Niall Fallon tells us there are some great trout to be had on Lough Ree at this time of year and that junior angler Reece Moran is really enjoying the Mayfly fishing on the lake. Reece recently qualified for the Irish youth team and to anyone who has had a chance to fish with him the reasons are clear.
Reece with a lovely Lough Ree trout
Niall tells us he has found the fishing patchy, some nice fish reported but not in great numbers.
Meanwhile Stephen Neylon was also on the lake last week. He had a fine trout just short of 4lb but this was only fish Stephen and his angling pal rose or got near.
Stephen Neylon’s trout, just short of 4lb
They saw lots of spent but the breeze made it tough on the night. Stephen sid “Ree is alive with spent but the fish have not really switched on. Hopefully there’s another good week in it.”
Regular visitor to Mullingar Alan Thomas from Antrim was back on Lene last week, and had some lovely rainbow trout. Alan’s good lady is from Co. Offaly, and when down visiting relations here in the Midlands loves a few days angling. Last Sunday the Alan lad was baked on Lene with blistering sunshine and calm conditions but still produced a few lovely fish. Quite a few trout were surface feeding on Lene and it’s worth a trip in the coming weeks.
Midlands Angling provide a top class Guiding service covering many of the top coarse and game waters across the Midlands. Visiting fly anglers have landed some fine trout while out with Midland Angling Guides, pike anglers also recorded some net bursting catches including many pike over 20lbs. Top waters include Lough Ree, Ennell, Owel, Lene, Mount Dalton, and Glore Lake just to mention a few. Michael Flanagan Midland Angling
Pike and Trout angling guide.
Jake King from Dublin with his first Sheelin trout
Last week Henry and son Jake King were back drifting across the Midlands. The lads were very keane to experience the May Fly fishing and were in the thick of the action on Lough Sheelin. It was tough going and young Jake boated a lovely trout on the dap. The lads were photographed by my younger brother J.J. in the thick of the May Fly dance. Another drip is penciled in for the King lads from South Dublin.
Jake King from Dublin with his first Sheelin trout
Midlands Angling provide a top class Guiding service covering many of the top coarse and game waters across the Midlands. Visiting fly anglers have landed some fine trout while out with Midland Angling Guides, pike anglers also recorded some net bursting catches including many pike over 20lbs. Top waters include Lough Ree, Ennell, Owel, Lene, Mount Dalton, and Glore Lake just to mention a few. Michael Flanagan Midland Angling
Pike and Trout angling guide.
Mullingar angler Kenny Kiernan produced a super trout from Ennell last Sunday to win the Rex Beaumont Cup. On the day Kenny boated a trout of 4.33lbs to take Top rod. D.Stenson was 2nd with 4.01lbs, 3rd N.Kenny 3.13lbs, and 4th B.Murray 3lbs. These are cracking fish from Ennell in what was certainly not ideal conditions for fly-fishing. Lough Ennell Trout Preservation Association is open for membership, and in the coming months more fly angling competitions are penciled in.
Willie Horne from Scotland sends us this report of a lovely 4.5lb trout caught on Lough Ennell on Wednesday…his boat partner Murray Lower had a 3lb fish and lost a fish of around 5lb…all fish fell to a wet mayfly pulled on an intermediate line
Willie tells us Lough Ennell is fishing very well at the moment but ,as with all waters , is a victim of ‘tourist’ weather conditions making it very difficult at times. Good hatches of mayfly and button were seen all last week and as soon as the wind lifted and the sky dulled over fish came to them and all fish spooned were stuffed with buttons or mayfly or both. In the evenings clouds of mayfly were clearly visible like smoke above the trees on the Belvedere shore but lack of wind meant they stayed there,also good buzzer action around Dysart Island and Kilcooley Bay
Good fishing for angler Willie Horne
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Midlands Angling provide a top class Guiding service covering many of the top coarse and game waters across the Midlands. Visiting fly anglers have landed some fine trout while out with Midland Angling Guides, pike anglers also recorded some net bursting catches including many pike over 20lbs. Top waters include Lough Ree, Ennell, Owel, Lene, Mount Dalton, and Glore Lake just to mention a few. Michael Flanagan Midland Angling
Pike and Trout angling guide.
The excellent fishing continued on Lough Arrow during the past week with good numbers of anglers venturing out. Several nice trout up to 5 lbs. were caught mostly on spent gnat patterns.
