Dan O'Donovan from Cork with a fine 4lbs sea trout from Lough Inagh
Fishery manager Colin Folan was in touch with a belated update on fishing at Lough Inagh.
After a fairly slow two weeks, Lough Inagh is starting to fish a good bit better for sea trout and brown trout, with a fair number of fresh sea trout entering. The weather has also changed for the better for angling. Water levels are rising and hopefully more silver will appear. William Hamilton (Dublin) landed 3 salmon to 7lbs, 20 sea trout and 20 browns for his week on Inagh. Eugene Nolan and Sean Finnerty fished Inagh for a day and boated 10 sea trout and numerous browns to 1.5lbs.
Dan O’Donovan from Cork with a fine 4lbs sea trout from Lough Inagh
The Cornamona Anglers (x10) made their annual pilgrimage to Inagh and recorded 15 sea trout and 50 brown trout. Best flies at present are Silver Daddies, Dabblers and Green Peters. We are looking forward to a fruitful September. Pictured below are Dan O Donovan (Cork) with a 4lbs Sea Trout and Colin Folan (Galway) with a 4.5lbs brown. Bookings and enquiries to hotel reception 095 34706
Colin Folan with a fine 4.5lbs brown trout from Lough Inagh
Stephen Jones with a nice 4.5lbs Erriff grilse August 2015, making his girls proud!
Fishery manager Osgur Grieve reports on fishing from the 18th to the 25th. This week produced 4 grilse. On the evening of the 20th Gerry Fitzpatrick caught a nice 5lbs grilse on a Willie Gunn variant from the Falls Pool. On the evening of the 21st Stephen Jones caught 2 grilse weighing 4.25lbs and 4lbs, 1 of which he released. He was using a Curry’s Red Shrimp and a Cascade variant. On the 24th Jonathan Roberts caught a 3.5lbs grilse from the Bridge Pool. Well done to all the anglers involved. The fish were showing themselves a lot this week but anglers found it hard to entice them. Hopefully the fish will co-operate more in the coming week with the rain that is forecast.
To book fishing or accommodation on the Erriff, contact Aasleagh Lodge at 095 42382 or check out www.aasleaghlodge.ie
Stephen Jones with a nice 4.5lbs Erriff grilse August 2015, making his girls proud!
Over at Courtmacsherry Mark Gannontells us that when the going gets tough he always has the bass fishing to fall back on. And even when the conditions are fine it can be a good option…
Courtmacsherry Bass caught on Tuesday evening.
Over the last few days Mark’s anglers have been catching some great ling, blue shark, cod and pollack, dabs and thornback ray.
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
Ian Powell of the Blackwater Lodge gives us a report on how the week progressed on the Munster Blackwater:
27 August: Just one fish yesterday on the middle river in very dirty water with clarity barely a foot.
We have caught 92 so far for August and 337 for the season to date.
Fishing was challenging for the last week or so with just 9 fish in the last 9 days.
Prospects are very promising for the coming days as the latest flood should bring in more fresh fish.
Fish were moving on the upper river yesterday and a very fresh fish was lost on Bridgetown. Fish were also seen moving through later in the day on the lower river.
There has been some good pike fishing on Lough Derg in the last week. First up is TJ O’Brien from TJ’s Tackle shop and Angling Centrein Ballina, Co. Tipperary…
25 August: We have had some great fishing this year so far but Flowren and Damien from France hit on an exceptional two day fishing trip with us. Yesterday we had 18 hookups and managed to turn this into 13 fish landed and today we managed to add another 17 fish to this tally to make a total of 30 fish landed.. The biggest fish was just on the 1 meter mark and was taken by Damien on the Albino colored in line trout from Savagear.
Lough Derg is a great venue for the pike angler
All fish were released healthy and most were unhooked in the water. The fish hit the lures very hard and as you can see from the picture below some repairs will be needed, if possible.
Some of these lures took a hammering!
22 August: Two days 10 fish. A lot of small fish for Patrick and Stefan which bodes well for the future I think. The biggest was 94cm, smallest was 20cm and this little chap latched onto a pig shad which even if he did manage to kill it how the hell was he gonna swallow it?
The rain stopped once or twice…
Also on the lake and getting amongst the pike was Dutch guide Herman Molenaar of www.fisherman.nl…
Not the biggest of the day, but a feisty fishPike have sharp teeth and anglers need to be careful of their own safety as well as the pike’s welfare when handling them
24 August: Great fighting pike today on Lough Derg. It was really material testing, what a brutal power these Irish pike on Lough Derg have. But everything went well, great fishing.
