Well, it’s only one day to that time of year when the whole world goes green and everyone does their level best to be a bit Oirish. While plenty get caught up in parades, pubs and Patrick’s Day pageantry, plenty more will be taking the day to get acquainted with their local trout waters. The last few days have been beautiful here in Ireland, plenty of sunshine and much missed warmth in the days. There’s been a change though – it’s cool now and there’s a bit of rain in it. Sure it wouldn’t be St Patrick’s Day if it wasn’t raining…

In the last few days the Munster Blackwater has come back in order after being high for a couple of weeks. The river is fishing better and a few salmon were caught on both the Ballyduff Bridge and Blackwater Salmon Fishery beats.  Other Cork rivers also saw an improvement and there were 2 salmon reported on the Lee and the Bandon had its first fish of the season. The Killarney Lakes can produce a few fish but reports are hard to come by. We did hear of one fish on the Long Range though. Lough Currane didn’t produce any salmon in the last week, but at least those trying to connect with one enjoyed improved conditions.  Heading to Connemara we hear that the Dawros River (Kylemore Abbey Fishery) produced it’s first of the season just yesterday. A little further north at Delphi there was some good fishing towards the end of last week and 3 salmon were landed in 2 days. Three was the number on the Drowes too with another 3 taken on Lough Melvin.

There were notably less anglers on Lough Corrib last week but those that ventured out had some good fishing. Trout to 7lb were taken on the brickeen while the flymen had fish to over 5lb. Ballindiff Angling Club chairman Andrew Boyd and friend Dave McCormack had 3 fish to the boat on Sunday last, with Andrew landing a trout of 5.5lbs on the fly. All these fish were sportingly released and Andrew wins Catch of the Week for his big trout.

Andrew Boyd with a beautiful Corrib trout of 5.5lbs
Andrew Boyd with a beautiful Corrib trout of 5.5lbs – Catch of the Week winner

Duckfly are making an appearance but the real hatch is still to come. On Lough Mask it was a different story and the Duckfly there contributed to catches of up to 10 trout over 13 inches to the boat on wetfly. Fishing like this was reported by (and bettered) by other anglers and it could well be the destination of choice for a St. Patrick’s Day cast.

The abundance of cold flood water seems to have slowed down the coarse angling a bit and reports were a little thin on the ground. A new club in the Cavan Monaghan area fished their first competition ever and there were some good catches of small roach and hybrids. Stocked fisheries did a little better and Oaklands produced bags to 28kg in the Munster League. We expect to see more reports from this weekend on as the first Festival of the Season is fished at Inniscarra on St Patrick’s day.

Pike spawning is underway at most fisheries, or the fish are so focused on the impending urge to mate that they’re not feeding properly. Some good fish were reported in the Camlin and District Anglers competition at Lanesborough and anglers belly boating had some decent pike in the Carrickmacross area. The O’Caseys Pike Angling Club had less success in the Monaghan area, meeting mostly jacks. Anyone who does connect with a heavy female fish is asked to handle and release them carefully to avoid stressing these hen pike at this crucial stage in their life cycle.

The Menapia Club in Wexford had some great fishing at Ballyhack at the weekend. there were 118 anglers out and they had 300 fish between them. Plenty of whiting, codling and flats were caught. Best fish was a 38cm whiting. Good fish also featured in Donegal where once again sea caught sea trout provided plenty of thrills and spills. There were good flounder also to be had and fish to over 40cm are being caught and released. In Kerry we have reports of lure caught bass and one angler had 4 good fish in 2 days. all tagged and released as part of the National Bass Tagging Programme.

Angler tourists to Waterville, Co. Kerry spend on average €644 during their stay, according to research published this week by Inland Fisheries Ireland with assistance from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). The research, which was carried out with the Waterville Lakes and River Trust, highlights the significant recreational and economic value of the fisheries resource to the area. For more information on this study see: Angling tourists visiting Waterville, Co. Kerry spend €644 per trip

And now for the weather. Saint Patrick’s Day Friday will start off cloudy and windy with rain developing through much of Connacht and northwest Ulster. In the afternoon the rain will become widespread and heavy across the country and it will continue to persist into evening time. Highest temperatures around 9 or 10C in blustery westerly winds. The outlook is for fresh, showery, cloudy conditions on Saturday, more drizzle than rain on Sunday. Monday will be mostly dry but wet weather returns for Tuesday.

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

Myles Kelly

Catch, Photo, Release

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Salmon released by Gelnda Powell on the Munster Blackwater
Salmon released by Gelnda Powell on the Munster Blackwater