A man has died and another remains in a serious condition following a fishing accident in County Waterford. The two men were swept off the rocks while fishing near the coastal village of Annestown at around 1.50pm this afternoon. Garda confirmed the death, saying the man passed away at University Hospital Waterford earlier this afternoon… Irish Independent, 25/08/15. Read the full article ‘Fisherman dies after being swept out to sea‘.
A decision on a proposed 15,000-tonne fish farm off Gola island in west Donegal is expected in the autumn. The farm is one of four on the west coast of the country that were proposed three years ago. Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) has applied for a licence for one of the four farms and a decision is expected in the coming weeks… Donegal Democrat, 27/08/15. Read the full article ‘Decision on salmon farm expected‘.
Scientists have attacked overfishing in the Irish Sea and warned that a habitat as diverse as that in the Amazon rainforest will face ecological disaster unless the British Government takes urgent action to restrict access to prime fishing grounds in the Irish Sea, marine conservationists have warned. But fishing groups have hit back , saying that prawn fishing is sustainable… Irish Independent, 26/08/15. Read the full article ‘Scientists issue dire warning over Irish Sea marine life‘.
An experienced fisherman swept off rocks in West Cork said yesterday if he had not been wearing a lifejacket he would be dead. Colm Plunkett spoke for the first time about last weekend’s ordeal and how he wanted to warn those fishing on the shoreline to always be well prepared with safety equipment in case of an emergency… Irish Examiner, 26/08/15. Red the full article ‘Lifejacket saved my life, says angler Colm Plunkett‘.
Anglers in Ireland have endured endured a fairly miserable, wet and windy summer. Although there is the seasonal talk of an Indian Summer as the kids return to school, there is not much sign of it yet. Anglers everywhere from the high seas to canal banks have had to make the most of the opportunities afforded to them, and because this is Ireland, some of them did quite well…
Good water on the Drowes suited the few anglers who were out and a few grilse were taken. One angler had 4 on spinner, 3 released. Fluctuating water levels saw only 15 salmon at Ballisodare last week. The Moy system had a reported catch of just 113 salmon for the week as high water levels impacted on the fishing. Anglers targeting sea trout on the estuary fared a little better. Despite a good enough show of fish on the Erriff only 4 were caught last week – all grilse of about 4lb. Lough Inagh is starting to fish a good bit better for sea trout with a fair number of fresh fish in the system. The Kerry Owenmore had some great sea trout fishing particularly on White Lake where fish were met on every drift. Despite an upbeat mood on the Laune, the hoped for improvement in catches did not materialise. There were a few very quiet days on Lough Currane last week and in total 8 salmon and about a dozen sea trout were reported. Some of the West Cork rivers have fished well with the rain suiting these spate systems. The Ilen did best with almost 20 fish a week recently. Low water has seen angling effort tail off on the Bandon but a few fish were taken on shrimp in the lower sections. Fishing has been challenging on the Munster Blackwater too. The Blackwater Lodge beats are averaging a salmon a day, but an improvement is expected following the latest flood there. Some beautiful fresh salmon to 10lb have been reported from the Boyne. French anglers are doing particularly well and one pair of tourists had 6 fish over 3 days.
There was some great fishing for trout anglers on Lough Mask last week, particularly at the weekend over the deeps. On Lough Sheelin the fishing was predictably quiet as the number of anglers visiting the lake declines, but there were still were some good trout to 4lb reported. Lough Melvin also reported some good trout fishing with fish to over 6lb on dry fly.
Congratulations to Mark Leonard who won the inaugural Barrow Bonanza. Mark managed to catch more than 3 times the weight of the next biggest bag in pretty difficult conditions. Staying with river fishing, there were good reports of tench fishing at Lanesborough on the River Shannon and the Madcap Anglers reported some great bream fishing in the Athlone area. A recent competition at Lough Namachree, Co. Monaghan saw weights of over 7.5kg take first and second place. Lake venues in Longford are producing bream, hybrids and plenty of roach while canal fishing in the county is seeing good fishing on the pole for tench, roach and rudd. The canal at Rathangan is also fishing well and a recent 2 day festival was won with a fine catch of over 32lb. Some of the best fishing was reported from Co. Cavan venues where tench and bream to 6lb are helping to make weights of 60-80lb.
Pike are feeding well on Lough Derg and two anglers landed 30 fish to 1oocm over 2 days at the start of this week. Good numbers of small pike are being reported on Lough Ree, but there are plenty of bigger fish and one angler pike of 99cm and 110cm on the troll. A French angler in Co. Longford was enjoying his piking though he was not getting anything bigger than about 10lb. He was more than happy when he changed venue even though ended up with another 10lber – this one was a trout, which he safely released after a couple of photos. Two young anglers fishing in the Foxford area also found the bigger fish elusive but they enjoyed catching a good number of pike to 8ocm.
There were some big fish landed by kayak anglers recently and this weekend a 150lb skate was caught at the Irish Kayak Club meet in Donegal. Moving south to Killala Bay, charter boat anglers had good mixed fishing with pollack, spurdogs, ling, cod and more landed. Galway Bay is continuing to produce good blue shark when conditions suit. The heavy swells have put a stop to much of the rock fishing on the west Clare coast but when conditions are suitable there are some good wrasse to be caught and the triggerfish are expected soon also. Charter fishing off the Clare coast and in the Shannon Estuary is seeing a good mix of white fish and blue sharks. Charter boats operating in West Cork are reporting everything from dabs to blue shark, including bass at Courtmacsherry. Finally, in Cobh visiting anglers had their trip saved by their guide who got them over some estuary bass after poor weather prevented them getting out on to Cork Harbour.
