This past week saw a further drop in temperatures with heavy rain and thunderstorms bringing substantial flooding to many parts of the country making freshwater fishing quite challenging. Sea angling, however, was equally challenging due to strong and gusty winds which prevailed for most of the week. These poor angling conditions are also reflected in a lack of angling reports this week.
As another salmon season has passed, David McEvoy rounded up the final few weeks of the season on Delphi, with a look back at 2021 overall. We also received an end of season report from the River Moy stating that despite the difficult year it was, salmon anglers enjoyed a fairly good season in general.
Inland Fisheries Ireland would like to take this opportunity to remind all salmon and sea trout anglers to return their 2021 angling logbooks.
The trout season has also come to an end on quite a number of fisheries like Lough Conn in County Mayo where anglers experienced difficult fishing in tough conditions.
While most brown trout fishing is closed, the many stocked rainbow trout fisheries such as Ardaire Springs in Co. Kilkenny provide ample opportunities for keen fly anglers during the winter months.
When the game angling season closes, many anglers will draw their attention on pike fishing, and the month of of October is considered by many as one of the prime times for pike fishing. While we heard of some good fly fishing for pike to be enjoyed in the Boyle area, this week’s focus is on a number of pike angling competitions which took place in recent days.
Starting in the Midlands, The Lough Ree International Pike Festival & World Cup was held last week, and it saw a couple of hundred of Ireland’s top pike anglers descend on the lake for three days of hot competition.
Staying in the “Hidden Heartlands”, The Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs reported that Ireland came out on top in a recent international competition fished on the River Shannon that pitted teams from the UK and Ireland against each other.
Further north, Pascal Brissaud from Watermill Fishing Lodge has been hosting and assisting in some pike angling competitions held on Lough Erne in the past week.
Over to coarse fishing where Abbey Lodge in Leitrim welcomed some British anglers to fish in the Ballinamore/Fenagh area over the past couple of weeks. And judging by the comments left on their Facebook site, the anglers went home pleasantly surprised by the quality of fishing they encountered.
The stormy weather didn’t just impact on freshwater fishing, it also meant that sea angling was slower than usual for this time of year. However, Kit Dunne from Wicklow Boat Charters says the tope fishing is going better than usual for this late in the season with plenty of action for his anglers.
Killybegs Mariners SAC member, Peter McGroary, has proven over the last few months that good size tope and specimen smooth-hounds can also be caught from the shore which makes our Catch of the Week!
After a longer period of poor weather and poorer fishing, bluefin boats were back to normal for a while in Donegal Bay making good use of a short break in the weather, while stately sized pollack were also reported from the northwest coast.
Finally, a great round of applause for the Irish anglers who topped the charts at the E.F.S.A. European Shore Angling Championships which were held last week in Kilmuckridge, Co. Wexford. A great achievement and well done!
And now the weather
Tonight, persistent and heavy rain in the west, will gradually extend eastwards to all areas with a clearance moving into western areas towards morning. Tomorrow morning, a clearance to drier conditions with sunny spells in the west will extend eastwards through the morning and early afternoon as the rain moves into the Irish Sea with some patchy drizzle following. Highest temperatures of 15 to 18 degrees with light to moderate northwesterly breezes developing.
The outlook for the coming week, however, will see largely settled weather but temperatures will be cooler than in recent days. A good deal of dry weather is expected as high pressure builds up over Ireland.
Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.
Markus Müller
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All the angling news
Salmon Fishing Reports
Trout Fishing Reports
Coarse Angling Reports
Pike Fishing Reports
- Watermill Lodge hosts a couple of pike angling competitions
- Ireland win out against UK in international pike competition
- Lough Ree Pike Festival attracts Ireland’s A-list pikers
Sea Angling Reports
- Bluefin boats back to normal for a while in Donegal Bay
- Big pollack in tough conditions
- Specimen hound and plenty tope from the beach in Donegal
- Irish anglers topping charts at E.F.S.A. European Shore Angling Championships
- Late season Tope are biting well for Wicklow Boat Charters
