At the time of writing, we are experiencing some of the heaviest rainfall of the season so far.
There has been a rise in water levels on the Finn, Gweebarra, Lennon and Lackagh systems since last Thursday and although the water heights have been somewhat unsettled, I have plenty of reports of fresh fish seen running in very good numbers in all these fisheries!
I was lucky enough to get over to the Gweeebarra on Sunday morning last in great fishing conditions.
I managed to land 2 nice fish on the Fly.
I released my first fish of the season, which I estimated at 9 or 10 lbs and I landed another bigger fish of 12 lbs shortly afterwards.
Both fish fell to a blue and yellow cascade tube. My father also landed an early Sea-liced Grilse of nearly 5 lbs on a silver bullet flying C.
Day permits for the Gweebarra are available from the Village shop in Doochary.
Meanwhile on the Cloghan Lodge Estate Fishery, river Finn, James Crompston landed a lovely fresh fish of around 10 lbs and lost a fish of similar size below the Ivy bridge on the fly on Monday.
I have reports of 7 other fish hooked and lost between the Ivy Bridge and Peters’ Hollow on Monday also.
Permits for the Cloghan Lodge Estate fishery are available at the Lodge or from me here at the Lough Swilly Angling Centre.
Ian Keogh and his nephew Dillion were fishing on the River Suck recently. It was 8 year old Dillion’s first time out fishing and boy did he make the most of it. This little man caught his 1st pike and after a quick photo back it went into the river again to be caught another day.
8 year old Dillion is a super little fisherman !
Uncle Ian tells us the fish was about 6/7lbs in weight and says “its great to see kids out doing fishing instead of sitting in and playing playstation..”
Martin McKenna PRO of Emy and District anglers reports:
A fantastic days fishing was had by the 17 club members, who took part in the Eugene Mulligan / Pat McMahon competition on Emy Lough on Sunday last, April 26th. Of the 17 anglers, 3 were youths. Many thanks to Enda Fields, Youth Coordinator, for his hard work and encouragement with these youngsters. In total 14 fish were landed – the best result for a long time. Conditions were cold, windy and showery but these hardy bucks stuck it out for the 4 hour duration of the competition to produce a great result.
Afterwards we returned to a cozy High House, where Seamus had a grand fire lit in his stove and in the pool room where we gathered for the presentation. Monica Skinnader had much needed food prepared for us – thank you Monica. With the heaviest fish and winner of the Eugene Mulligan cup presented by Eugenes brother, Vincey, was Tommy McCaffery, with a fish 2lb 8 ozs.
Winner of the heaviest bag with 2 fish weighing a total of 3lb 8ozs and winner of the Pat Owen McMahon cup presented by Pat’s son, Leo, was Dick Kiernan, club secretary. Second heaviest bag was Brian Corrigan. The youths had a good result also with a fish each for Calum McKenna and Kieran McQuaid. Hard luck to James Hughes, who had to retire with rod damage. Thanks to all who took part.
Strong winds and very cold conditions last night did not deter Ivan Murphy and Peter Cunningham from trying their luck for a few hours on the County Louth Coastline. High tide was around 12.30am and the strong south westerly wind had churned up a lot of weed and coloured the water, making fishing very difficult. However, fishing the last three hours of the flood tide the lads managed to catch good numbers of small flounder but unfortunately the bass did not co-operate on this occasion. Ivan had a few bass last week with the best weighing around 5lbs.
Peter Cunningham in Action on the Louth Coastline Last NightIvan Murphy With a Flounder is Tough ConditionsAnother Flounder for Ivan During Last Nights Session
Stan McCart, Ballymoney with one of his many catches
“It is not how abundant nor how considerable our catch be, but rather to the sport, and manner in which our quarry, the noble trout is angled.” – J.B. Martin
Aled Dixon, Wales with his Sheelin beauty
This week hit in hard with hail and snow showers but as the days progressed through the week things panned out to a mixture of sunshine and occasional showers but still there was that persistent ‘difficult to shake off’ cold.
A stormy Lough Sheelin Monday April 27th 2015
Despite the inclement weather which inevitably lead to challenging fishing conditions for the anglers, Sheelin produced some good catches of heavy weight trout averaging over 5lbs to 7lbs.
Heading out – 4 year old Cameron of Lough Sheelin Guest House (www.loughsheelinguesthouse.ie)
There were excellent hatches of buzzer and olives around the lake, clumping in vast numbers, particularly in the sheltered bays, behind islands and along shorelines. The trout initially were slow at rising but as the week moved on they started to lose that low water column feeding and finally showed an interest in the sub surface and surface menu. Thursday and Friday were the pick of the days with the trout giving some of its anglers a feisty battle before succumbing. Most if not all of the fish were released. Monday was a wickedly cold day with a steady blast of hail in the evening but directly after that tortuous shower, the temperature rose momentarily and with it the fish and for those anglers who endured the elements it was worth it as the trout surfaced to feed.