Simon Steel, Boyle, had seven fish for the week (6 returned) averaging 1.5 lbs. on Spent and Grey Wulff. John Gorman boated a great trout weighing 4.25 lbs. on spent.
Kay McBride Dublin with a 2.5lb fish from the Deel on a Grey Wulff
Declan Cook reports on the flyfishing on Loughs Conn and Cullin…
It has been a fantastic fortnight on both Loughs Conn & Cullin as the Mayfly continues to bring fish up. Following an impressive performance in early May, which saw some great results on both lakes in the long established early season competitions, the trout angling action continued to improve with some fine fish reported and anglers praising the numbers of quality fish to be seen. There has also been some excellent evening fishing to spent gnat around Castle Island and in Tolan’s Bay. The weather has been bright and sunny for most of the period but despite these less than ideal conditions, angling returns have been excellent during the day and great in the evening as well.
Lough Cullin produced some great dry fly action with Frankie Brannigan from Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan reporting 3 trout averaging 1.5 lbs from Simons Bay, all on a green fanwing mayfly. Numerous smaller fish were also caught and released. Also on Cullin, Steven Cassidy from Cavan had 5 trout to about 6 lbs. on an orange rib mayfly along the Dance-Hall Shore.
Back on Conn, Dominic McGowan and Shane Ganly had some excellent angling in the 3rd week of May accounting for some fine fish averaging 1.5 to 2 lbs. Shane also had a beauty of about 4.5 lbs. Ferghal Reape had 13 sizable trout over the last week of May including a lovely 4.5 lbs. beauty on a Grey Wulff. Ferghal also had numerous smaller ones, which were returned.
Richard Donnelly had some nice fish to 1.5 lbs. in Bog Bay all on spent gnat. Trevor Greene from Co. Down also had some good sport to spent, also in Bog Bay.
Freddie Canavan and Michael Cawley from Crossmolina had good fishing with Royal and Grey Wulff patterns accounting for five fish over 1.5 lbs. in the Massbrook area. Eamonn Kelly from Dublin had four good fish to 2 lbs. on dry fanwing mayflies, mainly in the Castlehill area and Colm Mc Andrew Lahardane had 3 fish averaging 1.5 lbs. from Victoria Bay.
Kay McBride Dublin with a 2.5lb fish from the Deel on a Grey Wulff
On the Eastern side of the lake, Kay McBride from Dublin had a lovely 2.5 lbs. trout at the mouth of the Deel and Declan Rutledge from Australia had 3 trout for 5 lbs. on a Green Peter. Gordon Peppard from London had 4 trout in the Cloghans area, all to a dry golden olive patterns.
Mark and Martin Wilson fishing out of Cloonamoyne Fishery with Ian Wise caught 28 trout for their week mostly on dry Mayflies. They had 13 “keepers” and 3 fish up to 2 lbs. and many over the pound mark. They also caught a nice seatrout on a spent in Tolan’s Bay and returned all their fish bar one. Nick Price and John Dickson from Edinburgh had 7 trout for three days with John catching his first Irish brown trout.
Tom Dunn and Henry Walsh from Wicklow had 6 trout for about 9 lbs. on fanwing mayflies in the Massbrook area, all were released. Robert O’Dea and James Daly from Cork City had 10 good trout averaging 1.5 lbs. Dry Mosley Mayflies seemed to be the most successful pattern for them and all fish were caught in the Victoria Bay area. John and Andrew Woods from Galway had 4 trout to 6 lbs. at Coleman’s Shallows. They also had about 10 trout to 13 inches, all were released. John Joyce also from Galway had 3 nice trout on a Royal Wulff around Poteen Island.
Go fishing…
The vast majority of trout caught on Lough Conn are taken on wet flies when trout are moving near the surface during the seasonal fly hatches, even in the valley periods, between hatches, it is nearly always possible to attract the attention of a trout to a team of well presented wet flies.
David Edwards, skipper of the Tigger Charterboat in Clonakilty reports on the charter fishing and sea life…
Had a busy few days with four trips in a row being able to take advantage of not only the great weather and fishing at the moment but also some incredible wildlife shows. Basking Sharks have been around in big numbers and at one point we counted 40 in the immediate vicinity of Tigger, along with a large pod of feeding Bottlenose Dolphins and several whale sightings our anglers were able to take back some superb memories as well as a few boxes of fish.