21 August: It sounds strange but I’m always happy when my clients are bleeding (haha) because I know they caught pike.
Too many lost fish today but that’s part of the game! Rozemeijer “the tracker” was the winner today. Perch wereon the move also today, we caught them on jerkbaits… they fear nothing!
20 August: Went after a few perch this evening got a shock when this pike hit! Good fun on Savage Gear Finezze 25g lure rod.
Fishing for perch, but will settle for a pike
Go fishing…
TJ’s Angling centre
TJ’s Angling centre arranges trips and offers support to anglers visiting the Lough Derg area. All our guides are local anglers with a detailed knowledge of Lough Derg and its surrounds. All equipment needed can be supplied or if you prefer to use your own, our guides will be happy to offer advice on methods and baits to use, full or half day trips are available, contact us for prices and available dates.
Herman Molenaar offers guided pike fishing on Lough Derg. Specialises in the Dutch market. Boat hire, tackle shop and accommodation also available.
Address: FisHerman, Main Street, Killaloe, County Clare, Ireland Telephone: +353 (0)87 985 74 91 Email:[email protected]Web:www.fisherman.nl
Irish Fishing Tours
Our comprehensive packages include a guiding service, boat and tackle hire, food and accommodation. Using our local knowledge, we have carefully selected a range of accommodation to suit all tastes and budgets.
Paul Bourke 087 1953554
Luke Aston skipper of the Blue Lagoon had a variety of fine fish this week from sharks and pollack to cod.
August 19th: Conditions were a bit rough and tumble but ok once out on the reefs. Fishing was good with a slow drift as the wind held us against the tide but these conditions produced a few extra Cod and Ling.
August 20th: A bit breezy today so we had a quite day in the estuary with a few drifts for mackerel and pollack and then fished at anchor for the rest of the day.
August 21st: We were well tested today in a fresh sw wind but boat and crew held up well! Rewarded with some fine Pollack up to double figures.
August 22nd: Sunshine and calm seas. Summer fishing how it should be!
August 23rd: Just a moderate nw breeze today and plenty of whitefish on the ground. Pollack were jumping on the hooks!!
August 24th: We had a shark drift today in very testing conditions. It’s great to have an able boat😊! We had 6 Blues in the boat in a shortened drift with this big fella of up towards a 100lb the best of them.
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
Mark Leonard's 14kg haul on Day 1 was to prove unbeatable!
Last Weekend on the 22nd and 23rd August we saw the maiden voyage on the River Barrow of the Waterways Ireland Barrow Bonanza fishing festival. Eddie Long, Naas and District Anglers, gives a blow by blow account of the fishing…
We all met up on Saturday morning in the carpark of Tougher’s restaurant on the Dublin Road, Carlow. We had our dipping station around the back of the carpark, chemicals supplied by the I.A.D.A. and as usual in match fishing no dip,no draw!
Enda Hickey oversaw the draw and made sure everything was fair and above board.This match was to be held on two match stretches. A: Knockbeg and B: Maganey.
We had two stewards keeping a close eye on proceedings, Fergal Scullier and Jimmy Murray marshalled the match and they also conducted the weigh in with the help of Declan Day and Ashley Hayden. They walked the bank on their respective match stretch and made sure there were no shenanigans going on!
Weather conditions for day one were good but unfortunately due to the lack of rain the previous week there was very little flow and the water wasn’t heavily coloured.
We had no illusions that this match was going to be easy but we were dealt the same cards and the show must go on so… On the Knockbeg stretch fishing was quite tough and the stamp of fish on the higher pegs (12-21) was very small.The dace being caught seemed to have been born the previous day but on the lower pegs some better fish were turning up with the odd hybrid and some decent perch seeing the net. The more cunning anglers were using chopped worm to draw in the perch.At 5:30 on the button the all out was called and the weigh in began.
Our very own Andrius Simbelis managed to get the winning weight of 4.260kg on Knockbeg consisting of mainly perch and dace but Andrius didnt have long to revel in his glory as rumours started to circulate of a 14+kg winning bag from Maganey. Everyone packed away their gear and we set off back to Toughers to see if the rumors were true and get the results for day 1. Upon arrival Andrius’s fears became a reality as Mark Leonard had indeed caught 14.100Kg.
It certainly looked to be an impossible task for any angler to match this fantastic weight on day 2!
Mark Leonard’s 14kg haul on Day 1 was to prove unbeatable!
