It wouldn’t be ‘back to school’ time in Ireland if the sun didn’t shine and the temperatures didn’t soar, and that’s exactly what happened this week as the mercury tipped the mid-twenties on some parts of the island. Angling activity was low this week, but with fine weather forecast over the weekend, it might be the last opportunity for young anglers to hit the coasts, lakeshores or riverbanks to catch what might be their umpteenth fish of the summer, or their very first fish of a species they have longed to catch since the holidays began….

And to young anglers catching fish – and even catching the first fish of a certain species – is where we begin; on the coast in West Cork where young Zak Doyle landed his first ever bass after two summers of trying! Bass can be a hard nut to crack but perseverance paid off in Zak’s case and we expect many more bass for him.

First bass for Zak

Also in Cork, there were youngsters making the most of their final days off school to land some serious bass and pollack in the harbour while further north, in Rathmullen, Donegal, the Irish Federation of Sea Anglers Junior U16 and U21 Boat Competition 2021 was held.  Nearly 30 junior anglers battled it out to be the top Irish boat angler in their age categories and the competition was a huge success.

A happy IFSA junior boat angler

Back to the adults and the Killybegs Mariners in Donegal held the final leg of their summer league at the weekend, they caught some good fish from the shore including a club record 58cm bass.

The charter boat fleet had another busy week. On the west coast there were plenty of cod, ling and pollack in Sligo and a wide range of species, including ling, tope, pollack and porbeagles, in Clare. In Wicklow, a group of freshwater anglers hit the salt for some super smoothies and huss while down south – way down south – a group of anglers fishing out of Baltimore headed for the edge of the continental shelf in search of Albacore tuna. Fishing over depths of nearly 3,000ft the anglers had mixed results, but one fish made the trip worthwhile –  a remarkable 62lb Albacore which wins our Catch of the Week this week, far in excess of the specimen weight of 26lbs.

albacore 26lb
Pat Mostyn’s huge specimen Albacore Tuna.
Considering a specimen is 26lbs! 62lb is a fair brute. Congrats Pat!

 

Our CHART bluefin tuna boats are still catching and tagging some good fish in Donegal Bay – several fish to 400lbs were caught by both the Kiwi Girl and Deep Blue. We haven’t heard of much action from the Cork based tuna fleet yet, as the fish tend to appear later in the year on the south coast; hopefully another week or two…

Back inland and to our freshwater fisheries where some good trout were caught on the River Nore, Lough Ree and Loughs Conn and Cullin, where fishing was difficult. On Lough Corrib, a special mention goes to Tomi Kurman whose clients landed their 100th ferox trout of the season – a remarkable milestone. One of Tomi’s guests also caught a pug-nosed ferox that was caught twice in two days earlier in the season – 15 miles away! Catch and release folks…

A fine ferox trout to mark the century – no. 100 to the boat this year!

Pike anglers tend to put the rods away for the summers months and dust them off again towards September. Bodo Funke of Angling Services Ireland did just that, only returning from his summer break this week. Bodo’s clients did well though on their return, with pike to over 100cm and perch to over 40cm.

100cm pike

Reports from the coarse fisheries were quiet this week but, with September being one of the better months for the coarse angler, we expect to have some news next week – including results from one or two festivals such as the Dutch King of Clubs which will be held in Leitrim this weekend.

Last but not least is our salmon report and the mighty Moy reached its own milestone this week with over 6,000 salmon landed for the season; with fish spread out throughout the river, there were good reports from all of the fisheries. Salmon angling pressure was light this week with the fine weather, but there was some good rain in south Kerry where salmon were recorded on the Inny and the Butler Pool while a handful of sea trout were landed on Currane itself.

In other news…

IFI have just launched an exciting opportunity for recreational sea anglers in the Republic of Ireland to become citizen scientists and help collect information on fishing effort and catches around the coastline. By doing so they will be playing a vital role in the long-term conservation and sustainability of the resource for future generations.

The Irish Marine Recreational Angling (IMREC) project aims to answer three main questions:

  • How many people fish?
  • How often do they fish?
  • What do they catch?

If this would interest you, the IMREC initiative is now live and can be viewed here. To take part, All you have to do is click this link or send your name and email to [email protected] with the subject line “IMREC Diary Sign Up” and we will get you signed up.

And now the weather…

Saturday will see highs of 19°C to 24°C, best across the west, with light easterly winds. Mainly dry overnight with patches of mist. Lows of 10°C to 14°C with light breezes.

Sunday will be mostly dry with a mix of cloud and sunny spells, best over the southern half of the country. Highs 17°C to 23°C in light breezes. Sunday night will be dry with patches of mist developing. Lows of 10°C to 13°C.

Monday will be mainly dry with the chance of light showers. Cooler with temps ranging from 16°C in the east to 20°C in the west with light easterly breezes. Mainly dry for the rest of the week, day time temperatures will range from 16°C to 19°C.

If you’re heading to sea, don’t forget to check the tides.

Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.

Paul O’Reilly
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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