This week, Inland Fisheries Ireland is proud to sponsor the the 59th World Championship Boat Angling for Seniors, as teams from thirteen countries descend on Crosshaven in Cork hoping to be crowned champions of the world.
Team Ireland
Along with Team Ireland, anglers from France, Switzerland, England, Wales, Portugal, Spain, Montenegro, Luxembourg, Belgium, Croatia, Germany and Italy will all participate in the event.
After the official training day (which is today, Monday 14th) teams will fish from 9.30am to 3pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with Friday held in reserve in case of poor weather on one of the other competition days. The competition is fished on a catch and release basis, with points scored depending on species caught.
Getting ready
1 of 7
We’ll keep an eye on events during the week and post any updates on the Fishing in Ireland website. We would like to wish them all good luck this week, but better luck to Ireland! May the best team win…
eatherwise last week has been a typical autumn week with a mix of sunny intervals and showers, cool mornings and generally breezy conditions. Parts of the country saw some heavy rain last weekend which resulted in rising water levels in places but thankfully didn’t cause severe flooding which was forecast for several regions.
Now that the salmonid season has come to a close on most waters, the main angling focus lies on pike, coarse and sea angling with the coming weeks probably among some of the best for pike fishing in general. So it actually comes as a little surprise that we only received a handful of pike reports this week.
However, let’s start in Boyle where Bodo Funke of Angling Services Ireland has been out on the water again after a short break, this time guiding two Dutch lure anglers who both managed to land some metre pike with one of them a personal best.
Concluding our pike news for this week we would like to congratulate Team Ireland who finished third in the recently held World Predator Championships on Lower Lough Erne. The competition which took place over three days was fished by boat using artificial lures only for perch and pike with fish measurements turned into points. Team Lithuania came in as clear winners finishing in first place on each of the competition days, with Latvia in second overall.
While Irish predator teams were competing successfully at the World Championships in County Fermanagh, the Senior and U25 feeder teams were battling the world’s best at the World Feeder Fishing event in Hungary. And battle they did, as the U25 team secured the silver medal, second only to the host nation! This was truly an outstanding performance from John Browne, Brian Clark, Dominykas Kuklys and Charlie Richards who represented our U25 team in Hungary…well done lads!
On the sea angling front things were a little quieter as previously…probably due to the unsettled, breezy conditions of late. Having said that, some great fishing was had during the week by sea anglers around the coast. Starting in the east, Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters enjoyed top class fishing with a group of anglers from the Netherlands who had 40 sharks to the boat on their first day and 70 on their second. The Dutch anglers had new personal PBs broken on bullhuss, tope and spurdog with a specimen spur being the icing on the cake so far as their trip isn’t over yet. We believe, this combined result deserves to win this week’s Catch of the Week!
Concluding this week’s Angling Update, we have a look at Lough Currane one of the few remaining salmonid fisheries which are open until tomorrow. Vincent Appleby who has led us through the angling year in a profound and witty fashion reported on a few last sea trout for the Currane & Inny anglers…with just one day to go on Lough Currane, sea trout anglers already look forward to the start of the 2025 season.
An autumnal Lough Currane
We would like to take this opportunity to remind all salmon and sea trout anglers to return their angling logbooks (setting out their fishing and catch record) and any unused gill tags by 19 October 2024!
Finally, we would like to recommend the latest episode of the Ireland on the Fly podcast to our readers. In this week’s episode Darryl Mooney talks about his involvement as the fly manager of the upcoming Irish Fly Fair and some of the incredible fly tyers who will be jetting in from around the world. Plus Darryl tells Tom & Daire about an incredible trip to Bosnia for grayling that he had this summer and gives some interesting insights of the flyfishing industry.
Other news
Irish Fly Fair
The 12th annual Irish Fly Fair and International Angling Show is back in Fermanagh next month. This prestigious event will be held at the fabulous four-star Killyhevlin Hotel and grounds overlooking majestic Lough Erne. Dates are set for 16th and the 17th of November and doors open at 10am both days.
Specimen Fish
The deadline for submitting specimen claims is approaching fast. If you were lucky enough to catch a specimen fish this year and want to claim it, get your paperwork into the ISFC as soon as possible so that the ISFC can assess it. All specimen claims to be submitted by 31 October. Further information is available here.
And now the weather…
Tonight will be dry in many areas with clear spells in Leinster and Munster. Rain will develop In the northwest by midnight and will extend over much of Connacht and Ulster overnight, heavy in places. Lowest temperatures of 1 to 5 in the south and east and from 6 to 9 degrees elsewhere with light to moderate southwest winds, fresher near northwestern coasts.
