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Low water on the Maigue but some relief in the tidal section

By
Myles Kelly
-

Paddy Dunworth of Celtic Angling reports from the Maigue:

Rob and Sue O’Meara are on their 4th May visit in as many years and staying at my local; Mustard Seed Country House and Restaurant. They now reside in Whitstable, Kent, UK and Rob likes to fly-fish whilst Sue likes Spas and sight-seeing.

It’s a lottery with weather and weather and river levels have a bearing on good fly-fishing, provided one can fly-fish that is. Rob struck silver this time last year with the rivers high after rain and the Mayfly hatch at it’s peak. He had 8 trout on his day with me and next day on his own had some more.

This year is the polar opposite. Spring is still with us and we’ve had chronically low river levels for over a month now, accompanied by a heat-wave in Irish terms. Sea-side rather than bankside conditions, but when you’ve booked your day you must sally forth and so it was that I introduced Rob to a new venue yesterday, Ballyallinan on Deel. Low clear water and rapid growth all round in the shape of overhanging bankside bushes and trees together with beds of mansize rushes and reeds gathered round you, tough for the advanced fly-man, never mind a man more used to reservoir boat fishing.

This is what I term micro fly-fishing, casting within very claustrophobic surrounds to fish who’ll detect the caster’s tiniest error. Shrunken, clear, bright and motionless water, wild easily-spooked trout, and in near jungle surrounds, make no mistake this is as difficult as it gets and is at the pinnacle of skill where fly-fishing is concerned. Those not in the know equate size of fish with difficulty of catching, balderdash… salmon can be notoriously easy to catch, provided they are there and are taking, they even hook themselves if you have the presence of mind not to strike.

The river Maigue this week-end with the type of drought-ridden conditions we don’t normally experience until July-August….and here was always a Plan B where the ebb tide offered a few hours of artificial high water when non-tidal reaches were down to the bones.

Needless to say we drew a blank at Ballyallinan on Deel and hurried to fish a leaving tide at Adare, we were an hour late perhaps as the Maigue had almost dropped back to low water. Rob is an understanding guy and of the same vintage as myself, so he does recognise how various variables impact on fishing prospects.

Rob O'Meara's fish at Adare (Safely released)
Rob O’Meara’s fish at Adare (Safely released)

The second day he goes it alone with gear provided by me, and he likes Adare, arrived in plenty of time today to avail of good ebbing water, for a couple of hours at most….if the bath is low it empties in no time. And Rob’s persistence was rewarded in the guise of a nice brown trout, just the one….but in the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king, Slán Abhaile Rob and Sue, two Whitstable Pearls!

Go Fishing…

Celtic Angling

Address The Commons Ballingarry Adare Limerick Ireland Phone: +353 69 68202 Mobile Phone: +353 87 652 5687 Website: celticangling.com
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Rob O’Meara dry fly fishing on the Maigue

Superb hatch but tough conditions – Lough Arrow Mayfly Report

By
IFI Staff
-

Lough Arrow Anglers report that the hatch has been fantastic this year, but like most of our lakes, the weather just didn’t suit mayfly fishing for most of the time…

 

Overall it must be said that this year’s mayfly has been very disappointing from a fishing point of view. The cuckoo, the swallow, the whitethorn and the lilac all arrived early, as did the mayfly. There were very few trout caught on the dap or on green fly patterns due to the sunny, calm days. In the early days of the hatch you need a nice wind, with the odd shower thrown in, to keep the fly on the water.
On a positive note, we did have very good spent fishing in the evening. While most evenings we had a breeze from the NE or the NW, making it very difficult to see your fly while looking into the glaring sun in the western sky, this meant that you could fish right up until darkness fell. It’s hard to gauge the number of flies that hatch during sunny days like these, because they don’t stay on the water, heading straight for the trees instead. Judging by the incredible amount of shucks on the surface, and the sheer numbers of spent, the hatch this year on Lough Arrow was outstanding.
Reports of fish caught over the last couple of weeks include :
Fishing out of John Hargadon’s: –
John and his son-in-law Brian had a few fine trout on spent.
David Flynn had 11 over 2 days, 7 on spent and 4 on nymphs.
Philip Frei from Berne, Switzerland had 2.
Fishing out of Lough Arrow Caravan Park:-
Ken Murray, Philip Brown and Mark Duncan reported catches on various nights.
Fishing out of Finian Dodd’s:-
Many anglers over the mayfly season reported varying degrees of success.
Local anglers Tom Reilly, Paul McTiernan and Oliver Wall reported fish caught on spent.
While there was no Duffer’s Fortnight on Lough Arrow this year, the going was tough on other lakes too. There’s a hard day ahead when an angler is putting on more Factor 50 than flies!
Tight lines and bent rods!
Spanish flyfishing filmmaker Alvaro was on the lake recently for 2 days with Jim Curry from Guideline Flyfishing, and local guide Jackie Mahon. Alvaro will be producing a destination video for Lough Arrow, but he published a short snippet of spent mayfly on the water that we loved.