Day 1 Results:
Knockbeg A Maganey B
Section Winners:
1A Brendan Collins 2.710kg 2A Kevin Hodson 4.080kg
1B Sean Beretton 2.190kg 2B Steven Howson 1.090kg
1C Ian Warburton 0.400kg 2C Attila Paldeak 1.800kg
1D Andrius Simbelis 4.260kg 2D Mark Leonard 14.100kgs
On day 2 Sunday 23rd, a serious amount of rain had fallen overnight but was it going to increase the flow add colour to the water, time would tell! Again we met in Toughers for breakfast after an efficient reverse section draw we lined up to head off to the opposite stretch of that we’d fished the day previous.It seemed a foregone conclusion that Mark Leonard had the match in the bag with his weight from day 1 and we all feared that the fish would back off the bait from what had gone in on Saturday.
Upon arrival at our pegs, it seemed the flow had increased slightly but the water colour had not improved. It certainly looked like we were in for a very difficult match. The all in was called at 12 and I’m sure every angler was dreaming that they’d land on a shoal of hybrids or bream and best Mark Leonards 14+kg bag and then some. Alas the dreams would become a nightmare. I fished Maganey on Sunday and was disappointed to hear that nobody was doing well at all. The whole stretch fished tough and most anglers concluded that the stamp of fish from day one had had their fill of bait and were nowhere to be seen.
I’m sure most anglers used every method at their disposal to try and winkle out a few fish but it seemed no matter what method, be it pole,whip,feeder or stickfloat,nothing would the trick. I myself spent far too long running a float through my swim on the pole and with 15 minutes to go decided to trott a very light stick float through with my fingers crossed(everything crossed). I managed to net four half decent roach in the dying minutes of the match that I’m sure got me my section win. At 5pm the all out was called and Jimmy started the weigh in on Maganey. As expected the figures were low, very low! Tired and bet, we packed up and set off again to Toughers for the final tally up and prize giving. Was it possible that Marks day 1 net could have been equaled or beaten?
In a word, No!
Day 2 results
Knockbeg A Maganey B
Section Winners:
1A Mark Leonard 1.500kg 2A Eddie Long 1.100kg
1B Owen Lynch 1.940kg 2B Gary Quayle 0.660kg
1C Neil Keane 0.280kg 2C Philip Jackson 1.160kg
1D Gary Doyle 1.570kg 2D Michael Kelly 1.860kg
Match winner was Mark Leonard with 15.600kg. Well done mate, nobody even came close!
2nd place went to Cathal Hughes with 5.120kg. Well done Cathal!
3rd place went to Andrius Simbelis with 4.300kg Well done Andrius!
4th place went to Kevin Hodson with 4.220kg Well done Kev!
5th place went to Chris Moore with 3.430kg very well done Chris
Including the top prize of a guaranteed 1000 Euros a total of 3660 Euros was paid out in prizes!
Mark Leonard receives this €1000 first prize
It was brilliant to see three of our members get into the top 5. We really hope you all enjoyed fishing the very first Barrow Bonanza, without you it couldnt have been the success we feel it was. Fishing was tough going but the fish were there. If only we’d had a bit more rain the week before things would have been much different but we cant be blamed for the weather. We hope you will all come back next year to fish the Barrow Bonanza with us albeit probably in a different format! Eddie Long
P.R.O. www.naasdistrictanglers.com
The Barrow Bonanza
This festival was the brainchild of Paul McLoughlin. River fishing, especially on the Barrow is Paul’s main angling passion and he wanted to create a festival which brought together like minded anglers from around the country to experience the magic of fishing a match on the River Barrow.
Our clubs ethos is all about getting out on the bank with friends, fishing and having the craic. We really hope that you guys experienced exactly that at the weekend! It was our first time to host an open eventof this size and we felt it was an excellent opportunity for anglers to come fish with us and experience the welcome of the Naas club. Where anyone of any nationality,colour or religion irrespective of their angling level is always welcome to fish with us! www.naasdistrictanglers.com
It couldn’t have happened without…
Before I finish up I’d like to thank a few people.
Firstly I’d like to thank Samantha and staff in Toughers Carlow who made us feel very welcome and looked after us so well, thank you very much!
Secondly I’d like to thank Waterways Ireland for their kind sponsorship which allowed us to guarantee the 1000 Euro prize. I’d also like to thank Billy O Neill from Waterways for helping all weekend with the match and for awarding the main prizes and helping us with access and assistance at all times.
I’d also like to thank Manus Tiernan from Waterways Ireland for taking the time to come down and take photos and chat with the anglers.