Saturday will be a windy day along northwestern coasts with outbreaks of rain. The rain can turn heavy in places. Highest daytime temperatures will reach 8 to 10 degrees in Ulster and 11 to 13 degrees elsewhere. Saturday night will be cold and mostly dry with clear spells. Lowest temperatures of 1 to 5 degrees with light, variable breezes.
Sunday will see a mainly dry start with cloud gradually thickening from the Atlantic through the day. Patchy outbreaks of rain and drizzle look likely to affect coastal counties of the south and west from afternoon, with the rain turning heavier and more persistent during Sunday evening and spreading elsewhere.
Current indications suggest that mixed and changeable conditions will persist for most of next week.
The latest episode from Daire and Tom at the Ireland on the Fly podcast:
We’re into October, the nights are closing in, and for some of you, pike fishing awaits, or evenings fly tying at the vice.
But the off season also means the Irish Fly Fair in November and this week’s guest is Darryl Mooney who tells us about his involvement as the fly manager and some of the incredible fly tyers who will be jetting in from around the world.
And we have two tickets to give away to the event – just listen to the question we ask about the fair during the show and email your answer to [email protected].
Plus Darryl tells us about an incredible trip to Bosnia for grayling that he had this summer and with his years of being involved in the fly fishing tackle trade, he tells us why we maybe need to be looking more towards the carp industry for innovation and insights.
Longford angler Gintaras Vosylius has had some great success for pike on the River Inny in October in recent seasons, and this October has been no different. Gintaras has only had two short sessions with the deadbaits so far this season, but managed to land a cracking river pike on each visit. Fishing his favoured October method of deadbaiting, Gintaras landed one pike of 15lbs and another slightly bigger at 15.5lbs, with one of them an unusual – but not uncommon – snub nosed fish. Gintaras hopes to get out on the river as often as he can for the next few weeks, no doubts he will land some more super river pike.
Reminder to Please get your claims in now to avoid the rush at end October closing date.
The deadline for submitting specimen claims is approaching fast. If you were lucky enough to catch a specimen fish this year and want to claim it, get your paperwork into the ISFC as soon as possible so that the ISFC can assess it. All specimen claims to be submitted by 31st Oct.
The deadline for coarse species needing genetic testing of scale samples is 15 October.
To speed up the process this year you can email a copy of your completed claim form to
Skipper Seán Maguire reports some good catches aboard the Isle of Aran in recent days.
Having said that, the mackerel were hit and miss for one of his regular groups, but they had a great time catching pollock, coalies and a variety of other species that were happy to hammer whatever mackerel feathers and lures the anglers tried.
The Isle of Aran has spent a lot of time fishing in the shelter of the estuary this season, with persistent strong winds having cursed the charter skippers in 2024, so whenever the opportunity arises it has been great to get that bit further out.
Twin engine 10 meter Lochin 333 Skipper:Séan Maguire Licence:1629 Base: Carrigaholt Operational Area:15 miles from Kilbaha, Carrigaholt, and Kilrush
Notes: Whether you want to go to the Atlantic Ocean for a large selection of species, including different types of shark, or fish the estuary for ray conger tope etc, Fishing Adventures will cater for whatever fishing you desire. With state of the art electronics, quality fishing gear, and large deck space, the Lady Gwen II is a stable and comfortable boat to fish.
The Seamus Mooney Enfield Winter League kicked off last weekend on sections of the Royal canal near Enfield and eighteen Anglers fished the 1st leg.
Fishing was very poor in the Town Stretch, but the Millennium Bridge fished a bit better with Dara Finnegan taking the spoils with 6.40kg. Eight anglers fished Millennium – split into 4×2 sections. The Town Section had 10 Anglers split into 3 sections as follows; 3 anglers, 4 anglers, 3 anglers – so that everyone involved had a great chance of collecting points.
Millennium.
Section A. — Dara Finnegan……………6.46kg.
Section B. — Michael O’Connor………..4.54kg.
Town Section.
Section C. — Bob Hulme…………………0.80kg.
Section D. — Conor Browne…………….1.04kg.
Section E. — Mark Leonard……………..2.12kg.
The next leg will be fished on Sunday October 20th.
Day tickets are once again available for pike fishing on Milltown Lake near Castleblayney. The fees are the same as last year, at €30 per day per angler, and anglers are allowed to fish with two rods.
