It has been much drier than normal throughout the country over the past 7 days and mean air temperatures have been well above normal for much of the country. Many places stayed dry all week with no shortage of sunshine and though it was cool at times temperatures broke 17Ā°C in the last few days. Given the weather and few days off it’s no surprise that St Patrick’s long weekend saw so many anglers making a break to the water. Conditions were windy at times but there were still plenty of places for anglers to make a cast or two…

Spring salmon hold a special place for many anglers and the last week saw some great sport at a number of fisheries. Starting in Donegal the Drowes has 5 fish landed on the 12th and another of 8.5lb on the 17th. Earlier this week Rocky Moran from Castlebar caught the first salmon of the new season on Lough Beltra. The 9.5 lbs. spring fish took a Green Peter fished on a sinking line. The River Moy also saw its first salmon of the 2022 season caught. The 10lb spring salmon was landed on Friday by Mairt Devers.

A beauty from the Upper Caragh Fishery

Lough Currane has been quiet with just one salmon landed in the last couple of weeks, but not too far away the Upper Caragh Fishery has seen some great fishing with lightening fresh salmon from a few of the beats there. Moving along to county Cork the Bandon is another river that opened its account recently and a couple of fresh fish have been caught in the last week. Finally the Munster Blackwater is also producing a few fish, particularly on those fisheries downstream of Fermoy.

Trout anglers report that duck fly is up in a few places. On Conn andĀ  Cullin anglers enjoyed catching trout on mix of traditional patterns, but lures were also employed to good effect. The Connacht Predator Anglers held a trout competition on Corrib at the weekend and good numbers of trout to 57cm were caught and released.

trout
Measuring up – a lovely early season Sheelin trout

Over on Sheelin the winds played havoc on the lakeĀ  for the week ending 20 March with waves hitting 5′ at times. Overall it was a cool week on the lake and anglers worked hard for every trout they rose, making some of the bigger fish landed all the more special. River anglers were out in force too. We’ve a lovely report from the Kings river, a tributary of the Nore, where a mix of wet fly and nymphs made for a couple of hours well spent.

Coarse anglers looking to plan their competition calendar should take note of the following. After missing the last 2 years due to the Covid pandemic,Ā Sensas Ireland have announced the return of The Sensas Float Pairs. The event will take place on the Bank Holiday weekend of Saturday April 30th and Sunday 1st of May on Inniscarra lake. In addition the The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland committee have reviewed and refreshed the national championship calendar. For the full calendar of club competitions and festivals visitĀ www.ncffi.ie/competition

Catch of the Week goes to a lucky pike angler on Lough Derg who not only had some great fishing at the weekend with Damian Culliney, but also set herself a new PB with a 21.lb pike. Well done Anne Marie, a great Catch of the Week winner.

pike
PB smashed – hello 21.5lb pike

Other venues that reported some good pike fishing over the weekend were Lough Sillan and the river Inny.

Off to sea now and charter boat anglers on the Fiona Tee up in Donegal had some great pollack after a slow start. Some nice coalfish and strings of mackerel were also in the catches.

After a slow start pollack to over 70cm were caught

Lastly, John Marshall, Donegal, won the overall gold medal in the Connaught Open Shore Championships earlier this month, while his daughter Ava scooped 1st prize in the junior session completing the family victory. Congratulations on great family day out!

Other News

Cork Salmon Fly collection

Daire Whelan and Tom Doc Sullivan of theĀ Ireland on The Fly podcastĀ wanted to delve a bit deeper into the story to find out how the flies were rediscovered after over a hundred years and what is in the collection exactly and so they spoke to Shane Oā€™Reilly from IFI who was involved in bringing the digital book together as well as Peter Kealey, a fly tier from Armagh, and friend of the late Ted Malone who was central to the Cork collection being recovered. Find out more atĀ Ireland on the Fly: The Story Behind the 1902 Cork Salmon Flies Collection

River Lee brown tag draw

The next 38 ā€˜brown tagsā€™ for the Lower River Lee will be issued on Monday, 11 April and the deadline to enter online lottery is midnight on Friday, April 8 2022. For more information see Details for second online lottery for ā€˜Brown Tagsā€™ on Lower River Lee in Cork

Something Fishy poster competition

Primary school students around the country are being asked to design a poster that encourages greater conservation of Irelandā€™s native fish. To enter, primary school students are being asked to create a poster with the ā€˜catch, photo and releaseā€™ message, take a photograph of it and then submit it by email before the closing date of Friday, April 15th 2022. For more information seeĀ Primary school artists wanted for conservation campaign

And now the weather

Mist and fog will clear tomorrow morning and it will be another dry and pleasant day with spells of sunshine. However, it is possible that fog will linger along some coasts through the day. Highest temperatures of 13Ā°C to 17Ā°C in a light breeze. Sunday will be much the same, and Monday too though a little cloudier with possible light showers at times. Tuesday cloudier again and temperatures will be down to 12Ā°C to 14Ā°C in a northerly breeze. A change is expected on Wednesday with cooler weather and more northerly winds. Make the most of this weekend!

Safe fishing to allĀ and tight lines, especially here in Ireland. If youā€™re heading to the coast,Ā donā€™t forget to check the tides.

Myles Kelly
Catch, Photo, Release

If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update, please send it toĀ [email protected].

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