Pawel Orlow from the Fishmaniak club reports from their last pike boat competition which was held on Sunday 23rd August 2015 on River Shannon around Banagher. There was a great turn out with 18 enthusiastic contestants taking part in the event at this venue.
The competition was very successful and the weather was brilliant for pike fishing; a mix of clouds and sun with some showers of course. The competition started at 9am, following a meeting and short briefing. As usual each team got a club measuring tape and instructions. Competitors used spinning and trolling fishing methods on the day.
The lads had a great event and managed to land a total combined catch of 72 pike all together. The biggest pike was caught by Karol Zjawinski – a pike measuring 87cm, the biggest perch was caught by Pawel Orlow – a cracking fish measuring 35cm.
Pawel Orlow With a Nice Shannon PikeYou Could Say “That Beats Banagher” Lucky Catch- 1 Cast – 2 FishAnother Shannon Pike Being MeasuredKarol With One of His Catch (Hopefully a Monster of the Future)Pawel Orlow With a Nice Perch
The results of the competition are as follows:
1st place – Henryk Walkowiak – 14 pike 737cm of total lenght
After the event the lads had their customary barbecue and the prize-giving.
Competition Winner – Henryk Walkowiak Receives His PrizesKrzysztof Sibiga – Took 2nd Place3rd Place Went to – Anthony WeirKarol Caught – the Biggest Fish of the Competition
Pawel and the lads wish to extend a huge thanks to their competiton sponsors : BowWow, ToTu Rathmines and Ardee Tackle Shop.
A dramatic backdrop for the anglers fishing the World Pairs on Bunerky Lake
The settled weather of the weekend lasted for most of this week and anglers in most parts enjoyed the opportunity to get out and fish in pleasant conditions. Of course the light winds made for tough fishing at venues where anglers like a bit of wind to ruffle the water’s surface but for others it meant the chance to do something out of the ordinary…
Sidney Kennedy wins Catch of the Week for his albacore tuna on fly
On the River Boyne levels have fallen following rains from the previous weeks and some good salmon fishing is possible in the lower reaches and indeed further upriver. Fishing has not been easy on the Munster Blackwater recently but a few fish have been reported at Fort William and on the Blackwater Lodge beats. The rain forecast for tomorrow has lifted spirits as anglers expect the extra water to bring up more fresh fish. The rain will also be welcomed by anglers on the Lee, Bandon and other West Cork and Kerry rivers where levels are low. Lough Currane saw a score or more sea trout to 5lb landed since our last update and again millpond conditions made for tough angling on a number of days. There was a small improvement reported by anglers on the Laune and the much talked of rain will hopefully bring further improvements. Though a few salmon were caught on the Erriff, fishing was slow and hopes are pinned on the coming rains. Fishing has been tough on Delphi too but September should see things pick up as it does most years. The Moy saw a small improvement as water levels dropped last week, but few anglers are fishing. The message from one German visitor who had 3 grilse in one day was to get out on the water. Although few anglers are on the Drowes, and it seems to be quiet a party of French anglers had 26 salmon last week and thoroughly enjoyed their time on the river. The same could not be said for anglers on the Owenea who fished in hope rather than expectation in very low water levels.
On Lough Corrib, late hatches of olives and sedges have been providing anglers with good sport over the last week. Although many are fishing wets some great bags were had on dry fly with fish to over 4lb landed. Anglers fishing a competition on Ennel on Sunday found it difficult and just a handful of fish were returned. Better fishing was had by those competing in Lough Owel’s recent competitions. Stocked lake fisheries are also reporting good fishing. Some fine rainbows were taken on a variety of flies by anglers at Lough Lene, Ardaire Springs, Carrigavantry and Cashel Trout Fishery.
On Sunday 61 anglers entered the IFPAC qualifier which was fished near Shannonbridge. Fishing was pretty patchy apart from one section which fished really well and between them they caught 260 pike to 15lb 09oz. Anglers on Corrib were enjoying more than the trout fishing last week and one lucky pair had a few good pike including a couple of fish of 14lb and 22lb. Some of the East Clare lakes are returning modest catches at moment but hopefully things will improve for Lough Graney Angling Club’s next competition on 18 October. A German angler piking in the Foxford area had some great fishing including pike to over 1m on the troll and numerous double figure fish on fly.
