Paul Gustafson launches new book on catching big pike, Oxford Mail
Pike are the most misunderstood of fish. Dubbed the freshwater wolf they make annual appearances in tabloid newspapers for allegedly trying to drag dogs into the deep and even launching attacks on humans. In reality, far from a river monster the pike is a cautious, cunning and canny predator, and while small ones can be relatively easy to catch, it takes great skill and an intimate knowledge of the species to consistently land large pike… Oxford Mail, 28/08/16. Read the full article ‘Paul Gustafson launches new book on catching big pike‘.
Paul Gustafson launches new book on catching big pike, Oxford Mail
The arrival of the mackerel shoals in eagerly awaited by anglers in many coastal localities each season and anglers can be disappointed when weather and other uncontrollable conditions upset the timetable of this great annual event. Clogherhead in Co Louth is one such location and news is that good shoals have arrived recently. Early mornings have more of an autumnal feel about them now and such was the case for a 5am sortie to Clogherhead for some mackerel during the week.
There were certainly lots of mackerel about on the last of the flood and the first of the ebb and although some anglers commented on the smaller size of the fish, there were some good sized fish as well. In any case all of the anglers present got their quota of omega 3 rich fish for themselves, their friends and families, nothing healthier!! The local seal population seemed more interested in line caught mackerel than going to get a few for themselves, so be advised that you will have to be quick on the reel. So if you fancy some nice fresh mackerel Clogherhead is well worth a visit at the minute. It is also a great place for young anglers to have the experience of catching their very first fish!
Lindsey Clarke reports from Owenea Fishery – Monday 8th to Sunday 21st August 2016 (2 weeks).
The middle of the first week brought fairly heavy rainfall and this meant we received good floods on Wednesday (0.36m) & Thursday (0.34m) with Friday and Saturday also giving fair water levels. The gauge average for the week ending on the 14th was good reading 0.24m. The fishery was not particularly busy given the time of the year and 36 visiting rods fished for the week. The second week brought low water conditions except for a fresh on Thursday which saw the gauge rise to 0.22m and gave fair water on the following Friday (0.20m). The gauge average for the week ending on the 21st was poor enough reading 0.17m.
This week was quieter with only 23 visiting rods in attendance for the week. The grilse run seemed to slack somewhat. There were a number of salmon recorded but not as many as we would expect given the conditions and the stage of the season. Given here are some of the catches taken from the fishery catch register. On Monday 8th, Alan Watson recorded a 3lb grilse caught on a fly from beat 8. On Wednesday 10th Columba Campbell reported a 5½lb grilse caught on a spinner from beat 5. On Thursday 11th, Jim McLean reported a grilse weighing 3lb caught and released on a spinner from beat 8.
On Friday 12th, Alan Watson logged a grilse weighing 2lb caught and released on a fly from beat 8. On Saturday 13th, John Kerr accounted for a grilse weighing 5lb caught on a fly from beat 2. I also have a record of a fish caught last week that did not appear in that report. This is Dietrich Bohnhorst’s 5lb grilse caught on a fly from beat 7 on Sunday 7th August. On Saturday the 20th, Niall Hosey recorded a 3½lb grilse caught on worm from beat 8 and on Sunday the 21st Hugh Frazer accounted for a 6½lb grilse caught on a fly from beat 3.
Lindsey Clarke reports from LOUGH MELVIN – Monday 8th to Sunday 21st August 2016 (2 weeks).
Lough Melvin was fairly quiet this week over the fortnight with very few rods fishing for salmon. The trout fishing, mainly for Sonaghan, was fairly good however with some nice bags reported on some days. On Sunday the 21st, the Garrison & Lough Melvin Anglers Association held the 3rd and final leg of the Tony O’Brien Cup fished out of Garrison Pier. There were some nice catches on the day and the Pairs Competition was won by Lawrence Gibb and Stephen Collins with a fine catch of 12 Sonaghan. Placed 2nd were Stephen & Willie Kirk and in 3rd place were Sean & Darren Maguire. Lawrence Gibb was awarded the Tony O’Brien cup for 2016 for the best overall catch over the 3 legs of the competition.
For info/Guides/boat hire on Lough Melvin contact Sean Maguire’s Tackle Shop, Main Street, Garrison. Tel: 0044 7871443304
For bookings/guides etc on the Rossinver Fishery contact Bill McNeary, Tel: 071 9854930 or Jim Hoye, Tel: 0831197428
For info see http://www.rossinverfishery.com/
Lindsey Clarke reports from the RIVER DROWES – Monday 8th to Sunday 21st August 2016 (2 weeks).
