Well, there’s only one show in town right now, as record-breaking winds are currently lashing the whole country, with the result that red warnings have been in place across most counties over the past 12 hours or so. Prior to storm Éowyn hitting us, it had been a relatively dry week, with temperatures about average for the time of year and reasonable amounts of sunshine. You would think that sounds like angling weather… but that doesn’t seem to have been the case…
It appears the coming storm must have affected a large cohort of anglers, as fishing reports are very thin on the ground this week. We’ll begin with sea angling, and head to the east coast, where South Shore SAC held the first Master Angler competition of the year last weekend. It was a tough enough day on the beach as the flatties were hard to tempt, but Ramunas Butkus did manage to land 15 fish to take the win, and Des Farrelly landed a blistering bass of 8.5lb that set tongues wagging all along the beach… Down on the south coast, Cobh SAC held the third leg of their Light Lines competition, with 32 anglers competing, spread over four boats. Tomasz Kujawa made the most of the favourable weather conditions to boat 105 fish and take the prize on the day.
To pike angling now, and Dan O’Neill covers a number of topics in his latest River Whispers blog, one of which is how to set up for fly fishing for pike. Dan is a dab hand at all things fly fishing, and he gives some useful tips on the type of tackle needed to cast a pike fly. Up in Co. Cavan, O’Casey’s Pike Angling Club had their first league outing of the year on a lake venue. With pleasant conditions and some nice cloud cover, the fishing was pretty good, and Daron Reynolds had an active day, bagging 12 fish for 26lb+ to take the win on the day. We wrap up the pike angling news down in the Clare area, where young angler Leon Ryan went looking to catch his first pike with his dad, Edward, and angling guide Damien Culliney. He was over the moon when he landed his first-ever pike, but he didn’t rest on his laurels, as he kept at it until he hit the jackpot again, this time with a super pike that measured 105 cm. Leon’s feat wins him this week’s Catch of the Week.
Angling guide Damien Culliney wasn’t only focused on pike recently, as he has a fondness for chasing large perch too. He brought a good friend, Ed, and his son, Louis, out for a day chasing the stripy predator and managed to land 30 fish in a short session, with two of them breaking the 40cm mark.
On the coarse angling scene, the VDE Baggers made the trip to Muckno for the latest round of their winter league in the hope of finding plenty of small roach to fill their keepnets. But things didn’t work out as planned, as the roach were very scarce, and the winning weight went to Krzysztof Ratkowski, who managed to find a few skimmers at range to bolster his bag of 1.64kg. Dan O’Neill also takes a look into coarse angling this week, as his River Whispers blog discusses tactics and setup for targeting roach with a float rod.
To the salmon scene now, and the residents of Waterville, Co. Kerry will have been delighted to get back on the water as the 2025 angling season on Lough Currane got underway last week. Unfortunately, the fishing was pretty second-rate, but the BBQ looked first-class!
Also for the salmon anglers, this week’s Ireland on the Fly podcast sees Daire and Tom talk to Sally Barnes, who offers some insights into the decline of the Atlantic salmon in modern times.
We wrap up this week’s angling reports with Dan O’Neill again, where he looks forward to the start of the trout angling season and gives some tips on what to focus on in the early season, and the sort of rivercraft needed to get results.
And now the weather…
Storm Éowyn will continue to have an impact for much of the day, with storm-force and even hurricane-force winds in coastal areas of the west and north. Winds will start to moderate tonight, and some scattered showers will spread from the southwest. Saturday will start cold and crisp, with frost and ice in places. Showers will then develop, with some hail and thunderstorms possible in places. Saturday night will remain chilly with some wintry showers, and Sunday will be a wet and windy day across much of the country. This pattern of cool, blustery, showery weather will continue until at least the middle of next week.
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.
All the angling news
Sea Angling Reports
- Tomasz Kujawa wins 3rd round of Cobh SAC Light Lines
- Blistering bass the best of a bad lot for South Shore SAC
Salmon Fishing Reports
- Ireland on the Fly – Sally Barnes & 50 Years of Change on the Atlantic Coast
- Anglers back afloat on Currane
Coarse Angling Reports
- Muckno not so magic for VDE Baggers
- Trout, Pike and Coarse fishing all covered in latest River Whispers blog
