The independent regulator for the sea-fishing and seafood sectors, The Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA), hosted a special information breakfast for fishermen, processors and shellfish producers from Dublin, Louth and Wicklow. The event took place at the Maldron Hotel, Dublin Airport on Wednesday, 18th May last. The SFPA were joined by representatives from a wide range of organisations… North County Leader, 24/05/16. Read the full article ‘Sea Fisheries Sector Holds Information Seminar’.
Paddy Halpin IFI reports on some fine salmon caught on the River Feale:
After a small and badly needed flood for angling in the Feale last Wednesday we had a good few anglers out on the following few of days, lucky anglers for the week were Padraig O Keefe who had a nice fresh fish of 8lbs on the Fly, Tom O Donnell had a good fish of 12lbs got on a fly as well, Bob Downey had his first fish of the season on the fly and it weighed in at 10lbs, Keith Harbour had a nice fresh fish of about 7lbs his first of the season also.
Bob Downey
Keith Harbour
John Bannon had a fish of 7lbs on the fly as did Derry Buckley he had a nice fresh fish of 5lbs, Con McCarthy and Alan Grimes both had fish while spinning of 8lbs and 6lbs,water levels are now gone low again and not many anglers out but this should suit any anglers who want to do a bit of Sea trout fishing at dusk and early mornings.
Padraig O KeefeTom O Donnell
Go fishing…
The River Feale is among the outstanding salmon and sea trout rivers of Ireland. The River rises in the mountain district of North Co Cork and flows westerly for 75 km (46 miles) through the county towns of Abbeyfeale and Listowel and enters the sea south of Ballybunion. For the final 10 kms (6 miles) of its course, it is known as the Cashen River. Throughout its meandering journey to the sea it flows through a picturesque landscape of heather bog land, fertile valleys and rolling hills. Its main tributaries, flowing from both North and South, combine to add in excess of 160 kms (100 miles) of fishable waters.
About 50% of the main River Feale and the Smearlagh River is controlled by 5 angling clubs. These clubs are some of the best angling waters and each club offers day tickets for visiting anglers.
North Kerry Anglers Association issues daily & weekly permits for fishing on 9 miles of the Feale & Smearlagh rivers. Web: www.northkerryanglers.com
Killocrim/Finuge Angling Club
Killocrim/Finuge Angling Club control approximately 6.5 kms (4 miles) of water downstream of Listowel. Web:killocrimfinugefishingclub.com
Brosna / Mountcollins Angling Club
Brosna / Mountcollins Angling Club control about 13 kms (8 miles) of double bank fishing from below the Owveg River confluence, up past Mountcollins, to within a short distance of Ahuan Bridge. Tel: +353 68 44251
Such was the calibre of fish caught this week at the end of May that we decided to have joint ‘Catch of the Week’ winners.
The first is a superb 13lb trout from the Corrib caught by Paul Geraghty. Read about the catch on
Paul Geraghty from Asbourne, Co. Meath with a beautiful 13lbs Corrib trout he caught recently. The fish was released after a quick photo. Joint ‘Catch of the Week’ winner
The second joint winner was Skipper David Edwards who caught a very early season blue shark in Cork. Read the report on
Robbie the pet robin inspecting some flies : Photo Shane Gallagher, Drowes
A busy week in fishing circles, with the sunshine hampering the salmon anglers but sea anglers taking advantage of the weather and bringing in some impressive fish. A tough week to choose a catch of the week with many firsts of the season and a fantastic trout…
Both the Laune and Owenmore fishery saw some lovely sea trout. Strong SW winds beat the anglers back on the Currane early last weekend but as the week wore on this Kerry gem had some fine fish with sea trout up to 5lbs and salmon to 9lbs.
Saturday was the best day in Delphi with a cracking salmon weighing 10lbs 15ozs. The river was in fine order and the angler fished the Grilse pool with a Willie Gunn. Two other super fish were also caught on the same day; a 9lbs 8ozs on a cascade from the Whin Pool and an 8lbs 6ozs on a Willie Gunn off Finlough.
Low water levels played havoc with the fishing at Ballisodare. Luckily Friday night saw a good downpour and visiting anglers enjoyed some nice fishing on Saturday at the falls. The fish weighing 8lb and 5lb both on the worm. It was the same scene on the Moy with the weekend rain bringing a welcome relief. A total of 7 salmon (3 released) between 7 lbs and 11 lbs were caught all on bubble & fly. Out at the Moy estuary a happy Adrian Logue from Northern Ireland boating a number of nice sea trout including a fine fish over 40cm.
Galway weir had better numbers in the rivers and anglers reported 15 fish landed in the week. Costello fishery got off to a great start with a splendid 10lber and a 4lber caught on beat 1 and another lost. It was tough going on the river Erriff as levels were low, however May 19th saw UK angler Leigh Hookes catch a fresh salmon weighing 11.6lbs on a Black Frances.
Back down the country on the River Suir angler Tony O’Dwyer played a cracking 15lb salmon and managed to capture it all on video. Tony used a park shrimp hothead and released the silver beauty back safely into the river to say hello to him another day.