The World Pairs got off to a flying start this week and already we have had some great weights by individual anglers to over 18kg. Cathal Hughes and Philip Jackson were on top of the leader board for the first two days but the end of yesterday’s fishing saw big changes. They have fallen back to fifth place and Lee Addy and Paul Keeley are now in pole position – though there are only a couple of kilos between first and fourth place. Cavan is seeing a lot of angling activity at the moment with a number of festivals taking place. The Gowna Festival was fished last week and was won with 53.880kg. The Arva Festival is taking place this week and there are daily catches of 14-18kg. Pleasure anglers in the Belturbet area are also reporting good fishing. It’s a busy time on Inniscarra in Co. Cork which currently in the middle of festival mania. Alastair Ogilvy won the Vinters Cup with 42.200kg. Charlie Greaves won the Lennox cup which finished on Wednesday and Jimmy Crossley is currently leading the Coolcower Cup. Weights have still not recovered to expected levels but the change in conditions may yet see an improvement.
Off the east coast, charter boat anglers are getting up to 10 species a day including tope to almost 50lb and smoothhounds to nearly 20lb. Settled weather on Sunday and early this week saw enterprising boat owner Mike Dennehy take off from Kinsale in pursuit of Albacore tuna. As many as 20 were caught on a day including two on fly for Catch of the Week winner Sidney Kennedy. Bass anglers fishing from Clonakilty had good sport even on the poor days getting fish to 72cm. A few bass were also reported from Courtmacsherry and other anglers charter boat fishing in West Cork have been treated to good catches of blue shark, ling, cod and more. Similar fishing was reported off the Clare coast with the addition of megrim, haddock and porbeagle.
A Small Craft Warning was issued at noon today and southeast to east winds will reach force 6 at times today and tonight on all coasts of Ireland. A Status Orange Rainfall Warning is also in place for tonight and tomorrow in Connacht, Donegal, Clare, Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Tipperary. A Status Yellow Rainfall Warning is in place tomorrow for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan and Waterford.
In general weather over the weekend will be mixed with a wet start to Saturday, though dry conditions are expected over the southern half of the country in moderate westerly breezes. It will be much the same across Sunday and Monday. Hopefully conditions will settle again for sea anglers but the change should see an improvement at most river and lake fisheries.
The Owenea ran at low summer levels for the greater part of the week. The highest reading of the week was only 0.16m on Wednesday. The gauge average for the week was only 0.12 metres. This meant the river was fairly quiet and only 8 visiting rods fished for the week! We have no recorded catch of salmon to date.
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For info/bookings etc on the Owenea Fishery –
Tel: 074 9551141. (9am to 1pm April to May & 7am to 1pm June to Sept).
There were good water levels on the Drowes this week again. The gauge at the Four Masters Bridge read 0.65m at the start of the week. The river fell over the week and by Sunday the gauge read 0.56m. The river was fairly quiet which is usual given the time of the season but for those that did venture out, the fishing was good. One visiting group of 6 French rods recorded 26 salmon caught for the week! These were mostly caught on small Rapala lures with the rest caught on worm.
It was much the same story on Lough Melvin this week. There was little angling effort for salmon and not much to report in the way of salmon catches.
Fishery manager Osgur Grieve reports on fishing from the 2nd – 9th September. The fishing has been slow with the lack of rain all week. However the arrival of Jean Jacques Calvar and Jean Francoise Calvar from France heralded a change. On the 6th Jean Francoise had 2 fairly fresh grilse of 3lbs and 2.5lbs on a small black fly which he returned, and lost 2 others, while Jean Jacques caught a 2.5lbs grilse which he returned also on a small black fly.
With rain forecast we hope to have more to report next week as we still have a few fresh fish entering the system. At the moment we have beats available during September, if you would like to book some fishing please call 095 42208 or check out www.aasleaghlodge.ie
Late hatches of olives and sedges have been providing anglers with good sport over the last week, although few anglers were out to take advantage. Frank Reilly fished out of Greenfields with Larry McCarthy on Sunday, and the fishing was so good that they called home to get the match recorded rather than come in off the lake early! They boated 5 good trout between 2.5 to 4.5lbs, all taken on dry olives, and had plenty of sport with other fish coming to the fly. Frank described it as one of the most enjoyable day’s fishing he’s experienced for many years. All fish were released again to go and enjoy their time on the spawning beds.
I met another angler who had a similar day on Monday, fishing from Birchall, who had 5 good trout to the boat to 3.5lbs, all on dry sedge patterns, and all released. Well done Greg!
Frank Butler was in touch with a great report on the recent SSE Airtricity Galway Wind Park Cup competition:
14 boats with 35 anglers hit the water from Collinamuck Pier on Sunday 30th August for the Inaugural running of the SSE Airtricity Galway Wind Park Cup. Conditions were far from ideal with the lake practically flat calm. 12 boats pulled in to Rabbit Island for the lunch and a chance to exchange reports on the fishing from the various locations visited, at this stage there were no keep-able fish in any of the 12 boats. Freshly cooked steaks, spuds and sausages were consumed with vigour and the odd chilled liquid refreshment was taken on board, and plenty of laughter was had. The wind was picking up as the anglers went back on the water again with full bellies and renewed hope for a ‘bit of a take’.
