Paddy Halpin reports from the River Feale…

We had another few fish reported for the Feale in the past week. After the huge flood we had on Tuesday we had a lot of anglers out after it dropped. There is great fishing water at the moment for all types of fishing.

Some of the lucky Anglers for week are Mike Shanahan for Abbeyfeale who had a great fish of 14lbs while fly fishing on a very windy day in the dropping flood waters and took a long time to land as he had the river to himself.

Spring salmon
Mark Loughnane

Mark Loughnane of Listowel had another good fish of 11lbs caught on the spinner as did Diarmuid Broderick he had a fish of 12 lbs as well on the spinner.

Buck and Noel Kelly
Buck and Noel Kelly hope a bit of luck rubs off on them…

Still waiting for their first fish of the year was Buck Loughnane and Noel Kelly who posed for a pic with 2 of the recently caught fish today with the hopes that it might bring them a bit of luck.

Water levels at the moment continue to drop slowly and we should have good fly water for the weekend if it stays dry.

Go fishing…

More about the Feale

The River Feale is among the outstanding salmon and sea trout rivers of Ireland. The River rises in the mountain district of North Co Cork and flows westerly for 75 km (46 miles) through the county towns of Abbeyfeale and Listowel and enters the sea south of Ballybunion. For the final 10 kms (6 miles) of its course, it is known as the Cashen River. Throughout its meandering journey to the sea it flows through a picturesque landscape of heather bog land, fertile valleys and rolling hills. Its main tributaries, flowing from both North and South, combine to add in excess of 160 kms (100 miles) of fishable waters.

About 50% of the main River Feale and the Smearlagh River is controlled by 5 angling clubs. These clubs are some of the best angling waters and each club offers day tickets for visiting anglers.

Download: River Feale angling map – River Feale Angling Map

Clubs

AbbeyFeale Anglers Association

The Abbeyfeale Anglers Club controls parts of the river between Abbeyfeale and Duagh.
Web: abbeyfealeanglersassociation.wordpress.com

North Kerry Anglers Association

North Kerry Anglers Association issues daily & weekly permits for fishing on 9 miles of the Feale & Smearlagh rivers.
Web: www.northkerryanglers.com

Killocrim/Finuge Angling Club

Killocrim/Finuge Angling Club control approximately 6.5 kms (4 miles) of water downstream of Listowel.
Web: killocrimfinugefishingclub.com

Brosna / Mountcollins Angling Club

Brosna / Mountcollins Angling Club control about 13 kms (8 miles) of double bank fishing from below the Owveg River confluence, up past Mountcollins, to within a short distance of Ahuan Bridge.
Permits are available from Brendan Danagher on +353 (0)64 663 6267

For any angling query please contact the Limerick office at [email protected] or by phone 061-300238.

Brown tags

Brown tag fishery: Under the salmon tagging regulations, this year the River Feale is designated as a brown tag fishery. Anglers must affix a brown tag along with a blue tag to any salmon which is retained. This means that salmon retained on the River Feale will have two tags attached. All brown tags (including 1st tag) will be issued from IFI officers ONLY . Please ring 087-7639236 to arrange to receive your first brown tag prior to commencing fishing

  • Additional brown tags will only be issued by IFI staff, they may be contacted at 087-7639236 and they will arrange to meet and issue an additional tag upon verification that the previous brown tag has been used, i.e. a fish has been caught and recorded in the logbook.
  • 1 brown tag will be issued at a time to each angler.
  • If you acquired a 1 day or 21 day licence which has expired, or you have finished fishing for the season, and you have not used the brown tag then this must be surrendered to an IFI officer prior to departure by phoning 087-7639236.  IFI would like to thank you for your co-operation with this.
  • If an angler has used his brown tag or doesn’t have a brown tag in his possession to use then he must fish catch and release methods, i.e.single barbless hook and no worms.
  • Brown tags will continue to be issued until the angling quota is reached.

To report a suspected pollution or poaching activity please contact the 24 hour hotline on 0818 34 74 24