The Munster Blackwater’s Fort William beats had a couple of 8lbers and a 14lb salmon caught and released by Eamonn Power and to prove it’s never too late, 87 year old Michael MacEwan landed his first salmon off the Ellis beat. Ballyduff Bridge had a 13lber and a few good fish lost also. Glenda Powell reported a well-deserved grilse for young angler Tadhg Collins who was unfortunate to lose a big fish the previous morning. A rise in the water levels on the Bandon saw 7 fish being caught, the best being 12lbs. Over at Inniscarra three salmon to 14.5lbs were landed by local anglers all on the fly. The River Ilen had 12 fish to 9lbs.
Paul Geraghty with a beautiful 13lbs Corrib trout he caught and released is our first joint ‘Catch of the Week’ winner
Lough Mask’s Mayfly season is slow to start with hatches sparse. Bright sunshine and changes in wind direction didn’t suit anglers this week. Wets and dries worked best as the week wore on. UK angler John Young had a fine 5.5lb trout. The wind is to shift back to a northerly direction towards the end of the week which is good news. Mayfly on the Corrib isn’t so good either with easterlies and sunshine ruining the day. Ashbourne man Paul Geraghty surpassed all his dreams when he landed a stunning 13lb trout, with a leopard pattern any big cat would envy! Paul sportingly released this trophy fish which he caught trolling. This is one our joint ‘Catch of the Week’ winners.
Lough Gill Festival Cup Trout Competition was won by Ricky Fabozzi and Jim Henry with a 4lb trout on a dry Yellow-Black Wulff. The two lads also made their way over to Lough Arrow where they had 30 trout over 4 days using Golden Olive Bumble and Sooty Dabblers. Most of the fish were released. Well done to Julie Gerry who won the Leinster championships on Owel with 9lbs 4.6ozs. On Lough Ree Guide Mick Flanagan tells us there was a huge number of May fly hatching, and the evenings were giving a nice bit of spent fishing. Some nice trout were to be had there.
Sheelin became alive with free rising trout as the May madness began. The areas that showed the best catches were at the back of Church Island, Sailors Garden, Chambers and down along the western shore. The heaviest fish this week was 7½lbs for Bradley Chalmers. At Lough Derg off Holy Island Eamon Giblin delivered a fish of a lifetime. This 6lbs 14ozs spectacular wild brown trout took a Spent at Dusk and fought for 45 minutes before it could be netted.
The River Boyne is in very good condition at the moment with some mayfly starting to emerge, while the Fane reports good hatches of olives and sedges occurring.
Red Devils fan, Rodney Hulme left the soccer to one side on Tuesday and went fishing. He scored well on Lough Gowna with his first tench at 4lbs. Austin Conway was also on a winning streak this week when he won the junior NCFFI All Ireland Canal Championships at Daingean Canal. Down at Fermoy it was Geoff Scollick from Bradford turn, as he won the Fermoy Spring festival on the Blackwater with 26lbs 4ozs. Fishing was hard but his experience won out.
Young anglers were out in force at Athlone. The Mini MADCAPS had their introduction to whip fishing, groundbait mixing and catching fish. Great fun was had and the youngsters had nice catches of small roach and perch. Improved bags of fish were reported from the Cavan areas. A few Bream were caught this week during the Ballinamore festival, best weight on Church Shore 17kg, mixed bags mostly Roach and Hybrids.
Super pike fishing was had on Lough Derg this week with plenty of 100cm fish. Andrew McKenzie had a great session on the lake with guide Cedric Charpentier of PecheIrelandePassion. His best was 112cm and a very impressive 24lbs. The Midlands lakes and Ennell in particular provided French visitors with 22 pike on a variety of lures while out with Guide Mick Flanagan. As usual Melview Lodge guests didn’t leave empty handed. After a week’s fishing in three or four various venues they were able to catch some great Pike – 127 to be precise! They fished mainly with jurk bait lures and had a couple of good ones on dead baits. Gulladoo, Rockfield, and Tully lakes also report a good number of pike, medium in size.
Sea fishing excelled this week with many firsts. Kiwi Girl in Donegal reports their first skate of the season. Excellent specimen sized at 180lbs for Kingfisher Billy Walllace and a 150lbs one for Declan Kilgannon himself measuring 185 cms. Kayak angler Graham Smith paddled the same waters and clocked up lovely tope off Malin Head. Fellow kayak angler Garry Robinson was at the far end of the country down in Wexford where he encountered a procession of smoothhounds, punctuated by the occasional dogfish and codling.
Valentia Island had huge mackerel at 46cms, plus some great pollack, wrasse and a minke whale keeping the Sioux charterboat company. Moving up the coast to Loop Head and the Shannon Estuary, Luke Aston tells us that the mackerel were scarce but there were good catches of pollack coalfish, ling, haddock, red gurnard whiting and a fine cod over 11lbs.
Skipper John Fleming was pleased to get out in Galway after the long spell of northerly winds. The fish are back in abundance and he’s ready for the new season. Killala Bay was the destination for a group out with Donal Kennedy. Among the catches were pollack up to 6lbs, pouting, coalfish and gurnard.
