Today, Friday, September 8th, is likely to be the hottest day ever recorded in Ireland in the month of September. If you live in parts of Kilkenny, the weather sages have predicted that your thermometer might top 31°C today – two full degrees above the previous record (29.1°C) – which was set in Clongowes, Co. Kildare, in 2009. The weather record-breaking has become a regular occurrence and it doesn’t make for great reading; 2022 was our warmest year on record, March of 2023 was our wettest March, June was our hottest June, July was our wettest July. We are a week into September, we’ll have to wait and see what records it brings…

Source: Met Eireann

The forecast will also be hot for tomorrow, the second Saturday in September – also known as International Women’s Fly Fishing Day. At 11am, in every time-zone across the world, female fly-anglers will post photos or videos of themselves to Facebook or to Instagram that will show their enjoyment of fly fishing – so make sure and get involved. For more information please visit International Women’s Fly Fishing Day on Facebook or email [email protected].  Alternatively, you can listen to our very own Irish international Maddy Kelly – one of the driving forces behind the initiative – as she chats with the Ireland on the Fly team about the day and how the obstacles to women in fly fishing are finally breaking down.

Ladies trial, Lough Sheelin 18th Sept 2022

Back to Kilkenny now, where we’ll start the fishing reports this week on the Nore in Thomastown. After a washout of a summer, Peter Driver of Piscari-Fly has issued the first of what he hopes to be a regular newsletter, with news of trout fishing in Thomastown and on the Nore catchment. Needless to say, it was the ever reliable dry-dropper that did the damage for Peter this week. Also on the rivers was Paddy Dunworth, who guided his American guest to some Limerick trout using his newly-acquired upstream dry-fly skills. On the loughs, like Conn and Cullin, there has been limited angling activity, but those who have ventured out have been rewarded.

We are into the closing few weeks of the season for salmonids and it hasn’t been a year for the photo albums. The Munster Blackwater has had another quiet week, though some beautiful fish were caught and carefully released there. On the Moy, there was a slight upswing in numbers caught, with 100 reported throughout the system up to September 9th; worm and prawn were the most effective methods. In Kerry, there was Saharan sand but no salmon in Waterville, as the sultry conditions meant that lines remained slack. On a more positive note, the River Erriff saw a salmon landed almost every day throughout August, with 60 salmon and 10 sea trout recorded during the month.

A fine September salmon from the Blackwater Valley Fishery
A fine September salmon from the Blackwater Valley Fishery – kept in the water to recover well

On the pike fishing scene, Canadian anglers met their targets while fishing with Anglers’ Paradise recently – catching both wild Irish trout and pike on Lough Derg. Further upstream, there was a big event held on Lough Ree last weekend, where 60 anglers fished the Lough Ree Predator Challenge, and an even bigger one is taking place this weekend, where 85 boats and 240 anglers will battle it out to become the King of the Lake. The organisers would like to remind everyone taking part in the event that, in line with the law, the wearing of life jackets is COMPULSORY by every person in every boat in the event on both days, otherwise they will face disqualification. Suncream is also advised….

Lough Ree Predator Challenge

September is the season for coarse angling festivals in Ireland and there are plenty in the calendar for the always-busy Lough Muckno. Over in Cavan, the Belturbet September Festival will fish to a close today as will the Arvagh International. Brackley Lough in Leitrim fished well for the IASCaire Feeder Club for the first of their random-pairs matches while over in Longford, UK anglers staying with Melview Fishing Lodge made the most of their trip with pre-baiting and early starts.

Brackley Lough

To the tides now, where some great tope and specimen smooth hound have been caught in the last few weeks, not least on the east coast where smoothies to 14lb fell to fresh peelers. Fishing out of Wicklow, Kit Dunne’s crews got in amongst the specimen tope, along with a number of other species. Further down the coast, the South Shore SAC held two big events last weekend – the inaugural Tommy Keogh Memorial Open and the annual Mick Kearney Open. Each of the events was a great success – both socially and in angling terms! Cormac Walsh of the Lure Fishing Podcast put his money where his mouth is last week too, by getting out there and chasing bass in the south east. Cormac reckons that fish were much more active around the early morning high tide, with the first hour after high water the most productive for him.

Further west, the Silver Dawn had some unbelievable blue shark fishing at the weekend, with four anglers catching 52 Blue Sharks including two large specimens during a long-range overnight trip out of West Cork – they win our Catch of the Week for this week. From the Cork coast, the West Cork and District SAC held their competition in Caliso Bay and, over on Long Strand, the Cork SAC had garfish, bass and homemade scones.

Following the coast north, the Lady Gwen II in Clare has had some success with spurs and cod lately, though mackerel are hard to come by. The Clare Dragoon has also had some great pollock and mixed species fishing – including a rare spotted ray – but there has been no sign of that elusive six-gilled shark since June. On the other side of Galway Bay, skipper John Fleming says it’s been a busy time with good pollock fishing to be had; the tope fishing was fantastic too for most of the week. Meanwhile, the Galway Bay SAC had a hugely successful mini-species session for their junior members at Ros a Mhil harbour.

Finally to the north west, where Ewings Boat Charters have been in amongst the bluefin and pollock  fishing out of Rosses Point, while up in Westport, the 12th Battalion Army Fishing Club had their annual fishing trip in Clew Bay; a 9lb cod was the highlight of their day on the water.

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

IFI Staff
Catch, Photo, Release

If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to [email protected] and don’t forget that all of our fishing reports are available on our dedicated Angling Ireland Facebook page.

And now the weather…

Warm and humid on Friday night, mainly dry with low cloud and areas of mist and fog, along with isolated showers. Lows of 15°C to 17°C in light southerly breezes.

Mostly sunny again on Saturday, with increased chance of isolated thunderstorms. Mist or fog may affect some coastal areas. Highest temperatures of 21°C to 26°C with light southwest or variable winds.

Staying very warm and humid on Sunday with sunny spells and occasional thundery downpours. Becoming cooler from Monday onwards.

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