We have reached the midpoint of May, and so far it has been a pretty cool month, with temperatures remaining stubbornly below the norm for the time of year. While sunshine levels have been around average for the week, and there has been plenty of blue sky, as soon as the sun pops behind a cloud, we are reminded that summer is not quite here yet. We have a bit of unsettled weather coming our way over the next few days, but there is a promise of better weather towards the end of next week.

As we head towards summer and sea temperatures begin to rise, we can expect an influx of nomadic species that tend to visit our shores over the summer months, as well as an uptick in activity from our more resident species as they move inshore to feed. One of those resident species, and one of the most popular for sea anglers, is pollack, and we begin this report with the worrying news that a daily bag limit of three pollack is set to come into force from the 1st of June. It’s worrying because it signals that a fish stock that has always been abundant in our waters is now under threat, to the point that intervention is needed to support long-term sustainability.

These new measures will certainly affect some anglers who like to keep a few fish ‘for the pot’, but they could also have serious implications for our charter boat fleet. For many skippers, the tradition of groups booking a ‘once a year’ trip and returning home with a box of fish remains an important part of their business mix. At a time when those skippers are already facing rising costs and increasing pressures, continued support from anglers will be more important than ever, as they are a hugely important part of our sea angling mix.

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To our more regular reporting now, and we start with the sea anglers, who seem to have been the most active cohort this week. Well-known sea angler James Raymond was in touch with an update on the species hunt competition he is running, where anglers compete to catch the greatest variety of species over the course of the year. With the seasons beginning to change, summer species such as gilthead bream and mullet are now starting to appear in catches, adding extra excitement to the competition. On a similar theme, but on a shorter timescale, a 24-hour species hunt was held last weekend, with all proceeds going to Pieta House. Despite some very adverse weather conditions, the participants managed to land 36 different species over the course of the competition, with JP Molloy storming the field to take the top prize with 22 species. Well done to all involved 👏

Gilthead Bream, a summer visitor to our shores

On the club scene, Ballybrack SAC fished the third leg of their Master Angler competition on Wicklow North Beach on Sunday. A combination of slack tides, calm weather and time of year meant that fish were in very short supply, and it only took 3 scoring fish for Peadar Taite to take the win. Meanwhile, in charter boat fishing, there has been some decent fishing in the Donegal area over the past week, with anglers catching a good range of species, including a run of cod and some nice pollack. In bass angling, an early start proved to be just the tonic for bass angler David Galvin on the Clare coast. Fishing at dawn, he managed to land a fine 63cm bass on an imitation sand eel lure, while bathed in the warm glow of the early morning light.

Good cod fishing reported in Donegal

The IMREC team has produced its quarterly report on sea angling for the first three months of the year. Whiting were the most common species encountered by some margin, with dogfish, bass, coalfish and spurdog making up the rest of the top 5. And we wrap up the sea angling section with news of a couple of upcoming open competitions: South Shore SAC will be hosting the Mick Kearney Open Competition on Morriscastle Beach on Saturday, 23rd May, from 12.00 – 17.00. While the following weekend, New Ross & District SAC will be hosting their annual three-day open competition on Hook Head. It’s a shore competition, fished over rough ground with all baits allowed.

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We move to trout fishing now, and mayfly hatches are on the increase on most of our fisheries, not least on Lough Arrow, where mayfly fishing is said to be well underway, with strong hatches reported across the lake throughout the week, and while cold northerly winds made conditions challenging at times, anglers still enjoyed some productive fishing. Staying on the lakes, the Lough O’Flynn & District Anglers held the Malone Cup competition on the lake over the weekend, and were welcomed to the lake by a grim north wind that put a chill in the air… Expectations were adjusted downwards accordingly, but the fish proved surprisingly cooperative as the hours unfolded, with many anglers filling their quota and most boats wetting their nets by the end of the day.

Fly are up on Arrow

Next to the rivers, and thirteen members of the North Kildare anglers were on the banks of the Liffey at the weekend for their latest C&R club competition, where 44 trout were caught, photographed and released as Gary Reville finished the day on top with a combined length of 120.8cm in a very close run competition. In the south east, angling guide Dan O’Neill has been out and about on the River Nore, where his clients have had some great dry fly fishing, with the peak of the hatch usually between 11.30am and 3.30pm. Fly patterns needed to be small in order to tempt the trout to take. We wrap up the trout reports with some reading material. Angling guide, instructor, and blogger Keith McDonnell usually has some interesting takes on fly fishing, and he recently put together a piece on dry fly fishing for the Guide Flyfishing website.

