No doubt, winter has finally arrived! After the more settled conditions and milder temperatures earlier in the week, the current cold snap has turned parts of the country, mainly in the north and east, into a winter wonderland overnight.
So it is no wonder that angling reports were scarce enough this week, reflecting the time of year it is. Coarse anglers, however, have been among the more active ones, with a number of matches fished recently.
Munster Coarse Anglers returned once more to O’Briensbridge last weekend, this time to fish Round 4 of their winter series. With water levels well down compared to two weeks ago, it was a completely different scene with lower weights but the feeder still produced some fair results.
Round two of the C/M Lakelands winter feeder league was held on a cool and windy Lough Muckno. As expected, fishing was hard but the twenty-nine anglers fishing the event still managed some decent bags. Staying on Muckno, the Lough Muckno organising committee have announced the series of competitions and festivals to be held on Lough Muckno for the 2023 season – the highlight of which will be the hosting of the prestigious World Club Feeder Event in April.
Concluding the coarse angling news for this week, the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland is seeking expressions of interest from experienced anglers/coaches to lead our Youth Teams to the World Stage in 2023 and beyond.
Sea anglers haven’t been as busy as in previous weeks but the beaches around Donegal produced some fantastic flats fishing for the Killybegs Mariners crew including fine flounder and good numbers of turbot.
Staying in Donegal, Killybegs Fishing Trips were back on the water and were rewarded with some nice late season pollack.
In the south, West Cork and District SAC wrapped up their club Master Angler series at Garrylucas Beach with JP Molloy scooping first prize.
Over to pike angling, where east winds made for tough piking on the Erne. However, Guided Predator Angling have been busy putting their clients on the fish with a total of 4 good fish landed including one fine Esox over the 1m mark, which makes our Catch of the Week.
Pike anglers as well as fly anglers might wish to tune into Daire Whelan and Tom Doc Sullivan’s latest Podcast of “Ireland on the Fly”. This time, they wanted to find out more about flyfishing for pike and spoke to well-known pike angling guide Bodo Funke and IFI’s Markus Muller.
While pike keep some fly anglers busy during the winter, Ireland’s rainbow trout fisheries can also offer great sport at this time of the year to those who want to cast a fly. This was the case for avid bass angling guide Richie Ryan, who tried his hands at some “bow” fishing last week. Check out his great report here.
However, most fly anglers will probably use the winter months to stock up their fly boxes with new patterns. We are sure that Peter Driver’s live fly tying shows will be a source of inspiration for novice and experienced fly tyers alike. Peter has a great show lined up with some cracking lake and river emergers to be tied. It will be happening LIVE on the Piscari Fly Facebook page. Tune in at 8.30pm on Saturday and don’t miss a great night of fly tying & chat.
Over the closed season Jackie Mahon will also be posting a pattern per week for fishing on Irish loughs. This will include flies for brown trout, sea trout and salmon. To check out his current pattern click here.
Andrew McGall has sent us in some great videos of his salmon fishing in recent times, but this time he sent us in something a little different – some late season Dollaghan fishing from the Six Mile Water in Antrim which will make any trout angler look forward to next year’s season.
Finally, we received a message from Andrius Bikelus who has been in touch to let us know of a new ‘Trout Area Fishing’ league that he is running at Annaginny Fishery & Park Farm, near Dungannon in Northern Ireland.
In Other News….
The new salmon season is less than a month away and with a number of prolific fisheries opening on the 1st of January, Salmon Licences are already on sale. Licences can be bought online at https://store.fishinginireland.info/, with prices remaining the same as 2022. Various permits for next season can also be purchased online at https://permits.fishinginireland.info/ .
‘The Friends of the Rye’, a special book that celebrates over three decades of stewardship of the Rye River waters, has been published by Intel Ireland. The Friends of the Rye brings together a number of key stakeholders, all of whom share a common interest – the welfare of the Rye Water catchment. The new book can be downloaded from the Intel Ireland website here.
Inland Fisheries Ireland has launched a funding call of up to €1 million, to support vital conservation projects around the country through the Salmon and Sea Trout Rehabilitation, Conservation and Protection Fund. From now until December 16th, eligible angling clubs, fishery owners and other stakeholders are invited to express their interest in applying for funding to support fisheries conservation through Inland Fisheries Ireland’s ‘Habitats and Conservation’ scheme. For more details check out the Funding Call Guide here.
Public consultation is now open on the draft Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (Amendment) Regulations 2022. These measures provide for the management of the wild salmon and sea trout fishery by Inland Fisheries Ireland from 1st January 2023. If you would like to make a submission, you can email [email protected].
And now the weather
Widespread sharp frost will set in tonight along with icy stretches. While many areas will remain dry, some wintry showers will continue, mainly along Atlantic coastal counties. The weekend will see temperatures struggling to rise above freezing. However, it will stay mainly dry apart from isolated showers in some coastal areas. The outlook is for the bitterly cold weather to continue with severe frosts, icy stretches and dense freezing fog in parts. Status Yellow snow/ice and freezing fog warnings will stay in place for the rest of today and tomorrow!
Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.
IFI Staff
Catch, Photo, Release
If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update, please send it to [email protected].
All the angling news
Coarse Angling Reports
- C/M Lakelands Winter League – Round 2
- Lower water and lower weights for Munster CAC at O’Briensbridge
- NCFFI seeking coaches for Irish International Youth Teams
- Lough Muckno Festivals Group presents its 2023 calendar of events
Pike Angling Reports
Sea Angling Reports
- Dozens of flatties in perfect conditions for Killybegs Mariners
- Some late season pollack for Killybegs Fishing Trips
- JP Molloy wins West Cork and District Master Angler at Garrylucas
- Daiwa Irish Pairs dates for 2023 announced
