It has been quite a week for anglers with some very cold conditions and in some parts of the country almost biblical falls of hailstones punctuating the days. Yesterday proved to be bright and clear for the most part, a real contrast to today’s miserable conditions. Salmon fishing picked up in general with a good number of fisheries reporting catches. Trout fishing on the lakes is improving as hatches of Duckfly are being reported. Festival anglers from the coarse scene saw weights increase as the weather improved slightly and some good pike were landed at Midlands venues. Bass fishing is also picking up and we have reports of good fishing in Kerry and Waterford…

Kieran Conlon releasing a fish on fly at the Broadwater pool on 27th March. Photo courtesy Kieran Conlon.
Kieran Conlon wins Catch of the Week for his salmon from the Drowes’s Broadwater pool on 27th March. Photo courtesy Kieran Conlon.

Good water levels on the Drowes last week saw 20 salmon caught by anglers on the river. Fish to 10lb were caught on a variety of  methods and the Catch of the Week goes to Kieran Conlan for his 10lb salmon on fly which he released. Windy conditions and sheets of rain on Lough Melvin made angling uncomfortable and only 3 fish were reported to last Sunday. A number of salmon were reported on the Moy, mainly from the Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water upstream of Ballina town, and also a few salmon were caught on the troll on Lough Conn. Low water at Delphi was followed by a flood but in between times Lisa Enberg managed an 11lbs salmon off Finlough on a Delphi Collie. Two more salmon were taken off the Feale in the last week, both were caught spinning. It was almost, but not quite, a salmon day on Currane and fish were also reported from the upper lakes. In Cork, it was a quiet week again on the Bandon with no fish to report and just one salmon, on spinner, was reported from the Lee. The Munster Balckwater also seems to be quiet, though 2 salmon were caught by Connie Corcoran at Ballyduff Bridge. The Slaney has had to content itself with a few more small springers while they await the arrival of the bigger fish later this month. Upstream of Clohamon continues to have the better fishing at this time.

The Duckfly is out now on lakes across the country. Lough Corrib saw some great catches of fish with as many as 7 trout to the boat and fish to 5lb landed. Mask is also seeing hatches of buzzer and duckfly but most of the fishing is on traditional wets. Lough Sheelin did not fare as well, as hard night frosts seemed to take the fizz out of the fishing there. Minkies and other lures are reported to be fishing best. On Owel it was trolled lures that did the business,  and it was a similar story on Lough Lene. Emy Lough saw all its boats out  over the Easter weekend and the anglers found the rainbows very obliging.

Catches to 17lb in a day at the Kingfisher AC Easter Festival on Lough Sillan were all the more impressive give the often wet and wild conditions. Congratulations go to Niall McKitterick who emerged as winner of the 2 day event with 28lb 12oz. The Easter 2 Festival fished on Lough Muckno was won by Michael Buchwalder with a 2 day catch of 12.81kg. Overall fishing was described as fair. Daingean Match Anglers fished their first 5 hour summer match on Sunday. It was not very summery but one tench was landed. Another notable fish was a 1lb 10oz perch that helped one of the joint winners take his podium place.

Some good perch were also landed on Lough Ennell by anglers jigging over some of the deeper holes. Staying in the midlands some really good pike were reported from Lough Derravaragh and the River Inny, one of these a really fat looking 20 something. Czech anglers visiting the area enjoyed catching pike on fly and have already made plans to return later in the year.

Bass were back with a bang last week in some parts of Kerry with as many as 20 caught in a session. The “bite” continues but not as many fish have been caught since then. There were also some good looking fish caught in the Tramore area. The Irish Bass Festival will be fished from 01 – 03 July this year, more information at www.irishbassfestival.com. In the last couple of weeks anglers fishing with Kit Dunne out of Wicklow had as many as 8 specimen spurdogs in a trip. If conditions allow there should be some great charter boat reports to feature in the coming weeks.

As we issue this report there are Status Yellow Warnings for rainfall and wind. There will be heavy rain today with accumulations over 30 mm likely on higher ground in counties Wicklow, Donegal, Galway, Mayo, Cork and Kerry. Meanwhile Southerly winds will reach gale force this afternoon and evening on coasts from Malin Head to Howth Head to Mizen Head and on the Irish Sea. The outlook is for broken weather over the next few days, but with the afternoons possibly dry and almost certainly milder than in recent days. Still cool at night, but on Tuesday afternoon temperature might get into the teens. After that its back to wet and blustery conditions though.

Finally, for any Polish anglers out there, the ESRI are carrying out a survey to learn more about the views of Polish anglers living in Ireland with respect their to activities and experiences with the objective of achieving better angling opportunities. To find out more or take part see https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/55QQD5V

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

Myles Kelly

Catch, Photo, Release

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