Irish Angling Update 29 July 2022

As ever in Ireland, the weather has a huge effect on fishing of all types and over the past seven days, rainfall totals were quite varied across the country. The wettest conditions occurred in the north of the country, where one third of the average monthly rainfall fell in one hour, bringing flash flooding to parts of Donegal. Meanwhile, people living in the south midlands experienced the driest conditions, registering just 4 mm of rainfall in places (30% of the expected average for the week).

And it’s in the midlands that we start this week, where the Irish youth team retained the Bob Church trophy in the Home Countries international that was held on Lough Lene in Westmeath. The team of 14 anglers, captained by Jim Kelly of Cloghans, Mayo, managed to catch and release 14 fish, in what were difficult conditions on the competition day, to finish ahead of England in second place. Congratulations to Team Ireland, they win our Catch of the Week this week (particularly Eanna O’Leary who swept all the honours with a superb six fish, winning the Brown Bowl, Longest Fish, Best Bag and any other accolades that were on offer).

Team Captain Jim Kelly would have been glad that he was fishing on Lene this week, as back home on loughs Conn and Cullin the fishing has been poor of late. Water temperatures are high, fly life is scarce and local anglers say that no fish are moving at all…

From rainbows, to browns, and now to the sea trout of the Costelloe & Fermoyle fisheries and reports are that fishing has been pretty good on the loughs in the upper parts of the system. Runs of both salmon and sea trout have continued throughout July despite the small amount of rainfall, and eleven salmon were reported from the fishery during the month. Topping that figure was the Owenmore Fishery in Kerry, where fishery manager Frank Maunsell reported fifteen grilse landed in one day when the stars aligned and conditions came good, that’s not to mention the numerous sea trout that have provided great sport lately too. On the Moy, fishing activity has slowed down considerably with the low water levels, though some 201 fish were still reported for the week. In Galway, young angler Gary Nolan managed to banish his GAA blues with his first ever salmon caught just an hour or two after his heroes lost out on All Ireland glory.

The coarse fishing festival season is well upon us, and various events are currently taking place around Cavan and Monaghan. The Belturbet Festival was won by Wayne Easter who topped a field of forty with just over 65kgs while on Lough Muckno the 4th Qualifier of the Irish Feedermasters was held where Sean Donnelly triumphed in style off Black Island. The Clones Festival is taking place this weekend and we’ll bring you news from there next week.

Tench fishing has been productive for pleasure anglers in the Ballybay area – even those who nearly forgot how to cast it’s been so long – and also on Lough Oughter, where a fine evening brought a dozen healthy fish to the net.

The NCFFI invites your club to present a team at the 2022 edition of the All Ireland Championships for clubs. The five-person team event is float fishing only to CIPS/FIPS rules with a 13m pole limit. Book in at https://www.ncffi.ie/flcq. Further afield, Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th of July saw the 41st edition of the FIPSed World Championship Coarse Angling for Clubs which took place in Belgium. It was a tough couple of days for Club BSI Sensas representing Ireland, they finished in 30th position.

Pike fishing tends to slow down in the summer, but offshore in the salt, some much bigger predators were the target for West Cork Charters as they trialled their new downriggers and also for Dutch visitors fishing out of Courtmacsherry. In Donegal, skippers were on the lookout for something bigger again, and they weren’t disappointed as two boats managed to land their first bluefin tuna of the 2022 season while fishing as part of the Tuna CHART tagging programme.

In Sligo, some specimen sized pollack, cod and other mixed species provided good sport, while on the east coast, calmer weather meant that boats could venture further out to fish the ever-productive Irish Sea wrecks. Staying on the east coast, Howth SAC are looking for anglers to fish their small boat open championship on August 6th & 7th.

Special mention on the sea fishing front this week goes to Sean Ward who caught his first ever golden grey mullet. Not interested in small fry, Sean went straight in at the deep end, tackling a specimen sized fish on his very first try! Great job!

Finally, if you can’t get out to wet a line this August bank holiday weekend, maybe take some time to reflect and Find the Soul of Angling with Garrett Fallon in the Ireland On the Fly Podcast.

And now the weather…

A rather warm, humid and breezy Friday night, with lowest temperatures of 14°C to 17°C, in moderate to fresh southwest winds. Highs of 18°C to 23°C on Saturday, with showers and warm sunshine possibly breaking through away from Atlantic counties, heavier rain moving in across the country overnight. Dull on Sunday and Monday with outbreaks of rain, heaviest in the south. Sunny spells will, however, develop with just well-scattered showers following by the afternoon. Highs of 18°C to 23°C both days, warmest in southern counties in light northwest or variable winds.

Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland. If you’re heading to the coast, don’t forget to check the tides.

Paul O’Reilly
Catch, Photo, Release

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