Spring is slowly taking hold across the country as, over the course of the week, the sun has moved from a pale disk shrouded in clouds to a full-on yellow, surrounded by blue skies. Yesterday, saw some of the first genuine warmth of the year, with temperatures reaching the high teens in some places. It has remained chilly at night across the country, and rainfall has been mixed, with some parts of the country seeing plenty, while the eastern half has been mainly dry.

Ireland celebrated St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday, and while many will have attended the numerous parades held in our cities, towns, and villages, plenty of anglers will have snuck out the back door to have a cast or two on what is the traditional opening day on many of our wild brown trout rivers. While Patrick was better known for driving snakes off the island, he spent much of his time by the water, baptising the pagan population and leaving his mark on the numerous wells bearing his name dotted around the country. He is even rumoured to have used his powers to curse fishermen on the River Duff for being stingy with their salmon, while the more generous Drowes fishermen were blessed with good luck, which may well be the reason they often catch the first Irish salmon of the season…

We begin this week’s report with trout fishing, where the sudden improvement in the weather has triggered the first big fly hatch of the season on Lough Corrib, as the word has spread around the lake that ‘the duckfly are up’. Good hatches are being reported from Oughterard all the way down to the lower lake, with fish moving everywhere and plenty being caught using dry flies as well as the usual epoxies.

Mark Driver of Piscari Fly timed his visit west to perfection, as he made it to Corrib just in time for the early hatches of duckfly. He caught a couple of nice trout and met a few more, and he dropped one or two as well, mostly meeting them on buzzer patterns.

Staying with lough angling, but moving to the midlands, Artem Novikov was in touch with us to let us know about the fine trout he caught on Lough Sheelin. The trout measured 61cm and was caught on ultralight tackle using a crayfish pattern he had devised and fashioned himself.

Fine Sheelin trout caught on a homemade micro lure

To the rivers now, where angling guide and instructor Dan O’Neill enjoyed opening day casts on both the River Nore and the Kings River during the week. He managed to get a few fish on the dry/dropper and had a close encounter with some wildlife that brought it home to him that it’s not all about the fishing.

In Co. Laois, the Navan and District Anglers’ Association held a juniors’ day at Laois Angling Centre on Saturday, March 14th, to encourage young anglers to join the club, and the day turned out to be a huge success. The fourteen juniors who participated set forth to conquer the freshly stocked trout in the fisheries’ well-managed ponds, and conquer them they did! And by the end of the day, everybody had managed to land a trout, with some fine fish among them.

A budding Navan Angler, with a fine rainbow from Laois Angling Centre

We wrap up this week’s trout reports with news that the Dodder Anglers are running an open day ‘Parent & Child’ event this Saturday, 21st March. It’s a free event, and all age groups will be catered for.

Moving to the salt, a number of sea angling clubs were active recently, competing in various competitions. Ballybrack SAC were out on Roney Point for the latest round of their Master Angler competition, and with strong winds creating a lumpy sea, the venue was in prime shape. In a strong field of anglers, it was new member Ramunas Butkus who put in a sterling performance to land 26 fish, taking the win on the night.

It was slow going for the 21 senior and 4 junior anglers who turned up for the latest round of the Ringsend Irishtown SAC Master Angler competition. Fishing was generally poor, but with one notable highlight: a super sea trout caught by John Keane, estimated at 85 to 90cm, which was quickly released back to the sea. John Kinsella took the overall win on the day, but John Keane takes our Catch of the Week prize for his superb sea trout.

Super Catch of the Week sea trout for John Keane, which was released to swim away

In County Waterford, Ardmore SAC were at Ballyquin for a club competition. Despite near-perfect conditions, the fishing was slow to begin with. But as darkness fell, catches started to improve, with a couple of late ray making an impact on the scoring, as Michael Curran’s 71cm ray, landed with 30 seconds on the clock, saw him take the win on the night.

Meanwhile, over in Cork, Sarah Lynch showed her dad how to do it as she was crowned champion of the 2025/26 Cobh SAC Light Lines competition. It was all to play for heading into the final round, with dad Dan just ahead of Sarah at the top of the table, but Sarah managed to edge ahead in the final round, beating two-time former champ and Ireland international Dan into second place. 👏👏👏

We wrap up the sea angling reports with news of a couple of imminent competitions: The latest round of the Irish Shore Series Open Competition takes place this Saturday, 21st March, on Woodstown Beach, Waterford. And for boat angling specialists, the first leg of the Leinster Boat League will be held at Kilmore Quay the following Sunday, 29th March.

To pike angling now, and avid angler and expert YouTuber Steve McDonagh is no stranger to our reports, and he is pretty prolific when it comes to crafting quality videos of his fishing exploits. This week, he embarks on his final winter pike session and also provides a roundup of some of the venues he has fished and pike he has caught over the season.

Over in Co. Clare, Liam Curran and Adrian Rahill had their first pike trip of 2026 on a lake in the River Fergus system last Saturday, and with plenty of cold water and weather about, they weren’t expecting much action. But not long after they began, they hooked a nice female on a perch imitation paddle tail, and they also had a few jacks to keep them busy for the rest of the day.

Nice double from the Fergus system in Co Clare

In coarse angling news, the VDE Baggers had to endure terrible weather conditions when competing in their latest competition on the River Erne, with strong winds, heavy rain, and cold temperatures testing the mettle of the anglers. The weather impacted the fishing, and most anglers resorted to feeder tactics, with Paul Eyres taking the win from Peg 1 at Bellenaleck with 9.9kg of roach.

Meanwhile, on the commercial scene, Johnny Bailye of Loch Mahon Fisheries was in touch to tell us about a new competition he is running on the fishery over the coming months. It’s called the Last Man Standing. There are 16 anglers fishing, with the first round taking place in April, and it’s a 1-on-1 knockout. He’ll keep us posted as to how the competition is progressing over the next few months.

Decent bag in tough conditions at VDE Baggers match

To salmon angling now, and we have news just in that the first 2026 salmon from the Moy system was caught in recent days, a 9lb fish caught in the Pontoon area by local angler Fearghal Reape. And our final report of St. Patrick’s week comes from Co. Kerry, where the slow start to the season has continued on the Waterville lakes, and not even a saintly blessing from the man himself could rouse a salmon for the week that was in it.

And now the weather…

Today will be a pleasant day across the country, with plenty of sunshine and temperatures reaching the high teens in places.

Tonight will be dry with long clear spells, though cloud will increase in the northwest. Temperatures will fall to 0–6°C in calm conditions, with mist, fog, and some local frost developing.

Saturday will start with mist and fog clearing quickly, though some coastal fog may linger. It will stay mostly dry with sunny spells, though hazy at times, and slightly cloudier in the northwest with a small chance of drizzle. Temperatures will reach 11–17°C in light winds.

Overall, the weekend will be mostly dry, though Sunday will bring some cloud, light rain, and drizzle before brighter conditions return later. Early next week starts fairly dry, but from Monday night the weather turns more unsettled with rain, showers, and stronger winds. Temperatures will drop, with colder conditions midweek bringing wintry showers, frost, and windy spells, especially in coastal areas.

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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