Fishing this week as always was a case of where you were and when.  Some rivers excelled on a few days of the week and were very quiet on others.  Likewise our coast had some choppy days and then calmed down to give some nice catches.  We saw a few firsts for anglers and some good size fish….

A river that had a great week was the Munster Blackwater, where even the novice angler caught some excellent fish.  Robbie Allunni from Dubai claimed a smashing 17½lb salmon on the fly under the guidance of Glenda Powell.  A quick photo and Robbie sportingly released his catch. All beats on the river had great fish on the fly and there is a great run of grilse at present.

The Bandon saw seasoned angler David Forde with a 10lb 4oz salmon using a Teal Blue and Silver.  Although water levels are low 13 fish were reported on the lower river.  Shrimp and prawn worked best on the Lee with 22 fish mostly at Kingsley Weir.  West Cork rivers recorded a number of salmon on worms the biggest at 11lbs.  On the river Laune while the rest of Kerry watched the soccer Patrick Richard had his own sport when he landed a beauty at 12lbs.  Vincent Appleby reported good fishing in all departments on the Currane.  Both fly and trolling worked well and a good number of grilse were reported.  The first day of July commenced with catches of sea trout to 4lbs and nice salmon to 10lbs. A UK angler with a very appropriate name of Mike Fish had a great day on Tuesday when he caught a cracking 9lb salmon.  One of the family I imagine!

If its quantity you’re looking for, the Moy is the place.  615 salmon reported for the week.  Fresh fish reported on all fisheries.  The Cloongee Fishery provided superb fishing with the Mark Parsley group from the UK catching 41 salmon over 8 ½ days on worm, spinner and bubble & fly. The East Mayo stretch alone reported 120 fish ranging up to 11½lbs. Ballisodare had a total of 234 fish being caught, mostly grilse in the 4 to 5lb bracket on fly and worm.  Dropping down to Co. Galway, the weir too had a great week with weather and water levels ideal. Large numbers of salmon are in the system the fly is working wonders.

The Drowes continued to fish well with 130 fish caught.  Anglers were delighted with grilse averaging 4lbs making up most of the catches.  All methods seem to be working well.  Water levels at Owenea fishery improved and salmon to 12½lbs on the fly from beat 7 and grilse to 6½lb from beat 5 were reported.  Rain which if forecasted should see a good week ahead.

The Sheelin trout are having great fun according to Brenda Montgomery bashing pinheads (shoals of tiny perch and roach fry).  This is much to the annoyance of the fly anglers who are finding it hard to get their attention.  Only 22 trout recorded this week, largest being 4½lbs.  Changeable weather conditions and sparse hatches affected some anglers on the Corrib but not Colm Murphy who caught a smashing Corrib brownie on his octopus. On the Clare river angler Francis Flaherty reported some nice trout caught on the worm, while up on Lough Melvin the fishing was very variable, great activity on some days and very quiet on others.  Sunday was the day for the Gallagher Cup competition and fishing was good with 8 trout for the winning boat.

A magical 7lbs 4oz trout from the River Boyne for Keith McDonnell is our 'Catch of the Week'
A magical 7lbs 4oz trout from the River Boyne for Keith McDonnell is our ‘Catch of the Week’

Highlight of the week was certainly a stunning Boyne unicorn caught by Keith McDonnell.  Its magical days like this that most anglers dream of.  Keith fished in reasonable conditions after recent rain.  A superb 7lb 4oz trout hit the fly and after a good tussle this 27.2 inch fish was his.  Well done Keith you are our ‘Catch of the Week’ winner.

A Californian couple had a holiday worth remembering after they caught some lovely rainbows on Lough Lene under the expert eye of guide Michael Flanagan.  The  Larry Mulligan Cup is coming up next Friday on the lake and the fly fishing competition kicks off at 7pm.

Lough Ennell pike took a great shine to a very blight Zalt lure while Michael McShane had been out trolling with Mick Flanagan in 12-15ft of water.  Another day is planned soon by the two Michaels.

Junior anglers both boys and girls put on a fine display as the first leg of the annual junior league took place for the Royal Enfield CAC.  Shane Fawcett took the top weight with 2lbs 2ozs.  Next leg is July 11th.  The Killykeen area of Cavan is fishing great lately, last week saw German angler Thomas Wolf with super bags of bream and hybrids between 30 and 70lbs.  This week 3 anglers fishing at Gulladoo, Dernaferst and Kevins Shore has some huge black bream and bags up to 60lbs.  Trinity and the Town lake at Killishandra recorded Tench up to 3/4lbs and Dromore, Drumlona and Bairds Shore reported great bream, roach and skimmers. At Brother’s lake in Carrickmacross the fifth Coarse Angling and Junior Development Clubs annual fishing summer camp finished yesterday after 4 days of fun.  Those attending had been introduced to fishing techniques and tactics by the clubs coaches and members of the club and all participants made great progress during the camp.

A new little angler aged 6 called Eoin Doyle fished in Tramore with his stepfather Shane Nugent and together they caught an 8½lb bass on a full squid.  Down in Cork at Union Hall, skipper Tom Collins organised a trip out for Wexford guide Sid Jones and colleagues.  They landed mackerel, gurnard, codling, pollack to 8lb, ling to 7lb, conger to 15lb and 5 common skate in less than two hours the best being 104lbs.  A busy day!

It was busy in Cork harbour too with the IFSA Master Angler Boats Competition taking place.  David McCormick representing the North Down club emerged the winner on the day.  Eire Bass guide Richie Ryan was active too as he escorted two anglers from Plymouth out into the bay.  Over a few days they accumulated 130 pollack and the first every reported fly caught bass on Harbour Rock.

The Jimmy Smith and Maurice Dalton competitions were run by Mullaghmore SAC and the gold shore medal was won by Chris O’Sullivan.  Ewing charters had their first angler fish onboard last Sunday with an ugly face you wouldn’t want to wake up to after a nights drinking !  Way down on the Clare coast skippers Luke Aston and Sean McGuire had a couple of breezy days on Friday and Saturday but as the weekend wore on the weather settled and both report catches of good Spur dogs and haddock.

Bright sunny weather predicted for today but cloud will build from the southwest later in the afternoon with some rain and drizzle…..  Moderate westerly winds will ease and back southerly by evening.

A warm day on Saturday but also quite a windy day with heavy showers or longer spells of rain. There will be some sunny spells also. Maximum temperatures generally around 20 degrees but up to 23 or 24 degrees in sunshine. Fresh southwesterly winds will be strong around the coastline with rough seas and also a risk of choppy conditions on lake.  Cooler on Sunday and staying this way for Monday and Tuesday.

Hope you all have a great weeks fishing,

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

Nancy Hearne

Catch, Photo, Release

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Beautiful Kerry captured by Tomasz Ekert
Beautiful Kerry captured by Tomasz Ekert