blustery enough since the last Irish Angling Update. The floods brought on improved runs of salmon which have continued into this week. There were some good pike fishing reports recently and coarse anglers also enjoyed the duller weather. Shark fishing in Cork continues to dominate the sea angling reports but there were some good ground fishing reports too…

5lbs 10oz Corrib Trout
UK angler Tony Ling wins Catch of the Week with a fantastic 5lbs 10z trout taken on a Caenis pattern on Lough Corrib

On the Drowes a mixture of grilse of 3 to 4lbs and some larger fish were running last week despite the low water, quickly passing through to Lough Melvin. Salmon angling on the Moy System improved further with over 500 fish reported for the week. The best of the fishing was confined to the tidal section of the river and the reaches upstream from Foxford town. Despite changing weather conditions, anglers caught 27 salmon (11 released) over the past two weeks on Carrowmore Lake. Along with the grilse there are very good numbers of sea trout entering the system providing extremely enjoyable fishing. Reports from Connemara are sparse, as low water levels over the last week were superseded by heavy rain on Tuesday, following which rivers have been in flood. As the floods clear salmon and sea trout are starting to move in better numbers. There were about 20 fish at Delphi in the last week, most of these were caught over the weekend. There was a great run of sea trout on the Owenmore in Kerry and over 30 fish were caught over the weekend. Billy Downes reports that there was beautiful water on the Laune but very few fish to be seen and fewer still willing to take a fly. On Lough Currane a dozen salmon and at least 10 sea trout to 7lb 8oz were reported.  The Ilen River saw 15 salmon landed and anglers are also enjoying good sea trout fishing, while on the Coomhola 6 salmon to 12lb were reported. Big fish also featured in the Bandon reports where amongst the grilse, fresh fish to 15.75lb were taken by anglers. The run of grilse continues on the Munster Blackwater and the odd bigger fish to 12lb has also been taken. The grilse are not yet in the Suir in big numbers but the end of last week saw a lovely fresh salmon estimated at 15lb caught and released by junior angler James Byrne. Water conditions are now low and clear in the River Boyne and some salmon have been caught recently on the lower stretches. The latest fish taken was caught on Wednesday morning at Oldbridge and weighed in at 15lbs. Sea trout fishing has been reported as very good on the lower reaches over the last couple of weeks and there are currently lots of small fish in the river.

The Irish Ladies Fly-Fishing Association report that 11 ladies fished their 2nd event of the year at Bleach Lough. The winner was Julie Gerry with 10 fish, hot on her heels was Julie McGeever with 9 fish. Declan Gibbons reports that fishing has been relatively quiet on Corrib, however there is some spectacular sport still to be had as anglers continue to connect with wild trout to over 5lb on tiny Caenis imitations. Lough Sheelin is quiet also, as anglers tend to concentrate their efforts there on the Mayfly. Good hatches of Apply Green Midge, Buzzers and Caenis continue during the day and its not just the sedge fishing in the evening that produces fish.

Kayak anglers on Galway Bay report no shortage of pollack to 4 and 5lb but mackerel were said to in short supply last week. The reports of good shark fishing off the Cork coast continued last week. Charter boats in Kinsale, Courtmacsherry and Union Hall all report good catches of blue sharks. Wreck fishing is also reported as being good. Small boat angling is producing some exciting cod fishing for fly anglers with Richie Ryan, and anglers fishing with the guide are also getting some bass from the shore. Shore anglers in Ballina, Co. Mayo report good mullet fishing in the tidal reaches of the Moy with specimen fish being landed on dough. Nearby on Killala Bay anglers charter boat fishing had over 14 species in a session with 4 kinds ray being landed.

French pike guide Pierre Monjarret has had 75 pike over 1m to his boat since February. Last week on his last session until September, 3 pike of 106cm, 104cm and 103cm were landed . Some good summer piking was reported on Lough Allua where pike to 22lb were taken on deadbait. A mix of deadbaits and lures saw pike to 94cm caught by French tourist anglers in the Foxford area of Mayo.

Good tench fishing was reported from some East Clare venues last week and on Lough Derg at Scarriff an English angler had over 100lb of bream. The coarse angling club FishManiak won their inter club challenge fished on Lough Sillan where Piotr Horbiniul had the best weight at 14.63kg. Good tench and bream are reported from a number of Cavan venues where anglers are making up weights of 20-30lbs a day. Big bags contniue to be caught at Oaklands where the top three anglers in the Dunbrody Festival had 193lb between them. Junion and novice angler progammes being run at Carrickmacross, Naas and Lough Muckno are going well. These are run in a “summer camp” format and are a great opportunity for young anglers to build their skills, make new friends and, of course, catch fish.

In other news Operation Safe Water took place in Howth Harbour over the weekend. The operation involved members from An Garda Siochana, the Irish Coast Guard and the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI); the objective of the operation is to perform a safety review with water users visiting Howth Harbour in north County Dublin. John McKenna, Howth RNLI Coastal Safety Officer commented, ‘A lifejacket is useless if you don’t wear it, but it’s also important to maintain it properly. Three simple steps could help to save your life – check that the gas canister is in good condition and screwed in properly, the firing head is within its expiry date and that a crotch strap is attached securely.’

As we go to post there is a Small Craft Warning is effect – Southerly winds will occasionally reach force 6 tonight on coasts from Valentia to Erris Head to Malin Head. Tomorrow will be dry and warm, however, rain will soon become persistent in western counties in the morning. The rain will spread east to affect other areas later but will become light and intermittent during the evening. Winds will be light to moderate, southerly later veering southwesterly. Highest temperatures 16 to 21C. Overall, the outlook is for the weather to remain changeable and unsettled over the weekend and well into next week. Temperatures mostly a little below normal.

Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.

Myles Kelly

Catch, Photo, Release

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Salmon fishing on the Laune
Salmon fishing on the Laune