Irish angling Update 🎣 03 July 2026

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July 3, 2026

There was a bit of everything in the weather for Ireland last week. Some places experienced very heavy rain and thunderstorms. The rain was welcomed by most freshwater anglers, but in many places water temperatures remained fairly high until a day or two ago. Conditions for sea anglers were breezy enough at times, but not so much to make fishing impossible, as this week’s reports show…

We’ll start the Irish Angling Update in Cavan, where the 30th FIPSed European Championships Coarse Fishing competition was fished at the weekend. Fifteen countries took part, but only one could be crowned champions. The honours went to Italy in what was a decisive victory. There were other coarse angling events taking place over the weekend too. Edenderry CAC fished a morning match on the canal where a magical end peg yielded over 16lb for the winner. Meanwhile down at Oaklands John Browne won another leg of the Oaklands Summer League with over 98kg.

A fine shore caught tope for Mike Curtin at Ballyreen, Co. Clare

Off to sea now, and to the east coast. In Wicklow, charter boat anglers are getting some good sized pollack over the wrecks, when conditions allow, and closer to shore there are decent tope, including some specimen sized fish being caught. At Arklow, Ringsend Irishtown SAC fished a match that saw some good results despite the challenging southwesterlies. Catches included smoothhounds, tope, dabs and dogs. We head to West Cork now where a group of Dutch anglers finished their angling holiday aboard the Silver Dawn with a specimen skate. Some of the Killybegs Mariners headed to Kerry for a change of scenery and to try to beat a 23 species in a week club record. They caught an incredible range of species but missed out by one, and if they had landed what would normally be considered bankers, pollack, pouting and a few more, they would have smashed it. On the Shannon Estuary, Skipper Luke Aston made the most of tricky conditions and got his anglers on some good ray and tope fishing. When conditions improved enough he got on to the Atlantic for a good mix of fishing. Also fishing off Clare‘s coastline was Skipper Sean Maguire, whose crew had some great fishing as shoals of mackerel seemed to get all the fish in a biting mood.

Cian Moran, overall winner of the 2026 National Junior Sea Angling competition seen here being presented with the Tommy Gibbons Memorial Cup by skipper Joe Gibbons. Cian had 13 fish and 130 points on the day.

Further up the Clare coast at Ballyreen, Lisdoonvarna Fanore Sea Angling Club fished a competition where a smashing tope helped Mike Curtin to victory. For charter boat anglers on Galway Bay it was spurdogs that seemed to be particularly plentiful, but there was also good general fishing to be enjoyed by anglers on the Brazen Hussey II around the Aran Islands. We finish the sea angling round up in Mayo, where Cian Moran won the 34^th Annual National Junior Competition hosted by Newport SAC.

We return to the rivers and lakes now where thankfully water temperatures returned to “normal” and salmon fisheries like the River Erriff, Moy Fishery, Galway Fishery and Muckross Fishery all reopened over the last few days. On the Moy there were 139 salmon reported for the week. There were a good number of grilse in the catches but some decent fresh fish into double figures were also landed. Lough Currane anglers endured blazing sunshine and blustery winds last week but still they rose to the challenge and accounted for 7 salmon and a few sea trout to boot.

In Pike angling news, 15 year-old Jack Monaghan from Athlone broke a club record with a a smashing fish of 116cm. This fine summer pike caught by a junior angler makes for a great Catch of the Week.

We finish up this week’s round up of angling news on the trout rivers and lakes of Ireland. Fly anglers on the Nore are concentrating their efforts on the early morning and late evening hatches. There’s plenty of sedges hatching and summertime fishing is in full swing. If you can’t cast a fly, not to worry, there’s still a chance of a trout on light spinning gear, and guide Senan Stanely has a great video on how to go about that. In lake angling Ronan Baggot won Lough O’Flynn’s first catch and release competition in a new evening series for that venue. Last, but by no means least, is a super report on the fine catches of trout that have been coming off Lough Corrib in recent weeks.

And now the weather

The outlook for the next few days predicts plenty of dry weather but cloudy overall. Some rain and drizzle at times, mainly affecting the north and west. It will be driest and warmest in the south and east. As we go to press, there are small boat warnings in place for the weekend on western, northwestern and northern coasts.

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.

