T

he last few days saw a drastic change in the weather for most parts of the country after the extremely dry and warm conditions of late. Most areas recorded moderate to high amounts of rain with air temperatures also dropping. This was welcome news among anglers as water temperatures had risen significantly making angling difficult and even leading to closures of a number of salmon fisheries such as the Galway and Moy Fisheries. However, as of this morning the Moy Fishery in Ballina has opened again, while salmon angling on the Galway Fishery was permitted again from Wednesday this week.

Before the closure water levels remained at 2 gates, with a good drop of water coming over the top of the weir in Galway which allowed for good salmon fishing with a number of nice grilse caught by local and visiting anglers alike. Fishing was described as OK when the fishery reopened, with 6 fish on each of the first 2 days after the closure.

The Galway Fishery

The hot weather and rising water temperatures also affected angling on the River Moy with only small numbers of grilse being reported from the various beats prior to the closure of several fisheries along the river on Saturday 21 June.

Angling on the Erriff has also been difficult with water temperatures creeping up. However, reports suggest that there are few salmon and a decent amount of sea trout showing. Further south, on the River Lee and most West Cork rivers such as the Ilen, the situation wasn’t much different with only a few salmon caught. On the Munster Blackwater there are reports of some nice fish caught along with some grilse in the system but not in the numbers that would be expected for this time of year. Concluding our salmon news, we hear from Vincent Appleby that Lough Currane produced a small number of grilse and some sea trout, while salmon are starting to arrive in the Inny, Flesk and Kenmare rivers.

Over to trout angling, where rising water temperatures have also become a growing concern in recent years. This week’s episode of the Ireland on the Fly podcast, “Trout in hot water”, covers this topic featuring well know angler and scientist Ken Whelan who details the impact and consequences of rising temperatures on our freshwater fish as well as their food sources and the challenges anglers are facing fishing in a changing environment.

Keith McDonnel’s latest blog post on river trout tactics might also be of interest to the trout anglers out there. Keith shares some of his knowledge on targeting large trout with dry flies, and as usual, his writing is accompanied by some fantastic photography.

Staying with river trout fishing, we received a short report from Paddy Dunworth of Celtic Angling from the River Maigue where he successfully guided a 79 year young flyangler visiting from the US.

On the lakes, a number of trout competitions were fished last weekend. Lough Carra fished well in the last week of June with Lough Carra Trout Anglers Association having its third evening flyfishing competition in squally weather conditions. Foxford Salmon Anglers held their previously postponed Presidents Cup Competition on Lough Conn with Michael Tiernan scooping first prize, while Donal Raftery won Dublin Trout Anglers LM Byrne Cup which was fished on Lough Lene.

Michael Tiernan with a beautiful Lough Conn trout

While pike fishing usually slows down during the summer months, coarse angling remains in full swing with various matches fished throughout the island. In the North, the Lurgan Coarse Angling Club fished the latest round of their Blackwater Summer League last weekend. Anglers feared that the sunshine and high temperatures might have put the fish off the feed, but they needn’t have worried, as the fish were in top form, with bream and skimmers feeding avidly. This led to some massive weights with Nicky Seedon bagging over 45kg to take the win! Staying in the North, round 3 of the Lower Bann Summer League was held on Sunday, June 22 on the Argory Section of the River Blackwater. Weights were also impressive with Keith Russell winning the overall match with 16.325kg, made up mostly with skimmers.

Massive weights were recorded at the Blackwater Summer League

In the South, Leinster Coarse Fishing Federation held the final match of their Leinster Open Competition on Clonahee Lake in Co. Roscommon last weekend. Unfortunately, the weather was atrocious, with strong winds and very heavy rain showers. However, the competitors got stuck in and caught a variety of fish, including roach, perch, small skimmers, and beautiful tench to 5lb 13oz. The event was won by Dara Finnegan.

Finally over the sea angling. Starting on the east coast, a group of Welsh anglers fishing with Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters found plenty of species in a taking mood over the weekend. Tope, huss, hounds, gurnard, bass, codling, and of course, dogs were among the many species caught.

Bass man and Lure Fishing Podcast host Cormac Walsh found the time to tackle some bass along the southeast coast this week. Cormac found a bit of shelter over the weekend from the westerlies but plenty of weed in the water made fishing shallow divers, metals and sandeels quite tricky. However, top water lures finally did the trick delivering a total of 4 bass best just over 60cm.

Cormac Walsh with a nice Wexford bass

Going clockwise around the coast, the next on our list is Jim Clohessy, who was fishing over some wrecks out of Cork Harbour mainly catching ling best at 14 lbs. Check out his comprehensive report here.

Meanwhile, avid kayak angler David Norman of Angling Adventures West Cork sent in a great report about big pollack on pencil lures, while skipper Luke Aston reported some good fishing from the Shannon Estuary including bull huss, some good thornback ray, decent pollack and tope up to 145cm. Excellent fishing considering the conditions which prevented Luke from leaving the sheltered waters of the estuary.

Tope from the Shannon Estuary

Further north, in Galway Bay, fishing was excellent during the week aboard the Brazen Hussey skippered by John Fleming of Blue Shark Angling Galway. According to John his anglers enjoyed some “savage fishing” catching ray, coalies, pollack and the first porbeagle of the season.

Other news

An exciting opportunity, for women interested in learning about flyfishing, will be happening at the Southern County Fishing Resort near Garryhill on Sunday 13th July 2025. The event has been organised by the Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association (ILFA). It begins at 11am and will include a short indoor session followed by 4 hours of casting instruction and practice outside. The course is aimed at beginners or novice anglers aged over 18 and all equipment will be provided. Dan O’Neill from Killkenny who is an APGAI Qualified Fly-Casting Instructor will be the lead instructor. He will be assisted by Maddy Kelly from Co. Down who is the current President of the International Ladies Flyfishing Association representing Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

Andrew Callan of onthewater.ie was back in touch once again with more good news. They have added two more clubs to their online permit shop. The website is now selling guided fishing with Johannes Bulfin of Watershed Fly Fishing. Check out their full listing here.

 

 

And now the weather…

It will remain humid tonight with patchy rain and drizzle. Lowest temperatures of 13 to 17 degrees in moderate to fresh southwest winds, easing light to moderate overnight. The weekend will start out mostly cloudy with scattered falls of rain and drizzle. However, it will become drier in the west and north during Saturday afternoon and evening with sunny spells developing. Sunday will be a warm and humid day with maximum daytime temperatures of 19 to 23 degrees in moderate southerly winds.  There will be lots of cloud in the south in the morning with perhaps some patches of mist and drizzle. However, cloud will break in many areas during the afternoon with bright or sunny spells developing. The outlook for the beginning of the week is for the mixed and changeable weather to continue.

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

If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update, please send it to reports@fisheriesireland.ie and don’t forget that all of our fishing reports are available on our dedicated Angling Ireland Facebook page.

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