What a week it has been, we thought we might see history being made with the first lady President of the USA but it was not to be. Here in our lovely green isle our Irish females are making history as for the first time we have a Ladies team competing in the Worlds Shore Championships.  Wexford will welcome 250 competitors from many different countries to the region.  We wish all teams the best of luck and hope the trump-et will sound for our girls and lads.  There will be hell toupée if the fish do not co-operate !….

Saturday will see the opening ceremony with a parade of all competing nations.  Their flags will be carried from Clayton Whites Hotel to the Wexford National Opera house.  The World Shore Angling Championships operates a Catch and Release policy and this year will showcase the best which Ireland has to offer as competitors battle to catch a wide variety of fish.

Last weekend it was the turn of Mullaghmore to show off its bounty. Leg 2 of Carty’s Land and Sea sports shore league took place.  18 anglers caught a total of 91 fish plus approx 40 undersized.  John Cunningham accounted for 16 fish and went ahead to take first place.  Longest fish was a fine 38cm flounder.  Stefan Martin from Killybegs Mariners had some bait left over, so he made good use of it later in the week, landing himself a nice 39cm flounder on the 1st cast and lots of flatties.  Down the other side of the country from Donegal, Tomasz Ekert fished for bass in Dingle and took some super photos.  His tally was 14 nice fish.

Tomasz Ekert's bass
Tomasz Ekert’s bass

In Cork Harbour, Guide Richie Ryan and his brother Gerard had some friendly fishing. It didn’t go un-noticed that Richie out-fished his brother this time by 6 fish. Payback no doubt for the previous trip when Gerard excelled.  The session included good bass and great pollack on the fly.   Also in Cork, the Light Lines and Winter League have merged and will commence their competitions this Sunday under the new name of “Munster League”.

In coarse fishing, a frosty Lough Muckno tested the patience of anglers during the first of its Winter Open matches. Brenton Sweeney won with a bag of 7.390kgs including some nice skimmers. The next match in this series will be held again on the lake on Sunday 20th November.  At Inniscarra in Cork after a busy Feederfest last week, the Sensas Challenge will be fished with anglers from Ireland and France competing in a team event.

But my favourite little angler this week was Jules Traineau who was fishing with dad Sebastian in the Midlands.  Young Jules hooked up with some cracking perch on Lough Derravaragh and is our ‘Catch of the Week’ winner. For those looking for somewhere to head there’s the Oaklands Lake in New Ross who have an open match on this Sunday Nov 13th.  The draw is at 9.30am with fishing commencing at 11 o’clock.

'Catch of the Week' winner Jules Traineau with his cracking perch
‘Catch of the Week’ winner Jules Traineau with his cracking perch

On the pike scene, the recently held Lower Shannon Pike Angling Challenge with a substantial prize fund in excess of €2,000 attracted 136 anglers from near and far. Fishing was very tough with an easterly wind.  Jeff Sheehan took top prize of €500 on the day landing a pike of 10lb 6oz.  Lough Ennell too proved hard work.  Guide Mick Flanagan and Gerry Farrell did some jerk bait fishing across weed beds but the pike weren’t interested.  Eventually Gerry got a lovely pike of 13lbs on the troll.

A chilly Moffatt Memorial Cup at Lough Derravaragh saw the deadly duo from Multyfarnham, Jimmy Ledwith junior and senior claim the cup when they boated 2 pike with the best being 8lbs 4oz. Next Sunday 13th the Weir Cup will be fished on the lake.

Another event attracting attention is the The Irish Fly Fair which kicks off at the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill this Saturday. Visitors will have the opportunity to watch the best International Fly-dressers practise their art, whilst champion fly-casters will be available to demonstrate and advise on fly-casting techniques and fly-fishing tactics.

Ned Maher from Ardaire Springs Angling centre in Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny will be there. Ned had 70 fish landed at his competition last Sunday including some big rainbows and feisty brownies.  Rathcon Lake in Wicklow also had a competition on the same day which 18 participated in on a very cold day landing 30 rainbows in tough conditions with a strong northerly wind.

In other news, Inland Fisheries Ireland has launched its Sponsorship Fund for 2017 which will support angling events and initiatives across the country. The fund supported 44 events to the tune of €30,000 in 2016 with a particular focus on initiatives which help grow Ireland’s angling tourism product and support novice anglers.

Weather experts tell us the outlook is for changeable and unsettled over the weekend and into next week. Cool, bright and breezy on Saturday, with fresh and gusty west to northwest winds.  Sunday will be rather cloudy in many areas with scattered outbreaks of rain and drizzle. Becoming milder through the day with temperatures of 10 to 13 degrees in the late afternoon and evening.

Lots of events and competitions taking place, so head out and stay safe.

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

Nancy Hearne

Catch, Photo, Release

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Photo by Stefan Martin, Killybegs Mariners SAC
Photo by Stefan Martin, Killybegs Mariners SAC