All the angling news

Salmon Fishing Reports

Trout Fishing Reports

Coarse Angling Reports

Pike Fishing Reports

Club record 116cm pike for Jack Monaghan from the Shannon at Athlone

Sea Angling Reports

Specimen skate to round out memorable trip for Dutch anglers in Courtmacsherry

By

Myles Kelly

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July 3, 2026

David Edwards, Skipper of the Silver Dawn, is back again with a final report from his Dutch anglers who were visiting last week…

Friday was the last day on Silver Dawn for the lads from Holland and our target was Skate. They’ve been very thin on the ground so far this year, so the three lads also used a lighter set up to target smaller species.

They had a good mix of Dogfish, Bull Huss, Conger, Pollack, Mackerel and Gurnard but nothing on the heavy Skate gear.

As high water approached, Robin felt the unmistakable take of a Skate, unfortunately it was on his light set up.

An absolute classic of a tussle followed where Robin was always going to be second best. Constant pressure eventually saw the fish lift, everything was at its limit and only for the fact we were almost at high water, did Robin have any chance at all of getting the fish back from downtide.

An age seemed to pass before we were able to use two Tuna lip grips on it’s wings and were able to slide him onboard for measuring and tagging.

At 187cm long, it is an Irish Specimen fish and particularly large for a male.

We released him using our specialist Skate handling mat and sat back to ask ourselves, “How the feck did we manage to land that fish?”. A brilliant end to a great week of fishing.

Book a trip…

West Cork Charters

Address Courtmacsherry Cork Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 83 449 1403 Email: enquiries@westcorkcharters.com Website: westcorkcharters.com

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139 salmon from the Moy catchment despite fishery closures due to warm temperatures

By

Shane O'Reilly

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July 3, 2026

Michael Murphy has compiled the Moy Catchment Angling Report – Week ending 28-06-2026

Water levels at Ballylahan continued to drop steadily to 0.35m as the week began with settled, warm weather across the catchment, with temperatures reaching the mid-20s Celsius under high pressure. Dry conditions dominated the first half of the week before cooler Atlantic air arrived from midweek, bringing scattered showers and more frequent spells of rain. The high air temperatures contributed to water temperatures being elevated and as a result some fisheries were closed during the week. The fresh water brought new fish up the river with grilse beginning to show more prominently in catches. Anglers had best results following periods of fresh water, with spinning and fly both working depending on water clarity and overall numbers showing an improvement on the previous week.

A total of 139 salmon were reported caught across the catchment for the week, of which 47 were reported released.

Moy Fishery

The Moy Fishery closed for angling from 24^th June due to elevated water temperatures.

IFI is now managing an additional angling beat on the River Moy for 2026. The Beat is known as the “Moy Fishery – Upper Beat” and comprises of 3.5 miles of water on the left-hand bank of the River Moy (looking downstream), extending from the top of the Freshwater Beat to the border with the Mount Falcon Fishery. Daily and season permits are available, and more information is available by contacting the Moy Fishery office on 096 21332.

Cathedral Beat

One salmon of 3.5 lbs was caught on the fly for week ending 28^th June 2023, the first of the season.

Ridge Pool

Two salmon were caught and subsequently released for the week.

Ballina Salmon Anglers

Robbie reported twenty-one salmon caught for the week, four of which were released with fish ranging from 3 lbs to 4 lbs.

Knockmore Salmon Anglers

Kenneth reported six salmon caught for the week, three of which were released mostly on the prawn with weights ranging from 3 lbs to 8 lbs.

Attymass Angling Club

Kevin reported one salmon caught for the week.

Coolcronan Fishery

Nick reported one salmon caught for the week.

Byrnes Fishery

Roy reported two salmon caught for the week, both on the prawn weighing 4 lbs each.

Armstrong Fishery

George reported seven salmon caught for the week all on the bubble and fly with weights from 3 lbs to 5 lbs.

Gannon’s Fishery

Pat reported 11 salmon for the week, three of which were released, with mainly grilse recorded.

Foxford Fishery

Granville reported 16 salmon for the week, six of which were released; most were caught on prawn, with the best weighing 10 lbs.

Foxford Salmon Anglers

Harry reported 22 salmon for the week, six of which were released caught on worm; spinner, and bubble and fly.

Foxford town

Reports were received of twenty salmon caught in the Foxford town area for the week.

Cloongee Fishery

Two salmon were reported caught for the week, both of which were released, with the best weighing 4 lbs. Cloongee Fishery was closed for angling due to elevated water temperatures from 25^th June.

East Mayo Anglers Association

Kathleen reported twenty-seven salmon for the week, twenty-one of which were released; all methods worked well, with fish ranging from 3 lbs to 13 lbs.

