The Bank Holiday weekend was a chance for many anglers to get out on the water and open their “winter fishing” accounts. The weather could have been a bit kinder, but by and large it’s not all that bad for the time of year. The long range forecasts indicate it might be a mild November – hopefully this will keep the fish feeding well for longer…

bass
This super bass wins Sid Jones Catch of the Week

Congratulations to Team England who won the Home International fished on the Newry Canal from 21 to 24 October. England fished extremely well taking  9 out of 14 section wins. In Co. Cork, Tony Green held on by a narrow margin to win the Jackie Lennox Munster Festival with a total weight of 22.580kg. There were some good bream reported from Lough Sillan where the Go and Catch club held a feeder competition.

The Erne system is a treasure trove of venues for the kayak angler in pursuit of pike and Steven Neely had a PB at a Fermanagh water last week. French anglers on Lough Ramor were also enjoying the pike fishing on offer. A few good fish were landed and it was all the more exciting by the pikes’ tail walking antics. The National Pike Championships Qualifiers will be fished near Mohill on 01 November. Contact Jodie Kiernan for more details.

Last weekend saw small boat anglers on Galway Bay out for a last hurrah, and they were not disappointed. Making the most of the calm weather they targeted blue shark and not only caught and released these striking sharks but were entertained by a pair of fish which circled the boat and rubby dubby bag. Catch of the Week goes to Sid Jones for his stunning shore caught bass which was measured at 78cm long with a girth of 40cm. The fish, which would probably have weighed about 12.5lb, was carefully released. There were a few bass reported at the World Shore Team fish offs fished in Wexford at the weekend. Congratulations to the sections winners and those who qualified for the Men’s and Women’s teams. The World Shore Angling Championships will be fished in Wexford next year.

Carrigavantry was the venue for the Knockaderry Cup which saw a total of 44 trout landed. The largest trout was 64cm. Barry Healy was the winner with 7 fish.

As we go to press there are small craft warnings in operation from Erris Head to Rossan Point to Malin Head and on Irish coasts from Roches Point to Slyne Head to Malin Head and on all Irish coasts tonight. Tomorrow will be blustery and occassionaly wet, but mild. There will be widespread rain for a time on Friday night but the rain will clear to isolated showers later. Fresh to strong, southerly winds will moderate with the clearance and it will stay mild. Showers will die out on Saturday morning, leaving it dry and mild with sunny spells and light to moderate, southwesterly breezes. The rest of the weekend, and Monday too, will be dry with well broken cloud. Light to moderate, southwesterly breezes will gradually back south to southeast by early next week. At night, fog is likely to form widely under clear skies and it may become cold enough for some grass frost to occur in places.

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

Myles Kelly

Catch, Photo, Release

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Some good trout to 64cm were caught at the Knockaderry Cup fished at Carrigavantry