The North Kildare Salmon & Trout Anglers Association held a club competition over the weekend in very pleasant conditions for fly fishing: overcast with a gentle breeze. There were some good hatches of olives and a smattering of iron blue duns, and fish were up feeding on them. A total of 52 qualifying fish were recorded, with plenty of other fish that didn’t meet the measure also caught and released.
The longest fish of the day measured 33cm
The results are as follows.
1) Seamus O’Neill
2) James Johnson
3) Stephen Potts
4)Warren Price
Seamus O’Neill also had the longest fish at 33 cm.
The VDE Baggers held a memorial match on the River Erne at Enniskillen last weekend in honour of a lost member, Slawek Siembida. The match had been hotly anticipated as the word was out that the roach had returned to the town area in decent numbers, so it was hoped that the fishing would yield some decent bags.
And their wishes came true, as some pegs really produced as anglers bagged up on the returning roach, none more so than Tony Evans, who put in a stellar performance to weigh in 22.9kg, winning him the trophy. Tony Hopkins came in second with 18.3kg while Slawek’s great friend Bartlomiej weighed in 17.1kg to take third place.
But the day wasn’t all about fishing, as the event raised £500 for the Mindwise charity, so a round of applause is due for the organisers, participants and contributors 👏👏👏👏
Sean Cassidy of onthewater.ie was back in touch once again with more good news. They have added three more clubs to their online permit shop. The website is now selling permits and membership for clubs on the River Slaney, Boyne and Kells Blackwater, Avonmore, Suir tributaries the Drish, Anner and Clashawley, Castletown, Fane and the River Sullane and Tributaries in the south west.
All competition entries for TAFI Leinster will now be going through the website also, to help simplify the process for both TAFI Leinster and anglers alike.
Denis Goulding reports from the Midlands where Lough Owel hosted the Leinster Corcoran Cup
The Leinster Corcoran Cup was held Sunday the 13th of April, very cold conditions and every season in one day. Twenty out of 58 anglers caught fish, with some very big fish landed.
Lough Owel has only starred to wake up post the very short duckfly hatch. Bigger Buzzers have starred to make an appearance, with nice olive hatches present depending on conditions.
Congratulations to Patrick Ward, winning not only the Heaviest bag with 5 fish for over 18lb, but also catching the heaviest fish of 9.01lb. Phily Berns was second and Hubert Smith third. Congratulations to the top three and all that took part.
Many thanks to Lough Owel Trout Preservation Association, Stanley McKeon, Brendan Murray and Martin McGorian for hosting and running the competition.
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Congratulations to all the Leinster qualifiers on Sunday.
Pre qualifiers are Colin Cahill from the Interprovincial 2024 and Gary Coakley, James Fegan from the National 2024. So Fran Nugent and Kieran Evans qualify for the Leinster Interprovincial Team also. Congratulations to Donal Monahan on being appointed Captain. Best of luck to the Donal and his team in Killarney.
On Lough Lene and Lough Sheelin buzzers and olives have started to make an appearance.
The next two weeks most of the midland lakes will have woken up and the trout will hopefully come to the surface.
Well its the start of a New Era for me. This season I will be running a Guiding Service on the midlands lakes. I will be primarily based on Lough Sheelin, Lough Owel and Lough Lene, where I have fished all my life. I have many caps for the Senior Irish Team, Captain twice, I have also won the Brown Bowl and have coached the youth team on and off for over 15 years. I am also the Irish Ambassador for Wychwood Game.
The midland lakes produce some of the biggest wild Brown Trout in Ireland and some of the biggest Stocked triploids too. The season starts with fry imitations but quickly turns to the buzzer, followed by Olives, Mayfly and sedge fishing as the year progresses.
If you want to book a day with me please please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Paul Bracken has been visiting Wexford for many years now and is an accomplished angler in his own right. However, a decent bass has eluded him on the lures after many, many attempts.