I’d like to thank Enda Hickey and Peter Walsh of the I.A.D.A for all there assistance with staging this event, running the peg draw and donating the dipping chemicals. I’d like to thank Fergal Scullier and Jimmy Murray who gave up their time and did a great job marshaling the event.
I’d like to give massive thanks to Mark Maloney, Sean Campbell, Trev Campbell,Padraig O Riordan, Owen Lynch, Kevin Hodson,David Redmond and Niall Smyth.They got the pegs strimmed and cleared for the match, made the actual plastic match pegs and really grafted hard to get the swims ready for the match. Massive thanks to Ollie Doyle who gave his time and his boat to clear the weeds from the watersedge, he did absolutely Trojan work for our club and the match simply couldn’t have gone ahead without your help, Cheers Ollie!
Finally, Paul McLoughlin, What can I say? YOU ARE A LEGEND!!! The amount of work you put into this event was truely phenominal. From sourcing the sponsorship from Waterways, putting together the Barrow Bonanza info packs and bait order forms sent to each and every angler,to getting the venue for the draw etc. I spent two days with Paul on the Barrow after,
work. We worked until dark both nights and didnt get back to Naas till well after 11pm and I can tell you I was absolutely wrecked after this. Paul spent two full weeks going down to Carlow after work to strim the pegs,cut back brambles,cut down low lying branches etc. How he didnt keel over and expire on the bank from exhaustion I’ll never know.
Even the night before the match he was down on the Maganey stretch till after 10pm strimming the last four pegs and leaving himself no time whatsoever to get any rigs tied or rods ready for the match. I can only assume it was a labour of love for you and for this very reason you somehow managed to find the strength to keep going.
I’m pretty sure I can speak for the whole Naas and District Anglers club by saying we as a club would be nothing without you mate. You are the driving force behind us and since the clubs creation just over three years ago we have gone from strength to strength and that’s is all down to you. We really appreciated all that you do
Ghillie Vincent Appleby reports on the salmon and sea trout fishing in the past week on Lough Currane:
Currane Championship
The 2015 ‘Currane Championship’ Waterville’s Sea Trout Catch and Release Fly-fishing Competition, organised this year by The Waterville Lakes & Rivers Trust, will be held on Friday 18th and Saturday 19th September. The entry fee has been reduced this year to €150 including Dinner at the prize giving on the Saturday evening. All are welcome to enter!
More information at www.loughcurrane.com
Angling reports
26/8/15 Lough Currane was on the quiet side in all departments going by the iphone. A few Juniors were caught on the fly, but you can say with out any fear of contradiction in the overall angling community, they failed miserably in their duties, in their manipulation of their flies, selection and presentation, and their choice of drift, and last but not least they failed to let their fingers do the talking at the end of their day. All I can say is, iphone or not I have spoken and just for the record I failed miserably my self, so who the hell am I to criticize. Wind WNW and veered WSW and overcast with showers.
Specimen Sea Trout by Ramon O’Reilly
25/8/15 Straight to the hired out boat department of Waterville Boats and at [email protected] Mr. Ramon O’Reilly, was in great form with his fly rod today while drifting on Lough Currane, a cracker of a Sea Trout rose to his fly. As Ramon struck his fine fish, experience told him the chances were that he was into a specimen Sea Trout and the battle was on. After a fine fight his Sea Trout was ready for the net and with one swipe the fish was dispatched. Just for the record Ramon had every intention of returning this fine specimen Sea Trout of 6 lbs.7 ozs but sadly the gills were damaged. Now we cut across to the south side of the Lake, Local Gillie Mr. John Murphy, caught 2 juniors and finished his day off with a fine Sea Trout of 3 ½ lbs. all caught on the fly. Wind SE then veered SW fresh to strong with rain this morning and made a small flood.
24/8/15 Lough Currane was on the quiet side in all departments. Wind North light with reasonable cloud cover with the odd shower.
Charlie Chaplin looking a bit glum with the angling results…
23/8/15 Charlie Chaplin takes all the headlines in Waterville and Kerry take all the headlines, as they win at Croke Park both in Minor and Senior football semi-finals and my Noble Anglers had nothing to celebrate as they failed miserably in their duties. Wind West light to fresh with reasonable cloud cover at times.
Terrance found success at the Bulters Pool
22/8/15 The Charlie Chaplin Festival is in full swing and our Charlie made the Lough Currane anglers look like right Charlie’s today in all departments but thankfully the same couldn’t be said downstream on the Famous Butlers Pool and at www.watervillegolflinks.ie local Gillie Mr. Terence Wharton Jnr, caught a fine 6 lbs. Salmon on a Tube Fly and saved the day from total embarrassment. Wind calm for most of the day, when it did get up it was light westerly with reasonable cloud cover at times.
