A Plump Wild Brownie Caught by Eamonn Conway on a Recent Outing
Angling guide and casting instructor Eamonn Conway reports that the River Fane has risen in the last week with the recent rain. It has brought it up to a nice level for trout fishing, unfortunately not enough for salmon to start running. The water clarity is a bit misty due to the water coming from Lough Ross, the trout fishing is not affected at all. The fishing is quite good since the bit of fresh water arrived. I have been getting high volumes of trout in the current conditions. Trout are falling to drys and nymphs, hopefully more rain will come and the salmon will start run soon.
Tight lines Eamonn c
Eamonn Conway is one of the country’s top angling guides and a qualified APGAI Ireland Fly Casting Instructor. If you fancy a days guided fishing with Eamonn why not drop him an email at [email protected] or give him a call at 086 1242966.
Murphy’s law applied during the August Bank Holiday weekend. While the rest of Europe basked in the sunshine and heat, Ireland contended with gales and downpours. Our army of brave anglers fought the weather on the river banks, on the lakes and on the seas. On the optimistic side though the floods did bring some fresh fish into the system and now that the rivers are beginning to fine off anglers are feeling the benefits…..
The first day of August saw four fish landed in Delphi and many more expected during the week as conditions are conducive to salmon fishing at the moment and there is a steady number of fish still running. Costello & Fermoyle in Galway saw sea trout fishing improve, 101 were caught since July 25th which were small but fresh and plump. Erriff fishery had 35 salmon mostly grilse averaging 3lbs to 5lbs but anglers Gerard Garnier and Joe Burke had salmon each estimated at 12lbs which they later released. Well done lads.
Tidal sections of the Moy were hard to fish but mid-river was easier with Rinanny recording the highest numbers. Worm and spinner worked best, German couple Rita and Ullrich Mohaupt had three fish at Cloongee Fishery. Rising water levels affected angling on Ballisodare, yet 100 salmon were reported. Sea trout are still running Glencar Lake in good numbers much to the delight of Sligo Anglers Association club member, Ken Kinsella who caught two 2lbers there.
A specimen 164lb skate for Dirk Crauwell is our ‘Catch of the Week’ winner
The green and gold shirts of Kerry may have defeated the Lilly whites during the weekend in football but the Kerry anglers had to admit defeat on the Currane when weather conditions made it impossible to fish. Storm force winds on Monday kept anglers very quiet. Earlier in the week Dutch Angler Wim Woermeijer did however catch a fine grilse on a secret fly (which he’ll disclose to no one!) in very tough conditions within 6 casts. Wim also caught and released 2 fine Sea Trout, both in the 3 ½ lbs range.
Owenmore fishery again was hard going; local anglers had one salmon over 10 lbs and 3 grisle between 5 /6 lbs. Again on the Cork rivers it was the locals who performed best, the Lee had 12 peel mostly on the fly, the Bandon saw some salmon and grilse with the most successful methods being shrimp and worm.
The Munster Blackwater cheered 15 year old Jack Hughes from the U.K up to no end as he caught a cracking salmon weighing 18½lbs at Fort William. Water levels are dropping back nicely and fishing for the coming week should be good.
Brenda Montgomery IFI summed up the gift of passing on the art of angling with a lovely quote from Charles R Swindoll this week “Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children” and what better way than give them memories of the river banks, the lakes or seas. Sheelin’ evening sedge, Murrough and the Green Peter teased the trout out of the water this week. The Blue moon on Friday July 31st drove the trout into a feeding frenzy. There were 72 trout recorded this week, the heaviest being 5lbs by Paddy Lyons of Cavan. The McDonnell cup will be fished there tomorrow August 8th.
Unfortunately the final day of the Lough Mask World cup had to be postponed due to weather conditions. Just over 500 anglers participated in this year’s competition from all across Ireland and the UK. Those brave enough to tackle Lough Conn & Cullin enjoyed good catches. Green Peter and wet fly pattern worked best.