After a long wait, Paul finally had his day, and on our third venue, nearly 10 hours since he made his first cast, he hooked into this beauty. The bass hit the 23g white Savage Gear Seeker lure about 15 yards out and following a cracking scrap, the lively fish was safely landed.
Paul and his bass
There is such a fine line between triumph and tragedy. I know how much that fish meant to Paul and had he lost it, he would have been truly devastated. However, it was Paul’s day, and I’m sure he is still buzzing, welcome to the 60+ club!
James Raymond of Irish Angling Adventures was in touch to report on some epic fishing in the Kerry area, which threw up a specimen smooth hound and a whopper bass:
So I’m currently sitting here recounting the great weekend we had in Kerry. We had booked this trip a couple weeks ago and as we watched the weather it looked like we were going to be fishing in the settled weather we just had. As the week got closer it looked like the weather was to turn and start blowing strong and some heavy rain was on the cards so we were not sure where we were going to go. We decided to fish Derrymore on Friday night and depending on how it fished, this would dictate the rest of the weekend.
Friday night we arrived in Derrymore with no one else to be seen (a rarity this time of the year in Derrymore) within 10 minutes around the corner came a set of lights from a recognisable Jeep. Fiachra (Figgs) Cronin arrived with Jason Ryan to fish too.
We kept each other updated with what we were catching with a mixture of Undulates, Thornies and Painteds being caught.
Figgs called to say he had just got a smooth hound and was very nice to offer us some of his crab. Ian casted out one of the crab and it wasn’t long before he ended up hooking into a fish that towed him up and down the channel. We were sure that it was either a stinger or possibly a tope. As the fish came closer to the bank I noticed it was a big smoothhound. The fish weighed in at 14lb 13oz and 117cm long. Well over the 105cm specimen size.This broke Ians PB by a considerable amount. Some quick photos and the Hound was released to continue to terrorise more creatures on the bottom. After this the fishing slowed down so we packed up just as the weed and current made it difficult fishing. The day ended with 1 specimen smooth hound, 3 undulates. 1 thornie and 1 painted ray.
Saturday morning we decided we are going to have to go back to Derrymore once again. Now that we knew the hounds were around we were going to give them a good go. Saturday morning was very productive for the rays. We ended up with 6 ray in total. One Thornie and the rest being Undulates. Ian managed to recapture a previously tagged fish that was tagged by Gerrard Hennessy only the morning of the day previous. When we finished here we moved from Derrymore to Spa to try for a few more ray over incoming tide. Spa also allowed us to dodge the weather as it had started to worsen but this move did not produce any fish unfortunately. A few hours here resulted in a blank.
Sunday morning yet again we went down to Derrymore point. With some crab in tow from we were going to try hard for some smooth hounds again. Sunday the water was much more coloured from the winds and rain that the previous day produced. We set out an hour before low water to fish hard until the tide picked up. I had one fish on Sunday on with a big slackline bite on my Crab. Reeling down to meet the fish I was taken aback by the bar of silver I saw. Expecting a smooth hound I was met with the flash of a bass at my feet. Ive not had a bass here before so a welcomed treat. At 4lb 5oz it was a lovely fish to beat the blank. Ian on the other hand had managed to wrangle out two ray this day. One undulate and one Thornie. All adding to the weekend’s tally.
Sunday evening we fished one of our favourite marks in Tralee bay for a couple of hours of easy bass fishing. Here we managed to get more than half a dozen bass each between 4lb and 1lb over a two hour session. Its great to see that the bass are around and hungry as the same day some lovely fish came off Inch in the TBSAC comp.
