What have the World Cup Trout Fly Fishing Championship and Croagh Patrick got in common, apart from being in Co Mayo? Answer: both had their main annual event cancelled this year due to adverse weather conditions.
In the case of Reek Sunday, it was the first time in living memory the pilgrimage to the top of the sacred mountain was cancelled. Despite the warning, several hundred people attempted the climb which resulted in numerous casualties.
World cup finals day on Lough Mask also fell foul of the weather. However, the finalists who qualified from the previous four days’ heats heeded the cancellation call and stayed away from the lake….
A beautiful start to a great day on the River Bandon...
While much of the country has enjoyed largely sunny weather for the last week there were plenty of cool evenings and in parts of the west and north west windy and wet conditions predominated. The weekend saw great reports from a number of salmon fisheries and trout anglers enjoyed good sport on east coast rivers and on Lough Corrib. There was plenty of action on the coarse front with a number of festival reports and as lake temperatures are unseasonably low, pike fishing was also busy at times. Blue shark are being reported from Cork to Donegal now and the more settled weather has seen a general improvement in charter fishing.
Dan Hawker about to release the biggest fly-caught salmonfor the Blackwater Lodge this year. This lovely fish wins Dan Catch of the Week.
There was some great salmon fishing on the Blackwater Lodge beats of the Munster Blackwater over the weekend where almost 50 fish were landed from Friday to Sunday. The last few days were a lot quieter, but there was a lovely 13lb salmon caught and released by Dan Hawker and this fish wins Catch of the Week. The Bandon also had some great fishing over the weekend with fish to 15lb landed on fly. The Laune Anglers report that fishing is improving on the river as salmon are coming up with every tide, but it is still a struggle to get fish on the river. There were about 20 salmon and almost as many sea trout reported from Lough Currane last week and anglers are generally upbeat about the fishing. Anglers are getting as many as 20 juniors a day on the Owenmore Fishery which has never had as many of these small sea trout in the system. Better sea trout and salmon are also to be had. At Delphi last week appalling weather saw angling come to a stop on a couple of days and anglers did well to catch the 20 salmon reported. The weather also impacted the fishing on the Erriff and 11 fish were landed between Wednesday and Sunday, 4 of which were caught by one angler on Saturday. Spirits were high at Kylemore last week where their catch of 14 salmon and grilse saw them surpass their total catch of 2014. One angler caught 5 fish to 7lb in just half a day’s fishing! Fishing conditions on the River Moy didn’t change much since the previous week. High water levels still impacted on the tidal beats with the rest of the river fishing quite well. Very high water levels were also a problem at Ballisodare with the worm being the most effective method.
Angling guide and casting instructor Eamonn Conway reports that the River Fane was up last week with the recent rain improving the trout angling there. Meanwhile, on the Boye, angling guide Marc O’Regan advises that the river at Trim has had some lovely fishing on BWO, Sherry Spinners and Sedges. Gormanston and District Anglers report that traditional wet fly tactics are working well at Wavin Lake. Fishing was tough on Sheelin last week. Just about every fly got a swim as the Green Peter and Murough fishing has tapered off and anglers had to work hard for their fish. On Lough O’Flynn Michael McDermott won the Michael Malone Cup in miserable conditions with a good trout of 3lb 0.3oz. Anglers on Lough Corrib fared better, reporting plenty of action and excellent fishing on a variety of wets and drys.
There was good bream fishing reported from the mid Shannon with fish to 4.5lb landed by one angler. Further up river the annual Lanesborough Pike Anglers children’s competition took place on Saturday 8th August. Twelve children took part and all caught fish. Tony Kersley won the 4 Day Clones Festival with 74lbs 4oz. Cold temperatures and high water meant some venues did not fish as expected but there was a general show of bream across the venues. Good reports came in again this week from Ramor, even on the brighter days – we also have some footage of the huge shoals that are building up in parts of the lake. At the Lough Muckno Team of 5 event there was an exciting finish as the teams vied for the top spot. Meanwhile there was some great fishing by the competitors of IADA’s Junior Irish Open also fished on Lough Muckno. Castle Lake in Bailieboro, Co Cavan is also fishing well and can be a good venue for an evening’s entertainment. Portobello AC had a good day on the River Barrow at the weekend. Fishing in the crystal clear Graiguenamanagh Angling Club water they found the fish to be very shy but still managed weights to 5.690kg.
Fishing the IFPAC National Pike Championships 2015/16 qualifier on Sunday, 46 anglers caught 118 pike to 13lb 10oz at a County Longford river venue. Staying in Longford 8 year old Gaius from Germany enjoyed some fun pike fishing with Melview Lodge. Some exciting fishing was reported from Lough Derg where pike to over 100cm have been caught recently. Further south at Lough Allua in Co. Cork visiting novice anglers enjoyed great sport catching good numbers of pike between 70cm and 80cm.
