It has been a mixed bag on the weather front over the past week, with torrential downpours one minute and bright, brassy sunshine the next. Some parts of the country experienced up to 35mm of rain, while the south west of the country saw little at all. It was slightly warmer than average most days, but anyone who has been out fishing the loughs in recent days will have noticed the nippy north wind biting as soon as the sun has set…

All this mixed weather is wreaking a bit of havoc on the loughs, as anglers are having to contend with very changeable conditions that make every drift a new experience. Such was the case on Sheelin, where the unsettled weather has made the fishing a bit patchy, but some big fish are being landed for those in the right place at the right time. The fishing on Lough Arrow seems to have been more reliable, with fish falling to the dap, wets and spent. Meanwhile, on Conn & Cullin, trout were caught on wet fly and gnat, but dry mayflies were the most effective patterns for daytime fishing. The lads from Piscari Fly were up on Corrib fishing with Tom Doc and were treated to some mayfly mayhem with a few prolific hatches and obliging fish. On Lough Owel, a couple of young cousins were out on the lake and met some good fish, including a first-ever trout for Ben McLachlan. It’s not only the loughs that see action at mayfly time, and Paddy Dunworth found plenty of fly up while guiding on the Deel last week. And Dan O’Neill had some early starts on the Nore, as dawn birdsong and mist made for an atmospheric start to a day’s fishing.

Ben Mc Lachlan caught his first trout ever on Owel
Ben Mc Lachlan caught his first trout ever on Owel

To coarse angling now, and the newly formed Kent Stainless Coarse Fishing Society had the first outing of the year at Oaklands fishery at the weekend and enjoyed a day catching bream and carp. Oaklands was also the venue for the Commercial Pairs competition last weekend, where father and son duo Adrian & John Browne finished top of the standings after the two-day match. On the canal at Edenderry, Karl Unwin made the most of his end peg to weigh in an impressive 31lb to win his club match at the weekend. Up on the river Blackwater near Dungannon, bright sunshine and high temperatures didn’t dent the fishing as Mark Alcock netted 30kg of skimmers to win the fourth qualifier of Ireland’s Feeder King. Anglers fishing the Perch Masters on the Barrow were not so lucky, as the bright weather definitely put the perch off the take, and many struggled to catch counters. There was plenty of activity in the Fermoy area last week as anglers fishing the festival found waters rising daily, but the fishing stayed steady throughout. Anglers fishing the Hogan’s Open on Inniscarra also found water levels to be rising daily, but, again, fishing wasn’t affected, and Niall McKitterick won out with 131 hybrids for 27kg.

Edenderry
A fine bag from the canal at Edenderry

Tope fishing seems to have clicked up a gear or two in recent weeks, with plenty of catches reported from around the country. Charter skipper Luke Aston had his son David onboard during the week as he took some time out in advance of his upcoming wedding. They let him have first crack at the tope rod and he didn’t waste his opportunity, boating the first of numerous tope on the day. Kit Dunne also reported some good tope fishing, including a couple of specimens as he hosted the Irish Outgoing Pikers on his boat last week. The tope action wasn’t all limited to boats either, as Peter Boland managed to land a super 163cm tope while fishing from the shore in Wexford, and Chris O’Sullivan was also amongst the tope while shore fishing in Co. Kerry. Cormac Walsh spent a busy week chasing feeding gulls up and down the coast, hoping they would help him locate some feeding bass, and the plan paid off as he came across a shoal of bass with some epic results. And wrapping up our sea angling section, anglers fishing onboard the Karen Ann out of Kilmore Quay came across plenty of different species, which kept them busy at their reels.

Peter Boland and angling partner Ben with Peter’s 163cm shore-caught tope

To pike angling now, and a honeymoon experience to remember… Alex and Adam had travelled all the way from Indiana, USA, to get married at the Cliffs of Moher, and decided to celebrate by taking a day out on Lough Derg with guide Damien Culliney. And, having already bagged the catch of her lifetime by marrying her husband Adam, Alex went on to bag this week’s Catch of the Week by landing a whopping 110cm pike, making an already memorable trip to Ireland extra special. Damien also had a couple of French anglers out during the week, and they, too, fared well on Derg, landing plenty of pike up to 100cm. Kevin Lyons from Melview Lodge hosted some regular guests from The Netherlands last week, and they managed an impressive 131 pike for their week’s fishing.

Alex with new husband Adam and her super 110cm honeymoon pike!

We wrap up this week’s angling update with salmon angling, and reports were very thin on the ground, with only the Moy reporting in that fishing is steadily improving week on week with greater numbers of anglers and fish being caught. The Ireland on the Fly team discusses the Castleconnell Fishery in this week’s podcast, and Pat O’Connor talks through the fascinating history of the once-prolific fishery. Finally, for anglers planning to fish the River Roughty in Kerry, Inland Fisheries Ireland has opened the third draw for anglers wishing to catch and keep salmon.

Angler and boatman on the Castleconnell Fishery. We don’t usually publish photos of anglers in boats without life jackets, but we’ll give this one a pass.

And now the weather

Temperatures will remain pretty consistent over the next few days, staying between 12 and 16 °C. It will be mostly dry on Friday with a chance of some light showers in the north of the country. It will remain dry overnight and into tomorrow morning before rain spreads from the south west as the day progresses. The rain will clear overnight on Saturday, but Sunday will see the possibility of some heavier thundery downpours in some places. Monday will be mostly dry, with sunny spells, but Tuesday will see the return of cloud and the chance of some more prolonged rain.

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

Trout Fishing Reports

Coarse Angling Reports

Sea Angling Reports

Pike Fishing Reports

    Salmon Fishing Reports