A 4 lbs salmon, caught by Billy McGhee, Ballyvary, being released on East Mayo Anglers waters on 24th June.

Tope gets Mike to the top in Ballyreen competition

By

IFI Staff

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July 2, 2026

734101368_1342694381171718_5886640471281681215_n — A fine shore caught tope for Mike Curtin

Lisdoonvarna Fanore Sea Angling Club held the annual TerryMulligan Memorial competition on Sunday 28th at Ballyreen. Conditions were breezy by the looks of it, having cooled down from the heatwave conditions of the previous week, but some great fish were caught, including a fine shore tope for the winner Mike Curtin.

Results were as follows:

1st Michael Curtin

2nd Max Roche

3rd Joe Byrne

4th James Linnane

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Go Fishing

Lisdoonvarna Fanore SAC is an active sea angling based in north Clare. They hold regular competitions and outings throughout the year, with the highlight being the International Week around the August bank holiday weekend. New members are always welcome. Check them out here to get in touch.

End peg proves a winner for Garreth Smyth at Edenderry

By

Shane O'Reilly

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July 2, 2026

This post was compiled from angling reports shared on the Edenderry Coarse Angling Club Facebook page:

S eventeen members of the Edenderry CAC fished a morning match on the canal to try and avoid the high daytime temperatures last week. As it happened, the temperatures had dropped overnight and they fished in showery and blustery conditions.

Garreth Smyth didn’t let the pressure of drawing an end peg get to him, and he won comfortably with 16lb 8oz, while fellow end pegger Brian Kane came in second with 12lb 14oz.

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A full report and more photos can be viewed on the Edenderry Coarse Angling Club Facebook Page.

Luke Kinsella shows the seniors how it’s done at Ringsend/Irishtown match

By

Shane O'Reilly

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July 2, 2026

This post was compiled from angling reports shared on the Ringsend Irishtown Angling Club Facebook page:

T he Ringsend Irishtown SAC made the trip to Arklow for their latest match, with a respectable turnout of 15 seniors and 2 juniors, who faced challenging conditions due to a strong southerly wind.

Despite the difficult casting, several anglers excelled. New member Ciaran started strong, landing a 46cm tope pup on his first cast to win the longest round fish pool. Dylan Bissett also enjoyed a highly productive session, nearly averaging a fish per cast.

On peg 1, Brendan Byrne put together a competitive card with multiple dogfish and a pup hound, while showing great sportsmanship by lending equipment to a competitor. Brendan ultimately secured third place with 206 points. James Kinsella, fishing on peg 4, adapted his tactics mid-match to focus on dogfish, earning second place with 275 points.

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Luke Kinsella dominated the senior section from peg 12, consistently landing fish to claim first place with 428 points. This victory marked Luke’s second consecutive Top Rod title while competing as a junior in the senior division. In the junior section, Seány Kinsella won first place with 46 points after catching a 41cm smoothhound on his final cast. Aaron Boyne secured the longest flatfish pool with a 21cm dab.

Results

Seniors

1st Place: Luke Kinsella – 428 points

2nd Place: James Kinsella – 275 points

3rd Place: Brendan Byrne – 206 points

Juniors

1st Place: Sean Kinsella – 46 points

2nd Place: Ciara – 22 points

Pools

Longest Round Fish: Ciaran – 46cm Tope

Longest Flat Fish: Aaron Boyne – 21cm Dab

A full report and more photos can be viewed on the Ringsend Irishtown Angling Club Facebook Page.

Go Fishing…

Sea Angling on the East Coast

Mariners fall just short in quest for PB, but have fun trying

By

Shane O'Reilly

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July 2, 2026

This post was compiled from angling reports shared on the Killybegs Mariners Facebook page:

C cormac Burke of the Killybegs Mariners enlisted three fellow KM anglers to try and beat his PB of 23 different species on his annual week of fishing in Co. Kerry. They picked the heatwave week to do it in, and fished marks at Valentia Island, Ventry, Dingle, Derrymore, Brandon, Fermoyle, Castlegregory, Fenit Pier and the Maharees. They managed to get some quality fish, including a specimen smoothhound, an undulate ray, a painted ray, and a very fine bass of 66cm (just 1cm short of the Mariners SAC bass club record length).

