May arrived, though not in style, or at least not in the style we were hoping for. It has been a very cold week, and though at times the sunshine gave an impression that things were improving the falls of sleet or hail soon took the gloss off things. Mind you, there were still some great individual catches and a few fisheries did perform pretty well. Pike anglers on Derg, salmon anglers on a number of rivers and lakes and trout anglers on Mask all experienced fishing that was better than conditions might have suggested…

andro Colangeli boated a pike just a few pounds short of the specimen weight.
Sandro Colangeli wins Catch of the Week for his pike just a few pounds short of the specimen weight.

The Drowes and Lough Melvin were both fairly quiet last week and not many fish were reported. Low water levels on the river did not help the cause. Ballisodare in the next county down fared better. A total of 29 salmon were caught, with 9 of them being released. Difficult conditions persisted on the River Moy for most of the week due to cold and gusty northerly winds. However, water levels remained favourable throughout the week and a number of fish were reported. The winds also impacted sea trout fishing on the estuary though some good fishing was had on Sunday. Lough Beltra had good fishing through the May Bank Holiday Weekend and Glenisland Co-Op reported some lovely salmon into double figures. The Erriff fishery started its season in style earlier this week with 3 super spring salmon landed. The Galway Fishery lived up to expectations and 17 fish to over 13lb were landed. Unfortunately the fishing did not extend all the way to Kerry and the Feale has remained quiet, primarily due to low water. The Laune, on the other and, did see its fortunes improve and  salmon have finally begun to feature in reports from the river again. The Owenmore Fishery is expecting good fishing and reports plenty of sea trout showing. On Lough Currane anglers again had fish most days  and 11 salmon were reported for the week. Sea trout are running the Ilen and fish to 3lbs have been landed on worm. There were 3 salmon reported on the Bandon.  The river is low at the moment but there are a few sea trout showing up also. There were no reports from the Lee but the Munster Blackwater seems to have turned a corner and many fisheries reported good numbers of salmon running and some caught to boot.

Lough Corrib and its trout anglers had a week of cold, sometimes stormy conditions, but fishing was good on some days and has picked up well since the bank holiday. One angler reported excellent olive hatches but the fish were somewhat moodier than the abundant fly life. Olive hatches have been sporadic on Lough Mask , but fishing was still exceptional on some days with wets producing most fish. Sheelin had another tough week and the midland lake suffered again from frost, northerlies and even snow. Some good trout were landed, mostly on wets and lures. The Mayfly is not yet “up” all over Lough Derg but a competition fished at the weekend from Mountshannon saw good numbers of trout caught, all on Green Fly. Speculation is mounting that most lakes will start to see the Mayfly hatch build in the coming week.

The cold weather, wind and unseasonable falls of sleet, snow and hail seem to have impacted the coarse anglers most of all and each report we have this week is described as difficult, tough, hard going or miserable! Having said that the anglers, many fishing competitions, still enjoyed their time on the water, but we would expect to be reporting bigger catches and more mellow conditions at this time of year. It is likely that the change to warmer weather will see a sudden improvement for anglers pursuing roach, bream, rudd and tench over the weekend.

Pike to 113cm were reported from Lough Macnean over the weekend and good fishing was also enjoyed at a number of midlands venues. Italian anglers had a number of 100cm plus fish on a mix of fly and lures in the Mullingar area. On the main stem of the Shannon at Lanesborough we also heard good reports of pike to double figures almost daily, no doubt in the area to harass the building shoals of spawning fish. Lough Derg once more produced the goods for guides, tourists and local anglers and plenty of 100cm fish are coming off the lake on a weekly basis. Lough Allua in Co. Cork was back on our radar too as some good fish were caught by visiting anglers.

Unfortunately we don’t have much to report on from  the sea angling scene. There was some really enjoyable fishing for anglers fishing with Max Coque on Galway Bay. Pollack, coalfish, ling, pouting, wrasse and bullhuss all featured over the long weekend.

Met Eireann are giving weather that most anglers would be happy with, but as we enter Mayfly Madness time it is very welcome to hear that it will become warm and rather humid by early next week, with some good spells of sunshine, as continental air feeds in over Ireland, from the southeast. But not completely dry, as some heavy showers or longer bursts of thundery rain are expected too. These will be widespread during Friday night and for a time on Saturday, but more isolated thereafter. If you weren’t planning to go fishing this weekend, start making your excuses and get your gear ready.

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

Myles Kelly

Catch, Photo, Release

If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to [email protected].

Headlines

Salmon fishing reports

Trout fishing reports

Pike fishing reports

Coarse angling reports

Sea angling reports

News clippings

Other news

- Mayfly on Lough Derg landed on RIB Sponson during patrols over the Bank Holiday Weekend
Mayfly on Lough Derg – landed on RIB Sponson during patrols over the Bank Holiday Weekend