It’s been another week of weather-related news, with Storm Chandra, named by the UK Met Office, visiting our southern and eastern counties this week. While wind damage was minimal, the rainfall it brought fell on already saturated ground, and caused flooding in many areas from Monaghan to Waterford. Many rivers burst their banks, including the River Slaney in Enniscorthy, the River Barrow in Graigenamanagh, and the River Dodder in Dublin. Some roads in Co. Wicklow are closed due to structural damage, and many homes and businesses have been damaged by floodwater.

There is no respite for some areas too, with 7 eastern and southeastern counties, as well as the 6 counties in Northern Ireland, under a weather warning today for further rainfall and high risk of flooding again.

See here from Met Eireann on Storm Chandra and this weekend’s flood risk, and for advice on how to stay safe.

Needless to say, with rivers bursting their banks and high water levels in the rest of the country, we don’t have a huge amount of angling news to bring you this week.

It is still early days in the salmon season, and the Currane anglers remained fishless this week, with cold and then stormy conditions keeping most off the water.

The trout season for most is still a while away, but Peter Driver and his crew are back in action with the Piscari Fly newsletter, getting ready for the season ahead.

The 37th Irish Winter Shore Angling Festival was heavily disrupted by the weather, with the first session moved to Morriscastle, a great backup venue which produced 632 fish for the session! Day 2 was much tougher, with the backup venue producing fish for just 10 anglers, and Day 3 was cancelled altogether due to the massive swell hitting all the venues. The weather-affected festival was won by well-known Irish angler JP Molloy, but see here for a full run down of the event. Sea anglers will know how rare a 40cm+ flounder is, and Gary Hughes’s 41cm flattie wins our Catch of the Week.

Gary Hughes 41cm flounder

Up north, Carrick Beach Rockers fished a comp in horrendous weather conditions at Waterfoot, and were rewarded for their persistence with plenty of species and decent fishing. Species caught included flounder, dab, cod, whiting, coalie, rockling, dogfish, and plaice.

For sea anglers looking for a good comp this weekend, today is the last day to enter tomorrow’s Micheal Quinn Memorial comp hosted by Killala BC, held at Lacken which produced excellent fishing recently.

The Leinster Coarse Fishing Federation hosted its first junior day of the year last week, and 12 budding young anglers braved the wet and windy conditions to hone their skills under the expert guidance of Dean Murray. Some great fish were caught, and plenty of Hybrids, Roach and Perch were put on the scales.

CM Lakelands club also braved the weather, holding two matches on Garadice at the weekend, with 3-4kg being enough to make the winning weights, mostly roach, perch, hybrids and a few skimmer bream.

Pike anglers will appreciate Steve McDonagh’s latest Youtube video, where he encounters all sorts of adversity – flooded venues and fields, matches, submerged platforms, dropped runs. As he says,“If you’ve ever blanked after doing everything right, this one’s for you.”

The Leinster Pike Angling Club winter league concluded in dramatic fashion last Sunday. Despite recent poor weather making venue selection difficult, the organisers secured a few lakes that remained just about fishable, resulting in a productive day with plenty of fish caught. Standings at the top were tied, with Anthony Byrne winning on a countback of fish caught over the league outings.

Finally, the Camlin & District Anglers are holding the Ray Gill Memorial / Blessing of the boats pike fishing competition on Sunday, the 22nd of February in Lanesborough. Full details in the link above.

And now the weather

Today will see scattered showers, some heavy and prolonged in Ulster. Rain in the south-east will spread up across most of Leinster and eastern parts of Munster this afternoon and evening, with some thundery downpours possible. With saturated ground conditions and high river levels, further localised flooding is possible. Highest temperatures of 7 to 10 degrees. Moderate to fresh southeasterly winds, will gradually ease light to moderate through today, but will continue strong at times near eastern and northern coasts.

Saturday morning , cloud and outbreaks of rain will affect areas away from the southwest, where there will be sunny spells and a few showers. The rain will become patchier as the day goes on and some bright or sunny intervals will develop. Highest temperatures of 7 to 11 degrees with light to moderate, variable winds.

On Sunday, Cloud and outbreaks of rain will move northeastwards across the country, with dry and bright conditions following from the southwest. Highest temperatures of 5 to 10 degrees with light to moderate and variable winds. The outlook is for unsettled weather to continue, staying cool in mainly easterly winds.

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. 

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