We have now tipped into high summer, and you can sense it in the air, as there has been a blanket of dull, humid heat across the country over the past week. It has been quite dry, but the showers have never seemed far enough away to trust in an extended spell without feeling a drop or two. And, despite it being warm, the sun has often remained hidden behind low banks of grey cloud, so it’s no surprise to hear that sunshine was well below average for the time of year across much of the country.

August is an unusual month on the angling calendar, as some types of fishing slow down a pace or two, while others ramp up. Pike anglers tend to be relatively inactive during August, as the higher water temperatures and low oxygen levels are not so amenable to pike fishing. It can be a tricky month for trout angling too, particularly on our rivers, as there is often a drop off in daytime activity due to the summer heat. Grilse runs should be in full swing for the salmon anglers, but success will often depend on rainfall, which can be relatively scarce during August, and with higher temperatures having already led to closures of fisheries this season, much remains in the balance for them. Coarse anglers, on the other hand, are starting to head into their prime festival season, as August and particularly September are top months on the competition schedule. And the sea anglers should be hitting top gear right about now, as the warmer waters around our coast lead to an influx of a variety species at this time of year.

And it’s straight to sea angling and influx of species that we turn to, as we have a couple of notable examples this week. The bluefin tuna season kicked off in July, and we have been waiting with baited breath to hear any news of these long-distance travellers returning to our shores. That news eventually broke last week, as Adrian Molloy claimed the first fish of the season, as he hooked and tagged a 195cm fish as part of the Tuna CHART (Catch And Release Tagging) programme. And with news of tuna being spotted off the south coast too, let’s hope it’s the first of many reports this year.

First tuna of the year for Adrian Molloy

And keeping with the same theme, well-known specimen hunter Craig Murphy was in touch to tell us of the super-rare capture of a John Dory, which was caught from the shore by his dad, Martin, off Wicklow Pier. These fish are sporadic visitors to the south and west coasts during the summer months, but rarely caught on the east coast, and, even better, it was caught while participating in the Southside Angling Species Hunt, so it will have been a much-welcomed addition to his species list. It’s hard to look past the first tuna of the year when awarding Catch of the Week, but I expect there will be plenty of tuna winning that prize in the coming months, but not too many shore-caught, east coast John Dory. So Martin’s unusual capture wins this week’s Catch of the Week.

A super rare, shore-caught, east coast John Dory wins this week’s COTW

On the competition scene, 76 shore anglers headed to the Kerry beaches last week to fish in the third annual Kerry Pairs competition. The venue was Cappaclough, and it was an impressive sight to see the 38 pairs lined up along the beach. Previous winners Sean Ivory and Kevin Barber were installed as hot favourites when they drew a good peg on Friday night, but it was a debuting pair that took the prize in the end, as newcomers Paul Tindal and Stephen Glynn landed 20 fish, including three stingrays, to take the title. Meanwhile, on the east coast, 41 Seniors and two juniors fished the Henrystackleshop.com Irish Smooth Hound Championships at Ballinoulart in Co. Wexford last Saturday. Weed made things a bit difficult for the competitors, but at the end of the evening’s fishing, Michael Christian was crowned the Irish Smooth Hound Champion 2025 with a hound of 95cm.

Novice angler Amy Lynam came up trumps on a recent visit to West Cork. Amy had tried a day’s coaching with David Norman of Angling Adventures West Cork way back in 2021, where she learned how to cast lures. But she returned to David last week, all kitted out with a rod and reel combo, and put it to good use by landing her first-ever shore-caught fish, a pollack, quickly followed by a wrasse. Over on the Shannon Estuary, Peter Turner wrote in to tell us he has been getting decent results on the south side of the estuary, with conger and thornback ray amongst his catches. He’s even been encouraging some family out to enjoy the experience with him. Embarking from the opposite side of the estuary, anglers fishing with Luke Aston out of Carrigaholt have been enjoying some fine sport, targeting shark on the drift with up to 7 blues a day, and some quality pollack, coalies and ling from the reefs. And, in our final piece of sea angling news, lure angler Cormac Walsh ditched the fancy, high-end lures recently for a spot of long-range jigging with some heavy 40g jigs. The increased weight helped him launch the jigs to the horizon, and he was rewarded with a range of species: bass, wrasse, pollack and coalies.