Water levels on the Drowes were a little lower than desired with the gauge reading just under 0.5m for most of the week but were by no means low either. There were a number of salmon recorded over the week and these were mostly grilse. On Tuesday 9th, David Wilson recorded a 4½lb grilse. On Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th, Harry Lloyd recorded a grilse caught each day on a Rapala lure. These weighed 4 & 2½lb respectively. The second week saw a gradual rise in water levels and by Sunday 21st the gauge had risen to 0.57m. The River was fairly quiet this week with just a few grilse recorded over the week by guests staying in the fishery accommodations.
For info/bookings etc on the Drowes Fishery & Lough Melvin see the website: http://www.drowessalmonfishery.com/ or Tel: +353 (0)71 9841055 (8 am to 12 noon)
Steven Neely of Rookie Bass Angler gives us a taste of what fishing is like in wonderful Co. Donegal…
After a fair bit of planning and trawling through maps and satellite photography I finally made my first recce to discover some new wrassing marks … not that there was anything wrong with my old ground, but I knew I had only tapped into a mere 10% or so of what the awesome Co.Donegal coastline had to offer.
First off was a trip down the south coast and to look at some super shallow, reefy ground and given that we had a big set of springs I could think of no better time to go exploring.
What I found was pretty epic stuff … gullies / reefs / boulders a lunar landscape covered in rock pools full of little blennies etc! So the first scouting mission was a success – I found a good 3 or 4 miles of new terrain and managed to get plenty of access points marked and logged ready for an assault at a later date.
I then decided to head further up north to look at a few boulder fields which I had stumbled upon by accident when looking for boat launches.
These didn’t disappoint either … I found some really nicely spaced boulders with plenty of muscle ledges nearby and as you can imagine the wrasse weren’t far behind on the flood tide!
We only fished the location for about an hour but we had some pretty solid wrassing … nothing massive but instant success and hits on the Craw Tubes.
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I talked in one of my previous posts about these Craw Tubes and I can confirm that with a little more water time they are an absolute winner with the wrasse along my stretch of coastline … they simply can’t get enough of them! It was great to have a plan come together and reap instant rewards … it goes to show that a bit of time and research can really open up your fishing options and start freshening up your sport. I love my old haunts but discovering these untapped and untouched corners of Donegal is what I get a real buzz from these days!
I know for a fact I am catching fish in places no one has ever been never mind thrown a lure into … it doesn’t get much better than that!
So after a few excursions to new pastures I decided it was time to hit up one of the old faithfuls and given that we had a big set of spring tides I was curious to see how it would impact the fish behavior on some of our favourite ledges.
The first hour into the flood was slow but the water level were incredibly low which meant it took longer for the fish to move up onto the ledges to feed. However, once they arrived all hell broke loose and they hit the feed big time! At one point I had 5 wrasse in 5 consecutive casts … I was fishing with my father and between us if we weren’t landing fish on every cast then we were getting smashed up – it was mad!
The average size was seriously solid … not complete tanks but we had over half a dozen fish well into the 4lb bracket.
Again Tube Craws were doing the business but the undisputed champion was the humble 4″ Craw which was simply being ravaged everytime it hit the water. The rigging was simple just a 10g cone lead and a 4/0 heavy guage weedless hook!
We ended the session with 50 + wrasse between us … making it a bit of a red letter day in terms of average size and numbers.
A special place and fishing which I think is hard to top when it kicks off!
The coastline of Donegal never ceases to amaze me in its wildness and just generally how pretty it is … with sea cliffs 3 times higher than those in Co.Clare and a rugged coastline to rival Co.Kerry it really baffles me how no one ever debates coming over to explore what it has to offer the lure angler. To top it off I caught was is one of the prettiest wrasse I have ever landed … I had some stunners in the Channel Islands but this little buddy was one had the most vibrant blue spots I have ever laid eyes on. Photo is a tad out of focus unfortunately but you get the idea … stunning! Looks like it belongs in an aquarium not off the west coast of Ireland!
A pretty cracking couple of days on the wrasse and a ton of new stuff learnt and a whole lot more rumbling around inside my skull at the moment.
Lots of new ideas and theories to wrap my head around.
So until next time …
Tight Lines,
Steve.
Check out Steven’s online shop….Fish on Lures
With A – Z in brand names, Fish on Lures caters for all anglers. It specializes in lure fishing equipment giving quality at a reasonable price.