Go Fishing

Big pike for a little lady with Go Fishing Ireland

By
Myles Kelly
-
Anita's 102cm pike
Anita's 102cm pike

Chris Barry of Go Fishing Ireland was in touch to let us know about a recent guiding trip…

The Terry family from Seville in Spain enjoyed an excellent day’s pike fishing in the Boyne Valley region recently. Three generations of the family teamed up with Chris Barry to learn about freshwater fishing in Ireland.

The teenage boys – Carlo, Yago and their cousin Bosco had their first taste of fishing in an Irish lake, and all caught some nice pike to 90cms on lures over deeper water.

But top honours for the day went to the youngest member of the group, 9-year-old Anita. During the afternoon, she hooked a large and powerful fish.  At 102cms this was the largest fish of the day and almost as big as herself!

Anita's 102cm pike
Anita’s 102cm pike wins Catch of the Week

Her Mum helped her lift the big fish off the mat for a quick photo before we released it to swim off into deep water. This was her first ever fish. Quite an achievement. Well done Anita!

Go fishing…

Contact Chris in Co. Meath for fly fishing lessons, angling tuition and boat fishing trips in Ireland’s east.

Go Fishing Ireland

Address Macetown Navan Meath Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 86 8055337 Website: Go Fishing Ireland
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A change in weather but no real change in fortunes on Currane

By
Myles Kelly
-

Vincent Appleby reports from Lough Currane where the weather has finally broken and perhaps a little too much…

May 21, 2025. The Currane Hampshire Hogs returned to the Currane low waters. Mr. Trevor Dewberry reports:

“Hi Vincent,
We’re here for a few days. Fishing was tough yesterday. Today was
bright and calm, but Nigel caught an 8lb C&R salmon and
Peter caught a fresh 5lb sea trout, both on the troll.”
Cheers,
Trevor.

Just for the record the Hampshire Hogs are fishing out of Waterville Boats at watervilleboats@gmail.com  Yesterday’s weather, amount of rainfall trace, maximum air temperature 15.6°C, amount of sunshine 4 minutes.

May 22, 2025. The Currane Hampshire Hogs reported poor fishing conditions today with blazing sun and light variable winds from the NNW and NW. Few brown trout were seen. Trevor provided the summary. Yesterday’s weather included no rainfall, a high of 18.3°C, and 10 hours and 4 minutes of sunshine.

On May 23, 2025. Mr. Clive Dewberry, spokesperson for the Currane Hampshire Hogs, reported the following:

“Hi Vincent,
Unfortunately, there were no catches of either Salmon or Sea Trout today.
This is the last day, but we hope to return for Grilse later.
Regards,
Trevor.”

For the record, reports indicate that no Salmon or Sea Trout were caught. The wind conditions were variable, ranging from light to gentle to moderate, predominantly from the WSW, SW, and W directions. Yesterday’s weather included no rainfall, a maximum air temperature of 18.0°C, and 10 hours of sunshine.

May 24, 2025. The Currane waters experienced rough conditions with variable winds ranging from moderate to strong. The wind direction shifted from southwest (SW) to west-southwest (WSW), then to west (W). Throughout the day, heavy showers occurred, accompanied by gusts reaching up to 57 km/h. The sky remained overcast. No reports were received of any catch-and-release wild fish. Regarding the previous day’s weather, there was 0.5mm of rainfall, a maximum air temperature of 17.3°C, and a minimal amount of sunshine, totalling 2 minutes.

May 25, 2025. I have no reports regarding any instances of Catch and Release (C&R) involving Wild Salmon or Sea Trout by Currane anglers. The weather conditions included heavy showers and fresh to strong West-Northwest winds, with gusts reaching up to 52 km/h and an average gust speed of 48 km/h. Yesterday’s recorded weather data indicated a total rainfall of 10.8 mm, a maximum air temperature of 16.5°C, and 1 hour and 1 minute of sunshine.