Not loads of cod about, but some bigs ones have been caught -Niall from Brinny with his 10.5lb Cod
Mackerel are around in good numbers at the moment as are whiting, pollack and coalies. Cod are still hit and miss but most trips have landed a few with the best so far going to Niall from Brinny with his 10.5lb fish. The same trip also produced some large pouting up to 2.5lb along with the usual suspects.
The lads from Brinny showing some of the sizeable Pouting. Pouting to 2.5lb were caught
Monday saw a party of US Marines on board and once again the local wildlife put on a fantastic display for our visitors and the guys managed to catch 10 different species (not including Casie and her several attempts to lift a ‘rock fish’ 😊 )
Raw mackerel – yum. US Marines taking on the raw mackerel challenge
One highlight was when Drew challenged the group to put their survival skills to the test and eat raw mackerel and to be fair the guys did have a go.
David Edwards Tigger Clonakilty Coastal and Deep Sea Charters
Go fishing…
Tigger is a purpose built Procharter 31 angling boat, powered by a 330HP diesel engine and equipped with all necessary safety equipment. Reef and ground drift fishing is generally the most productive method with the potential to catch in excess of 20 species if you adapt your lures and baits accordingly. From mid June through to October it’s usually possible to target the blue shark fishing that is predominatly between 10-15 miles off the estuary. All sharks are released and recent seasons have seen larger species such as mako and threshers being sighted more frequently. Web:www.irelandseaangling.com
Tony O Dwyer’s lovely 20lb salmon from the River Suir - all on video!
The river Suir proves itself fruitful again with a super fish caught by Tony O’Dwyer. The 20lb+ salmon was hooked at approximately 8pm in cloudy conditions. The equipment used was a Hardy Marksman S 13’8″ #9/10 Rod, Loop Classic 8-10 Reel with a Red Francis Conehead. Tony is no stranger to big fish on the Suir as he also had a cracking 15lb salmon last week.
Tony O Dwyer’s lovely 20lb salmon from the River Suir
DISCLAIMER NOTE: Inland Fisheries Ireland do not support any brand over another.
Freddie Duncalf, Wales, releasing a small grilse on the Weir Pool
Water levels dropped even further on the Moy during the week and the dry and sunny weather also impacted negatively on angling. As a consequence, most fisheries recorded fewer catches than previously. However, the Moy Fishery had its best week of the season, so far. A total of 10 fish were caught by anglers. The Weir Pool produced five salmon including a 5.5 lbs. fish for Michael Bothwell from Northern Ireland. Also on the Weir Pool, Freddie Duncalf, Wales, had 4 fish (one released) on fly best at 6.5 lbs.
Freddie Duncalf, Wales, releasing a small grilse on the Weir Pool
On the Cathedral Beat, Michael Bothwell scored again with a small grilse, while Lars Friebertshauser from Germany had two fine fish also on fly.
Lars Friebertshauser, Germany, with two nice Cathedral Beat salmon
Billy Brett from Athlone was successful on the Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water catching a 9 lbs. fish on worm. On Armstrong’s, Paddy Reynolds, Longford, also had a nine pounder on worm.
Cloongeeproduced 3 fish between 3 lbs. and 5 lbs. for French angler, Jean Paul Martin, spinning, while Przemek Grochowski had fish of 5 lbs., 7 lbs. & 9 lbs. on bubble & fly. Austrian visitor, Gunter Profanter did well on East Mayo catching 2 fish at 6 lbs. and 6.5 lbs. on fly. Also on East Mayo, Martin Parker, UK, had a nine pounder on fly, while Walter Posselt, Germany, landed a 7 lbs. fish on worm.
Reporting from IFI Macroom, Eileen Carroll has an update on the salmon fishing in West Cork…
RIVER ILEN
3 fish landed for the week, best 8lbs by a club angler on a Flying C.
RIVER MEALAGH
No report.
Go fishing…
The River Ilen is a medium size spate river that fishes best on a dropping flood for both salmon and sea trout. Spinning, worm and fly fishing are the methods used and allowed on club water.
The river is beautiful and a joy to fish, pools along club waters are easily accessible with seats, steps and stiles put in place for the anglers comfort. With selective tree pruning done along the river in recent years fly fishing has become a more available option especially on the lower river with numerous pools opened up to suit fly fishermen, night time fly fishing for sea trout is a pleasure with great stocks of trout entering the river from April.
Lough Conn & Lough Cullin Game Angling Guide (2.38 MB)