Lough Corrib was a busy place this week. Great activity on mayfly patterns and sedge patterns to a lesser degree. In the Greenfields area well known angler Vincent Hughes had a personal best while dapping Monday last with a trout weighing 7.062 Lbs on a cricket.
Ballybay Angling Association tell us that Sunday morning’s club knock up saw 17 anglers turned out at a blustery Yellow Island on Lough Muckno. Piotr Horbinski took first place with 9.8 kgs. Lough Ramor, like the rest of the country had high winds last weekend but at Coronagh fishing was possible. Red maggots produced fish straight away for anglers. Perch, the odd roach and some fine hybrids made up the catches. Later as this week settled down, Ramor came into its own with a fine array quality hybrids and roach.
The four day Annual Belturbet Festival took place; two days on Killykeen, one on Rockfield and one on Glasshouse. Harsh conditions but Wayne Fuller, Ballinagh managed 34.710kg. A date to add to the diary is NCFFI All Ireland Club Championship, Bobby Smither’s Memorial Cup which is on Inniscarra Lake Coachford on August 15th and 16th.
Pike fishing didn’t make any headlines this week and most areas were quiet. The next Championship qualifier will be held on a river on Sunday 9th August. As the original area chosen is unsuitable at present a different venue is being discussed. Details can be had from John Chambers on 086 6057306. The top 6 anglers qualify to fish in the Final which will be held on a Saturday next April. Anglers use 1 rod and can fish anywhere they like on the lake. The venue has been fishing very well and good catches are anticipated. To enter you must be a member of one of the 70+ clubs affiliated to the Federation. If you are not a member of one of these clubs you can easily join one at the check in for around €10 for 2015. The entry fee is €15 and there is an optional €5 pool for the heaviest pike on the day. Details on IFPAC site.
Rosguill skipper Michael McVeigh tells us he was fishing by the dozen. He had lovely catches of reef cod around Tory. A dozen on one day’s trip ! Gary Robinson and Craig Murphy were at the opposite side of the country at Wicklow. The two kayakers ventured forth with a selection of frozen and live crab and went on the hunt for hounds and dogfish. No problem catching fish with these two seasoned anglers. Gary reminds us of the Irish Kayak opening which takes place in Courtmacsherry on Saturday August 15th. Many super prizes to be won.
The following weekend Mullaghmore SAC are holding an open on Sunday 23rd of August on Tullan Strand Bundoran.
Mark Gannon skipper at Courtmacsherry hauled in some fine fish during bad weather. The biggest of these being a skate weighing 164 lbs. This fish didn’t make things easy for the angler Dirk Crauwell and put up some battle. ‘Catch of the Week’ goes to Dirk and his fine skate for handling difficult conditions well. They also had ling up to 20lbs. Up the coast at Galway, the Brazen Hussy 2 danced with the blue sharks and John Fleming said he had 4 blues up to 88lb which were all tagged and released.
Declan Kilgannon was in safe hand with a little crew man called Josh at his side. This young man took the stormy seas and the giants of the ocean in his stride and boated some excellent sharks. I’m sure we will hear much more from Josh in years to come.
Guide Richie Ryan came to the aid of a lady angler called Nathalie Peters from France when the pollack she was catching today on the fly was so big she needed assistance to bring it onboard. On that note I wish you all tight lines and safe fishing this week and may you all have fish so big you need assistance with them !
Nancy Hearne
Catch, Photo, Release
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Unnoticed flooding of their boat caused a trio of anglers from Portadown to go overboard near Hodson Bay on the Shannon Navigation last year, taking two lives.
That’s according to the report into the incident by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB), which also identified a number of safety issues with the boat in question…..
HIGH winds on Lough Mask forced the cancellation of the World Cup Trout Fly Fishing Competition for the first time in the competition’s history.
The decision to cancel the competition was made on Sunday evening after Met Éireann issued a yellow warning for high winds for the west of Ireland. The final of the competition is traditionally held on the Monday of the August Bank Holiday and 125 anglers were to take to the water.
