Although there have been some showers, and these have been heavy in places, overall the warm weather kept conditions pleasant for most of the last week, though winds were a problem for anglers in some areas. Low water was a problem at a number of fisheries, with salmon angling worst affected. We have passed the half way point and many anglers were out to fish the longest day of the year on Sunday. We have all their news below…

10lb trout
Victor Martinez from Andorra staying at Corrib View Lodge and guided by Simon Cassidy had a 10lb trout on a single handed fly rod which he released. This catch of a lifetime wins Victor Catch of the Week.

A number of reports have indicated that wild brown trout fishing on the River Boyne has improved in many areas. There have been some good fly hatches as well and local angler Kristof Krzysiek had a fish of a lifetime while sedge fishing. In the midlands Loughs Owel, Lene, Mount Dalton and Lough Sheelin have provided good sport for fly anglers.  The Mayfly is coming to an end on Sheelin but the move to Sedges has already begun and some fine fish to 5.5lb were taken on a mix of Green Peters, Stimulators and Spent Gnat. Lough Corrib is continnuing to produce exciting fishing, particularly on Caenis. Visiting angler Victor Martinez from Andorra had a 10lb trout which he released. This catch of a lifetime wins Victor Catch of the Week. This time of year can be very productive on Corrib with big catches of heavy fish possible. At Lough Melvin the trout fishing was good and numerous rods reported decent bags of trout, both Sonaghan and Gillaroo caught from most of the areas on the lough.

On the Munster Blackwater the salmon fishing picked up again over the weekend and 8 fish were caught on Blackwater Lodge beats. The fishery reports 14 salmon to over 10lb for the week. Low water saw only 10 fish reported on the Lee last week, mostly caught on prawn. The situation was much the same for the rest of the Cork rivers. Just one salmon was caught on the Bandon and the sea trout fishing was described as slow. On the Owvane, one salmon was reported and no other catches from West Cork were returned to the office. In County Kerry, Lough Currane fared much better and a good mix of sea trout, grilse and the odd salmon were landed, particularly over the weekend. The Laune is is suffering from low water and the fishing is quiet.  The Owenmore Fishery reported a great run of sea trout to 4lb following rain at the weekend and prospects there are good in the coming days. Moving up the coast to Mayo reports from the Moy are that the fishing was mixed over the past week, with 284 salmon reported for the Moy system. The sunny weather and dropping water levels impacted on most fisheries upstream of Ballina. However, the Moy Fishery had its best week of the season so far with a total of 34 salmon caught. Last week Carrowmore produced the odd fresh springer but with good numbers of sea trout now running the system, angling has become a lot more entertaining. The Burrishoole Fishery opened on the 17th of June with good numbers of fish showing. Despite excellent conditions, angling effort has been low so far. Last week was dry but the Drowes held its water levels well. The very good run of grilse continued and there were some 80 salmon caught for the week with a further 11 fish landed on Lough Melvin.  The Oweneawas ‘down to the bones’ last week and only read 0.06m. There were only 2 anglers on the river and 2 salmon were reported.

Visiting anglers to Foxford Co. Mayo, Martin Merkel and his father Thomas, had a successful day fly fishing for pike. The pair were catching on a mix of poppers and big pike flies.  A group of anglers from Birmingham had 17 pike fishing on Lough Derravargh. Staying on the predator scene Lough Owel perch are shwoing a keen interest in soft plastics in recent days.

Nearly all this week’s coarse angling reports are from the midlands or north east. Fishing in the Newry Canal Fathom Festival, Matt Crowl took the honours with his brilliant 19lb 7oz total (given the tough fishing) over the 2 days, all taken on the pole, including some very nice bonus fish. There were a number of competitions fished at the weekend with many of these on Sunday. Catches were low everywhere it seemed. Killeshandra Angling Club match on the Derries was very hit and miss with some people just not catching at all and others getting a few. On the longest day of the year, Portobello AC had a canal match at Longwood but bites and fish were hard to come by. It was the same story for the Go & Catch Feeder Fishing Team  on Lough Sillan, parts of the Shannon and Blessington. Carrickmacross AC did better at Concra Wood, Lough Muckno with weights to 8kg in competion and better catches to 15kg reported from the lake last week. Afternoon fishing seems to be the problem as anglers in Longford report much better results from prebaiting and early starts.

The Dublin angling Initiative brought some of the kids from the Tallaght Community Programme fishing at Meadows Fishery in Maynooth. Fish were plentiful with all anglers catching a wide range of species including roach, rudd, carp, perch and tench.

Skipper Kit Dunne in Wicklow had a local crew out with him last week and they had 12 tope to 30lb, loads of Smooth Hound and a few Bull Huss and Ray. There are reports from bass anglers in Wexford getting their first fish and the Waterford coast continues to produce good bass on a mix of soft plastics and hard lures. Skipper Donie Geary in Cork Harbour had some great days fishing after a bit of a lull. On one day they had almost 40 conger to nearly 40lbs and a whole pile of other fish followed the next day by 31 thornbacks to 15lb and again a good clatter of other fish. That really is fantastic fishing. The small boat anglers have also been getting good results and on the BellaVista boats Jim Clohessy and Kevin Murphy recorded Ireland’s first length based specimen blue shark. Donal Kennedy, skipper of the Leah, reported some nice mixed fishing from Killala Bay and a wealth of varieties landed while in Co. Antrim Hamish Currie tells us the Red Tide has brought fishing to a standstill locally. He had to travel quite a distance to get good fishing, but eventually found a mark where the tope were biting and 37 were caught over 2 days.

Met Eireann tells us that good sunshine will develop this afternoon and evening but it will also turn showery in moderate southwesterly breezes. Little change tomorrow morning, but cloud will increase in the afternoon and evening with rain gradually spreading eastwards and highs of 17 to 20 degrees in freshening southerly winds. The outlook is for the warm weather to continue with scattered showers building to isolated thunderstorms as temperatures climb into the high 20s later in the week.

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

Myles Kelly

Catch, Photo, Release

If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to contact@fisheriesireland.ie.

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Lough Corrib
Jim McEvoy, Cork, Caenis fishing in the early hours on Lough Corrib