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But quite a few of the “easier” species evaded them, including pollock, pouting, poor cod, red & grey gurnards, thornback ray and garfish. So, ultimately, they fell short of the magic number, agonisingly missing out on equalling the PB by a single fish. This was their tally for the week:

SEAN HARTE — 15 SPECIES

1. Bull Huss

2. Common Sandeel

3. Painted Ray

4. Flounder

5. Common Goby

6. Bass

7. Smoothhound

8. Conger Eel

9. Goldsinny Wrasse

10. Black Goby

11. Ballan Wrasse

12. Red mouthed Goby

13. Corkwing Wrasse

14. Lesser Spotted Dogfish

15. Tub Gurnard

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JOHN HIGGINS — 12 SPECIES

1. Bass

2. Painted Ray

3. Flounder

4. Weever Fish

5. Common Sandeel

6. Launce

7. Goldsinny Wrasse

8. Ballan Wrasse

9. Red mouthed Goby

10. Corkwing Wrasse

11. Black Goby

12. Mackerel

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CORMAC — 10 SPECIES

1. Common Sandeel

2. Conger Eel

3. Red mouthed Goby

4. Ballan Wrasse

5. Tompot Blenny

6. Black Goby

7. Corkwing Wrasse

8. Tub Gurnard

9. Baillon’s Wrasse

10. Undulate Ray

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PRIONSIAS DOHERTY — 6 SPECIES

1. Bass

2. Flounder

3. Lesser Spotted Dogfish

4. Common Goby

5. Dab

6. Conger Eel

A full report and more photos can be viewed on the Killybegs Mariners Facebook Page.

Go Fishing…

Sea Angling in the South West

May-June report from Lough Corrib – some fantastic trout caught

By

IFI Staff

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July 2, 2026

Top Corrib guide Larry McCarthy reports on a busy May and June for his guests at Corrib View Lodge.

Anglers staying with us enjoyed a very successful month of May.

Buzzer fishing continued to produce excellent bags of trout until the end of the second week of the month. The Ballycurrin and Ballynalty areas fished particularly well, while plenty of good catches were also reported in the middle section of the lake from Burnthouse to Annaghdown. I generally tried to avoid the busiest areas, and wherever we found quieter water, the fishing was consistently productive.

Mayfly fishing remained reliable until the end of the third week of May, with anglers enjoying success on both dry and wet Mayfly patterns. The Kilbeg area produced a number of well above-average trout, while good returns also came from Annaghkeen, Molly’s Rock and Ballycurrin.

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A change in weather conditions during the final week of May brought the Mayfly fishing to a halt, with Caenis making its appearance. Wet fly fishing accounted for more trout than we would normally expect in May, largely because the weather conditions favoured this method on many days.

Overall, May provided consistently good sport across the lake, with anglers enjoying excellent fishing from a variety of methods as the season progressed.

The settled conditions that began during the last week of May brought the expected early morning Caenis fishing. Although it started a little later than usual this year, the trout soon found the fly and we were on the water by 4.30am.

The final week of May produced some excellent Caenis hatches and, on several mornings, we enjoyed large numbers of fish to the boat. Bigger trout were in short supply, however, with most fish weighing between 2lb and 3lb.

The weather changed dramatically during the first week of June, with almost 10 days of wind and rain putting the Caenis fishing on hold. Fortunately, Mayfly and sedge continued to hatch, and the wet fly fishing during this period was exceptional. For example, while guiding Bob Holland from the UK, we boated more than 40 trout over six days. Bob landed 17 trout over 2lbs, all of which were safely returned.

The weather settled again on Sunday, 14th June, and the Caenis fishing resumed. Over the following three days, one guided angler caught and released 32 trout.

A regular group of six UK anglers, organised by Bill Latham, also enjoyed excellent sport. Bill and one of his party, Andreas, landed trout weighing 5lb and 5½lb respectively while fishing with John McCarthy.

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Fly continues to hatch, but unfortunately the very high temperatures over the last week have reduced trout activity, and they are not feeding particularly well. As a result, we will take a short break from Lough Corrib for a couple of weeks until water temperatures fall. Once conditions improve, it will be business as usual.

Ferox fishing was also productive during May and into June. Tomi Kurman put guests over some beautiful spotted predators on his trips out. He even spotted a trout while the lunch was cooking on an island one day and the second cast with a lure caught a lovely fish.

