Irish Angling Update 12 May 2023

Ne’er cast a clout, til May be out. 

There’s always wisdom in the old sayings, and while there have been some lovely warm days this week, we’ve also had thundery downpours, blustery winds and cold nights on other days. The T-shirt weather may be coming, but don’t leave the jumper at home just yet! The changeable weather made for tricky fishing conditions at times this week, but we have some great reports from around the country, and some great photos to go with them. So without further ado, let’s get stuck into it!

 

Trout

The mayfly is up on our big loughs, and despite challenging conditions at times, with blustery winds and thundery downpours in places, fishing is really picking up. When the weather came right, hatches and catches improved hugely on Sheelin. Buzzer fishing is still producing plenty of fish, but the big mayfly hatches are expected next week, when the lake will be alive with boats and anglers eagerly awaiting the fall of spent gnat. Don’t believe us? Read Brenda Montgomery’s (excellent as ever) report here.

Lough Arrow is also producing good mayfly fishing, with anglers landing trout up to 8lbs this week! Evening buzzer hatches will also produce fish if conditions are right.  Fishing was still difficult, but picked up with better hatches on Loughs Conn and Cullin over the week.

River fishing is really getting going, with Dan O’Neill reporting much better hatches on the Nore this week with warmer water temperatures. All methods, from wet fly to dry and dry dropper in between were working, with Griffith’s Gnat the top fly.

The Munster Blackwater is also producing good trout fishing, with competitors in the Munster Senior River Championships landing over 730 trout to 48 rods on Saturday!

Finally, the Ireland on the Fly podcast this week is joined by Corrib expert angler Mike Keady, to talk all things mayfly and Corrib. Definitely one that’s worth a listen.

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Salmon

Fishing improved further on the River Moy last week, with the catch more than doubling to 47 for the week, with fish reported from most fisheries along the river.

More spring fish were reported from Carrowmore, with breezy overcast weather making for perfect conditions. Among the anglers to feature was Phil Donohue, who released this lovely fish after a good fight.

Fishing on the Blackwater was slow last week, but fish have started to be caught over the last few days, with hopefully more to come this weekend. The Slaney has also been slow so far, but David O’Hagan got Ballycarney Fisheries off the mark with a lovely sea-liced bar of silver, estimated at 15lbs, and our Catch of the Week.

 

Lough Currane produced some good fishing days this week, with salmon to 11.5lbs and good numbers of brown trout, and a few sea trout reported. Judd Ruane reports some exciting fishing on the river Moy estuary with May fishing as well as ever. Despite challenging weather conditions there is a good head of fresh-run sea trout holding in the lower basin and not one angler has reported a blank day yet.

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Pike

Boyle-based fishing guide Bodo Funke of  Angling Services Ireland  has been putting his clients over some great fish in Co. Roscommon, with anglers landing some great fish to fly and lure tactics.

French visitor Jean Feinte, with over four score years and a longtime visitor to Ireland, fished some Monaghan lakes with Peadar O’Brien of Irish Fishing guides and they had great sport, with plenty of jacks and some better fish too.

60 anglers turned out for the IFPAC 1st Qualifier of the 2023/2024 season on a midlands river last weekend. Fishing was tremendous, with over 200 fish landed, including 5 doubles.

In Co. Longford, some French visitors to Melview Fishing Lodge enjoyed excellent sport, with 186 fish landed between 4 rods. Unfortunately, some of the better fish that would have beaten the 1m mark came off, but the lads really enjoyed their visit, particularly the two first timers, who we expect will be back!

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Coarse

Roach were scarce at the All Ireland Canal Championships over the weekend, but luckily the anglers found plenty of tench to provide sport and make for a competitive outing.

Belmont and district fishing club are holding an Open competition on Grand canal Shannonharbour match stretch this Sunday the 14th May, details here. Please contact Belmont Anglers via their Facebook page to take part.

Finally, fly angler Gintaras Vosylius from Longford got more than he bargained for last week as he fished his euro nymph in fast water on the River Inny in search of trout. Read about his surprise catch of a 50cm bream on a small trout nymph here!

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Sea

Not too many sea angling reports this week, but news of great pollack and mixed species fishing from several charter boats in Galway Bay. Pollack, coalfish, cod, ling and other species were all feeding hard, but the pick was this megrim, a deep water flatfish that is a relatively rare catch by anglers.

In Co. Clare, Colin Harty took 2nd place in the Galway Bay SAC competition on Doughmore beach, Doonbeg to win the overall club Master Angler title. This fine flounder of 43cm was the best fish on the day.

Bass are also back on Wexford shores, with anglers encountering very good numbers of schoolies, but no sign yet of the eagerly anticipated, and hard-fighting smoothhounds.

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Other News…

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Our colleagues in IFI devote countless hours to protecting our natural resources, with water pollution and illegal fishing included among the threats to our fish stocks that they work to prevent. This week their efforts were rewarded with two successful prosecutions for illegal fishing, in Youghal, Co. Cork and on the River Shannon, Co. Limerick.

We also feature a successful prosecution for two food businesses in Co. Monaghan for water pollution offences. Unfortunately, we also had a fish kill last week in Co. Clare that affected 2.6km of the Ballymacraven River. Investigations are continuing and we are confident the source of the pollution will be identified.

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And now the weather…

It’s a lovely day around the country today, with lots of sunshine and light breezes producing temperatures of 15 to 20C. Tomorrow also looks good, a largely dry day with spells of sunshine though a few showers may bubble up in the afternoon. Cloud will increase from the west during the evening. Highest temperatures of 16 to 21 degrees in light variable breezes.

Sunday will see overnight rain clearing eastwards with sunny spells and perhaps a few light showers following. It will become noticeably cooler as the rain clears with moderate to fresh northwest winds becoming established and highest temperatures of 11 to 14 degrees.

The early days of next week look similar, with mostly dry, bright weather but northwest breezes keeping it cool, with temps of 11-15C, becoming milder later in the week with more chance of showers.

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].

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