Denis Kelleher, a spokesperson for the World Cup Trout Fly Fishing Competition committee, told The Mayo News yesterday evening that this was the first time they cancelled the competition because of the weather, but they felt they made the right decision…
It was a great day for Ciaran Reilly two weeks ago at the National Youth Fly Dressing Championship in Mallow, as the young Loughrea man was crowned Individual All Ireland Champion on the day. It was double joy for Reilly as he also captained Team Connacht to the All Ireland team title by a significant margin.
Both Ciaran and Team Connacht have worked incredibly hard on the way to achieving this accolade, being in training for the previous eighteen weeks leading up to the contest. The dedication was such that not a single individual team member missed out on any of the training sessions. Training was carried out by international fly fishing anglers and dressers, including Loughrea brothers Robert and Frank Reilly of Western Lakes Angling School…
At the sitting of the District Court held at the Four Courts on Monday, 27th July 2015, Judge O’Neill convicted detergent company Alma Hygiene Ltd. of the discharge of deleterious matter to the River Tolka on 22nd and 23rd July 2014. In addition to the fine of €250, the company was directed to pay legal costs and expenses to Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) and Dublin City Council amounting to a total of €34,603.45 including €7,740 towards appropriate mitigation measures….
Skipper John Fleming of Blue Shark Angling Galway reports on a great week last week. First sharks in Galway second year in a row. 4 blues up to 88lb all tagged and released.
John tells us he also had brilliant ground fishing for pollock cod and ling fish up to 10.5 pounds
Plenty of dates available and with the weather starting to settle it should be an exciting autumn.
Lough Ramor really comes into its own at this time of the year and there have been reports of some nice catches recently. Water levels are good at the moment and the unsettled weather does not seem to be deterring the fish from feeding. There are reports lots of hybrids about and they are certainly not hook shy. One, two or three red maggot or a mix of red and white on a size 14 hook seem to be working well. Roach and perch are also being taken an an odd skimmer but there are no reports of larger bream as yet. Even during torrential rain on Wednesday evening the hybrids and roach were still very active right up to dark.
A Nice Mixed Net of Pristine Fish From Lough RamorTop Quality Fish Like This Have Probably Never Been Hooked BeforeA Rain-Swept Lough Ramor on Wednesday Evening
Declan Kilgannon skipper of the Kiwi Girl tackles the rough weather and comes out tops with some great blues. His right hand man this week was a young chap called Josh who took the stormy seas and the giants of the ocean in his stride.
The bays have a lot of bait fish at the moment and the blues are busy. Good boatmanship and good anglers fared well on a tough day.
From Mullaghmore Harbour, our Sea Fishing Ireland experience aboard the M.V. Kiwi Girl will bring you to some of the best inshore fishing grounds in Europe. We offer a wide range of Sea Fishing Ireland Boat Trips to suit both novice and expert, from Short 2 Hr Sea Fishing Boat Trips to Big Game Options.
Kiwi Girl is a Fastcatch Kingfisher 31′ with a 420 HP Caterpillar engine.
A total of 35 salmon were caught on the Erriff Fishery last week. Most of the fish were grilse in the 3lbs. – 5lbs. bracket. Some of the catches were 2 salmon caught by Gerard Garnier and Joe Burke estimated at 12lbs. which were caught and released. Austrian visitors, Tobias, Gernot and Martin had 12 grilse for their week ranging from 5.75lbs. to 2lbs. Tobias also had 2 sea-trout of 1.5lbs. Bernd the fourth member of the Austrian party was unlucky not to make it into the catch records. Anthony Tindal had 2 grilse both weighing 3.5lbs. one on a Silver Doctor and the other on what he called a ”Special”. Nice of Anthony to stray away from the usual Ally’s Shrimp and Cascade patterns that have dominated the catch records lately. Conor O’Leary had a nice fish of 5.75lbs. on an orange Shrimp, while local angler, Bernard King, caught 2 grilse of 3lbs. and 4lbs. It has been a good 9 days for the fishery as regards salmon but sea-trout catches are still low.
To book fishing or accommodation on the Erriff, contact Aasleagh Lodge at 095 42382 or check out www.aasleaghlodge.ie
