The cold weather at the weekend seems to have have had a huge impact on fishing around the country. It would appear that many anglers stayed in, as reports are thin on the ground. There was some decent fishing to be had though, particularly for coarse and salmon anglers…
High water followed last week’s rain and many salmon fisheries took time to get back in order. There were reports of a good fish lost on the Muster Blackwater as the levels returned to normal and visibility improved, but not much else. The Lee was too high for any real fishing. Meanwhile on the Bandon water levels were described as perfect, but no fish were caught. The Laune was much the same and Lough Currane was also quiet. There were a few salmon on the Feale over the weekend and further up the west coast at Delphi 9 salmon were caught in 7 days. But it was the Drowes that did best, the river had an impressive 20 salmon reported, most over the weekend. So much for the cold snap!
In other salmon fishing news Inland Fisheries Ireland is seeking submissions from interested parties in respect of a proposed new temporary Bye-law which would:
- prohibit being in possession of any mounted fishing rod with line attached and prohibit taking, catching or attempting to catch any fish by any means whatsoever in those waters of the River Blackwater, Co Cork, which are between the downstream face of the weir known as Fermoy weir, in the townland of Carrignagroghera and the townland of Fermoy, both in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, in the County of Cork, and a line, drawn across the river at right angles to the Mill Race wall, from a point on the South bank which is 10 meters downstream from the point at which the weir meets the Mill Race wall, to a point on the North bank.
- prohibit any fishing on or from the weir structure itself.
More information is available at http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/Public-Consultation/public-consultation-fermoy-weir-angling-limitiations.html
There were two big St Patrick’s Festivals fished in Ireland at the weekend but they may as well have been fished in different countries. One was fished on Lough Muckno where freezing weather and heavy snow made for tough fishing and small catches. The other was on Inniscarra and though conditions were far from perfect, they were at least not as Arctic, and really good weights were recorded. The Graveyard section fished particularly well with an average catch of 7kg per angler over the 3 days. Congratulations go to Julian Kendrick, now a 2 in a row winner, who caught a total weight of 26.660kg.
Sea anglers around Cork reported shore angling to be tough enough over the weekend. We did get reports of flounder and mullet, but fish were not biting well. There was some decent charter boat fishing for pollack and coalfish at Courtmacsherry and, off the west coast, some decent fishing also reported on Galway Bay.
We had our first report of bass in the southwest this year as Tomasz Eckert got amongst some good fish from the Kerry coast. Tomasz wins catch of the Week for his bass.
We have one pike report this week. Some decent fishing was had in the Longford area with one fish of 18lb landed on deadbait by an angler staying at Melview Lodge.
Trout anglers will be delighted to see the return of our Sheelin reporter, Brenda Montgomery, with her weekly update from the lake. It’s been a very cold start to the season so its no surprise that Lough Sheelin has not been very busy, but there have been some lovely trout caught and released.
Salmon licences
Sincere apologies for the delay in getting our online salmon licence sales system up and running for 2018. Unfortunately there were a number of technical difficulties that prevented us from continuing with the old system and a rebuild was needed.
You can now buy your licence for the 2018 season online at https://store.
We hope that you find the new site easier to use and look forward to seeing you on the river in the new season.
And now the weather..
Saturday will bring good sunshine to most places, according to Met Eireann, but there will be some scattered rain or hail showers too. Most of these will be in the western half of the country. Winds will be moderate west to northwesterly. Temperatures will be around 8 to 10C at best. Cold and mostly clear overnight and frost is likely to form, becoming sharp to severe. Lowest temperatures -2 to plus 2 C. Sunday will be much the same, but frost may clear the southwest late in the night, as rain develops there. At the moment, the rain will become widespread during Monday and will be heavy in places. The early days of next week will continue unsettled and changeable, with areas of low pressure bringing in further rain or showers from the Atlantic from time to time.
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 angling news
- Few anglers fishing the Laune, no salmon reported
- High water and no fish to report on Lee
- Perfect water, but all quiet on the Bandon
- Cold on Currane and salmon stop taking
- A few more salmon from the Feale, good water expected at weekend
- A great week on the Drowes, 20 springers landed
- Nine springers in seven days at Delphi
Coarse angling reports
- Sheemore Anglers tough it out on Lough Scur
- Arctic conditions see small weights at Muckno St Patricks Festival
- 2 in a row for Julian at Inniscarra’s St Patricks Festival
Trout angling reports
Pike angling reports
Sea angling reports
- Flounder, mullet and pollack and more Cork sea anglers
- Spring bass in Kerry for Sea Bass Hunter Tomasz
- More pollack for Galway Bay charter boat anglers