May 26, 2025. Anglers at Currane faced various wind conditions ranging from moderate to near gale-force winds. The wind direction changed from WSW to West, with speeds recorded at 28km/h, 43km/h, 39km/h, 41km/h, 39km/h, 44km/h, and 46km/h. Gusts ranged from 39km/h to 69km/h. No reports of catch and release of wild salmon or sea trout were recorded, and the weather was primarily characterized by strong winds. The previous day’s weather included 3.3mm of rainfall, a maximum air temperature of 14.9°C, and 6 hours and 4 minutes of sunshine.

May 27, 2025. There were no reports of any catch and release wild Salmon or Sea Trout. The challenging conditions faced by the Currane anglers should be noted, as there was a strong Westerly wind blowing throughout the day, which later reduced to a fresh breeze by late afternoon. Additionally, heavy showers were experienced throughout the day. Wind speeds reached up to 43 km/h, with average gusts between 51 and 63 km/h. Yesterday’s weather included 5.7 mm of rainfall, a maximum air temperature of 15.0°C, and 3 minutes of sunshine.

May 28, 2025. There was 15.9mm of rainfall yesterday. Anglers were fishing the Inny this morning, possibly practicing their skills from yesterday, and we await updates from them today. Currane anglers reported no activity. The weather featured moderate, variable winds from the west, shifting to WSW, SW, and SSW, with reasonable cloud cover, followed by heavy rain in the late afternoon. Maximum air temperature was 15.90°C, with 3 minutes of sunshine.

Vincent Appleby
Eureka Lodge, Caherdaniel West, Co. Kerry.
Telephone: +353 (0) 87 207 4882
E-mail:salmonandseatrout@gmail.com
Web: www.salmonandseatrout.com

Sea Trout – Catch and release only

Inland Fisheries Ireland wishes to remind anglers that the Conservation of Sea Trout (No.7 or Kerry District) Waterville Area Bye-Law No. 971 of 2019 remains in effect. This Bye-law prohibits the retention and possession of any sea trout (Salmo trutta L.) taken by any fishing engine or by rod and line in the Waterville area i.e. that part of the sea eastward of a line drawn from the most westerly point of Bolus Head to the most westerly point of Lamb’s Head and to all the waters discharging in to it.

The Bye-Law mainly affects seatrout fishing on :-

  • the river Inny (Knockmoyle) and its tributaries
  • the waters of the Waterville system, including the Waterville River, Lough Currane, the Cummeragh River and all their tributary rivers and lakes
  • the waters of Ballinskelligs Bay

For more information on the daily conditions, all the craic and news be sure to check out Vincent Appleby’s Salmon and Sea Trout blog for regular reports with back dates, petitions, public consultation notices, readers letters and videos and more of what’s happening on Currane.

Go fishing….

Guides and boat hire

Fishing with Dom

Address Spunkane Waterville Kerry Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 87 2051515 Website: https://fishingwithdom.com/
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Fly Fishing on Lough Currane

Address Termons Waterville Kerry Ireland Mobile Phone: +353(0) 87 922 8659 Phone: +353(0) 66 9474146 Website: flyfishingatloughcurrane.com
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Lakelands Farm

Address Lake Road Waterville Kerry Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 87 4160200 Website: lakelandshouse.com
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Neil O’Shea

Address Caherbarna Waterville Kerry Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 87 9942792 Phone: +353 66 9474527 Website: oshealoughcurrane.com
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Old Daly’s Supermarket & Filling Station

Address Murreigh Waterville V23 X459 Ireland Mobile Phone: +353669474842 Website: dalysfoodstore.ie
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Salmon & Sea Trout Fishing

Address Eureka Lodge Caherdaniel West Waterville Kerry V23 XD63 Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 87 2074882 Website: salmonandseatrout.com
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Waterville Boats

Address Spunkane Waterville Kerry Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 (0)87 2202355 Phone: +353 (0)66 9474800
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Limerick Pike Anglers wrap up for the summer

By
Shane O'Reilly
-

The Limerick County Pike Anglers Association wrapped up the first half of their year’s competitions last Sunday by taking a trip to the River Shannon for their ninth match, before taking a well-earned break over the summer. Luckily, the fishing was pretty good, meaning that many of the competitors will take their summer break having had a fish or two to keep their interest going.

