Anglers fishing with Damien Culliney of Anglers Paradise Ireland have been getting some great fishing with a mix of friends and guests in the last 10 days. Not even the bright days or cold easterlies could put a damper on things (though these things don’t include the Mayfly fishing, as Damien put it – septic! hence the focus on lure fishing).
Some serious pike and trout have been landed and Damien has sent on a selection of the best catches.
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Brandon was happy to meet his trout.
Even Brandon's wife got in on the action
A super pike for Chris
Harry Foster had some great trout on the troll and casting from the boat
Jo Prinzie was another angler who had some great fun with pike recently
What better way to warm up when those easterlies biote
Anglers Paradise Ireland is owned and managed by Damien Culliney, a well known angler and chef in the Clare region and a man passionate about the inland waterways and natural history of County Clare. At Angler’s Paradise, we love the thrill of Game fishing and Pike fishing in equal measure and can take our clients to some of Europe’s most unspoilt rivers and lakes in search of trophy predators and the realisation of their angling dreams.
The last few weeks has seen a huge improvement in fishing on Corrib. April was an overall sunny month, with heavy rainfall in mid-month sandwiched between two periods of high pressure. Water levels were high after the wet weather but are droppng away now with the continued dry spell.
Olive hatches were reasonably good, but the weather only suited dry olive fishing on a few days, when there was sport to be had.
From mid-April onwards the Campto buzzer hatch benefited from high pressure and good conditions. Olives are still hatching off too, and mayfly are up in good numbers.
Larry McCarthy from Corrib View Lodge says the olive fishing was patchy, and weather conditions only suited olive fishing on a few days, but the fishing was reasonably good on those days. Once the Campto buzzer started hatching the fishing really took off, and it has been excellent for the last 10 days of the month. Some areas have seen heavy fishing pressure, but even those areas are producing plenty of trout in the 3lbs range. Anglers who seek out quieter spots have meet some really good fish, with quite over 5lbs and some over 6.
Larry with Vaughn Ruckley (92 years young this month) and a fine trout on a dry olive.
Mark Driver from www.piscari-fly.com enjoyed a great weekend towards the end of the month with superb fishing on buzzer. They had sport all day long, with the fish feeding high in the water at times, and trout from 3-5lbs coming to the boat. The weekend was crowned with a fantastic 7.1lbs bar of Corrib gold.
A Corrib beauty for Mark
Back again this week for some fishing and still getting fish on buzzer in hot, bright conditions.
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Mayfly have started hatching off in good numbers in the last 10 days, and already fish are up and feeding on fly. The weather is dry and bright, so fly are off the water quickly, but wetfly fishing is producing fish at the surface. A change in conditions to keep fly on the water longer would benefit dry fly fishing immensely.
Guide Paul Heaney of Corrib Anglers Guiding was enthusiastic about the fishing when I spoke to him, reckoning it was some of the best buzzer fishing he had seen in years, and the start of the mayfly was the most consistent fishing too. Buzzer fishing was producing bigger fish, but wetfly anglers fishing the mayfly were getting lots of trout in the 12-14 inch range. Paul says the condition of the trout this year is fantastic, well-fed fish with fat bellies and fighting hard all the way to the boat. Even 12-inch trout are fighting well above their weight class.
A lovely fish taken on buzzer nymphOne for Paul on a dry olive
Two other local anglers I spoke to were very happy with the improvement in fishing, saying it was the best sport they had enjoyed on Corrib in several seasons.
After a slow start this year, it’s great to the lough fishing so well, and hopefully we get a good mayfly season to reward anglers’ patience.
Ferox
Tomi Kurman (Tomi Guided Fishing) is back on Corrib after a break this spring, and already putting his clients over some amazing fish. Despite difficult conditions at times, varying from cold and wet to hot and windless, hhhe hasn’t had a blank day yet since getting back on the water, with some fine fish to the boat. Check out the photos below for a sample…
Grant Woodgate is a name that will be more than familiar to bass anglers. He normally fishes far flung places but he was in Ireland for the first time on a family holiday and managed to squeeze in some fishing…
Join me as I hit the rugged ledges of Ireland, casting lures into deep Atlantic waters in search of hard-fighting Pollock. Armed with the Samson Long Cast Expanse Travel Rod, Samson Todos, and the ever-reliable Shad Compact Mini, I managed to connect with some solid fish. The conditions were rough but perfect for testing gear that’s built to handle distance casting and aggressive takes. If you love shore fishing with lures, this session shows just how effective the right setup can be on wild Irish coastlines.
