Pollack
Pollack from Galway Bay

It’s been pretty wet and cooler than we’d expect for the time of year. Plenty of homes have the heating on again or are lighting a fire to keep the cold out. Most of the rain has fallen in the north and north west, but Cork has had a fair bit of rain too. The rain was often accompanied by blustery conditions and while for the most part fishing on the rivers and lakes was good enough, it wasn’t always so easy for anglers hoping to get to sea…

salmon
Kai Pucher, Upper Moy #CPRsavesfish

The much anticipated rain saw salmon fishing improve at a number of fisheries, particularly those in the west. There were good catches reported at Ballinahinch, Delphi and on the Erriff in the Connemara area. Unfortunately the wind and rain was a bit much on the Moy and the blustery conditions and fluctuating water levels made for a tough week of fishing there. Further south, Lough Currane had another week of widely welcomed seatrout fishing where fish to 10lb were caught and released. The Munster Blackwater also saw catches improve as the rain brought on a run of fish and stirred up those that were already in the system.

trout
Nore trout

The wet and windy weather saw less anglers out on Lough Corrib. There is still a bit late Mayfly fishing to be had and Caenis are also producing the goods, but the cooler conditions are making for localised hatches. The rivers are also fishing well enough, and anglers on the Nore, Suir and elsewhere are reporting good fishing as the various hatches come off, particularly in the evenings.

Mark with bream
Mark with a Belturbet area bream

There are plenty of coarse angling festivals taking place this year. We have reports in from Edenderry, Inniscarra and Arvagh; canal, reservoir and lakes. Catches have been pretty good, no doubt the overcast conditions have helped there. Recreational anglers are also getting some good fishing and it’s great to see so many good bream and tench in the reports.

shark
Ian O’Shea and Pearse Flynn with the first reported blue shark of 2019

The big news this week came from our sea anglers. Catch of the Week goes to Pearse Flynn, fishing from Ballycotton, who had what we believe to be the first blue shark of 2019. It’s certainly the first reported to us at the Irish Angling Update. The shark was caught and released on Friday morning. There was another shark caught on Friday at Courtmacsherry and fishing there seems to be going quite well. It won’t be long until we hear of shark catches at Galway Bay (and further north), but in the meantime it looks like there is plenty of good reef fishing to keep anglers busy while they wait in that part of the world.

pike

We don’t have much to report on for pike anglers this week. There has been some great fishing on the River Shannon in the midlands but apart from that one report we don’t have much news there.

And now the weather…

Do you have to ask? Unsurprisingly this current period of cool, unsettled and changeable weather is set to continue. The outlook is for weather that is often showery with some heavy rain at times. There may well be sunny spells too, but don’t get too excited as temperatures are set to be below normal for mid June through the weekend. Early next week might see things improve a bit, but I don’t know if you’d call it Summer.

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].

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