Monday morning we were trying to decide what to do. We ended up deciding to fish a mark we fish regularly in Brandon Bay in the hopes of some bass and painted ray. We fished it from low tide and when we got there the water conditions could not have looked any more “Bassy”. Big waves, big surges and no sand in the waves. Perfect looking conditions for bass here. We fished 3 hook flappers here baited with Lug worm and up and over rigs baited with sandeel. Fishing was slow with us trying to figure out the range that the fish were lying. While chatting I saw Ians face drop, as I turned around to see my rod doubled over and line flying off the reel (yet another example of always set your drag). This was not your typical Bass bite. I was sure that this was either a small tope or possibly a big ray. Fishing with only lug on the hooks I wasn’t convinced it was either. Line stripping off the reel and the fishing running left to right and back again we were not sure what this was. The fish ended up wrapping around 2 of the other lines and pulling them slack. Ian jumped into action to untangle the rods as the fish made another dash for freedom. Ian’s quick thinking saved us from having a situation where we had rods tangled in the fish, and he also quickly ran into the water waist deep to see what was causing all this havoc.
When we eventually saw this fish I can not describe both the joy and fear the both of us experienced. As the fish saw Ian closing in on it it took another dash for safety. Trying to get free it stripped another 50-60 meters of line off the reel. This was one of the best conditioned Bass i have ever come across. Getting it under control it started to come closer but I couldn’t keep up with reeling it in so had to run backwards at the same time. Ian got behind the fish and made sure that if anything was to happen he was quick to make sure the fish would be got. I ran the fish up the beach clear of the water and Ian got a hand in its mouth. There wasnt much said but I got the fish and got it as far from the wave surge as possible with Ian shouting to go further. I ran to get the measure, scales and sling as it was a big fish but we were not sure just how big. Tipping the scales at 13lb 14oz, and taking 1lb 4oz off for the weight of the sling, the fish came in at a solid 12lb 10oz. Laying on the measure it just scraped the 81cm mark, just shy of my pb of 81.5cm. We quickly got some photos and released the fish. Sometimes i find that big bass can take a bit of time to recover after such a hard fight but I can assure you this fish did not. Holding it strong in the waves it was kicking to go. The fish shot off into the surf and then the cheering and hugging started from myself and Ian after getting such a fish. This was certainly a team effort.
We finished the session with only one bass to the tally but it certainly made up for it.
We returned to fish one last beach for only a couple of hours before we made our way home. This time I blanked, but Ian managed two bass, adding yet again to the tally of fish for the weekend.
Recounting the weekend we ended the few days with some great fishing and some amazing fish:
1 Specimen Smooth hound
1 Specimen Bass
9 Undulates
3 Thornies
1 Painted
16 Bass
Tight Lines
James
(What a report and an easy pick for this Week’s Catch of the Week – Editor)
Ready for a thrilling shore fishing adventure? Contact me at Irish Angling Adventures today to book your guided session and experience the thrill of targeting the best Ireland has to offer and a multitude of species along the stunning West Coast of Ireland. At Irish Angling Adventures, I’m incredibly excited to offer Guided Shore Angling Sessions. Whether you’re a seasoned angler or just starting out, I’ve got the perfect adventure waiting for you.
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Lough Sheelin Angling Report April 7th – April 13th 2025
“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go”
William Feather
Silver over gold – Glenn Calvert
Fishing has been tough going on Sheelin over the past week. Bright sunny weather and winds consistently favouring an easterly direction resulted in a nasty combination for trout fishing. Daytime temperatures soared into the early twenties and Lough Sheelin duly responded by going quiet, her trout sinking further into the deeper cooler recesses of the lake. Water temperature peaked at 13.4 degrees at surface on Friday only to drop back to 11 when the chill of the weekend took over. There was slight stratification of the water column for the first time this season, but it was only a marginal 3 degrees of a difference from top to bottom.
Catching trout on Sheelin has never been easy but the weather combination of sweltering heat and easterly winds along with the copious amounts of food on the bed of this lake gave the trout just another reason not to head upwards.
With the rise of the water and daytime temperatures it was hoped that this would trigger decent amounts of buzzer hatches but this didn’t happen and anglers are only reporting sporadic handfuls of hatches, here and there in sheltered areas along Bog Bay, Finea and Goreport, nothing to get excited about. The swallows were noticeable on Saturday, skimming purposely along the surface indicating that there must be food there but not visible to the human eye and certainly not exciting our piscatorial friends.