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To coarse angling now, and we begin with a regular visitor, Paul Waghorne, who has been travelling to Ireland for over 35 years, and he reckons this is the coldest May he has ever experienced. He has been fishing some reed-fringed lakes in the Midlands with a couple of friends this week, and they have caught some fabulous tench, with a couple of 7lb+ beauties the pick of the bunch. Paul and his buddies win this week’s Catch of the Week for their impressive tench haul.

Paul Vicary with Tench of 6lb 12oz
Paul Vicary with Tench of 6lb 12oz

The match anglers have been busy this week, and we have reports from a number of competitions from around the country: Oaklands Fishery was busy over the weekend, as both the Athy and District Anglers Summer League and the Oaklands Fishery Summer League kicked off at the venue. With the packed venue, bright sun, and cool breeze, the fishing was difficult in places, but despite that, a few decent bags were recorded. The Leinster Coarse Anglers were back on the Royal Canal at Enfield on Sunday, where Jimmy Kelly put in a strong performance, netting a 16lb+ bag of tench and bream to win the day by a country mile. The CM Lakelands Club held a match last weekend on Yellow Island, Lough Muckno. The fishing was good and kept everyone busy, none more so than Piotr Horbiński, who managed 95 fish from peg 197 to top the leaderboard with 9.26kg. The IASCaire Feeder Club brought their Spring League to a dramatic conclusion last weekend, as Sarunas Zenkovas, Romas Na and Max Novak were all separated by a single point going into the final match. It was neck and neck all through the match, and so every fish counted. In the end, Romas pipped Max by just 40g to win out. – And we wrap up the coarse section with news of an upcoming match, as the Monasterevin & Daingean Match Anglers have announced the inaugural Daingean Sundew Angling Festival will take place on Saturday, June 13th.

Good haul of bream and tench from the Royal Canal

To the salmon scene now, and after a long winter, we can finally report that the Galway Weir has produced its first salmon of the season. James Carney hooked a springer on the spinner, and he landed a lovely fresh fish of just over 10lbs. Well done, James! In the south-west, the River Bandon saw a few more salmon caught last week. Conditions on the river were described as good for the week, and 5 salmon were reported caught on a spinner and a shrimp, the best of which was a 10lb fish. Meanwhile, in Co. Mayo, angling pressure on the River Moy was down this week, as low water and cold winds meant that many anglers stayed away, waiting for more favourable conditions. There was a smattering of catches throughout the system, with a few fish around the 13lb mark, most of which fell to the prawn. Finally, to Kerry, where Vincent Appleby reports that salmon fishing remains very slow on Lough Currane, but at least he has one fish to report this week, as a salmon was landed on 6th May, before the lake reverted to the sluggish state we have unfortunately become used to.

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The pike anglers have been quiet this week, but we do have a couple of reports for you. Firstly, angling guide Kevin Lyons welcomed some Dutch visitors to the Midlands for their annual pike fishing trip. Being regular visitors to the area, they know the local waters really well, and they proved this with some smashing pike – the best of them at 112cm and 103cm.

Pouring rain, but Dutch visitor Thomas isn’t complaining with his super Midlands pike

Lastly, thirty-two members of the Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs headed to a river venue over the weekend to fish the first qualifier of 2026. It was a venue that they had not fished in a few years, so who knew what was in store… but the river fished well on the day, and 169 pike were caught and released, with Sean Marky winning on the day, with 14 pike for 54lb+.

And now the weather


After a mainly dry start to Friday with some sunny spells, conditions are set to become increasingly unsettled over the coming days, with rain, showers and breezier weather expected across much of the country. Eastern areas will see the best of the brighter conditions initially, while cloudier weather in the west and southwest will gradually spread nationwide. Temperatures will remain coolish throughout the period, generally ranging from 9°C to 16°C.

Friday night will turn cloudier as light rain and drizzle spread eastwards overnight. Saturday will start dull and damp, with outbreaks of rain becoming more persistent as they move across the country through the morning and afternoon. Brighter conditions with sunny spells and scattered showers will follow later from the west.

The unsettled weather will continue through Sunday and Monday, with widespread rain and drizzle, turning heavy at times, particularly later on Sunday and again on Monday afternoon and evening. Some thunderstorms are also possible on Sunday. Conditions will gradually become milder, especially overnight, with Monday night expected to be noticeably warmer than recent nights.

By Tuesday, showery rain should ease gradually, with drier weather and some sunny spells extending from the south later in the day.

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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