Irish Angling Update 13 June 2025

Ah, the Irish summer… rain, wind, cloud, sun, warm, cold, and that’s just in the last half hour! We were certainly spoiled with the warm spell of weather for most of the Spring, but we are back to reality now. The recent wet and windy weather has not been good for sea anglers, who have struggled to get afloat, but the rain has replenished rivers and lakes that were getting very low and warm, and fishing has picked up in many places.

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Salmon fishing has benefited from the rain, and the River Erriff saw its first fish of the season landed by Colm Reynolds. There were a few salmon landed on the Laune, mostly by anglers spinning. Improving water levels brought steady fishing on the River Moy, with some nice fish caught, including some late spring fish to 13lbs. The River Blackwater saw some fresh fish, considered lower than usual for the time of year, but some anglers were lucky enough to intercept a few. On the Galway Fishery, the main grilse run has not arrived yet, but numbers are increasing, and there were a good few grilse caught, as well as Simon Lenihan’s cracking 17.5lbs fresh salmon.

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Trout fishing is reported to be picking up again on Lough Conn, as sedge fishing has taken over following the end of the mayfly hatch. Darren Maguire, of Garrison in Fermanagh, is the 2025 Champion of the Lough after retaining the trophy at the catch-and-release trout fishing competition on Lough Melvin. Tough conditions made for tough fishing, but the cream rises to the top, and local knowledge was paramount for Darren. Peter Driver reports that a small rise in water levels on the River Nore has given good fishing this week, with Dick Croke and son Ricky enjoying the “best dry fly fishing in years”.

Summer is the time for tench fishing, and Kevin Lyons of Melview Lodge in Co. Longford hosted a group of UK anglers who certainly enjoyed their visit, catching good bags of bream and tench with many going to specimen size. 

Tench also helped Tommy Cahill take the win in the 3rd round of the Athy Anglers summer league at the weekend, while they also featured in catches at the Edenderry 5-day festival. Liverpool angler Jeff Stirrat was rewarded for his long-service of 30 years travelling to the event with the win, with a total of 22lb 1oz, closely followed by fellow Scousers Phil Walters (21lb 15oz) and Gavin Charnock (21lb 7oz). 

Tench and bream also made up good bags at the Enfield 2-day international on the Royal Canal, where visiting angler John Easton came away with the top prize with a bag of over 22lbs, well ahead of Conor Browne in second place with 16 lbs+.

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The Irish Feeder Team are in Lithuania to defend their World Campions title in the Feeder Fishing World Championships. We wish Team Ireland the very best of luck as they finish their preparations ahead of the main competition on 14th and 15th June. Representing Ireland in this year’s championship are: 𝗠𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗹 𝗕𝘂𝗰𝗵𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿, 𝗥𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗗𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲, 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗠𝗰𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗹𝗲𝘆, 𝗝𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗢’𝗗𝗼𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 and 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀.  They are joined by 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝘆𝘁𝗲, making his international debut as the team’s reserve. Supporting the squad on the bank are Assistant Manager Nigel Houldsworth and Coach Roger Baker, alongside bank runners Dara Finnegan, Chris Haigh, Deimante Karalaunis, Nick Richards, and Sharon Sweeney.

The Lough Derg Predator Challenge took place on Sunday, with 25 teams aiming to catch all 3 target species (pike, perch and trout) as well as the biggest score. Conditions were not ideal, but fishing was quite good, with the first fish recorded on the app just 9 minutes into the competition. Full results and roundup here. 

A group of Dutch visitors made their annual trip to Melview Lodge in Co. Longford, where they were welcomed by host Kevin Lyons. They had a good 65 pike for their trip, and although no massive fish were boated, they managed to find plenty of time for socialising and greatly enjoyed their visit again. 

The weather, particularly the wind, has not helped sea angling, especially charter boat fishing, but when the wind dropped, skippers were able to get out and find some great fishing for their guests. Anglers on the Brazen Hussy II in Galway Bay may have been restricted to fishing inshore reefs, but the water was full of sandeel and the pollack were feeding hard, giving great sport. 

Most of our other reports feature shore angling. Weed really hampered fishing in the Ulster Krakens match on Waterfoot beach, where despite baits being covered in weed within minutes, Raymond McCann managed to pull out 14 counters +5 unders for 451 points. That’s great fishing in those conditions.  West Cork & District rounded of their master angler league with a match on Ballykinealy Strand, which produced great fishing. Troy Francis took a commanding early lead, a treble shot of golden grey mullet on his first cast seeing him lead from start to finish, where he signed for 32 fish and 1021 points! 

Ringsend SAC and Ballybrack SAC fished an innovative matchplay competition on Kilgorman beach, with 15 on each team, and the Ringsend anglers fishing the even pegs, and Ballybrack fishing odd. It made for a great event, closely fought to the finish, where Ringsend took the honours to take the inaugural Interclub Challenge Trophy. The highlight of the fishing was Stephen Glynn’s 97cm smoothhound, but there was excellent fishing throughout. 

 Dave Norman from Angling Adventures West Cork also sent a great report on  a recent trip fly fishing for thick-lipped mullet, with tips on flies and finding the fish that we hope to use ourselves here at Angling Ireland. 

Podcasts

This week Tom and Daire are joined on Ireland On The Fly by the hugely respected fishery scientist, Dr. Paddy Gargan, who has led and released what’s been called a landmark study which shows that, contrary to salmon farming’s stance, sea lice does have a major and significant effect on the mortality of salmon.
This paper has just been released and its implications will be far reaching as Paddy discusses on the latest Ireland on the Fly.
Plus, staying with salmon, Tom and Daire also speak to John Murphy, from Salmon Watch Ireland.
Listen and follow on Apple or Spotify and keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly on https://www.IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on https://Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.