Following the recent rain the weather became dry again but dull and more than a little cool. There was enough water in the rivers to see some good lake and river reports coming in from around the country, but we are still seeing windy days that limit fishing for the charter boat and small boat anglers. Settled weather is promised though, so hopefully things will continue to improve…

Starting in the south this time, salmon angling on the Blackwater saw some great results last week once the levels came good after the recent flood. There are still plenty of bigger fish into double figures coming into the river and the grilse run has yet to kick off. It was a similar story from the Bandon where good numbers of bigger fish are running the river. Anglers on the Ilen in West Cork enjoyed some good fishing and again grilse are yet to hit in numbers. Grilse have shown up on Lough Currane and the Inny River though, and a few anglers, including some juniors, got in on the action. There were a few sea trout also reported from the main lake and higher up in the system. Anglers on the upper Caragh lakes were also getting some good sport with a fine trout of about 8lb reported from Lough Cloon.

8lb trout
Edmund Corry and his Lough Cloon trout estimated to weigh 8lb

There was no shortage of grilse at Galway and the Fishery reported around 400 fish for the month of June, average weight over 4lbs. The Erriff also saw a good number of grilse caught in June, particularly when the water suited. The high water that followed the rain at the end of June saw fishing take off on the Moy. Over 1000 salmon were caught in the Moy catchment for week ending 3rd July 2022.  Anglers are returning a fair portion of the fish and the East Mayo Anglers are holding a competition to reward Catch and Release anglers with monthly prizes. The Moy Estuary is also fishing very well and sea trout anglers are getting great sport. Moving to the other side of the country we have reports of some good salmon caught on the Boyne after the rains, and a few grilse too. More water is needed though as the levels have dropped again.

trout
George gave up golf to fish and had a great day on the Nore

Trout anglers are reporting good fishing on the Nore where a good mix of hatches is keeping the trouts’ noses up and the anglers busy. On Loughs Conn and Cullin, a combination of blustery and cold weather conditions resulted in a slack week, but those who ventured out were rewarded well enough, all things considered.

We don’t have many coarse reports this week. But the two we have make good reading. The first qualifier for the NCFFI Method feeder championships was held on Gaulmoylestown Lake and the best weight topped 112lbs.  Meanwhile, the MadCap anglers in Athlone fished a competition that saw 96lb of bream take top spot.

pike
112cm pike for the young angler

Newbridge anglers fish a novel 30 hour event each summer. This year over 90 pike were landed. Fishing was patchy but some nice fish into double figures were caught. Meanwhile in Clare a junior angler out with his dad and Anglers Paradise had great fishing with perch to 35cm and pike to 112cm. Having only caught small canal fish before the youngster set the bar high for future PBs!

As mentioned in the opening paragraph winds have not made things easy for sea anglers. Luke Aston out of Carrigaholt managed to get shelter in Shannon estuary and had a good mix of species and even a couple of spotted ray. Charter boat skipper John Fleming on Glaway Bay has found conditions at sea unpleasant and the fishing difficult. However the inshore fishing has been brilliant, plenty of big pollack, and some nice ling. And now the weather is looking to settle shark fishing is back on the agenda.

Massive congratulations to the senior men’s Ireland shore fishing team, who won the Home Nations Championship. A good win made all the better for beating the favourites on their home patch.

Finally, the On the Fly Podcast is back this week with an episode that focuses on fly fishing for bass – well worth a listen!

And lastly, over 36,000 patrols were undertaken by Inland Fisheries Ireland officers last year, boosted by our new Mobile Support Unit and sea-going fleet.  As a result of the patrols, there were 103 prosecutions for fisheries-related offences last year and staff seized 1,261 illegal fishing items, including nearly 14 kilometres of illegal nets. Officers also issued 293 fixed charge penalty notices and gave 715 cautions under fisheries legislation.

And now the weather…

The outlook is for high pressure to dominate bringing mostly warm and dry weather with a mix of cloud and sunny spells over the next few days. Then, rain or drizzle is likely for a time on Tuesday. Before that though you can expect some properly hot weather with temperatures of 25-27°C expected over the weekend and Monday. Winds will be mostly south or south westerly and generally light enough.

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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