The blazing hot sunshine continued all this week with temperatures hitting 26C in some places. There were thundery showers at times that invariable impacted on angling, but on the whole its been a pretty good week – if a bit bright at times for fishing(!).
Salmon anglers are no different to any other fishermen when it comes to sunshine, but nonetheless some great fish were caught this week, particularly from the River Suir and Munster Blackwater. The Lee and west Cork rivers all need water and so fishing has been slow in the county. Kerry fared much the same but some salmon were met on Lough Currane. The grilse run is starting to build at the Galway Fishery and the drop of rain seen over the Erriff at the weekend saw a small jump in catches there. The Moy catch was down to 148 salmon which was not surprising given the conditions and Carrowmore managed to produce a few fish even in the sunny weather.
The late spring and sudden summer seem to have conspired to produce a very unsatisfactory mayfly season. Many lakes have seen trout move to the abundant coarse fish fry, affecting even the evening fishing. One lake that has bucked the trend a little is Arrow which is still producing good spent fishing. Good hatches of caenis on Corrib have seen the fly angler catered for there, as long as he gets up early enough. To put the early morning advantage in context, Larry McCarthy, starting at 4.30am and finishing before most anglers hit the lake, in one 5 day period boated and returned 84 trout. Olives and buzzer continue to provide sport for the more relaxed anglers.
Four Times World Champion Bob Nudd came from 7th position on the final day to win the Ballinamore Lakeland Festival last weekend. Bob is one of the biggest fans of Irish angling festivals and is back fishing the Arvagh Festival this week. We also have reports from the 2018 International Coarse Fishing Festival fished in Longford, the Frank Holding Memorial fished on the Grand Canal in Kildare and the CM Lakelands 3 Day Festival.
Pike angling tends to slow down at this time of year, but Lough Derg’s fish have yet to look for the off switch. Some incredible catches were reported in the last week with as many 5 fish over 1m in a day to one guide alone. Dutch anglers in Longford also beat the odds to produce some good pike in the sunny weather.
Catch of the Week goes to charter boat skipper David Edwards. David had the Tigger out for a spin last Thursday and not far from Clonakilty he hooked and landed the first blue shark of the year. It’s been a lovely few days for sea anglers marked by specimens and special fish. On the east coast smooth hounds to specimen size were caught along with black bream and more. Bluemouths featured in catches of one Kerry charter boat. Another boat in Clare had both common skate and the much more uncommon white skate. Sometimes the Catch of the Week could be won over and over on just one day!
And now the weather…
The forecast from Met Eireann tells us it will be warm again tomorrow with highs of 19 to 23 degrees. Largely dry with hazy sunshine for the morning but further heavy and thundery showers will occur during the afternoon and evening. Warm in the early days of next week, especially in the southern half of the country and there will be a good deal of dry weather, with some scattered showers, most of them on Sunday. Indications are that it will become cooler and changeable from midweek. Well, it was fun while it lasted.
Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.
Myles Kelly
Catch, Photo, Release
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Headlines
Salmon angling news
- Salmon to 15lb caught and released on Munster Blackwater, but not easy in bright conditions
- Seven salmon on Carrowmore in tricky conditions
- Some great salmon off the Suir recently
- Blazing sunshine on Currane but some salmon and the odd sea trout about
- Lee quiet, just a few salmon at Inniscarra
- Drought on Bandon, few salmon caught
- Difficult week on the Moy
- Fish take any opportunity to run Erriff
- Grilse slowly appearing in better numbers in Galway
- Another Nore salmon for Mount Juliet angler
- West Cork salmon rivers mostly quiet
- Sea trout on Moy Estuary continues to improve
- Not many salmon reported from the Lee last week
- Salmon fishing not great on the Bandon
- Few catches on Currane, concern for sea trout
Trout angling reports
- Still good Spent Gnat fishing on Lough Arrow
- “The early bird gets the worm” on Corrib this week
- Good hatches and catches on Nore before weekend flood
- Lakeland Anglers on Lough Conn
- Longwood anglers on Whitelake
Coarse angling reports
- 2 in a row for Robertas at CM Lakelands Feeder Festival
- Brian Kane is King of the Canal
- Bob Nudd wins Lakelands Angling Ballinamore’s Annual Festival
- Tommy Dowd wins 2018 International Coarse Fishing Festival
Pike angling reports
Sea angling reports
- Specimen smooth hounds and more for Wicklow Boat Charters
- German anglers enjoy the charter boat fishing in Kerry
- White skate caught off Clare coast
- Good estuary, inshore and offshore fishing at Courtmacsherry
- Ukuele band try the fishing on Cork Harbour
- Copper Coast heating up as Bass Festival draws closer
- First blue shark of the year reported
- Copper coast fishing well ahead of Irish Bass Festival
Other news
- IFI investigating significant fish kill on Ballygowan River, Claremorris, Co Mayo
- ‘Jamebo’ Transition Year students complete eir/IFI Angling Adventure project
- Sea trout river and estuarine fishing course
- Minister Kyne launches new state-of-the-art IFI fisheries protection vessels
- Public Consultation: Rosscarbery Bay & Roury River Bye Law