The long awaited rains came and the rivers rose. The storm that brought the rain in from the Atlantic kept many boats tied up last week. Apart from sea anglers, plenty of freshwater anglers were reluctant to get out in it too, particularly at the weekend. Nevertheless despite it being one of the quieter weeks we’ve reported on this year, there were still some good catches…
The Munster Blackwater rose about 5 feet following some torrential rain across its catchment. For most there was little fishing to be done but we did see one report of a good salmon at Fortwilliam on Saturday. The river has been falling away nicely and should be fishable by all methods now. The Bandon was also in flood after the rains but was clearing again by Monday. A few fish were reported earlier this week and the river should be in fine shape now. Spate rivers across West Cork benefitted from the rain but none more than the Ilen which saw 40 salmon caught last week. In Kerry, angling on Lough Currane was curtailed first by the winds and then by the rain. The lake does not fish well when the water level is rising, but things should improve this weekend. Water levels were up and down on the Moy and fishing was not as good as in previous weeks. The recorded catch for the river was 181 salmon, mostly caught on spinner.
Fly anglers on Lough Mask gave mixed reports. Most continue to pursue the Daphnia feeding trout in the deeper water. The weekend was a real washout on the lake and anyone with a boat pulled up on the shores is advised that water levels are up considerably. On Corrib there were some good catches on the dap and wet fly before the weekend’s storms. Anglers on Lough Sheelin report good fishing recently with lots of fish between 1.5-3lb being caught, though better trout of 4, 5 and 6lb are also being landed.
Blue shark with a specimen length of 1.9m wins catch of the Week
East coast sea anglers are getting some great fishing out of Wicklow. Tope are the focus of most anglers out charterboat fishing but specimen smoothhounds are still about. Apart from the regular catches other species like red mullet, garfish and congers have been landed. Boats out from Kinsale are getting good blue sharks to specimen length with good ling, coalfish, cod and pollack reported too. Bass continued to bite at Clonakilty even on Sunday when conditions were far from perfect. Charterboat fishing is going well at Clonakilty and amongst the catches were some juvenile porbeagle shark. The reappearance of these sharks off the Cork coast is great to see. Courtmacsherry had good bass fishing last week. Small boat and charter boat anglers also had plenty of good reports – lots of species and some good sized fish. There was some good fishing for anglers afloat off the Clare coast too last week, before the winds picked up, and porbeagle were taken by anglers looking for blue shark. A group of anglers from Ireland and Germany enjoyed a great day’s fishing from Rosses Point. A number of species including cuckoo wrasse, ballan wrasse and ling were caught but the highlight was getting some really fine pollack to 9lb on fly gear.
Overall winner of the IFI Open, Cathal Hughes, Galway, displaying his catch on the shores of Templehouse Lake, Co. Sligo
In coarse angling, Phil Rogers, Les Humphreys and Roger Beal from the borders of Hampshire and Berkshire had an exceptional week of fishing while staying at Melview Fishing Lodge, catching a total of 1,072 lb during their 6 day holiday. Low water made for difficult conditions for competitors fishing day one of the Barrow Bonanza on Saturday. The weekend’s weather saw the river rise 2 feet and though expectations were high that fishing would improve catches were once again modest enough. Mick O’Connor was the eventual winner on 8.275kg. The 2 day IFI Open Coarse Angling Competition was fished from the shores of Templehouse Lake at the weekend. An unpleasant easterly wind made for poor fishing conditions on day 1 but on day 2 conditions were ideal for catching bream. Cathal Hughes made the most of the opportunity and caught 31.460kg on the day, more than enough to assure him of overall victory. There were big canal catches in the Ned O’Farrell match at Daingean at the weekend. Again day 2 was better than day 1 and weights to 12kg were recorded, more than twice the best weight from Saturday.
Some enjoyable pike fishing was reported at Derravaragh and the canal at Mullingar saw some lovely perch caught on spinners.
Met Eireann is forecasting warm sunny spells in all areas over the weekend. Cloud will build up at times also and there will be a scattering of showers with some locally heavy, thundery downpours possible. Highest temperatures typically 17 to 20C. Next week will see more warm sunny spells in all areas and overall a good deal of dry weather is likely. Some patchy rain and drizzle will occur. Maximum temperatures typically in the high teens to the low twenties with winds from a mainly south to southwest direction. Perfect weather for all the kids contemplating the end of the summer holidays. Anglers might enjoy it too, if they can figure out how to avoid to the school run…
Bodo Funke, Boyle, with a fine fly-caught Sligo Bay pollack
A group of anglers from Ireland and Germany led by Bodo Funke, Boyle, enjoyed a great day’s fishing on board Tommy McCallion’s boat Stingray during the week. The anglers ventured out from Rosses Point to fish the productive waters of Sligo Bay. Mackerel were plentiful and a number of species including cuckoo wrasse, ballan wrasse and ling were caught.
One of the many ling the group caught on Sligo Bay
However, the highlight of the day was flyfishing for pollack as the drift allowed to get the flies deep enough and retrieve them back at a slow enough rate. Equipped with fast sinking lines and strong 10 weight rods this wasn’t a problem and many feisty pollack up to 9 lbs. could be tempted.
