As Autumn fades in the settled and calm weather of the past week beckoned anglers to the seas. Trout anglers wound up their season, while coarse and pike anglers are looking forward to their winter fishing….

Lough Currane fished the last few days of their Sea Trout season. Anglers were scarce and things were quiet with only a few 3lb sea trout reported.  Vincent Appleby has kept us well informed throughout the year with no spin no fly’s just facts ! He looks forward to 2016 and the rising of the salmon again.

Sheelin bade farewell to one of Ireland’s finest fly tiers. Lawrence Finney was known the length and breadth of Ireland for his fly patterns.  His great detail and welcoming manner will be sorely missed. As the season ended pre spawning trout show little interest and anglers needed patience and skill to coax a reaction. Lady angler Mary Harkin was one of the lucky ones and had trout on a salmon fly known as a Thunder & Lightening while on Saturday last at the Garda competition Niall Burns had a cracker of a trout at 6½lbs. Brenda Montgomery tells us that one Dublin angler had a beautiful trout of 7lbs which ran like a race horse and fought like a lion.

Cashel trout fishery in Dungiven is fishing well and is having their annual competition this Saturday October 24th. Wee buzzers and dries are providing great sport for anglers and good catches of trout have been reported.

The NCFFI Junior All Ireland Feeder Champion title was taken Aaron Hutchman from the East Belfast Coarse Angling Club with a weight of 3.780kg. The championships showed up some talented young anglers and many names which we will see again in the future. Killinarden Angling Initiative from Tallaght headed down to the other capital in Cork where some super double figured carp were caught, 15.3lbs and 13lbs.

pike
A lovely 100cm+ pike for Lorenzo who is our ‘Catch of the Week’ winner

East Clare lakes reported good numbers but small sized fish while over at Fermoy, summer type, low water levels made dace visible but not very co-operative at the autumn festival. Brian Webb from Swindon was winner this year with 35lb 1ozs. Portumna September festival saw good bream from the river Shannon.  Dave Brooks took first place with 128lb 5oz.

Weights were reasonable but up on last year at the Waterways Ireland Shakespeare school coarse angling competition. Fifteen teams of four fished on the river Bann near Portglenone. Colerane Grammar school were delighted with the gold medal. Erne Integrated College took silver and Bangor Academy had bronze. The Home International Championships will take place on the O’Rourke’s Coal Yard stretch of the Newry canal on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th of October. Spectators are welcome.

Anglers with specimen claims for shad and cyprinids (roach, rudd and their hybrids), which require genetic analysis for positive identification, are requested to submit their claims to the Irish Specimen Fish Committee as soon as possible. Contact details for the Irish Specimen Fish Committee, claim forms and more are available from: http://irish-trophy-fish.com/

Joseph Davy from Ballaghaderreen had a huge splash for his sixteenth birthday. Seven pike up to 15lb while out with Foxford guide Kenny Sloan in Mayo. Anglers from Switzerland who were also out with the same guide on a different day report pike 1 metre long and just shy of 20lbs.  Across on the Corrib Aidan Traynor caught an 18lb buster of a pike and assures us he is only getting started.

Boyle pike are making their presence felt with 110cm fish making the day for a group of tourists with guide Bodo Funke. Italian angler Lorenzo is our ‘Catch of the Week’ winner. He had a number of pike over the metre mark and some great perch at 40cm+ as well.

Galway skipper John Fleming had his first Irish specimen blue shark. John caught 5 on the day but his PB was 109lbs and measuring 203cms.  Up the coast at Killala, the ‘Leah’ stocked up with bait and fished the rocks where they were thrilled with catches of rays, dabs, turbot, thornbacks, blondes and spotted rays.

Edward Kilroy of Corrane SAC received the Ray Toner cup and gold medal from Brian Reidy PRO Connacht IFSA. Edward is now captain of the Connacht Interprovinical team for 2016.

Calm seas and ideal conditions mixed with good catches made heavenly fishing for those who ventured out in Co. Clare. Pollack, whiting, good ling and cod kept anglers busy.  For the Cork anglers, Clonakilty proved fruitful.  The silvery bass eventually drew them away from our rugby and soccer heroes for a while and anglers had their own nail biting moments. Around the coast further at Union Hall, skipper Jim Nowotynski had two fine congers 35lb and 28lb in weight.

The 2nd International Sea Trout Symposium will take place in Dundalk from 20th– 22nd October; details are available on the website at http://seatroutsymposium.org/

As the evening draw in, we notice a chill in the air. Tonight will see temperatures drop to 1° C to 2°C with some grass frost. Tomorrow should be a bright day with the odd shower. Saturday will be dry and sunny once the fog and mist clears but temperatures will remain low. Slightly milder on Sunday but with some easterly winds. The coming week should be largely dry and settled with variable winds.

Have a good weekend and Safe fishing to all , tight lines, especially here in Ireland.

Nancy Hearne

Catch, Photo, Release

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Perch
Photo: Roscommon perch by guide Bodo Funke