We’ve had another week of fine weather for being in the outdoors, but not necessarily for being in the outdoors fishing! While there were a few thunderstorms in places on Tuesday, some parts of the country remained completely dry for the week, with average sunshine amounts for the time of year ranging between 180% and 240% of normal and average temperatures up to 4°C above normal. The good news for the freshwater fish is that the coming weekend will bring cooler, wetter weather, with heavy rain due to cross the country on Saturday along with westerly winds which will banish the cursed easterlies, for a spell at least…

Salmon angling has been difficult during the warm, dry spell, with IFI-owned fisheries on the Erriff, the Galway Weir and the Moy, as well as other privately run fisheries – like Ballisodare – closed due to high water temperatures. The Ballisodare club took advantage of the closure to host a hugely successful Biodiversity Day on the river, which also features in this week’s Ireland on the Fly podcast, as Tom and Daire speak with Gerry Merrick, chairman of the fishery. Back to the Moy, and fisheries upstream saw a handful of fish caught, mainly on the prawn, while sea trout fishing in the estuary is really picking up. Heading south, anglers on the River Blackwater have redoubled efforts with some reports of fish in the river, but all is quiet from most other catchments in the south west, including Currane, where one angler beat the odds to land, and release, a 3lb sea trout.

Trout fishing on the loughs has reportedly been equally tough, with mayfly monsoons on Sheelin not precipitating the type of top-water banquet one would expect for the amount of fly on the water. On Conn and Cullin, there were also excellent hatches of fly and falls of spent fly, but the fish were difficult to tempt, with two competitions yielding few fish for the participants there. Away from the loughs, we have a lovely write-up from the Cashel, Golden and Tipperary Anglers Association on the stretch of the Suir they call their own and how those fishing pools got their names.

In coarse angling, there were a number of festivals and competitions held in the last couple of weeks around the country. In Cork, anglers suffered 23°C most days during the Fermoy Festival, and a late 22.5kg smash and grab saw Gary Doyle take the Inniscarra O’Callaghan’s Cup by a country mile. The sun tan lotion was also a must at Oaklands, as 209kg for the O’Neill and Pirchio team took the Commercial Pairs title there. Qualifier two of Ireland’s FeederKing took place on the Blackwater near Dungannon, with Andy Chapman claiming top spot with 9kg of skimmers – qualifier three takes place on the Erne on Saturday, May 31st. A reminder also that the Edenderry Coarse Angling Festivals are fast approaching, so anglers who want to take part should make contact with the club.

Pleasure coarse anglers have also been enjoying the weather, as they do, and visiting anglers Tim Bradshaw (Boston) and Dave Warburton (Aberdeen) arrived in Killeshandra a few weeks back just as the rain stopped and the sun started; they enjoyed some cracking tench and bream during their two week stay in Cavan. In Longford, British guests of Melview Fishing Lodge had to work for their fish in the warm weather, with early starts and late finishing paying dividends there.

While our angling reports are dominated by pictures of fishermen and their catches, special mention this week goes to two young fisherwomen, both of whom caught PBs this week. Robyn, from Galway, showed her dad Dave how it’s done by landing her PB roach of 26cm on the River Shannon and Penny, from Meath, caught her first ever tench (also a PB by default!) while fishing with her pal James on the Royal Canal near Longwood. These two budding young fisherwomen win our Catch of the Week this week!

Robyn (left) and Penny (right) show off their impressive catches

In predator angling, we have an overdue report on the fantastic Nations Cup, which was fished on Lough Ree on May 11th. Sixty anglers fished, with six teams of ten anglers representing Ireland, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Britain and, of course, Romania. The Polish team once again showed how they excel at lure fishing, and they claimed the gold medal.

Nations Cup teams line up

Last weekend saw the latest leg of the Perch Master Ireland league, where twenty anglers lined up on the River Shannon to compete. No monsters were landed, but nobody in their shorts and sunglasses really expected them to turn up either. Away from the competitions, Ryan Crozier and his pal Willie Graham travelled from Co. Down to join Chris Barry for a day’s fly fishing for pike in Cavan, where they had two cracking fish in 30 minutes.

Ryan Crozier - pike on the fly 101cms
Ryan Crozier – pike on the fly 101cms

On the coast, doggies made the difference for South Shore SAC’s latest competition at Ballinoulart, and James of Irish Angling Adventures had an exciting week of angling with his guests – they got a Tralee Bay ray grand slam and some lovely wrasse and pollock on the lures.

Finally, we head offshore, where light easterlies and fine sunshine make for very pleasant days for charter boats on the west coast. It was great weather and great fishing for anglers on the Clare Dragoon, as skipper Luke reported good numbers of coalfish and pollack, as well as a nice mix of other species. Pollack and coalfish have also been the main species caught further north in Galway Bay, where John Fleming reports that mackerel have been landed in good numbers too, as the settled conditions have helped keep the shoals together. In Donegal Bay, Keith Clarke aboard the Fiona Tee reported that, with such fine weather, the fish were a bonus – but a bonus that they actually managed to get!

In Cork, Cobh S.A.C fished their 2nd club Master Angler competition and the twelve competitors landed seventeen species outside the harbour around the Smiths Rock area, while, further west, David Norman of Angling Adventures West Cork has had a good start to his kayak fishing for 2025.

wrasse

And now the weather…

Rain will clear from eastern parts on Friday night, mostly cloudy overnight with temperatures not falling below 12°C to 14°C, in a light southwesterly wind.

Saturday morning will be cloudy with a spell of heavier rain crossing the country from the southwest through the afternoon. Humid with highs of 14°C to 19°C. Lows of 7°C to 10°C overnight with a moderate southwesterly wind & scattered showers.

Cooler on Sunday, with sunny spells and scattered showers. Highs of 12°C to 15°C in a fresh westerly breeze. Cloud will increase overnight and may bring some rain or drizzle into the southwest towards morning. Lows of 6°C to 10°C.

The outlook for next week is unsettled.

Don’t forget to double-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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