Our second ‘Catch of the Week’ winner is Skipper David Edwards with a very early blue shark
The eye opener this week in the sea fishing was a very early blue shark for Tigger skipper David Edwards on Monday. A fine 75lb female which put up a good scrap and was quickly returned to the water after a few photos. This first of the season gives David joint ‘Catch of the Week’. He tells us that there were also several sightings of whales on the day.
Anglers are reminded that this week is the last chance to complete the survey to evaluate the Irish bass fishery, bass angling and the current regulations in place which relate to the bass fishery in Ireland. If you would like to participate in the survey, please follow this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/IrishBassSurvey
The Economic and Social Research Institute ESRI (www.esri.ie) is undertaking research on the socio-economics of inland fisheries within Ireland, with the objective of providing evidence that will support policy decisions regarding the management of fisheries resources and angling within Ireland. As part of that work they are currently establishing an angler survey panel. Members of the angler panel will be invited to participate in occasional short surveys to elicit their views on various topics.
To become a member of the panel please sign-up on the ESRI’s website (It should take less than 1 minute) http://www.esri.ie/angling/
The outlook for the weekend is that tonight will be mainly dry with variable amounts of cloud, light easterly breezes and it will be mild. A light, mainly east to northeast air flow will persist for Saturday and Sunday. There will be a mixture of sunshine and cloud in all parts of the country on both days, with temperatures reaching the high teens generally, and a little higher locally inland, during the afternoons. These above normal temperatures will cause heavy showers to break out randomly, with a few possibly developing into thunderstorms. However, the showers will quickly die out after sunset, with clear spells developing overnight.
Dry on Monday but Tuesday will see outbreaks of rain spreading westwards across the country in the morning but these then clearing in the afternoon.
Declan Kilgannon skipper of the Kiwi Girl adds weight to his boat this week with some fine skate;
Donegal Bays first Skate goes to Kingfisher Billy Walllace fishing on the Kiwi Girl out of Mullaghmore, the fish with a total length of over 2 meters and estimated weight of 180lb put Billy through his paces but subdued the monster in under the 30 minutes.
Skate no 1 for Billy Wallace
Skate No 2…
With Skate once again added to the specimen list this marks the first specimen Skate for the Kiwi Girl and Donegal bay and possibly the country under the new length based award…. A Second specimen followed soon after for skipper Declan Kilgannon measuring 185 cm and estimated weight of 150lb A great day in Donegal bay and a great day for the Kiwi Girl
From Mullaghmore Harbour, our Sea Fishing Ireland experience aboard the M.V. Kiwi Girl will bring you to some of the best inshore fishing grounds in Europe. We offer a wide range of Sea Fishing Ireland Boat Trips to suit both novice and expert, from Short 2 Hr Sea Fishing Boat Trips to Big Game Options.
Kiwi Girl is a Fastcatch Kingfisher 31′ with a 420 HP Caterpillar engine.
Our second 'Catch of the Week' winner is Skipper David Edwards with a very early blue shark
A delighted David Edwards, skipper of the Tigger Charterboat in Clonakilty reports on a great trip out last Monday;
General fishing has been pretty good with some good quality Pollack and some decent cod starting to put in an appearance on most trips. Mackerel have been very patchy with some trips not seeing a single fish while on other trips we are landing several hundred. It was with this in mind that I raided my stock of frozen bait as a back up for our first sharking trip of the season on Monday 23rd May.
The sea had settled well with just a gentle 2 metre swell 15 miles off Ring Harbour but once again not a single mackerel was brought to the boat, undeterred we set our drift using a frozen bait trail and frozen hook baits and to our surprise I didn’t wait long to see our first Blue Shark of the season and I believe the first reported in Ireland this year arrive.
The 75lb female put up a good scrap and was quickly returned to the water, I was lucky enough to have been first on strike but all on board had a great day and in particular local wildlife expert Paul Connaughton who got some great shots of migrating birds and also several sightings of whales on the day.
David Edwards with the first shark of the season
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
Eileen Carroll Murphy IFI reports from the River Bandon:
There was a rise of water last week on the Bandon and with it came an improvement in the salmon fishing. There were 7 fish reported for the week. The best fish weighed in at 12lbs.
Tony O’Dwyer had a great fishing session on the River Suir on Monday evening with good salmon moving up the system. He played a cracking 15lb salmon and caught all the action on video. Tony tells us that the camera missed the first big run and the equipment he used was a Hardy Marksman S13’8″ loop classic, 8-11 intermediate skagit T8 tip and park shrimp hothead. The Salmon was safely released.
Leigh Hookes with his 11.6lbs salmon from the Erriff Fishery
Fishery manager Osgur Grieve reports that last week was tough going with water levels dropping to 0.6m at one point. Anglers fished hard in these conditions and finally Stephen Sayer from the UK caught a nice fresh fish weighing 7lbs on Tuesday 17th, which was caught on a Cascade. Leigh Hookes, also from UK, fished on the morning of the 19th and caught a fresh salmon weighing 11.6lbs on a Black Frances.
Leigh Hookes with his 11.6lbs salmon from the Erriff Fishery
For fishing please call bookings on (095) 42208 as we have beats available.