Bodo Funke, Boyle, with a fine fly-caught Sligo Bay pollack
To book a day’s sea angling with Tommy McCallion please visit www.seafishingsligo.ie or contact +353 (0)87 2397789.
Overall winner of the IFI Open, Cathal Hughes, Galway, displaying his catch on the shores of Templehouse Lake, Co. Sligo
Keith Coleman reports from Ballymote…
The past weekend saw Ballymote & District Angling Club hosting the 5th IFI Open Coarse Angling Competition on the shores of Templehouse Lake. This competition continues to grow in popularity among the match angling circuit and the club was delight to welcome some new anglers from Ireland and the UK to Ballymote.
Registration took place on Saturday morning on the grounds of Templehouse Estate after all competitors taking part had dipped their keep nets in a disinfectant solution. This disinfectant solution prevents the transfer of invasive species into the local waterway. A new section on the northern end of Templehouse Lake was added this year to cater for the growing number of anglers competing.
Weather conditions on the first day were dull with an easterly wind blowing into the faces of anglers as they approached their pegs. The majority opted to fish with feeder and waggler rods given the difficult weather conditions and to increase the chances of hooking an infamous Templehouse bream. Right from the off anglers were catching roach at 20 and 40 meters with the occasional rudd/bream hybrids being landed on maggots or chopped worm baits. As the day progressed, fishing condition deteriorated further due to the strengthening easterly wind, which resulted in rolling waves crashing towards competitors and their equipment. Such conditions made it difficult to identify bites and favoured the more experienced match anglers.
As day one concluded the results were analysed and the Manager of the Irish Feeder Team, Brenton Sweeney from Co .Cavan, was a clear leader netting 6.920 kg of roach, hybrids and bream followed by Larry Parkes with 3.980 kg.
Anglers competing on Templehouse Lake
On Sunday morning, anglers rotated sections with weather conditions being excellent for catching bream. All the anglers caught fish right from the start again fishing feeder and waggler rod methods. A number of local junior anglers visited each section during the day and were cordially welcomed by all the competitors who passed on fishing advice and tips to encourage the next generation of match anglers to the sport. As day 2 progressed, word spread from Section A to the reed beds at Section B that a number of anglers had landed some nice bream and that Cathal Hughes from Galway had just netted his fifth bream in around 30 minutes. The Section B competitors were not concerned by this news as most anglers had been catching roach all day long some weighing up to 0.5 kg. Weather conditions did change in the last hour of the match with a shower of rain but this did not dampen the excitement as the finishing whistle sounded at 4pm.
The last competitor to weigh in was Cathal Hughes on peg 1 and before putting his catch on the weighing scales all present knew that no other angler could match his catch that day. Cathal weighed in with a total of 31.460 kg. The competitors retired to Hayden’s Bar, Ballymote, where light refreshments were served and presentation of prizes took place.
A proud overall winner, Cathal Hughes, Galway, displaying his catch on the shores of Templehouse Lake, Co. Sligo
Results of the 2016 IFI Ballymote & District Angling Club Open were as follows:
1st Cathal Hughes, Co. Galway.
2nd Chris Ganley, Co. Mayo.
3rd Larry Parkes, Co. Leitrim.
A word of thanks goes to Roderick Perceval, Templehouse Estate www.templehouse.ie for his continued support in facilitating this angling festival. Ballymote & District Angling Club www.ballymoteangling.com would also like to extend its thanks to Shannon Tackle, Jamestown and to Anglers Choice, Carrickmacross for their sponsorship and co-operation in organising this festival.
Lough Arrow Fish Preservation Association & District Angling club held a competition on 21st August. Twenty-four anglers took part in the event weighing in a total of 6 trout.
So the first scouting mission was a success – I found a good 3 or 4 miles of new terrain and managed to get plenty of access points marked and logged ready for an assault at a later date.
It was great to have a plan come together and reap instant rewards … it goes to show that a bit of time and research can really open up your fishing options and start freshening up your sport. I love my old haunts but discovering these untapped and untouched corners of Donegal is what I get a real buzz from these days!
At one point I had 5 wrasse in 5 consecutive casts … I was fishing with my father and between us if we weren’t landing fish on every cast then we were getting smashed up – it was mad!
To top it off I caught was is one of the prettiest wrasse I have ever landed … I had some stunners in the Channel Islands but this little buddy was one had the most vibrant blue spots I have ever laid eyes on. Photo is a tad out of focus unfortunately but you get the idea … stunning! Looks like it belongs in an aquarium not off the west coast of Ireland!
