Angling Report for the South East

Emma Stanley provides this week’s Angling Report for the South Eastern RBD.

Weather: The high temperatures have subsided for the moment and daytime temperatures are averaging approximately 18 to 21 degrees Celsius during daytime hours.  Temperatures have been dropping back to between 13 and 15 degrees Celsius during night-time hours.  There have been heavy bands of rain falling over the area with more promised for the coming days.  The August bank holiday weekend will see temperatures rise again into the mid to high twenties. High pressure is signalled to build over Ireland from the south towards the end of the week which will see temperature rise over the August Bank Holiday weekend; forecasters have predicted highs of up to 28 degrees Celsius.  Water levels continue to remain low over much of the South Eastern River Basin District, although water temperatures have dropped back to something of normal over recent days.

Trout: Reports of Trout fishing on the Nore have been mixed this week.  Some Anglers have decided to cease fishing for the time being due to the current weather conditions and low water levels.   The Anglers that have ventured out recently stated that the best time to fish is early mornings and late evenings. The Nore itself has plenty of good sized trout but the tributaries do not have the same abundance of late.  One Angler encountered recently stated that there have been reports of good sized trout in the Mount Juliet area but they are choosing to remain in deeper pools during daytime hours.  The upper reaches of the Kings River has been fishing reasonably well with some 1/2lb trout being caught.  Again, the best time for good trout fishing was during mornings and evenings. Trout catches reported around the lower reaches of the Nore Thomastown area are averaging ½lb to 1lb.

Salmon:  Salmon fishing has been quiet of late as many of the local fishing clubs in the South Eastern River Basin District continue to remain closed.

Bass: Good reports of Bass fishing have been coming in at the moment in the Saleens area.  The area is not as popular for fishing as in previous years but there has been more Bass Angling activity during recent weeks.

Coastal:   Mackerel fishing is proving very popular with plenty of Anglers out fishing during evening hours in the Dungarvan / An Rinn areas.  Up to 20 Anglers were encountered during one evening recently on Ballinagoul Pier and all were very happy with their evening catches.  Good shoals are prominent in the area at the moment.

Pike:  Nothing to report.

Coarse:    Ballyshunnock is continuing to fish well with catches of Rudd 1/2lb, Perch 1/2lb, Tench 3/4lbs and good size hybrids of up to 1/2lb being the reported catches of late.  There has been a recent rise of 0.4572m or 18inches of water on the lake which has made conditions more fish friendly. Grantstown Lake is fishing well at the moment with Roach of up to 2lbs, Rudd weighing 1lb and 3 – 4lb Tench being caught most evenings.

Templemore Lake is continuing to uphold the keep net ban and water levels on the lake have continued to remain very low in recent weeks.  Despite this, the lake is fishing reasonably well with Tench weighing 3-5lbs being caught along with Rudd, Roach, Bream and Hybrids weighing approximately 1.5 – 3lbs.

Upcoming competitions:   Thomastown Anglers Association will hold a Fly Fishing Competition 8^th and 9^th of September 2018.  For more information, visit Thomastown Anglers Association on Facebook or contact Noel Molloy on 0863608865.  This is their 3^rd competition and previous competitions have been very successful for the club. 19 teams took part last year and 21 teams are set to take part this year.

Ballinakill Angling Club is set to hold a competition on Gills Pond on Saturday the 4^th of August.  Peg draw is at 1.30pm with the competition commencing at 3.00pm running until 8.00pm.

Ardaire Springs Angling club, Mooncoin is holding an open day on Saturday 11^th of August. There’s a great line up for the open day and with appearances being made by Scott Mackenzie, Paul Young, Tom Sullivan, Jason O’ Riordan, Maurice Cahill, and Dr Ken Whelan will also give a talk on Entomology.  There will be a barbeque for lunch with all donations going to charity. For more details give Ned a call on 0868128937 or visit the webpage for more information http://www.ardairesprings.com.

Bio Security: As always, we would kindly like to remind all who use Ireland’s watercourses to please use appropriate biosecurity measures for themselves so to help prevent the spread of invasive species in and out of the water.

Water Safety: The Carrick staff would kindly like to remind all about the importance of using Life Jackets in and around water as they really do save lives. Adequate Flotation devices should always be worn and it especially sets a template regards water safety where younger Anglers are present.

 “Take only memories, leave only footprints”. The Carrick staff would like to ask all who are using the water courses in the area to be mindful of littering and to please use bins provided or take home their rubbish.