We are now heading into the final days of March, and it has been a reasonably benign month weatherwise, with none of the violent storms of earlier months. The past week has seen normal amounts of sunshine for the time of year, with temperatures slightly higher than average and rain somewhat below average, so it seems March is departing us with its lamb’s fleece fully grown. An old Irish tradition during the last few days of March was to collect nettles and boil them, and then add them to the evening meal or drink the resulting broth. If this was done, it would fortify you from coughs, colds and chills throughout the year. So, anyone who is in need of a tonic could do worse than throwing a few nettles in the teapot this weekend…

Moving to Irish angling tradition now, and the end of March is usually associated with the first great hatch of fly on the lakes: The Duckfly. The news is out that the duckfly hatch is well underway on Lough Corrib, and some of the lads from Piscari Fly ventured west to enjoy a few days on the lough. Fishing teams of buzzer in sizes 12 and 10, they managed to get some quality fishing despite engine trouble limiting their ability to travel far. Anglers on Lough Sheelin don’t tend to get quite as excited about the duckfly as their colleagues further west. Sheelin trout prefer to stay focused on fry, nymphs or shrimp at this time of year, and anglers who mimicked these food items by fishing lures and attractor patterns did well on the lake last week. On the River Nore and King’s River, angling guide Dan O’Neill entertained a number of guests from the USA over the past week, and enjoyed watching them catch fish and listening to their life stories as they whiled away the hours on the riverbank. Dan also posted a fantastic photo of young Emmet O’Shea, who caught the super brown trout pictured below from the River Nore. Great to see a stamp of fish like that in the river and a young angler able to catch them! Emmet wins this week’s Catch of the Week.

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Young Emmet O’Shea with a super wild brown trout from the River Nore

Down in Cork, the Kanturk & District Trout Anglers held a youth fly fishing training day, giving young anglers a chance to hone their angling skills, ably tutored by some experienced club members. Plenty of sage advice was passed on, and a few nice trout were netted too. Our last bit of trout angling news comes from Waterford, where Xander van Wyk put his years of experience fishing for rainbows in South Africa to good use as he tackled a few ‘bows from Knockaderry Reservoir. He boated over 30 hard-fighting fish, and other boats did similarly well, in what turned out to be a red-letter day on the lake.

To pike angling news now, and Kevin Lyons of Melview Lodge welcomed some return visitors last week as a group of regulars were joined by first-time visitor Pascal. The guys had five days of great fishing, including a PB for Pascal, probably ensuring he too will be a return visitor next time round…

Pascal, all smiles with his PB pike from Longford

Pike angling clubs are busy at this time of the year as their competition schedules are in full swing. The Limerick County Pike Anglers had a hectic day on the banks last weekend as their venue threw up a ton of fish, meaning most anglers banked something, but it was Tommy Williams who banked the prize on the day with a 28lb+ bag. The Leinster Pike Anglers also had a busy day, as their competition yielded three 30lb+ bags, with Dougie Robinson taking the prize with seven fish for 35.5lb. Meanwhile, in Co. Meath, the Deel & Boyne Anglers launched their season with the Jack Shaw Perpetual Cup competition. Fishing wasn’t quite as good for them, but Raymond Mullen didn’t care as he landed the trophy fish on the day with a pike weighing 5lb 11oz. We wrap up this week’s pike angling reports with the news that Newbridge District Pike Anglers will be hosting a junior competition in association with IFPAC at Kildangan this weekend. It’s free to enter for anyone under 18, and there will be plenty of prizes up for grabs, so it’s sure to be a good day out.

Coarse angling clubs are also heavily invested in the competition scene at this time of year, and there were a number of outings held around the country last weekend. On Oaklands Lake, the Winter League competition drew to a close on a cold day with a biting northerly wind. Ronan Minogue was the top angler on the day with 54kg+, but Leo Lynch walked away with the league title for the second year in succession. That same biting wind badly affected the Leinster Coarse Anglers, as they sought shelter behind the hedgerows and endured some very slow fishing at Millennium Bridge in Daingean. And, to stick with a theme, a cool & gusty wind made the going tough for IASCaire Feeder Club on Lough Gowna at the weekend, where Martin Edwards battled through some challenging conditions to bag the win with 2.93kg. Lastly, 39 anglers lined the banks of the Erne for the final match of the Erne Anglers Winter League last weekend. Simon Huthwaite was top weight on the day with 8.875kg, while there was a tie at the top of the leaderboard for the league competition, with four anglers on 44 points, but Johnny McKinley had the top weight, just shy of 65kg, so he claimed the overall trophy.

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Leo Lynch claims his trophy @ Oaklands

To sea angling now, and as the weeks go by, we will begin to see more and more charter boat activity around our coastline. Over in Co. Clare, skipper Sean Maguire made his first trips of the year in perfect weather conditions during the week. They found plenty of mackerel on the first trip and some nice wrasse, pollock, pouting & coalies on their second day out. In Courtmacsherry, Mark Gannon reports that their season got going with a bang, with some great pollock, cod and coalies, and with the added bonus of a super first skate of the year, a fine 193cm specimen which was duly tagged and released. Staying in Cork, angling guide Richie Ryan also got his season going with his first trip seeking mullet on the fly. He was a bit rusty on day 1, missing a couple of takes, but made up for it on day 2 with an impressive four mullet from four takes. South Shore SAC were hosting the first round of the Leinster League last weekend, but were saddened to hear of the passing of club member Frank Baxter. Frank was a competition man, and his family urged that the club go ahead with the match, so 73 anglers fought it out in challenging conditions on Morriscastle/Ballinoulart, with James Ryan taking the silverware. In Donegal, the ever-present Killybegs Mariners threw up a number of species from the local beaches, including a first thornback of the year for club member Chris, along with a few bass and sea trout. To wrap up the sea angling end of things this week, Chris O’Sullivan, AKA the Inshore Angler, has some tips on the collection and storage of bait. Fresh bait is a must when sea angling, so no doubt his tips will come in useful.

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Courtmacsherry Skate being prepared for release after tagging

Salmon angling news this week is restricted to a single report, from Lough Currane, where anglers failed to make their mark on the lake, which has been slow to give up its treasures this year.

Lastly, we turn to podcasts, and the latest edition of Ireland on the Fly, where Daire and Tom talk to Mark Boyden on the importance of getting local communities involved as custodians of their local rivers.

And now the weather

Today will be cool and breezy, with some sunshine in places but with widespread showers and the chance of a thunderstorm. It will dry out overnight, but light rain and drizzle will spread from the west on Saturday before turning dry again later in the day. It will remain dry on Saturday night and into Sunday, which will see a mix of cloud and sunny spells with temperatures of 12° to 16°C. The weather looks like it will remain mostly dry with some sun and relatively mild up till the end 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.

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