Vincent Appleby is joined by The Currane Angler in this week’s reports from Lough Currane…
May 1, 2025. The Currane Salmon and Sea Trout anglers experienced a quiet day due to the exceptionally hot weather with minimal cloud cover and a gentle Northeast wind, which affected their fishing conditions. The weather for the previous day reported no rainfall and a maximum air temperature of 24.7°C, with a total of 13 hours and 4 minutes of sunshine. The rainfall for April amounted to 97.4mm.
May 2, 2025. The weather conditions today were very hot for the six Currane boats fishing on Lough Currane. It was evident that the primary outcome of the day was their need for suntan lotion. Regarding today’s weather, the wind was moderate from the northeast and variable, accompanied by clear blue skies throughout the day. Yesterday’s weather recorded no rainfall, with a maximum air temperature of 19.0°C and a total of 13 hours and 6 minutes of sunshine.
May 3, 2025. The anglers at Currane experienced another challenging day in their pursuit of salmon and sea trout. This can be attributed to the bright and sunny weather conditions, accompanied by a gentle to moderate variable northeast wind. The only alleviating factor was an increase in cloud cover and slightly cooler temperatures. The previous day’s weather recorded no rainfall, a maximum air temperature of 16.2°C, and 13 hours and 5 minutes of sunshine.
May 4, 2025. The Currane anglers experienced another sunny day with no reported catch and releases, likely due to the weather conditions. The wind was variable, ranging from gentle to moderate Northeast, accompanied by clear blue skies. Regarding yesterday’s weather, there was no recorded rainfall, the maximum air temperature was 16.2°C, and there were 13 hours and 8 minutes of sunshine.
May 5, 2025. There were no reports from the catch and release Salmon and Sea Trout Currane anglers on this bright and sunny day, despite intermittent periods of reasonable cloud cover. Regarding wind directions, there was a variable gentle breeze originating from the ESE, which shifted to SE, SSE, WSW, and W. The previous day’s weather included no recorded rainfall, with a maximum air temperature of 15.3°C, and total sunshine duration of 14 hours and 14 minutes.
Waterville
May 6, 2025. According to a Currane angler,
“The lake was lower before the flood, and there is no argument to that. However, as observed in the video, it remains low, which is not surprising given the prevailing East winds.”
As indicated in my report, there were no activity reports from Currane anglers. Today’s weather at Currane features variable light to gentle winds from the Southeast, shifting to South, Southwest, and West-Southwest, accompanied by mainly clear skies. Yesterday’s weather recorded no rainfall, a maximum air temperature of 14.7°C, and 14 hours and 2 minutes of sunshine.
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.
Notes: Located at Lakelands House Bed and Breakfast and Self Catering Accommodation, on Ireland’s best sea trout lake, Lough Currane. Frank is a professional angling guide and boatman.
Sea angling can be arranged with local operators.
Boat Hire
Boats for hire. All boats and engines are moored on the farm, 300 metres from the house, with easy access from the road with car park and boat shed.
Notes: Having ghillied on Lough Currane for over 30 years Vincent is a great choice for those looking for a guided service or flyfishing instruction on the Lake. All ages are catered for and even experienced anglers will benefit from the watercraft and fly-lore unique to Lough Currane. All tackle is provided and accommodation can be organised if required.
Jim Clohessy of TopFisher.eu found the fish on Saturday but getting them to bite was another story…
#abaddayfishingbeatsagooddayworking
A run on May 3rd…. What a strange day it ended up to be. We were making the most of some pretty poor conditions… brisk northerlies after a period of easterlies.
The main target was bass. We’ve had some bass hanging around the harbour in recent times and they have returned after the winter offshore. They can be tricky to locate. We managed to locate them but regardless of what lure we tried they wouldn’t take. They followed in their masses but wouldn’t take.
Bass- By Garmin
We were kept occupied with the occasional pollack and wrasse as we drifted. It was rather frustrating. I suppose there was no competition between half-interested fish. We’ll be back at them when they are feeding properly.
Chunky wrasse are a good craic… but not the target
You’d have to wonder if there is a bit of a change in bass habits here. Other than late season, we’ve never had a great deal of shoal bass activity in recent years other than schoolies. These bass have been around for a few of years at this stage.
The northerlies were chilly but it was lovely sunny day. Caps and shades all round. May can always throw a fishing curve ball.