Shore anglers in the Arklow area report good fishing for a range of species. The highlight of the trips recently was a lovely 10lb bass which took a squid bait. Small boat anglers in Cork Harbour are enjoyed good bass fishing last week despite the poor weather. Reports from this week (Tuesday and Wednesday) are the the shark fishing has taken off again with as many as 13 and 15 hook ups to a boat. Charter boats in West Cork are also reporting good sharking as well as good general mixed species fishing, while shore anglers around Bantry Bay and on the Beara Peninsula are getting good ray, huss and pollack fishing. There were reports of blue shark in Kerry. Reports of bass fishing from the county are more varied and it has been a bit hit and miss this year for some. Charter anglers off the Clare and Galway coasts are getting their share of the blue shark fishing too. And there is also plenty of enjoyable fishing for rays, huss, tope and other species.
The weather for the weekend will not be so good, depending on you point of view. Friday will be a fresher day countrywide, with some scattered outbreaks of rain but dry in many parts. It will brighten up in the afternoon with highest temperatures of 15 to 19 degrees in moderate occasionally fresh west to northwest winds. Saturday will start dry and sunny in most areas but cool with a risk of a few showers in light to moderate, southwesterly winds. Sunday may turn out to be a mainly dry day as well with sunny spells as winds become slack in most areas but temperatures will remain several degrees below normal for mid-August.
Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.
Myles Kelly
Catch, Photo, Release
If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to [email protected].
Alice MurtaghIFI from the Corlesmore office reports on coarse fishing in the Cavan/Leitrim area…
There are a good number of pleasure anglers in the Killeshandra/Arva area at present. Catches are reported to be good with good mixed bags up to 50/60lbs being caught on Percys Shore, Dereskit. The Killykeen area is fishing well with good mixed bags 35/40lbs. Bream up to 4lbs and Tench up to 7lb are being caught on Gulladoo Upper.
The Dromore River at Abbotts is producing good bags of fish while Bream and plenty of Roach are being caught at Killyvaughan.
Alice Murtagh Inland Fisheries Ireland – Corlesmore Office, Arva, Co. Cavan [email protected]
Tel: +353 (0)49 4337174
Angling guide, Kenny Sloan, reported that visiting angler Michel Fantone from France had great sport pike fishing around the Foxford area. Despite the poor weather conditions with high winds and hail showers Michel had 5 pike in total mostly on trolled lures, best at 93cm.
Michel Fantone, France, with a nice Mayo pike
To book a day’s guiding or boat hire contact Kenny Sloan on +353 (0)949256501 or +353 (0)87 9670310.
Very high water levels impacted on angling for most of the week on Ballisodare with the worm being the most effective method. However, towards the end of the week when levels dropped, flyanglers enjoyed some good sport mostly upstream of the Falls. The fishery produced a total of 45 salmon for the week, twelve of which were released.
Amongst the successful anglers were brothers Hugh and Noel McKeever who had a good day at the Falls catching 3 fish between them averaging 5 lbs. Swiss visitor, Luciano Cipolli, had a grilse at Harrison’s on worm, while Aiden O’Conner, Ballisodare & Galway, caught the heaviest fish of the week, a fine nine pounder at the Falls.
Bernard Harte, Joe Power and Aiden Heffernan all had fish on the fly upstream of the Falls later in the week.
Fishing conditions on the River Moy didn’t change much since the previous week. High water levels still impacted on the tidal beats with the rest of the river fishing quite well.
Three generations of the Jordan family (grandfather, father & son) from the UK enjoyed 5 great days fishing on the Mount Falcon water catching a total of 22 salmon using a range of different methods. On Coolcronan, Stuart Turner, UK, caught 2 salmon at 6 lbs. each on worm, while Alan Culley from Northern Ireland had a ten pounder on Gannon’s, also on worm.
German visitor, Hans Thomas Kemp, did very well on the Cloongee Fishery where he had 8 grilse (5 released) on worm and spinner. Stuart Turner, who had already been successful at Coolcronan also scored on the East Mayo water with another grilse; this time on bubble and fly. Also on East Mayo, flyangler Des Edwards from Northern Ireland had a fine 9 lbs. salmon.
Irish Angling Development Alliance report on their Junior competiton:
On Saturday the 8th of August young competitors from various parts of the country came to compete in the Junior Irish Open.
The competition was divided into 2 sections. 1 for novices ( those that had never fished an organised competition) and those who had.
After the draw at the Old Coach Inn at 9.30, nets were provided by the IADA and the eager young men made their way to White Island to commence the set up. Assisted by coaches from Navan, Carrickmacross, Naas and the IADA all juniors got set up in a safe and comfortable manner.
At midday the “all in” was called and it was interesting to see the different approaches to the pegs by the young lads. Some fished waggler and some fished feeder, while the more experienced set off working on landing as many small fish as possible on the pole.