21/8/15 To all you C&R Anglers there is some good news from Lough Currane Horizon, a young teenage Angler from Boston, Mass, USA, Gavin Dowley, went Salmon fishing for the first time in his life and caught two fine Grilse within hour and a half. His Gillie Mr. Neil O’Shea of www.oshealoughcurrane.com asked Gavin why did he put both fish back, “Well where I fish in the US we put everything back”. No Spin No Fly’s just a simple touch of C&R. Staying in the Grilse Department, Northern Ireland Angler Mr. Andy Wishart, caught a fine 5lbs. Grilse on the Troll and caught 2 Sea Trout both on the fly in the 2 lbs. Class, while fishing with his Gillie Mr. Dominic McGillicuddy of www.fishingwithdom.com. Wind SW fresh with good cloud cover, with the odd shower.
20/08/15 We Start on the World famous Butler Pool and at www.watervillegolflinks.ie Local Angler Mr. Jim Sayers was on the early shift on the Butlers Pool and it wasn’t long before he caught himself a fine 6 lbs. Salmon on the fly. Now we head upstream to Lough Currane and the South side of the Lake and at www.lakelandshouse.com, Dr. John Delap, while fly fishing with his Gillie Mr. Frank Donnelly of www.lakelandshouse.com was in great form with 4 Sea Trout ranging from Junior class up to 5 ½ lbs. and were all returned. Now to the Salmon department and catch of the day and that goes to UK angler Mr. Dave Eccelstone, while fishing with his Gillie Mr. Vincent O’Sullivan of www.vincentsfishing.com caught 3 Salmon on the fly and their weights are as follows, 6.5lb, 5lb and 4.25lb. In the trolling department, Northern Ireland Angler Mr. Andy Wishart, caught a fine Grilse on the Troll, while fishing with his Gillie Mr. Dominic McGillicuddy of www.fishingwithdom.com
That is your ration from the opening days on Lough Currane, from your Gillie and the Waterville Fishery, no spin no fly’s just facts. Vincent Appleby
The rivers and lakes of Waterville drain a large catchment and are regarded by many as the foremost Salmon and Sea-Trout fishery in the country. The lake system is well developed with access to boats and guides being readily available to the tourist angler. The Sea-Trout caught here are renowned for their size and quantity. For more details see Waterville lakes and rivers system
Some English anglers fished Corfree, Lough Gowna and report good bags of fish up to 80lb including bream and tench up to 6lb in weight. There are also plenty of skimmers, hybrids and roach being bagged.
Percys Shore on Dereskit is producing good bags of fish, also Carrs Lough with bream and tench up to 4lb.
Good mixed bags up to 60lb are being fished at Killykeen Match Section with plenty of bream and hybrids. Nice bream are also being bagged at Little Drumanny.
With the weather working against our boat angling enthusiasts recently, guide Richie Ryan had to seek a haven for a group of Antrim bass anglers from a shore mark instead of his beloved Sea Hawk. It’s an awful long way to travel for bass fishing so no pressure Richie ! With the outer marks blown out of the equation, the Eire Bass guide had to resort to an estuary mark. The secret of these marks says Richie, is timing the tidal state to coincide with the movement of the bass. This is where local knowledge pays off.
Davy Wright caught his first bass ever on his trip to Cork
With a strong South Westerly wind blowing in the face of the anglers conditions were tough but they persisted and were eager to catch a bass. Luck was on their side as 3 nice bass fell to soft plastics. Nothing really big , but they were bass. Some had their first ever bass. Happy anglers, happy guide !
Allister Stewart with a nice fish
One regret Richie had was that young Scott Stewart did not land his quarry. They caught left and right of him. Boy did he try, a very keen fisherman, Richie says he’s going to make a superb angler.
August 20th: A bit breezy today so we had a quite day in the estuary with a few drifts for mackerel and pollack and then fished at anchor for the rest of the day.
August 21st: We were well tested today in a fresh sw wind but boat and crew held up well! Rewarded with some fine Pollack up to double figures.
August 22nd: Sunshine and calm seas. Summer fishing how it should be!
August 23rd: Just a moderate nw breeze today and plenty of whitefish on the ground. Pollack were jumping on the hooks!!
August 24th: We had a shark drift today in very testing conditions. It’s great to have an able boat😊! We had 6 Blues in the boat in a shortened drift with this big fella of up towards a 100lb the best of them.