Read more…
Check out Jim’s website, an absolute treasure trove for anyone looking to improve their sea angling game…
A short report here from Paul Bourke of Irish Fishing Tours. Sometimes there just isn’t much need for too many words. Long story short – on Monday Paul and his guests hit a sweet spot on Lough Derg. He ended up having 20 pike to the boat in a hectic afternoon.
As he put it, “Serious hard hits from these fish!”
Irish Fishing Tours provides customised fishing holidays based in the picturesque harbour village of Garrykennedy on the shores of Lough Derg. Our comprehensive fishing trips include a guiding service, tackle hire and food and accommodation.
Choose from my list of existing fishing holidays or contact me to tailor one to your specific requirements. Airport transfers can be arranged on request.
Irish Fishing Tours is owned by Paul Bourke. Paul has lived and fished here all his life. As a guide, he will show you the best fishing locations, advise you on baits and methods and then allow you the freedom to explore the lake yourself. He fully understands the needs and interests of the experienced enthusiast.
Des Bridgette reports on the first round of the Athy & District Anglers Summer League which was fished on Sunday…
We held the first match of our summer league in Oakland yesterday. This league is being held over 6 matches. Big thank you to Oaklands for facilitating us it was a very enjoyable match for us all the Results and weights are as follows
1st Barry 53 lbs 8ozs
2nd Chris 34lb 15ozs
3rd Ryan 30lb 1ozs
4th Des 27lb 13 ozs
5th Mick 27lb 1 ozs
6th Pat 23lb 15ozs
7th Noel 20lb 11ozs
8th Chick 19 lbs. 1ozs
9th Mike 8lb 15 ozs
10th Paula 6lb 11 ozs
Well done Barry and a big thank you to every one for turning up.
If you’d like to fish the Marina Club Grounds or get involved with the club and fish matches like these, then click the links below!
Athy & District Anglers Club was formed in 1959 and to this day they continue to pursue their goals of protecting, maintaining and encouraging the sport of angling in the greater Athy area. The club works with local authorities to improve and maintain local fishing areas as well as organizing events and matches for local and national anglers. Athy & District Anglers Club welcomes all new members and all age groups to the sport! If you’d like to get involved, please check out the Getting Involved section of their website.
A very popular carp fishery. Popular with competition anglers and novices alike. Alway a great chance of a bumper bag here. Friendly staff more than happy to advise beginner anglers. Caters to all sorts of clubs and groups.
Sensas Ireland held 3 matches over the long weekend. They fished an Open on Friday, a 2 day pairs event on Saturday and Sunday and another Open on Monday.
Friday’s competition was won by Phil Wood who beat a field of 31 anglers with a catch of 14.560kg.
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Phil Wood
The Pairs event kicked off on Saturday. The 40 anglers taking part fished from 12:00 to 17:00 on either the Garden Centre & Jellets (Section A) or the Graveyard and Fountain House (Section B). the best weights came from Section B where the higher number pegs fished really well.
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Rob Hewison
Rob Hewison
Day 2 saw some incredible fishing with a huge weight returned by Cathal Hughes. Here’s his report on the event…
That’s a wrap on the Sensas Pairs for another year.
With water levels higher than I’ve ever seen on Inniscarra, pegging for the organisers was a nightmare, but credit where it’s due, they found enough here and there for the match to go ahead.
Day 1.
I was off to peg 22 on the five peg Jellets section, while my partner Shane Dunne headed for peg 39 on Fountain House. With both of us having fished our respective sections on the open, we’d a fair idea of what to expect.
Long story short, I plugged away all day catching hybrids and roach on long pole, in what I can only describe as the most uneven swim I’ve ever fished, full of massive boulders I think . Anyway my 15kgs put me 2nd, behind Sensas Ireland stalwart Gavin Walsh who weighed 18kgs beside me. Shane also finished 2nd on Fountain House with 20kgs, which put us on 4 points and in second place after round 1.
Day 2.
My first job was to avoid the long walk on the out of sorts Graveyard section and draw the more favourable Fountain House section, the sigh of relief was very audible when I pulled 38 from the bag , next to where Shane fished the previous day.
Shane wasn’t so luckily drawing 18 on Jellets, which in my opinion is the second worse peg there, with only 19 being worse. After a quick chat we headed on our way, with me really feeling concerned if we’d be able get into the overall off Shanes draw.
I needn’t have worried, the man fished an absolute blinder on pole and slider to take the section apart with over 13kgs. In all honesty, I believe that was the best result of the weekend, unreal performance.
My match was less complicated, balled in, caught a load and weighed 34kgs , for that all important 1 point.