Met Eireann advises that Friday will start off mainly dry with sunny spells, however, showers in the west will spread eastwards and become widespread and heavy in the afternoon. Some will be thundery. Highest temperatures of 15 to 18C with moderate to fresh southwest winds. The weather over the weekend and for the first half of next week will be much the same.
Fish safely this weekend
Every week we sign off the Irish Angling Update “Safe fishing and tight lines”. At regular intervals during the year we remind you all of the risks associated rock fishing, boat fishing, wading, cold water injury and more.
We all know what tight lines are but please take a moment to refresh yourselves with what safe fishing is all about…
There is a very useful angler safety checklist here, which all anglers should review and be familiar with. We also strongly urge you to download the more detailed Angler Safety Guidelines. https://fishinginireland.info/safety.htm
Peter Cunningham Releases His Salmon Back to the River Boyne
Waiting for ideal water conditions when salmon fishing can be a bit of a lottery. Getting that ideal water height and clarity and or colour is something that all anglers can only dream about and the required water level depends greatly on the fishing technique being used. When we want rain it has to be the just right amount, too much and the water rises and colours too quickly but too little and it has little or no effect. Salmon anglers know instinctively what is the ideal and they always try to be ready at the drop of a hat to take advantage of these windows of opportunity.
So it was over the weekend, when angling guide Peter Cunningham had mentioned that we needed rain. Enough to put the river up six to ten inches but it must stay clear he said. Over the weekend we got torrential downpours and it was expected that the River Boyne might be like chocolate after a few days of really heavy rain. However, Peter sensed that their might be an opportunity for a fish and made a visit to the Oldbridge fishery one of the mornings early in the week. His hunch was right and he found the levels in the Boyne has risen around 12″ but the water still remained clear. Conditions were ideal for the fly on the lower Boyne and better still the fish were on the move.
With his double handed rod Peter was able to cover all the available water and on his third cast he was into a nice fish of just over 10 lbs. The salmon had been in the river a short while and fought hard to gain its freedom. However, the fish was quickly subdued and Peter got the salmon to the net as speedily as possible to avoid overtiring the fish. After a quick photo the fish was assisted to recuperate before being released to continue its upstream journey.
On starting to fish again Peter noticed tinge of colour in the water where he was standing and within minutes the water around him was completely coloured. Happy with his short session Peter called it a day and headed off to wait for conditions to improve again.
Peter Cunningham is one of the North East’s top angling guides. If you fancy a days guided fishing for salmon, sea trout, wild brown trout, pike or bass, then why not give him a call or drop into him for a chat in the Drogheda Angling Centre, Boyne Shopping Centre, Drogheda.
Peter can be contacted by Tel: 00 353 86 4682516 or byemail: [email protected]
Peter Cunningham Releases His Salmon Back to the River Boyne
Donal Kennedy, skipper of the Leah, reported some good fishing for a group of anglers from Cavan. On Saturday 22nd August the party left Killala Harbour with weather conditions almost perfect.
Well out in the bay the first drift produced plenty of mackerel plus some whiting. The next drift over rougher ground saw some fine pollack up to 10 lbs. Then one of the rods bent double with a fine spurdog being landed followed by more spurs which gave plenty of sport for the anglers. After a while, the skipper decided to move to another place, again over rough ground, which was a wise decision as some good ling and cod were caught.
Fine cod and pollack from Killala Bay
To book a day’s fishing in Killala Bay contact Donal Kennedy on +353 (0)0868174509 or visit www.dkennedyangling.ie.
Fishing has been quite slow at Ballisodare for the past two weeks. However, there are still fresh fish entering the system every day but fluctuating water levels resulted in difficult conditions on most days.
Approximately 15 salmon were caught during the week with all but one of them coming to the worm. Denis Crawley managed the only fish on the fly, a fairly fresh salmon of about 5 lbs. caught just below the bridge in Ballisodare.
13 year old Peter Heffernan with his first ever sea trout
The Moy system had a reported catch of only 113 salmon for the week. Angling effort was very low and high water levels impacted on the fishing for most of the week.
However, anglers that were persistent enough were rewarded with some nice catches of fresh-run salmon. One of the lucky anglers was Markus Kaaser from Austria who had a 5 lbs. grilse on fly on the Foxford Fishery. Galway man, Peter Kelly, was one of the few anglers scoring further upriver. Peter caught 2 fish (4 lbs. & 6 lbs.) on bubble & fly on the East Mayo Anglers water.
The Moy Estuary produced a few sea trout during the week. Judd Ruane, skipper of the Pegasus, reported good fishing for some of his clients. Thirteen year old Peter Heffernan from London was particularly happy catching his first ever sea trout.
13 year old Peter Heffernan with his first ever sea trout
A nice blue shark caught aboard the Brazen Hussy in Galway Bay
Charter skipper John Fleming was in touch again to report more good shark fishing in Galway Bay. They had a number of blues on their latest trip up to a fine 170cm. All the fish were tagged and released again. John skippers the Brazen Hussy and is looking forward to more skark trips over the coming weeks, with seats available on most trips. For more information contact John at 087 7571320.
A nice blue shark caught aboard the Brazen Hussy in Galway Bay
Blue Shark Angling are now taking bookings for this season.