Competitors lined up on Inniscarra

To coarse angling now, and the biggest story of the week took place in County Cork, where the 44th FIPSed World Championship Coarse Fishing for Clubs brought an unforgettable week of world-class angling and warm Irish hospitality to Inniscarra Reservoir, as 25 elite coarse angling clubs representing 16 nations gathered to compete in the prestigious international event. The fishing was exceptional, and after two thrilling days of angling, Club Lenza Emiliana Tubertini (Italy) emerged as World Champions—claiming their fifth world title and ninth podium finish. Up in Co. Monaghan, the Lough Muckno 5-day July festival came to a close last Friday after a week of first-class fishing. The top three anglers all had totals of 50kg or over, which shows the venue was on good form. Alan Larkin managed to win his section on most days, and his final tally of 56.71kg saw him finish as the festival winner, just ahead of Jim Brockie, who bagged 55.64kg. The CM Lakelands Feeder Club were on Lough Skeagh last Sunday, where they found plenty of skimmers, roach and hybrids on the feed. They posted some decent weights, with Darren Fairhurst the pick of the bunch with 11.340kg. Meanwhile, anglers from the MADCAP angling club in Athlone held a practice knock-up ahead of their 2-day festival this weekend. The quality of the fish was outstanding, with the winner, Gus Green, totalling just shy of 100lb, with plenty of big bream to 9lb in his net.

Enough slabs to build a wall there…

In Co. Longford, Kevin Lyons of Melview Lodge welcomed back some regular visitors from the UK last week. The guys were well tuned in to what it takes to get the fish on the feed, and they prebaited their venue and fished it hard for a few days. Over time, the fish moved in, attracted by the constant feed, and they had some fine fishing for tench and bream, with one day’s tally exceeding 150lb. Finally, interested anglers are reminded that the IASCaire American Pairs competition is now only a month away. With the date set for August 30th, and interest growing for the event, the organisers are asking for teams to confirm their participation in the competition.

Irish youths honing their skills in the USA

In trout fishing news, the TAFI Ireland Youth Team travelled to Idaho, USA, recently to compete in the 22nd World Youth Fly Fishing Championships. They fished on some legendary trout waters while over there, including the world-famous Henry’s Fork. The team narrowly missed out on a podium place, finishing fourth in the overall standings. But I’m sure they will have gained some valuable competition experience by training and competing on those wonderful fisheries. Eamonn Conway of Táin Fly Fishing has been putting in a few sessions on the rivers in the north east over the past week. The recent rain has freshened up the systems, making the brownies a bit more lively, and also encouraging the seatrout upstream. Angling guide Johannes Bulfin continues to learn the ins and outs of targeting Croneen in our midlands rivers and is honing his skills nicely. He has had a few fish in the 3lb category at this stage, and lost a much better one, estimated around 5lb, recently. But there’s plenty of time left in the season to have another go… Up on Loughs Conn & Cullin, fishing pressure is low at the moment, but some fish seem to be moving, most of them being tempted by wetfly, but the odd one falling to dries, including a dry Daddy Long Legs.

Fine Croneen for Johannes Bulfin

To salmon news now, and in a slow week in general, things were particularly slow down on the Waterville fishery this week, with not a fish to report. But at least spirits are still high after the footballers’ display in Croke Park at the weekend… In Co. Mayo, water levels have been dropping back all week on the Moy, and there was a steady catch of salmon throughout the system, with the Ballina Salmon Anglers stretch being the most prolific, with 24 salmon coming from that fishery.

We are asking for a bit of help from you guys now, as IFI hopes to tap into the knowledge of anglers who fish for sea trout to build a knowledge base on a fish that was once common in our waterways but has experienced a massive decline over the past 50 years. If you are a sea trout angler, we would love you to help us by answering a few questions via a short survey.

We wrap this week’s report with a single pike angling report, as prolific YouTuber Senan Stanley was busy during the week, guiding clients to some fine pike, trout and perch. Early morning starts were key to success as the cooler temperatures at that time made the fish more active.

Pike, perch and trout all featured for Senan Stanley on Lough Derg

And now the weather

Today, Friday, will be dry in most areas, and it should stay that way overnight and into Saturday. The east coast will continue to remain dry on Saturday, but the rest of the country may see some rain and drizzle. Temperatures should be warm throughout Saturday, with highs of 17 to 23°C in a light to moderate southwest breeze. Rain will develop overnight on Saturday, but will clear from the south east on Sunday morning, and dry, bright conditions should prevail for most of the day. Things look set to change on Monday, as a more unsettled system will bring some wet and windy weather.

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

IFI Staff
Catch, Photo, Release

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