Gavin Cashin had the best of it on the day, with a bag of 19lb 8oz, closely followed by Robert Barrett with 18lb even.

Go Fishing…

https://fishinginireland.info/pike/shannon/

Two more clubs added to Onthewater.ie permit shop

By
Myles Kelly
-

Andrew Callan of onthewater.ie was back in touch once again with more good news. They have added two more clubs to their online permit shop. The website is now selling permits and membership for clubs on the Rivers Ow, Derry Water and Aughrim, Slaney, Boyne and Kells Blackwater, Avonmore, Suir and tributaries the Drish, Anner and Clashawley, Castletown, Fane and the River Sullane and Tributaries in the south west.

New Club Listings:

Existing club listings

Competition entry

All competition entries for TAFI Leinster will now be going through the website also, to help simplify the process for both TAFI Leinster and anglers alike.

Peter Nolan wins Irish Canal Masters qualifier at Ticknevin

By
Shane O'Reilly
-

Last weekend saw anglers compete on the Grand Canal at Ticknevin for a place in the Irish Canal Masters. The canal level had dropped significantly in the previous 48 hours, and that, coupled with a stiff breeze, made things tricky for the competitors.

Despite that, the fishing was reasonably good with plenty of small tench showing up in catches.

Results as follows:

1st Peter Nolan…9lb-7oz
2nd Alan Larkin…7lb-10oz
3rd Paul Kelly…6lb-3oz
4th Bob Hulme…5lb-6oz
5th Mark Alcock…5lb-2oz
6th Donal McGuirk…4lb-14oz

Plenty of rain but no blanks for Ulster Krakens

By
Shane O'Reilly
-
The following report is taken from the Ulster Krakens SAC Facebook Page:
Master Angler League Leg 5
Saturday, 24th May, saw the Krakens head to Longfields for their latest Master Angler League match. This venue has been a tough match over the past couple of years, so hopes were not high. With scorching sunshine for the past six weeks, it would be Sod’s Law that the weather changed to rain on Friday.

The venue was pegged and the peg draw took place, although 1 member was absent; Stephen Kinning forgot to set his alarm clock by the looks of things.

The match was scheduled to be fished from 2-7 to fish a full rising tide, we had to delay the start by 15 minutes as Raymond and Ally helped carry Craig’s gear to his peg, camaraderie as always in the club at its finest.

Weather conditions made fishing awkward at times, with heavy rain and strong southwesterly wind gusts at times playing havoc with some anglers’ baiting trays.

As the match progressed, the wind eased off, but there was no such luck with the rain. Plenty of laughter could be heard down the length of the wall, which is generally the most important thing: getting out, having plenty of craic, and “trying” to catch some fish, lol.

7:15 approached, and it was time to get lines in and head back to the cars, where Neil had a lovely big umbrella that most of us were able to sneak under.

🤣Another special mention to Neil Boon for helping to carry Craig’s gear off his peg back to the car.

Match results were as follows:
2nd Raymond McCann
4th Pamela Stewart
5th Gavin Mahaffy
The biggest fish on the day was won by Stephen McGarrell
Well done to everybody who fished and at least there where no blanks like last year
See you all at the next one

Wicklow Boat Charters makes the most oof the calm spell to hit the wrecks

By
Shane O'Reilly
-

Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters keeps a watchful eye on the weather, and when things get becalmed, like they did for a spell recently, he makes plans to venture from his usual fishing marks to hit the offshore wrecks. The lucky anglers on a recent trip made the most of their opportunity, landing some fantastic pollack of a stamp not often seen on the east coast.

Go Fishing…

Wicklow Boat Charters

Address No.1 South Quay Wicklow Wicklow Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 87 6832179 Mobile Phone: +353 404 67031 Website: wicklowboatcharters.ie
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Lurgan Coarse Anglers fish the Argory for their mini league

By
Shane O'Reilly
-
The Lurgan Coarse Angling Club held the second round of the Blackwater Mini League on The Argory water last weekend. Conditions seemed reasonable, but the fishing was still tough enough on most of the sections. The top weight of the day was from Pavel Tkachenko, who had a nice 12.400kg bag of skimmers from the top section, followed closely by Nick Seddon with 11.800kg and Tommy Tennyson with 9.25kg, who were also on the top section. Jim McAllister won the middle section with 5kg, and the bottom section was won by Johnny Keith with 1.575kg.
The next match is on Saturday, 21st June, on the same sections.
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