At 6pm all boats were back to Collinamuck Pier for the weigh-in. In total 8 trout had been landed for a total of 16lbs 14oz. Two teams of anglers had the same number of fish with the exact same weight and after some brief negotiations between committee and the 2 teams a very cordial agreement to share first place was agreed. The cup was shared by the teams of David Connolly and Dermot Walsh, with 2 fish for 4lbs 8oz, and the team of Frank Rigney, John Crowley and Michael Burke, also with 2 fish for 4lbs 8oz. In second position was the team of Pat McDonagh, Nathan McDonagh and Michael Hamilton with 2 fish for 3lbs 2oz. In third position was the team of Paddy O’ Farrell and John Howley with 1 fish for 2lbs 7oz. The Ladies prize went to Carmel McDonagh while the junior prize went to Ava McCarthy.
Celebrations went on until the late hours in Pegs with lashings of hearty stew going down as well as the pints, while local DJ Peter O ‘Halloran played tunes old and new to keep the place hopping ‘til late.
The Committee of the Collinamuck & District Angling Club would like to take this opportunity to thank SSE Airticity for their support and assistance with the funding and running of this competition. It can be difficult to get new competitions off the ground but the process was made very straightforward and hassle free by the professionalism and help shown to us by SSE Airtricity Personnel Dave O’Malley and John O’Sullivan. We look forward to working again with them in the coming years. We would also like to thank the members of staff from SSE Airtricity that made the effort to come and fish with us for the day, it was great to welcome new faces to Collinamuck and it added greatly to the fishing, the lunch on Rabbit Island and the celebrations in Pegs. We look forward to doing it all again next year and on.
First prize winners in the SSE Airtricity Galway Wind Park Cup competition receiving their shared trophyThe second-placed team of Michael Hamilton, Nathan McDonagh and Pat McDonagh with Dave O’Malley from SSE Airtricity.
The five day annual Gowna Festival took place last week with 79 anglers taking part. Venues fished included Rockfield, Glasshouse, Rosduff, Corfree, Dernaferst and Gulladoo. The winners are as follows:
1st. A Leathers 53.880kg
2nd. E Bridon 49.900kg
3rd. N Mallinson 48.660kg
4th. L Kilmcuk 48.600kg
5th. D Buckley48.320kg
6th. P Reilly 46.220kg
The annual Arva Fishing Festival is taking place this week with average weights at most venues topping at 12/14kg’s. The same applies to the annual Belturbet Festival which is also taking place in the Lough Oughter area. Results next week.
Anglers staying at Church View Guest House in Belturbet have been enjoying the fishing
Maura Hughes of Church View Lodge reports that her anglers have found that the fishing is picking up a bit in the Belturbest area with weights of 15lb to 40lb been caught by guests over the last two weeks.
Make a booking…
Great service is assured in a friendly atmosphere. Our guests have come back year after year to us and we are proud of the service we offer. Belturbet is nestled along the banks of the River Erne. The town can be easily explored on foot. Renowned for its angling, Belturbet is surrounded by the Erne river and numerous lakes and is considered to be one of Ireland’s best fishing destinations, making it a popular choice for fishermen in this Lakeland District.
The perfect venue for your piking holiday. Book & we can help you organise your full package.
Local expert guide & boat can be organised easily. Ring Maura Hughes for more details & prices
Carrigaholt skipper Luke Aston was on a shark drift on Saturday and there were plenty of blues around. One of his anglers had a handy Porbeagle in the boat. Later in the drift they got a take from a beast that took 300m of line with no stopping. Luke followed it with the boat but after half and hour it broke off. Luke and the crew got a couple of looks at it and it was estimated to be at least 300 lbs and completely out-gunned Luke’s blue shark gear. Since that bruising encounter Luke has been reporting megrim, skate, wrasse, tope and tubet as well as the usual white fish.
Porbeagle
Pollack, cod, ling, gurnards and some nice haddock have been landed by anglers fishing on the Lady Gwen. One group of anglers down from Dublin had all that and some blue shark too.
Clare Dragoon is a LOCHIN 366 powered by 650HP engine that operates out of Carrigaholt Co. Clare.
I have some offers up on my web site www.fishandstay.com and if anybody is interested in putting a trip together please do get in touch. Also I Twitter from the boat on @fishandstay and try to update my face book page www.facebook.com/CarrigaholtSeaAngling fairly often!