For the past seven days there was really nothing happening on the surface, just a grey blank expanse of stubborn uncooperating water – no hatching insects or emergers struggling to get airborne.
Personal best
Trout reputedly spend 90% of their time feeding sub surface which gives some sort of hope to those who want fishing product. Nymphs, or flies that imitate immature insects are fished underwater and there is always something happening under the surface. Like dry flies, nymphs come in a variety of styles and patterns. Technically nymphs are a type of wet fly. The term wet fly broadly refers to any fly fished under the surface of the water. That said, many anglers use ‘wet fly’ to refer specifically to traditional winged wet flies, which are usually slung or chucked at the water fished in teams of twos or threes. Nymph fishing is a slow style of fishing and not for the impatient. These patterns specifically imitate insects or crustaceans, generally don’t have wings and sometimes have a bead for added weight. With so many different types of nymphs it can be hard to decide what to use, it all depends on the day – wind direction, the fish and the location. If we were to isolate the tried and tested patterns to avoid getting bogged down it would be the Pheasant tail which is a simple and generic mayfly nymph, the Hare’s ear which is often fished as a mayfly or caddis larva, the Prince nymph which is a classic stonefly pattern and maybe the Zebra midge which fishes well all through the season.
The waiting game – Sheelin’s buzzer
The good thing about a windy day and a season that is slowly moving forward is that all those bottom dwellers are being stirred up and when eventually that switch is permanently flicked to Spring, these will start their development stages, eventually hatching as flying insects and providing plenty of variety for the nymph, wet fly and dry fly angler.
Early season allurement
Sheelin’s future
Although we are progressing in the right direction for the fly anglers, this week it was still all about the lures and large fly patterns – Black & Gold Humungous, Silver Humungous, Black Minkies with a flash of silver, Snakes, Woollly Buggers and Cats Whiskers using heavy lines which were reasonably successful in bring the heavy weights up from the lower levels of this lake.
The Dabblers are still in the mix with the best of them in Claret, Pearly, Silver, Green, Peter Ross and Silver.
The best fishing areas for this week have been along the rocky shores and exposed points – the shallows were the water is warmer and the food – shrimp and hog louse is plentiful and easy to access.
The best areas are Chamber’s bay, Kilnahard shore, Holywell down to Crover, Merry point, Curry point, at the back of Church Island and the south shore of Derrysheridan. Some trout still hold the depths of water though, so blind casting if you can cast your line where you think the fish might be and retrieve might trigger a take. Daily choices of fishing spots are governed, as always, by wind direction.
Two’s company
For now, Sheelin’s successes are still reliant on the bait lures and in second place are the large attractor patterns of the Humungous, Minkies and Snakes. Regardless of how difficult and unresponsive Sheelin can be, the anglers do not give up, for those who understand Sheelin and what it is capable of producing, the pain is always worth it and so they continue on each day, increasing in their numbers in the evenings and again at weekends but seldom giving in for it is of course the thought of hooking up with that fantasy weight which makes this capricious stretch of water simply irresistible.
Lures and flies
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A Kieran Sherlock creation
Alder variant Jim Sheehan
Back on the nymphs, Desmond Paul
CDC caddis with extended body, size 14, Magnus Johnson
Kieran Sherlock
Magnus Johnson, caddis size 14
Nymphs, Desmond Paul
Red Dabbler, Dereck O'Brien
Size 8, Kieran Sherlock
Joe Butler
Soot picnic Dabbler, Scott Jackson
variation of the Partridge and Orange, Dave Tuohy
On the menu – Hog louse and Shrimp
Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 949 which strictly prohibits from
June 14th, 2017 onwards:
The taking of any brown trout of less than 36 centimeters.
For a person to fish with more than 2 rods at any one time.
To fish with more than 4 rods at any one time when there is more than one person on board the boat concerned.
For a person to take more than 2 trout per day.
All trolling on the lake from March 1st to June 16th (inclusive).
To fish or to attempt to take or to fish for, fish of any kind other than during the period from March 1st to October 12th in any year.
