Conditions have remained pleasant this past week with cool starts to most days leading to mild, mainly dry, settled weather in most parts. Spring is definitely in the air for now, although cooler temperatures for the week ahead will offset the feel-good factor of the extra hour’s fishing in the evenings from Sunday.
Salmon catches are starting to increase in the west and south. On Lough Inagh, Fishery manager Colin Folan reports that their first salmon of 2019, a fish of 11.5lbs, has been caught by regular UK angler Andrew Crouchman. Fish continue to be caught at Delphi where a steady trickle of salmon are providing sport when conditions suit.
Lough Beltra has seen a couple of springers landed this week. Rocky Moran got the ball rolling when he landed a lovely fish at the Dock on 25 March. Another fine salmon was caught and released by Eddie Manthorpe the following day .
In the south, after a long wait there are a few reports in of salmon from the Munster Blackwater. The Blackwater Salmon Fishery had its first of the season on 23 March; the silver springer, which was released, was caught on the Upper Kilmurry beat. Over on the Ballyduff Bridge Salmon Fishery, Jason Corcoran caught and released another lovely looking fishing on March 26. and another was caught and released by Connie Corcoran the following day.
Still no word of a fresh fish on the Bandon despite good conditions. Lough Currane is getting the odd fish but conditions have to been great on the lake. They might have been better to head up to the Laune, where four fish were caught on Beat 1 for the week.
Leixlip and District Anglers Association held their St Patrick’s Day competition on 24 March; the event was delayed due to the aftermath of storm Emma and the rolling flood which kept the river un-fishable for nearly 2 weeks. After their traditional fry up, they took to the river in earnest, where Gianluca caught a lovely trout of 14.5 inches winning him the Jimmy Carroll trophy for the first time. We are also hearing of good fishing on Lough Sheelin in the midlands and the River Bride in the south.
On the Shannon system Damien Culliney of Anglers Paradise Ireland took a practice run on Lough Ree ahead of the upcoming pike fishing World Cup. Water levels are well up on the lake and it looked like most fish were spawning. A bit of hard work was needed and it all paid off with the catch and release of a fine 103cm pike.
In Wicklow, Kit Dunne reports that both his boats are in the water for the season ahead, he’s been out a few times already with spurdog to specimen weights and some bull huss getting caught. A little further down the coast and South Shore SAC held their second competition last Sunday in their master angler league. Entries were high and 44 of their finest filled the carpark in Morriscastle eager to extract fish from the calm sea. Dabs and whiting were the most numerous fish and Paul Whelan returned to form winning the competition. Ian Daly got an unbelievable 94cm Bull Huss on a size 6 hook, it was estimated to be over 10lb and that was a fine fish given the conditions. Over in Galway Bay, the Brazen Hussy II has kicked off her season and the fishing was fantastic; plenty of good size pollack and coalies were caught – the biggest pollack of around 10lbs.
Not many coarse angling reports reached the office this week. There was a bit of fishing on Lough Muckno but the catches were not huge. It wasn’t easy on the carp fisheries either, the cold weather on Sunday wasn’t a great start to the Sensas Summer League on Oaklands but some of the anglers did fish well and the winning weight was over 132lb.
Representation on Fishery District Committees
Inland Fisheries Ireland is inviting expressions of interest from suitably qualified individuals to become or continue to be members of Fishery District Committees in the following Fishery Districts where commercial fisheries exist :
- Lismore; Cork; Kerry (SWRBD); Ballinakill; Bangor (WRBD); Ballyshannon and Letterkenny (NWRBD).
If you are interested in finding out more see: Representation on Fishery District Committees
And now the weather…
Saturday will start mostly dry over the southern half of the country but patchy rain in the northern half will clear southwards during the day with brighter weather to follow from the north. Light variable winds will become northerly and freshen later over Connacht and Ulster. It will turn cooler in the northerly winds with top temperatures reaching 9 or 10 degrees in the north and 11 to 13 degrees further south. Sunday will be a mostly dry day with sunny spells, although there may be a few isolated spots of rain. It will be cool, with maximum temperatures of 9 or 10 degrees in the north and and east and 11 to 13 degrees in the west and south, in light to moderate northeast to east winds. Sunday night will be mostly dry and cloudy. Not quite as cold as Saturday night, with minimum temperatures of 3 to 7 degrees. It will be a coold cloudy and wet start to the week and the out look is is for the weather to remain cool and unsettled for the rest of the week, with overnight frosts possible. It was lovely while it lasted…
Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.
Myles Kelly
Catch, Photo, Release
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Headlines
Salmon angling news
- A few salmon reported from the Laune
- Lough Beltra sees some spring salmon landed
- Fine springers caught and released on Munster Blackwater
- Conditions continue to improve at Delphi, anglers doing well
- Currane anglers becalmed and only a few salmon landed
- A couple of springers lost on the Bandon as conditions improve
- Lough Inagh gets its first salmon of the season
Coarse angling reports
- Not easy at Sensas Summer League but Danny Murphy does well
- Patchy fishing for CM Lakelands on Muckno
Trout fishing reports
Sea angling news
- Morriscastle a good venue for South Shore anglers
- Plenty of good fishing reported by Wicklow charter boat anglers
- Charter boat fishing report from Galway Bay
Pike angling reports
Other news
- Ireland plays role in international research programme to preserve threatened migratory fish
- Representation on Fishery District Committees
- RTÉ Radio Junior broadcast fishy show for young anglers and budding ecologists
- Fishery for licence: Bog Lake, The Heath, Laois