To experience some of the best deep sea fishing available in Ireland contact Luke. Telephone: +353 65 9058209 or +353 87 6367544 Email:[email protected]Web:www.fishandstay.com
Séan Maguire Lady Gwen II
Fishing Adventures on Lady Gwen II’s Lochin 33 M265Ti Perkins charterboat which operates 15 miles from Kilbaha, Carrigaholt, and Kilrush.
Whether you want to go to the Atlantic Ocean for a large selection of species, including different types of shark, or fish the estuary for ray conger tope etc, Fishing Adventures will cater for whatever fishing you desire. Telephone: +353 (0) 877508758 or +353 (0) 894431182 Email:[email protected]Web:www.fishingadventures.ie
On Sunday Clare Dragoon enjoyed a light breeze and plenty fish. Simon had this fine Megrim
Paul,Wanne and Jan had 3 great days fishing at Courtmacsherry,fish included blue shark to over 2 m
Anglers fishing with Courtmacsherry Anglinghave been getting a good mix of species.OnWednesday they 17 sharks boated in 3 hrs, fishing off seven heads Courtmacsherry. This was followed up with a mix of ling, cod, pollack and conger fishing. At the weekend it was more of the same with a bit of bass fishing added to the mix.
Paul,Wanne and Jan had 3 great days fishing at Courtmacsherry,fish included blue shark to over 2 mLeo with a ling over 20lbs from a wreck off Courtmacsherry
Mark Gannon tells us that on Monday fishing was tough on the wrecks as the east wind meant every fish was worked hard for. The sharks didn’t help either at one stage they were loosing fish like 10 kg cod to as many as 25 sharks around the boat.
At Union Hall, the two boats in the Irish Deep Sea Charter fleet, Boy Scottand Rod’n’Reelhave had some more good shark fishing and also have been able to produce plenty of ling, cod and pollack. While most of the times the big bites are coming from blue sharks every so often something different gives the bait a tug. One angler got very excited when a seal pick up is bait in 45m and ran hard. Another angler in area reports a take that stripped 150m of line from the reel – porbeagle maybe?
There’s something big down there off the Union Hall coast…A nice shark on board
Tom Collins on Loch an Iasc out of Reen Peirfinished his film shoot with the Polish crew at at end of last week. They were trying for a sixgill shark on rough reef. Unfortuantely the hook ups did not produce fish for the cameras. Each shark played close to the sea bed and he first frayed the 60lb main line on the reef. The second fish swam around for a while also fraying main line but decided to circle the boat. When manoeuvring the rod around the anchor rope Tom had to give some slack and he reckons it may have rolled once or twice in the 300lb leader. Shortly after it bit straight through. It’s a change of tactics for the next outing – 100lb mono main line with 15 foot of 49 strand wire leader to 5 foot of 49 strand hook length.
At the weekend Tom ran a “Catch, Cook Eat Experience” for the West Cork Food Festival. Tom tells us Casey’s Bar in a Union Hall produced a great meal with the fish his crew caught.
Go Fishing…
Lady Patricia / Lady Louise
Courtmacsherry Sea Angling Centre is one of Irelands Premier Angling Centres based in the picturesque village of Courtmacsherry. Sea Angling in Courtmacsherry produces good results both for the offshore charter angler, the selfdrive angler for inshore fishing or the wreck enthusiast. Web:www.courtmacsherryangling.ie Email:[email protected] Telephone: +353 (0)23 8846427 or +353 (0)86 8250905
Sea Angling Charters is a modern and energetic business driven at the helm by experienced angler and skipper Tom Collins. Whether you are a seasoned angler in pursuit of a catch of a lifetime or a passing tourist hoping to get that photo of a breaching whale we aim to fulfil your every need. Tel: +353 87 2792983 Web:www.seaanglingcharters.ie Facebook:www.facebook.com/seaanglingcharters.ie
Bert Müllrick, Germany, with a fine Lough Conn Esox
Regular visitor to the Foxford area, Bert Müllrick from Germany, had an excellent day’s pike fishing with guide Kenny Sloan. Fishing Lough Conn & Cullin, Bert had a one meter plus pike on the troll.
Bert Müllrick, Germany, with a fine Lough Conn Esox
He also caught a number of nice pike on the fly, all in the double figures. These were Bert’s first fly caught fish ever! While playing another large pike Bert’s line unfortunately snapped as it frayed across rocks. However, Bert enjoyed some great pike action and is already planning another visit to Mayo in the new year to try for more fly-caught pike.
Kenny Sloan has become synonymous with big pike in the Foxford area. Kenny can guide you on the big wild waters around him Conn and Cullen but he also has a lot of smaller waters at his disposal and even if the wind blows he always has some where to fish making your break as productive as possible. Web:www.pikemania.co.uk