So adding to our day 1 tally we finished on 6 points which crowned us 2025 champions, happy days.
Team mates Conor Browne and Enda Hickey finished 2nd on 8 points, well done lads, while Vincent Walsh and Rob Hewison completed the top 3.
Next up, Inniscarra May festival in 2 weeks time.
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Cathal Hughes
Shane Dunne
Bu that wasn’t the end of it. There was still the second Open competition on Monday to go. In the end that was won by andrew Pirchio with 18.100kg in a competition where almost half the field caught more than 10kg
Go fishing…
Starting 17th May, Inniscarra TDL kick off another 7 days of match fishing (any method), beginning with the one-day ‘Hogans’ Open, followed by the O’Callaghans Cup and the Ottewill Trophy. Contact Kevin Grayto get your name on the list – you won’t want to miss it!
Inniscarra Lake TDL
Inniscarra Lake TDL are affiliated to the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland, NCFFI the National Governing body for coarse and predator fishing and casting. www.ncffi.ie
For details of the all the events, venues and more, a downloadable copy of the events calendar, 2020 festival results and a directory of angler friendly accommodation in the local area please visit www.ncffi.ie/inniscarra-angling.
O’Callaghans – the nerve centre of the competition scene on Inniscarra
With Daily flights from the UK and Holland to Cork, and regular flights from many other countries it no hardship to find your way to Inniscarra.
Spring salmon fishing has generally been very slow all around the country, and Galway was no exception. High water levels prevailed for early season, with low fishing effort, and even when water levels dropped there were were very few sightings of fresh fish, and none caught throughout March and most of April.
Local angler Simon Lenihan finally got the fishery off the mark on Friday the 25th of April, with a fine fresh silver salmon of 12.8lbs. The fish was taken on spinner, and gave a good account of itself before being landed. Well done Simon, not the first time he has landed the first of the season, although certainly the latest.
The second fish was landed yesterday (5th May), with the lucky angler being Billy Moylan. He was fishing the fly from the west bank when he hooked the fish from the catwalk, and finally landed a nice 10.6lbs springer.
Water levels are currently at 3 gates, with a good drop of water coming over the over gates, so wading is restricted to close to the east bank, but hopefully this is a sign of better fishing to come and we see more reports from Galway soon.
Go Fishing
To enquire about availability, contact the fishery at 091 562388 or email [email protected]
Lough Sheelin angling report April 28th – May 4th 2025
“In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours”
Mark Twain
Holding gold – Fergal Kellet
It has been another tough ‘spirit breaking’ week on Lough Sheelin and I’m blaming the weather. Temperatures rose to a tropical 24 degrees on Tuesday only to crash to sub-zero after dark on some nights. Easterly winds swinging from North to South featured throughout the week and really the only thing our weather here was good for was ‘drying turf’.
It has been a frustrating number of days with sporadic hatches of buzzers and only a glimpse of what is to come when a handful of mayflies were spotted at Crover mid-week. It is like some sort of Chinese torture, we know what is there, we know what Sheelin is capable of – a spectacular potential but the weather keeps dealing painful cuts and won’t let things kick off from a piscatorial point of view.
First of the season – Niall McMenamin with his Sheelin trout
I don’t care where you live, or which fly rods you use there is not a fly fisher alive who wants to wake up in the morning to an East or indeed a North wind blowing. That little proverb which includes ‘Wind from the East, fish bite the least, Wind from the North, do not go forth’ although not always correct is still a good predictor to how fishing is going to be. Both East and North bring cold air which chills down the surface, putting the brakes on insect hatches which has a knock-on effect of keeping the trout feeding at the bottom. To be a little bit kinder to the wind, it can be the angler’s friend in that a bit of chop on the water reduces visibility so fish can’t readily see the flaws going on above the water – baits and chuck and duck casts. Furthermore, the wave action along the shore often stirs up the bottom of the food chain, giving the big trout a reason to feed. Therefore, as a concession, a North or East wind might be favourable to no wind at all.
Buzzer trout
We have had long spells of hot bright sunshine this week which gave the trout another reason to stay down in the depths. Trout don’t like bright sun for several reasons but they namely stay down as there is simply no food to keep them in the upper layers. Here, during bright weather there is very little food, certainly not in sufficient quantities to hold the trout in the upper layers.
There was some stratification of the water column with a surface reading of 14 at 0.5 metres and 10 degrees at 12.5 metres. Lake levels have shrunk again after the initial rise due to last weeks rain and now that familiar washed-out hemline look is once again visible around the lake.
