We’ve been enjoying a pretty long, extended spell of settled weather over the past few weeks and warm, dry weather has dominated over much of the country. This spell has brought higher-than-average amounts of sunshine and correspondingly high temperatures. It’s been great to be out and about with clear skies above our heads, but the warm weather can have a negative impact on our freshwater fish, with high water temperatures leaving fish vulnerable and subject to increased stress. We have seen a handful of fisheries closed again this week as a precautionary measure arising from the high water temperatures.

There is no doubt that the main news story this week has been a negative one, and it will have been very unsettling for all of us anglers to see the huge fish kill on the River Blackwater, as it has brought into sharp focus the multiple threats facing our fish stocks. Weather-wise, at least, things look like they are changing next week, as we seem set for a period of cooler temperatures and increased rainfall, which will be a welcome boon to many of our fisheries.

We’ll begin this week’s update on the sea, where, after a slow enough start, the bluefin tuna season seems to have kicked up a gear or two over the past week, with a number of boats in the Donegal area encountering fish. Mike and Ronan Gately had a brotherly one-two fishing with Killybegs Fishing Charters as Mike hooked into a 574lb fish, and then Ronan got a 450lb fish, both of which were successfully tagged and released. Meanwhile, anglers fishing with TunaMick didn’t have to wait long after leaving the harbour before encountering tuna, and Mick’s son Cian took the rod and expertly brought the fish, estimated at 400lb, alongside to be tagged. They also managed another BFT estimated at 500lb on the same trip.

Cian with the first tuna of the year for his dad’s boat

Staying in the Donegal area, the John Logue Memorial Sea Angling Competition was held in Mulroy Bay last weekend, with 7 boats and 40 anglers taking part. There were plenty of ray amongst the catches, and fierce competition between the anglers, and all proceeds raised were donated to the RNLI. We wrap up this mini section on Donegal with the Killybegs Mariners, who have been getting some fine smoothhound from the Donegal beaches of late, including a couple of specimen-sized fish, one of which brought a new club record 112cm fish for Proinnsias Doherty.

County Clare also had its share of good fishing last week, as anglers out with Sean Maguire had some nice mixed species fishing and a couple of good-sized blue shark, all under fabulous blue skies. Fellow Clare-based charter skipper Luke Aston has also had some decent blue shark fishing, coupled with good mixed fishing from the reefs and over sand. Catches even included a pilchard, not often found on the end of an angler’s line. Cork Harbour saw a bit of action last week, as Jim Clohessy launched his small boat for an evening lure session. The sea was a bit sloppy, but once he got to his mark, they were quickly amongst some decent pollock on jig-heads and a couple of welcome bass on surface lures. Fly-fishing guide Richie Ryan was also on the waters of Cork Harbour during the week, guiding a few different groups, both from Ireland and further afield, to catches of bass and pollack on the fly. One angler even caught a tub gurnard on a fly, something not often seen in the angling world. We wrap up this week’s sea angling news with reports of good tope fishing from both our west and east coasts. Skipper John Fleming had a group determined to catch some Galway Bay tope, and he delivered the goods as the guys landed at least 10 tope, along with a few nice pollack and ling from the reefs. And on the east coast, Kit Dunne reports that the tope have arrived back in Wicklow Bay having wandered off for a couple of weeks, and with mackerel finally arriving in good numbers, fishing looks like it will be good there over the next while.

blue shark
Blue shark from the Silver Dawn

To trout fishing now, and it was a busy week on the competition scene, with a number of events held throughout the country. Last Sunday saw 28 anglers (including two juniors) head out on Lower Lough Erne to compete in the Kesh Carnival. Maurice Neill took the top prize with a belter of a trout, which was weighed at 10lb 5oz before being returned to the water. Maurice wins this week’s Catch of the Week for this superb wild brown trout. The Avonmore River in Wicklow was the venue for the T.A.F.I All-Ireland Senior River Championships 2025 last weekend, where 53 anglers competed for individual and provincial honours. A total of 319 brown trout were caught and released as Dean Gates won the individual prize and helped his province, Munster, to the provincial prize. Lough O’Flynn was the venue for the Donnellan cup on Sunday last, with an excellent turnout of 15 boats in what was a keenly contested event. The local Madden team of Gary & Derek had the heaviest boat catch on the day with 5 fish for 7.5lb, while the heaviest fish prize went to John Finn of Roscommon, who boated a fish of 2lb 2oz. We had our first report in a while from angling guide Dan O’Neill, who has been flat out guiding on the River Nore all summer. He offers some tips on how to target trout that have become a bit finicky when feeding late in the evening or early in the morning. On Lough Conn, brothers Sean & Padraig had an eventful day on the lake, trolling flies and spoons and catching trout, pike and perch. And we end this week’s trout reports with news of a new bye-law that has come into place on Lough Arrow and the Unshin River, imposing bag and size limits and a restriction on trolling.

The winning fish of 10lb 15oz was returned to Lough Erne
The winning fish at the Lough Erne Kesh Carnival, a wild brown trout of 10lb 15oz was measured and returned to the lake.

The coarse angling festival season is ramping up, and hundreds of anglers from Ireland and abroad will be participating in matches around the country in the coming weeks.  The CM Lakelands club held the latest round of their competition schedule on Lough Skeagh at the weekend. It was a very competitive match with plenty of bites to be had, and the eventual winner was Robertas Zilaitis with 150 fish for 10.850kg. The 6th round of the Oaklands Lake Summer League was held over the weekend, with Andrei Pirchio netting just shy of 70kg to take a comfortable win from peg 44. The Leinster Coarse Anglers had some fine fish on the Royal Canal over the weekend as they fished the 3rd round of their Leinster qualifiers. There were plenty of quality bream amongst the catches, along with skimmers, roach, perch, and the odd tench. Jack Langan won the day with 25lb.

Some fine Royal Canal bream

To salmon fishing now, and it has been a slow enough week as low water levels have hampered anglers’ prospects. Eight salmon were reported from the River Bandon, with the best of those a 4.5lb fish caught on a shrimp. The Lee did slightly better, with 12 fish reported, the best of which was a 6lb fish, again caught on a shrimp. In Kerry, it was a quiet week again on Currane, where the bright sunshine didn’t help things, but the thunder and lightning weren’t much better… Angling pressure was low on the River Moy, partly due to fishery closures caused by high water temperatures. Some fish were encountered throughout the system, with Ballina Anglers’ stretch proving the most prolific, with 11 fish landed. In the last of the salmon news, the Ireland on the Fly team has a new podcast out where they discuss the ups and downs of this year’s grilse run.

And we finish this week’s update on Lough Derg, where twenty-two teams headed to the lake over the weekend to compete in the Lough Derg Perch Bonanza 2025. Anglers were aiming to get a counting fish of 25cm or over, and the lead changed multiple times over the day, but at the 5-0’clock cut-off point, it was Team Lure Makers who took the win, with their top 5 perch measuring a combined 178cm.

perch
The longest perch of the day was caught by Senan Stanley

And now the weather

It looks set to remain pleasant for most of the weekend with warm, dry weather extending across much of the country, and just the odd patch of drizzle cropping up in places. There will be a reasonable amount of cloud around, but plenty of sunshine also, and winds will remain light. Late Monday will see the weather beginning to change, as thickening cloud will bring some rain spreading from the south-west, and winds will pick up. The remainder of the week is likely to be unsettled, as bands of rain showers, some heavy and thundery, pass across the country.

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 reports@fisheriesireland.ie.

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