Evo Smyth
A Box shield
Stephen Allison
Watching – Sheelin’s reptile
Eamonn Ross presenting a prize to at the recently held Ronnie Cox memorial competition on Sheelin
Kevin Lyons reports from Melview Lodge, Co. Longford…
Regular visiting French anglers Philippe, Bruno, Julien and Bernard have got off to a great start to their pike fishing trip for 2025, despite the hot bright conditions. Kevin said, the first couple of day’s fishing have already produced a number of very nice pike for them. We will see how the rest of their week goes for them so log in next week for the full story.
Kevin has over 30 years experience of fishing in Ireland and is happy to offer a guided tour on your arrival, and to advise where the on-form waters in the area are. We can arrange your bait order so it’s here when you arrive. Melview offers free use of 17ft lake boats with engines to our guests (pay fuel only) and Kevin is happy to assist with any pre-baiting requests. Maps and other information regarding fishing are also available.
Tralee angler (and owner of one of the best tackle shops we know of) Martin McGowan was in touch with a report of a great day on the water in Kerry…
The recent spell of settled weather provided the perfect opportunity to launch the boat and get back out into Tralee Bay, one of Ireland’s most renowned spots for early-season ray fishing. With reports starting to come in of undulate rays making their usual seasonal appearance, we set out with hopeful expectations—and were rewarded with a day that exceeded all of them.
We fished from a small boat, targeting a productive area of the bay from low water right through to high tide, covering a full six-hour session in calm, sunny conditions. The weather could not have been better—warm and flat calm throughout the day, giving us ideal conditions for anchoring up and working the area effectively.
Our primary targets for the session were thornback and undulate rays, and the bay certainly delivered. Between myself and my fishing partner Leonard, we landed a total of 19 rays, with a great mix of healthy thornbacks and beautifully marked undulates. Many of the fish were in fantastic condition and put up excellent fights, offering a real test for light boat gear.
Martin with a lovely marked undulate ray
A beautiful undulate for Leonard
One particular highlight of the trip was the capture of an undulate ray bearing a tag from the Marine Institute of Ireland. All tag data was carefully recorded, and the information was submitted as part of our contribution to ongoing marine research. It’s always a privilege to assist in conservation and data collection efforts, and encounters like this are a great reminder of the important work being done to monitor and protect our marine species.
Floy tag on the fish
The tackle used on the day included the AKIOS Nano Tech kayak rod paired with an AKIOS Ironspin 6000 reel, spooled with INOVA 8X braid, and finished off with INOVA Tamerz hooks. The setup performed flawlessly, offering great sensitivity and strength, and made for an enjoyable and efficient ray session. With this gear in hand, the next goal is to target a tope in the coming weeks—a challenge I’m already looking forward to.
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Tralee Bay continues to prove itself as a vital habitat for ray species and a fantastic destination for Irish sea anglers. With the undulates arriving in numbers, it’s a great time for both recreational fishing and citizen science efforts to work hand in hand.
Dan O’Neill from Trout Fishing Ireland reports on the Southern County Fishing Resort Open Day…
It arrived and it passed like all event days. There is loads of anticipation and excitement then you find yourself in the middle of the event. The fishing resort is something special for sure. Fly fishing, coarse fishing, casting areas a clubhouse and manicured surroundings. I looked around at one point and watched Joe Conway, George Burdess, Nikita Greidans and Jack Keenahen working with the kids and parents and it was really something. I was quite busy on the casting side of the event and had some wonderful young casters that I will for sure see again soon.
The open day began with some casting and just basic overhead and a little roll casting. All the candidates done very well and really asked some good questions which are always welcome. It was great to see the kids and adults having fun learning. I learned quite a lot from the day too. I have been trying to help with getting kids involved in fly fishing, showing them the fun side of things and using analogies that they can relate to. Many of the people went to the bottom lake to fish for trout after the casting clinics to put their new skills to the test.