Buzzer success
Anglers fished the lake every day usually in the double figures. A few used the lures targeting the fry feeders with Rapalas, Minkies, Humungous, Woolly Buggers and Cats Whiskers. The Dabblers in Pearly, Silver, Claret and Green were still popular.
Now, into May the majority of anglers here are fishing teams of wets – buzzer patterns and Epoxys. Mayfly nymph patterns were also getting a look in. Nymph fishing will never be the most popular method with most if not all complaining about the slowness required. Like it or not it cannot be over-stressed that, to be successful with nymphs, the speed of retrieve should be as slow as possible, and that contact with the flies should be maintained at all times. Best patterns were Diawl Bach, Pheasant Tail and Hare’s Ear.
Dry fly fishing was there in the mix for this week with Bob’s Bits or Shipman’s in a variety of colours proving to be successful. The best colours are claret, fiery brown, black, ginger, orange, hare’s ear, olive and grey. These colours will cover both the early buzzer rises, our scattering of spring olives and for later, the smaller sedges. Grey Dusters are very effective when the trout are rising to buzzer hatches and the scraggier the better.
Black Pennell, Connemara Black, Peter Ross, Black and Blae, Sooty & Sweep and Sooty Olive on a slow retrieve are worth trying.
Best fishing areas, depending on wind direction were the silted areas of Goreport, Corru, Sailors Garden, Bog Bay and Finea.
Dragonfly larvaHolding on
It is hard to get things perfect but mereologically speaking we are still in Spring – March, April and May so no need to panic yet. The season is moving on with the May blossom changing from those tapioca like bubbles to branches heavy with white flowers, the cuckoo is back in full throttle around Bog Bay and we have two sea eagles here who have successfully negotiated the winter without being shot or poisoned.
All anglers who have ever fished Lough Sheelin will unanimously agree that this is a very difficult stretch of water, this a lake which will not give up her spotted quarry without a fight so with that knowledge under your belt disappointment should never feature – a trout is a bonus.
Flies and Lures
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A deadly colour in the right light, Peter Dunne
Below the surface. Robert Samuelson
Bibio Kenneth Rawley
Bibio size 12, Kenneth Rawley
Bubble caddis emerger, Mario
Desmond Paul
Buzzers, patterns by James Casey
Caddis, Jan de Haas
Deer Hair Emerger. Paul Page
Frankie McPhillips Lough Arrow variant, Desmond Paul
Emerger, Bengt Jansson
Green drake pattern, Kenneth Rawley
Grey boy. Kieran Sherlock
Green Wulff Kenneth Rawley
Ian Christie
Peter Dunne
Pale Olive Dun May, Scott Jackson
Wulff pattern by Kenneth Rawley
Pippa wulff variant, Kenneth Rawley
Mayfly nymphs. Sean Deeney
Buzzer bonanza
Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 949 which strictly prohibits from
June 14th, 2017 onwards:
The taking of any brown trout of less than 36 centimeters.
For a person to fish with more than 2 rods at any one time.
To fish with more than 4 rods at any one time when there is more than one person on board the boat concerned.
For a person to take more than 2 trout per day.
All trolling on the lake from March 1st to June 16th (inclusive).
To fish or to attempt to take or to fish for, fish of any kind other than during the period from March 1st to October 12th in any year.
We here at Lough Sheelin Guiding Services provide what we think is a world class ghillie and guiding service on the famous Lough Sheelin. We will do our upmost to try and make sure visiting anglers catch there fair share of these famous wild trout and make
your visit a memorable one.
Our Ghillies offer fully guided trips and be assured we know every corner and drift on Sheelin and will work hard for you to make sure you get the best opportunity to catch Sheelins famous wild brown trout.
Well its the start of a New Era for me. This season I will be running a Guiding Service on the midlands lakes. I will be primarily based on Lough Sheelin, Lough Owel and Lough Lene, where I have fished all my life. I have many caps for the Senior Irish Team, Captain twice, I have also won the Brown Bowl and have coached the youth team on and off for over 15 years. I am also the Irish Ambassador for Wychwood Game.
The midland lakes produce some of the biggest wild Brown Trout in Ireland and some of the biggest Stocked triploids too. The season starts with fry imitations but quickly turns to the buzzer, followed by Olives, Mayfly and sedge fishing as the year progresses.
If you want to book a day with me please please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Boat Hire
Salmon and Sea-Trout fishing Guide