Andrew Doyle, Kells with one of his 3 trout caught on Sheelin during the week. This one is Andrew’s best at 54cm caught on a Buzzer on May 1st in the evening
A group of anglers from England and Wales fished the lake for the week. These anglers first fished Lough Sheelin during the International back in 2012 and were hooked then by this lake’s beauty and wild trout. Fishing with the expert guidance of Lough Sheelin Guiding, these anglers caught trout most days despite difficult conditions, with a top weight of over 5lbs – ‘byddwn yn ol’ (we will be back).
Ben Dobson, England happy out with his Sheelin trout
John Horsey who was with the group is the UK’s first and best known professional fly fishing guide, with 22 years’ experience behind him, a world champion in 2009 as well as being a writer and TV presenter.
After his week of fishing Sheelin Mr Horsey wrote:-
‘Driving back from Ireland after 4 days of the worst possible weather imaginable for fly fishing for wild brown trout. Lough Sheelin was wet, wild and windy – but still wonderful. 4 Lexus Holiday Prizewinners – Aled Dixon, Mathew Griffiths, Russell Owen and Ben Dobson, together with myself and Peter Gathercole, joined Guide Gary McKiernan to target Sheelin’s legendary brown trout. 6 fish were caught against all the odds by some positive angling in sometimes dangerous conditions. We also had a cracking brownie in the final day. All will be revealed in next month’s Trout Fisherman magazine with story and pictures courtesy of Pete Gathercole.
Even though it was a hard few days all of us want to go back and do it all over again’.
Russell Owen with his Sheelin troutA quick photo and its ready to go back…
Selection of Catches
The heaviest fish for the week was a 7 pounder caught by Alex Drury, Antrim using a Buzzer pattern fishing from the Sailors Garden down to Derrysheridan.
Total number of trout recorded: 49
Owen Jacob, Dublin – 2 trout at 5 ½ and 2 ½ lbs on Buzzer patterns.
Jack Egan, Cavan – 2 trout, on May 3rd, heaviest 2 lbs, both on the Buzzer.
Andrew Doyle, Kells – 3 trout for the week, all on Buzzers, heaviest was 54 cm.
Phil Corcoran, Baileborough, Cavan – 1 trout at 2 lbs (31cm) on a Buzzer.
Stan McCart, Ballymoney – 7 trout averaging 2 ½ – 5 lbs (released) pulling wets.
Paddy Lyons, Cavan – 1 trout at 2lbs using a Silver Dabbler.
David Palmer, Armagh – 1 trout at 3 ½ lbs using an Olive pattern.
Dublin angler – 5 trout for the week, heaviest weighed in at 5 ¾ lbs (23”) caught on a Kingsmill and a 19” using an Olive pattern.
Mark Smith, Cavan – 2 trout at 2 ½ and 3 ½ using Olive nymphs.
Fergal Donohoe, Dublin – 2 trout at 3 ½ and 4 lbs using Dabblers and Sooty Olives.
David Delaney, Antrim – 1 trout at 5 ¼ on a Sooty Olive.
Kenneth O’Keefe (Grey Duster Guiding) – Sunday May 3rd, 2 trout heaviest at 2lbs all on the Buzzer.
David Nolan, Wexford – 1 trout on May 3rd at Derrysheridan using a Buzzer.
Julian Gaisford-St Lawrence, Dublin with his 45cm fish (www.loughsheelinguiding.com)
The areas of the lake which fished well were governed by wind direction but in general it was the Western shore around Orangefield and up to the mouth of the river at Finea and also up around Bog Bay and the Sailers Garden was particularly good. Mid lake fishing as yet is still poor and the best rule of thumb for now is to fish two boat lengths out from the shore.
Geert Verdonk, Holland with his 45cm Sheelin trout Guided by Thomas Harton of Lough Sheelin Guiding
The flies
The Humungus and Minkie’s have fallen off their previously top position as the trout are showing more and more interest in the insect hatches above and slightly below the surface. The only real way a Humungus would work at this stage in the season would be if it was a very small mini Humungus.
The olive and buzzer patterns along with the dabblers ruled Sheelin for this week. It was interesting to note that a Dublin angler was particularly successful using patterns which he had used on this lake over thirty years ago, which goes to show that nothing really changes in the food pattern and what appeals to the Sheelin trout. A great deal of beautiful and intricate flies and variants of traditional flies have and are being created but going back to the basics every now and then perhaps isn’t such a bad idea when the going gets tough on this lake.