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Anthony has now discovered pole fishing thanks to Jack Keenahen. Anthony had plenty of silvers and carp from the top lake, it was great to see him enjoying and adapting to a new technique. I must say Jack and Nikita really did a top job and interacted with all participants. It was great to have someone on the team that could relate to some of the kids that were there, being closer to their age really helped to build the connection. Joe and George tied flies with some of the kids and done a great job, The kids seemed really interested and tied quite a few flies to try on the lake. Both the lads also done a demo on the bottom lake on different retrieves, the videos are available to watch on my Tik Tok account. I made a couple of videos to help choose a fly rod weight, just a beginner analogy which I will be making more of in the coming weeks. The video is available on my Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok. A big thanks to everyone for asking the time to come along to the event, we hope to see you at the next one.
As we all know times have changed and do change, of course if we don’t change with the times the times change us. I have been recently thinking of getting kids involved in fishing as a river, a river constantly changes and as it changes the fish move about and hold in different places,they hold here for reasons, perhaps feeding,socialising and other aspects, if i am fishing and in an area where the fish have moved from then what chance have i got of reaching them. I need to change my approach and / or where i am fishing. Maybe a few years ago the fish sat there or grouped up but times change. I am by no means the only person that sees this, many have got on the train, are well established and on the way, taking many with them on the journey.
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My point here is social media covers quite a lot of different platforms, so it becomes the “river”, and the different platforms are the “fishing spots”, getting kids has become more challenging as there are more places for them to be and the movement from platform to platform has become live and can change in one week, keeping your finger on the pulse I find is key and expecting changes and embracing them could be the key to getting this to work. Many years ago, I remember if an event was on their wasn’t a lamp post or telephone box safe (God I sound old!!) or the local shop notice board would have some bits and pieces on it that I would read while having a mouthful of Fruit Salad sweets or Apple Jacks. Wow, times have really changed!!
An overview of the event after showed there was room for improvement as there always will be. The next event at Southern County is in the planning stages and will have even more fishing fun. In the coming weeks we will release the details of dates and full event description. We look forward to welcoming you to the event.
A big thanks to everyone for asking the time to come along to the event, we hope to see you at the next one.
Dan
Angling takes place on over 10aces of water on 3 different lakes. Southern County Fishing Resort encourages both fly fishing and bait fishing but be mindful that each lake requires different fishing skills and provides different challenges to the angler. Also our newly opened club house accommodates a tackle shop for all your fly, bait, rod hire and sale. Southern County Fishing Resort prides itself on the quality of our fish, our lake are stocked on regular basis with fish approximately 2lbs weight. All of our fish are reared in our onsite hatchery farm. Fish size range from 1 lb to 8 lbs in weight and on average are 3 /4lbs.
Growing up in the countryside of Gowran, Co.Kilkenny, I started my fishing journey on the River Barrow with my dad, which is where I caught my first fish, a lovely brown trout. The Gowran River was also a short walk from my homeplace, and on the days my dad couldn’t fish, I would walk through the fields and fish the Gowran River. My love for fishing grew and took me to Mount Juliet Estate, where I began guiding at 13. I went on to become fisheries manager at Mount Juliet Estate and, to this day, enjoy taking out hundreds of clients every year fishing on the River Nore. I enjoy all types of fishing and guide all over Ireland. I am an Apgai Ireland-qualified casting instructor and have Ambassador roles with Cadence and Yeti. I joined Fulling Mill as an endorsed pro guide and am part of the Patagonia pro team. My angling journey has been an exciting one and hopefully will continue to be.
I take out all levels of anglers, from beginner to experienced. I enjoy what I do and count myself very lucky to be able to meet and guide new people to what might be their first Irish fish.
Ready for a thrilling shore fishing adventure? Contact me at Irish Angling Adventures today to book your guided session and experience the thrill of targeting the best Ireland has to offer and a multitude of species along the stunning West Coast of Ireland. At Irish Angling Adventures, I’m incredibly excited to offer Guided Shore Angling Sessions. Whether you’re a seasoned angler or just starting out, I’ve got the perfect adventure waiting for you.