Lake access is good, with a number of stands to choose from and a well maintained car park. While club members can get on the water early, visiting day ticket holders can only leave the car park to fish after 8am and must be off the water before dark.
This season's Milltown specials
1 of 4
Proper Milltown pike
Some good pike have already been caught in the opening week of the season and anybody interested in buying a day ticket should contact the Milltown club via their Facebook page.
Fishing at Portumna has been something special over the last month. At the weekend the Portumna Coarse Angling Club had a club match in which both the first and second placed anglers caught over 20lb. The competition up was held on the Salmon Run where Richard Pulford had 23 lb 14oz and Larry had 22lb 50z, 3rd placed Stuart also did well with 14lb 9oz.
The previous week the club fished match at Rodgers Island. The top 3 were as follows
1st Gary McCay 18lb 2oz
2nd Bruce Pennel 13lb 11oz
3rd Patrick O’Neill 11lb 11oz
Gary McCay at Portumna
Boathouse Pub Portumna Fishing Festival
All this fishing comes after the very successful Boathouse Pub Fishing Festival which was fished by 34 anglers on 4 venues over 5 days. The festival finished on September 20th after some very exciting match angling displays. There were huge nets weighed in over the competition. Bruce Pennell got the ball rolling on day 1 with a massive 68lb 6oz, an incredible 26lb more than the next biggest catch.
Day 2 proved to be a busy day though and 5 anglers went over 40lb with John Deacon amassing 53lb 14oz for the daily win but Bruce took another section win to go two points ahead of the field.
On Day 3 Geoff Walker emerged as the clear winner with 50lb 4oz. There was a big shake up at the top the leader board with Richard Pulford going into 1st on 5 points, while Paul Caygill kept hold of the second spot and Gary McCay moved into 3rd position both on 7 points with 4 anglers lying behind them on 8 points.
Day 4 saw Paul Caygill weigh in 45lb 13oz on the Town stretch for a win. Richard Pulford had another section win himself so the leader board remained much the same; Richard in first on 6 points, Paul Caygill in 2nd on 8 points and Geoff Walker in 3rd on 9 points. With one other angler on 9 points, 3 on 11 and 3 on 13 the field was still wide open.
Helen Dagnall, Pairs winning team
The last day was probably the most dramatic. Dave Brooks took the daily win with 65lb 6oz, followed by Pawel on 49lb 7oz and Macca in 3rd on 46lb 5oz. However Richard Pulford did enough with a 2nd place on his section to emerge as the over all champion with 5 points (final positions are based on your 4 best days).
In this incredible festival 7 anglers caught over 100lb in the five days with the overall 3rd place winner Pawel Mlecka catching 125lb 14oz.
Final results
1st Richard Pulford 5pts
2nd Paul Caygill 6pts
3rd Arunas Mlecka 8pts
4th Geoff walker 9 pts
5th Ronnie Goldwater 9pts
6th Wayne Hall 9pts
Pair’s Results
1st Dave Brooks and Helen Dagnall
2nd John Deakin and Geoff walker
3rd Bruce Pennell and Richard Pulford
Go fishing…
For information about the Portumna Festival and other matches in the area check in with the club on their Facebook page.
Portumna Coarse Angling Clubare affiliated to the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland and are members of the Angling Council the National Governing Body for coarse and predator angling as recognised by Sport Ireland and Sport NI. www.ncffi.ie
Blue Shark Angling Galway, based in Ros A Mhil, Galway, have reported some nice fish on recent trips, with plenty of tope on the ground. They have also found some good sized pollock and some surprise red bream!
Skipper: John Fleming Licence:1011 (11 passengers and 1 crew) Base: Rosaveal, Spiddal, Galway (Depending on species) Operational area: Rosaveal, Spiddal and Galway up to 20 miles to sea
Authorised bluefin tuna boat 2024
Notes: A regular day is between 9am- 6pm from either Rosaveel, Spiddal or Galway depending on species being sought after.
Fishing on the inshore reefs for pollock, cod, ling, wrasse, conger eel and mackerel can be reached in 10 minutes from departure, while our offshore reef marks are within 45 minutes of departure.
Our ground fishing for tope, spurdog, ray, bullhuss, turbot, plaice and the giant common skate can all be reached within the hour which ensures the most amount of time is spent fishing.
The shark season usually starts at the end of June and runs into late October, this is the ultimate angling addrenaline rush with these hard fighting blue and porbeagle sharks all being tagged and release safely.
Package deals available
Isle of Aran
Brazen Hussy ll
