The spring weather in the past week has produced some lovely conditions at times but also cold wintry temperatures which still had many of us scrapping ice off our cars in the mornings.  As a result, water temperatures are still extremely low on most of our waters and anglers should be very careful when going afloat to wear good layers of warm clothing, a lifejacket and warm gloves.  With the lengthening of the days however there was plenty of angling going on around the country.

ferox
Kenny Sloan wins Catch of the Week for his 82cm ferox trout caught on Lough Conn

Last week anglers on the River Slaney enjoyed some good salmon fishing but it slowed down a good bit this week with just the occasional fish reported.   Water levels have been dropping on the Munster Blackwater and anglers are now fly fishing and hoping for good sport this week.  Well known angler Liam Ellis caught the first sea trout specimen of the year on Lough Currane on the troll and it weighing 7 lb.  In Killarney salmon fishing was a bit better this week and on the nearby River Flesk.  There were lovely conditions for fishing on the River Laune, but the salmon did not oblige any of the anglers in the past week. Another well-known angler, Eoin Trill caught the first salmon of the season at the Galway Weir on a shrimp.  A Swedish party of anglers had an enjoyable few days at Delphi where they caught some nice salmon on fly.  Up in Carrowmore Lake, two salmon were landed on a Green Peter fly by two anglers with the best fish weighing 11 lb.  There was a good improvement in salmon on the Drowes with fish to 13 lb. taken in the past week.

On the east coast, anglers enjoyed good rainbow trout fishing on flies during a charity event at the Courtlough Fishery near Balbriggan.  The rivers Rye and Liffey had hatches of olives in the past week on a few of the warmer days and trout were caught on dry and nymph patterns.  Hatches of fly have started to appear on Lough Owel in the midlands and catches of trout should improve there.  Nearby, Brian Brennan won the Lough Lene Cup with plenty of trout recorded by competitors on the lough.  Despite the poor weather there was again some wonderful trout caught on big flies on Lough Sheelin.  Trout are now coming regularly to the fly on Lough Corrib and Mask where the first hatches of Duckfly have been seen in recent days.  Fly anglers are also catching some nice trout on the fly up in Lough Conn.  Aslo on Lough Conn well known angling guide Kenny Sloan caught a big trout of 82 cms while trolling a roach for a pike.  After a quick photo of the monster, the fish was carefully put back alive and wins our Catch of the Week.

Kayak anglers are much in the news these days both in freshwater and at sea and a group of lads in Co. Down area went out from Ardglass Pier and caught small pollack and a few oddly marked scorpion fish.  Down in the Kingdom (Co. Kerry), a group of kayakers caught some serious fish landing some very good bullhuss and good congers. Skipper Mark Gannon had a group of anglers out in poor conditions out from Courtmacsherry and while the group recorded some nice fishing for a range of species but Mark is hoping for a big improvement in fishing in the coming weeks as water heat up. The Tralee SAC held a shore competition and flounders along with small mullet and thornback ray were caught in the harsh conditions.

Up in Co. Fermanagh, Steve Neely reported a great day out after good pike catching good fish on jigs including some fine spawning fish.   Angling guide Mick Flanagan reported a good week for pike anglers on a number of venues in the midlands.  Angling guide Kevin Lyons from Melview Lodge reported a tough week but deadbaits and fly worked well catching good pike for a party of French anglers during the week.

A lovely double figure sized common carp was the first carp reported this year for Martin McHugh at Rathdaire Lake on the Kildare Laois border.  Not far away at Lough Aisling near Edenderry, the Daingean Match anglers enjoyed a great competition at the weekend with good catches of fish recorded on the day.  Dace and Roach featured in catches by members of the Portobello anglers vising the River Barrow near Graiguenamanagh.  The Go & Catch Feeder Fishing Team had an outing to a sunny cold Lough Muckno and while fishing was tough, they all caught fish including a few small bream.

In this week’s update, there are many other notices and news clippings which contain some interesting stories for you to read.

Yet again we go to press with gale warnings and the outlook is for a blustery, wet weekend. daytime temperatures will remain generally below normal and it will feel cold much of the time due to the frequent windy episodes. However, these windy conditions should also prevent any significant night frosts.

Tight lines especially in Ireland,

Paul Bourke

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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Sunset
Kilnahard, Lough Sheelin, Saturday March 21st