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Go Fishing

Corrib View Lodge

Corrib View Lodge and Angling Services

Address Glencorrib Shrule Galway Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 87 9135222 Mobile Phone: +353 93 31718 Email: thecorrib@hotmail.com Website: corribangling.com

More information

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Tomi Guided Fishing

To book a trip with Tomi Kurman, give him a call on +353 (0)85 7318541 or check out his Facebook page here: Tomi Guidedfishing

Lough Corrib

Warm weather means early mornings and late evenings on the Nore

By

Shane O'Reilly

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July 2, 2026

Angling guide Dan O’Neill is back with a report from the River Nore:

What a crazy week, weather-wise: extreme heat saw water temps on the Nore hit 22 degrees. One day, it was moving between 18 and 20. Fishing was limited to early morning or late evening. Sedge hatches were strong, and watching them dance around was a sure sign of summer. With fishing being restricted, it gave me time to sit and watch something I rarely get to do, but I promise I will do more once I do, if that makes sense. I watched two trout feeding for about 20 minutes, learning a little while I watched. It was interesting to see them switch food lanes and alter their depth as sunshine got brighter and wind picked up. They were totally tuned into something small; I got some nice footage of them feeding, which is available over on my Facebook and Instagram page.

When we did fish, we had some good trout, some over 35cm. The stamp of trout seems to have improved over the past two seasons; plenty of trout parr about too, very good to see and promising also.

I tied a couple of flies over the past few days, concentrating on small subtle patterns. When the water is so clear, I find the trout respond better to more natural patterns. Looking around the riverbed with the underwater camera has really helped me to create more patterns, subtle ones and, of course, some alien ones. I have been lucky enough to gain access to some super beats on the Slaney and the Suir; both rivers are known for super trout fishing and great quality trout. For details of trips on the beats, contact me at the details below:

troutfishingireland@outlook.com or 0857652751
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/share/1RDD9oHGmX/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/troutfishingireland?igsh=dDFraDh5M3E3ZjVq&utm_source=qr
Tik-Tok – https://www.tiktok.com/@trout.fishing.ire?_r=1&_t=ZN-96LwEhHtv78

Matthew Cooper of Kindale Fly Fishing has sent over another pattern that we discussed quite a bit. He breaks it down perfectly here to make it so even I can understand it. Let’s see what Matthew has come up with, Matchin’ what’s hatchin’… And what’s swimming

This week I’ve been down to the water most evenings after school with my boys; we head down with a net, turn some rocks and scoop in the shallows and banks. I’ve noticed a lot of black gnat on the water. The black gnat in my eyes isn’t a specific hatch, so to speak; it’s just small black insects which land on the water’s surface. When trout are feeding on dry flies, and I can’t seem to find the exact fly to use, I’ll stick on a black gnat pattern and usually tempt them up. The black gnat is a great fly; it’s got a good buggy silhouette on the water’s surface that trout just have to have. I’ve had the odd roach come give them a go too. I’ve had success taking trout on this fly even when the fish are feeding on olives, and I believe that’s just down to its look from underneath. Every fly tyer has their own version of the black gnat; for mine, you’re going to want a range of sizes from 18s up to 14s

Materials list: Dry fly hook 18 – 14 Tail: black cock hackle fibres, a good bunch Rib: black tying thread just to secure the dubbing down tight. Body: raven black hares and squirrel dubbing Hackle: Ewing black dry fly hackles Wing: Kindale’s white poly yarn tied in on top of the fly with a small wing each side.

Now the secret to having your black gnat float all day. I treat most of my dry flies with a tent water-proofing spray, but fly-tying alternatives are available. Dip them or spray them and let them dry before adding them to your box.

Matching what’s swimming. While one trout might be looking up to feed on the black gnat, we’ve also been getting a lot of sticklebacks in our net. And there’s no doubt the trout feed heavily on these, especially after a good dose of rain. They’re an easy big meal for the larger trout in the river. Maximum calories for the least amount of effort.

Materials list: Size 8 streamer hook, rabbit zonkers strips in olive, small sculpin head, partridge feather to act as the markings. For the males, I would add an orange throat to the streamer to imitate the mating colours. These flies work well cast across the river and stripped back. If the water you’re fishing is deep enough, a sink tip line may be needed to get the fly down to the feeding depth.

Go Fishing…

South East Casting

Address Thomastown Kilkenny Ireland Mobile Phone: +353857652751 Email: Southeastcasting@outlook.com

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Heatwave heats up the fishing in west Clare

By

IFI Staff

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July 2, 2026

Skipper Sean Maguire reports that last week’s fine weather produced a fantastic week at sea. Fishing was excellent, with a good selection of species. Mackerel showed in better numbers, though they could always be better (!), giving ample bait, and the predator fish obliged, with feisty spurdogs and good quality pollack in particular feeding hard.