Midway through it was pretty obvious that that it was between Michael Kelly ( NADA), Eoin Rogers ( Carrickmacross) and Aussie Conway ( NADA) for the title while the novice section was anyone’s for the taking.
The excitement on the bank was tremendous with the adult club members as excited as the youngsters.
With the weigh in officiated by Peter Walsh it was a close affair with Eoin Rogers ( carrickmacross AC) coming in 3rd with 3kg900 . 2nd was Aussie Conway (NADA) with 4kg 900 and Michael Kellly (NADA) with 5kg 190gms.
In the Novice section Mark, Conor and Gary were presented with fantastic prizes of a 10m Maver pole , an 11ft Maver feeder rod and a Maver reactorlite reel as well as gold,siver and bronze medals A determined Michael Kelly
Michael Kelly was presented with a fantastic Maver Seat box and his gold medal was hung around his neck by Richard Caplice from the IADA. Austin Conway
Aussie Conway took Silver and a Maver 11ft feeder rod and Reactorlite reel.
Eoin Rogers wore the bronze medal and got a full Maver Lugage set .
Luke and Liam took 4th and 5th and received runner up prizes of a Maver whip.
Everyone received a Maver goodie bag with some lovely tackle. Liam Hubbock
All the competitors have a great future in Angling and many of them still have a good few years left in the junior section so I expect to see them all on the podium again shortly.
The Irish Angling Development Alliance is very proud of all the young men that competed and a particular thanks must go to the Coaches, Club officials and parents that give their time freely week in and week out for the betterment of our sport. These young people should be encouraged in every way possible and we are delighted to see the structure is now in place for them to progress in the angling field. Eamon Rogers Junior angler
Looking forward to seeing you all again at the Junior Canal Championships in Newry in September.
Any clubs who have juniors to participate in the coaching sessions or want help setting up their own session please contact [email protected] Paul Mcloughlin Irish Angling Development Alliance
085 2100880
Owen Dunne and John O’Keefe report that there is some good shore fishing to be had in the Arklow area.
Owen Dunne with his 10lb bass from Arklow
The pair are making the most of the long evenings and fishing after work. Amongst the catches of schoolie bass, bullhuss and rockling was a fine 10,lb bass that fell for a squid bait. The mark has a small enough fall on the tide and crab and squid bait do best for them.
After each session the make a point of bringing back any rubbish they find, something we could all try to do more often
Lots of Small Fish Shoaled Up Along the Shoreline on Lough Ramor
Coming off Lough Ramor yesterday evening Wednesday 12th August, there were lots of small fish jumping all along the shoreline. This is not unusual at this time of the year and when you looked into the water, the shimmering light made it look as if the ground was moving. Perhaps an optical illusion!
In fact, not an optical illusion at all. On closer inspection, looking beyond the clouds of fry, there were literally 1,000s of small fish shoaled up all along the shoreline in about 18″ of water. The bed of the lake was literally shaking with fish that were feeding actively and darting about like small fish do. I took a few photos to share the event but as I had not got a polarizing filter with me they did not come out the best but they give a sense of thiswonderful natural event. Fantastic to see nature in action!
To see some larger fish and angling catches why not have a look at some recent posts at the links below, just in case you missed them!
Lots of Small Fish Shoaled Up Along the Shoreline on Lough RamorSmall Fish Actively Feeding and Darting About on Lough Ramor YesterdayMore Fish All Along The ShorelineA Natural Aquarium. Lough Ramor Yesterday.
Nigel Rush reports that there were a few salmon caught at the Kylemore Abbey Fishery during the week further increasing their total to more than was caught all last season…
Finished last week yesterday with 14 grilse and salmon for the week for just 15.5rod days. The high rod/catch ration being aided by Seamus O’Neil who landed five fish to 7lb for just a half day!
Other anglers, Geoffrey Fitzjohn, John Williams, Hugh Jameson, John Curran and Pat Burn also helped raise our total for the year to 83 fish against just 79 for the entire season last year. Plenty of fish entering the system and plenty of water to keep us fishing for the next five days.
To book fishing at Kylemore Abbey, contact Nigel on 095 41178, or mobile 087 9580702, and for latest news check the website at www.kylemorefishery.ie
Hidden away between the mountains of Connemara and the Atlantic ocean, the Kylemore Abbey fishery is a wild and beautiful place. Kylemore Abbey Fishery consists of the Kylemore Middle and Castle lakes, with five and a half miles of the Dawros river which enters the sea in Ballynakill bay. Salmon and sea-trout run for a good proportion of the year to provide first class fishing on uncrowded waters.
The open panoramas of the lakes contrast with the intimacy of the river to give a variety of fishing combined with stunning scenery unrivalled anywhere in Ireland. Although offering an excellent chance of a fish for most of the season, you will find the real meaning of “a fish is a bonus” at Kylemore.
