The weather split the country in two this past week with much of the west and north west experiencing very heavy rainfall and little sunshine while the east and south east remained relatively dry and cloud free. The breezy conditions of previous weeks abated somewhat as a calmer air mass settled in bringing warmer than average temperatures across the country.
The break in the wind had an effect on our charter fleet as boats that had been hugging the coast for shelter ventured further out to sea in search of new quarry. We have reports of good sharking from counties Wexford, Cork, and Clare, with blues being the main species encountered but plenty of porgies putting in a welcome appearance too.
The rain in the west brought floods to many of the rivers there and this had a varied effect on the salmon fishing with good reports coming from the Owenea and Erriff while the fluctuating water levels caused anglers a bit more difficulty on the Moy and the Owenmore. Water conditions were good on the Drowes but anglers were scarce on the ground to take advantage.
The mild weather of the past week seems to have woken the trout from their summer slumbers and got them biting again as Loughs Corrib, Melvin and Sheelin all reported good fishing with small sedge patterns accounting for many of those fish. Our Catch of the Week this week goes to Darren Maguire of Co. Fermanagh who caught this very well fed trout on L. Sheelin.
We are heading right into festival season at many of our coarse venues as competition anglers are tackling up for a busy month of activity. Inniscarra kicked things off with The O’Callaghans Bar & Guest House Open featuring daily catches of up to 28kg. The overall winner was Pawel Swistun with a total catch of 72kg for three days of fishing.
Not to be outdone there were also decent catches for Cavan Monaghan Lakelands Feeder Club and Lurgan Coarse Angling Club who fished matches on L. Muckno over last weekend. Tullamore Anglers were also out in force as they held the Johnny Cunningham Cup on the Grand Canal with Oisin Carroll coming out on top and raising €300 for the JigSaw charity in Tullamore in the process. There were other events held at Enfield and on Lough Sillan in what was a very busy week for coarse anglers.
And now the weather…
It’s very blustery outside right now and at time of writing (Thursday afternoon) there is a status yellow gale warning and small craft warning in effect from Mizen to Erris to Malin Heads. Rain will continue to be persistent and heavy tomorrow through much of the west and north of the country but many parts of Leinster and Munster will remain dry until late evening. Friday night will be very wet with persistent and heavy rain for a time but on Saturday morning, it looks as though heavy rain from overnight will give way to bright or sunny spells and showers. Highest temperatures 15 to 18 degrees in moderate west to northwest winds.
The showers will become confined to Atlantic coasts overnight on Saturday. Lowest temperatures of 8 to 10 degrees in moderate westerly breezes but strong at times on Atlantic coasts. Sunday will be a fresh and cool day with sunny spells and scattered showers. Early next week will be largely dry and bright, with some rain possible on Tuesday.
Safe fishing to all this weekend and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.
Shane O’Reilly
Catch, Photo, Release
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Headlines
Sea angling news
- Clare charter boat anglers back at sea after windy couple of weeks
- South east sharkers get lots of action
- Charter fishing off Courtmac improves as winds ease
- Shore angling update from Killybegs Mariners
- Rough weather upsets charter boat fishing off Ballycotton but weather improving
Salmon fishing reports
- Tough conditions for salmon anglers on the Moy
- More rain, more floods and more fish on the Erriff
- Last week ends well on Currane but not easy since
- A wet week on the Owenea and decent fishing
- Good water on the Drowes but fishing quiet
Trout fishing reports
- Fish on top as dry fly provides good sport on Corrib
- Ronan Baggott wins McCarthy Cup on Lough O’Flynn
- Trout fishing on Melvin fairly good
- Bugs a plenty on Sheelin and the trout keep biting
