It has been a week of verys. It’s been very wet in the south east, very dry in the northwest, very sunny for most places. It’s been very windy a lot of the time and very cold in the evenings and very, very difficult not to give in to the temptation to turn on the central heating. It comes as no surprise that the fishing in general has not been very good and that at the same time there have been some very good reports.

Salmon anglers are reporting a few grilse knocking about and there have been some reports of fish caught from south western rivers and lakes. As my noble gentleman on Lough Currane likes to say, “least said, soonest mended”. In other salmon news, a reminder to those who purchased 1 day and 21 day licences that have already expired – it’s time to return your unused tags, logbook and catch record.

Cillian Nash playing his first salmon on a West Cork river

Trout anglers continue to report that the unsettled weather is upsetting trout feeding patterns. We’re not seeing many reports but that’s not to say there isn’t any fishing to be had. The trout are still there. Catching them is not easy by any means but with a bit of luck you should still be able to get them on the rivers with nymphs, spiders and dries. Anyone looking for a few fly fishing tips should have a look at Dan O’Neil’s River Whispers. It’s a mine of information.

on the Nore
Vanessa from Chicago on the Nore

Lucky Leo Lynch won the Dunbrody Festival at Oaklands Fishery on Sunday. He managed a pretty impressive 127.880 kg over the 2 day event. Meanwhile, Des Brigette won the 3rd round of the Athy Anglers summer league in Athy with a far more modest 4lb 6ozs. Over in Clare, Kevin Leahy won the Shoemaker Cup at Silvergrove with 9lb 4oz. The Leinster Coarse Anglers fished Annaghierin for the first leg of their 2024/25 Open competition, and Dean Murray took first place with 21.16lb. Meanwhile, a visiting angler from the UK had some lovely fishing in the Longford area with Melview Lodge, catching good bream, tench and hybrids. Lastly there are some great tips from young Anthony O’Neill on fishing a new venue.

Some nice Tench from Elvin’s catch in Longford.

Not much to report from the world of pike angling but we do have another great update from Senan Stanley and Paul Bourke who fished away from home for some great results. You can watch how they go on in their Youtube video.

pike
Senan with a good pike

To the high seas and the sea shores now. Michael Callaghan won the Killybegs Mariners 2 day boat competition with with 100% scores both days. In other Mariners news, Mariners members enjoyed great fishing on the local beaches with a run of small eyed rays (painted) to specimen length. In other competition news, Newport SAC hosted the club’s 34th annual National Junior Competition for junior anglers. When all results were in and tallied up, Laoise Fynes was announced as the 2024 National Junior Champion to rapturous applause. A little further south in Galway Bay, the Brazen Hussy was out during the week with varying results as blustery weather made its presence felt. There were some good days, though, and some super porbeagles were caught, tagged and released. Heading down to the Clare coast and Shannon Estuary, anglers on the Clare Dragoon had some great fishing, particularly for tope and spurdogs, with a number of specimens recorded. To West Cork now and Mark Gannon reports that his anglers are continuing to get good fishing with skate providing some great sport. Next we travel all the way round to the east coast where Greystones Ridge Angling Club has announced it will be hosting the Greystones Tope Festival on 17th-18th August, with €5000 of prizes up for grabs.

A fine John Dory caught aboard Meridian skippered by Brian McGilloway

For catch of the week we return to Courtmacsherry in West Cork where an overnight session brought spectacular results for anglers fishing with West Cork Charters. Very spectacular. The catch included 6 blue sharks, 2 specimen sized and 24 skate of which 14 were over specimen size. Incredible stuff!

skate
As the light declined the skate continued to feed hard

And now the weather…

A cloudy start to Saturday with outbreaks of light patchy rain and drizzle spreading southwards over the country. Sunny spells will develop through the day with further scattered showers developing also. Highest temperatures of 15 to 19°C in a light northerly or variable breeze. Scattered showers will develop through Sunday morning and afternoon. Turning cloudier in the south and west later with rain and drizzle moving into the southwest during the evening. Some coastal mist or fog also. Highest temperatures of 16 to 20°C in light to moderate southerly or variable winds. Unsettled conditions for next week very likely…

Don’t forget to check the forecast before heading off and if you’re going to sea, check the tides.

Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.

IFI Staff
Catch, Photo, Release

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