Olive patterns yielded a steady catch of fish with the Sooty Olive being the favourite but any olive patterns that included a red head and a soft green hackle achieved a degree of success.
Liam Faulkner’s ‘bar of gold’
The Kingsmill featured for a few heavy weights which is interesting as this fly is normally used for sea trout. This fly invented by the legendary angler T.C Kingsmill Moore can be very effective and versatile and is ideal in small sizes for brown trout when midges are on the water and best fished as a point fly.
Peter Boyle with his trout caught in ‘wicked’ cold conditions
A small dark fly with a little bit of glitter in the body turned in a few 3-4 pounders. As buzzer larvae make their way up to the surface, gas bubbles form on the body which gives the larvae a shiny coating the closer to the top it gets. Epoxy buzzers or those flies with a little bit of silver and reflective parts on them can therefore work really well because they stimulate this reflecting gas which trout can really key into.
Stan McCart, Ballymoney with one of his many catches
There is no doubt that although the weather is not showing much signs of heating up, the fishing on Lough Sheelin is. The mayfly has appeared already on other trout lakes in Ireland but Sheelin is further north and is traditionally later than the Western lakes and Lough Derg but as the old saying goes ‘anything worthwhile is worth the wait so for now it’s a waiting game but will be worth it.
Another trout from Sheelin caught on a Kingsmill
Catch and release
Catch and Release is the policy on this lake
A catch & release policy is actively encouraged on the lake at all times
“It is only the inexperienced and thoughtless who find pleasure in killing fish for the mere sake of killing them. No sportsman does this.” – W.C. Prime, 1888
‘Lough Sheelin was wet, wild and windy but still wonderful’ Battling the elements – Lough Sheelin Guiding with the English & Welsh group
All anglers are required to have a Fishery Permit to fish Lough Sheelin which must be purchased before going out on the lake.
Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 790 which strictly prohibits
All trolling on the lake from March 1st to April 30th (inclusive).
From May 1st to June 15th – no trolling between 7pm –6am and no trolling under engine between 6am – 7pm and
June 16th – October 12th – no trolling under engine between 7pm – 6am.
No trout less than 14 inches should be taken from the lake
Lifejackets
Jonathan Peppard, Dublin all set to go fishing
Water rarely gives second chances and a life jacket is just that – it saves your life, so we would implore anglers and all other users for their own safety as well as it being the law.
Life jackets are required by law – SI No 921 of 2005 – Pleasure Craft (Personal Flotation Devices and Operation) (Safety) Regulations 2005.
Please put on and keep on that life jacket until you are back on dry land.
Gary McKiernan (www.loughsheelinguiding) with one of his many trout for the week
Ian Walker reports on two lovely sea trout caught on the River Bandon yesterday morning in high water on the spinner. Jason Nash caught a 4 pound fish and Ian himself had a specimen seatrout of near 7lbs in weight which wins him Catch of the Week. A quick photo of both fish and back they went. Well done guys !
Ned Maher of Ardaire Springs Angling Centre in Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny had anglers with some lovely catches during the week. Among those was John Kelleher who caught a total of 15 fish yesterday, the largest being a 17lb rainbow. Unfortunately the camera shy fish didn’t stick around for the photo.
John Kelleher with a large rainbow
Michael Crowley also got a beautiful Ardaire Springs brownie on a diawl Bach.
Michael CrowleyNed Maher with 7.5lbs of pure muscle on his 9ft 6 wt Mackenzie
A Great Turnout for Charity Event Hosted by Gormanston and District Anglers
Gormanston and District Anglers report that there was a great turn out at the charity open fly fishing competition hosted last weekend on the Wavin lake, Balrothery, North Co Dublin. The club had 30 anglers turn out to fish in very cold conditions but they still managed to return over 15 trout with a lot of anglers reporting that they lost a couple of fish as well. There were lots of prizes and raffles on the day and a lot of money raised for the Friends of Autism and ADHD Charity. Well done everyone involved it was great to see so many anglers up on Wavin lake enjoying there sport.
A Great Turnout for Charity Event Hosted by Gormanston and District Anglers
The result of the competition was as follows,
1st Martin Browne, 4 Fish 2nd Kevin Mooney, 2 Fish 3rd Stuart Killeen, 2 Fish
Joint for longest fish: Brian O’Neill, Mark Tolan and Costi Zarbu
Gormanston and District Anglers would like to thank the following sponsors for there very kind donations on the day.
Robert Kenny, Tony Reilly, Aidan Curran, EEC Hardware, Courtlough Trout Fishery, Multi Cargo Ltd International Pet Transport Services, John Curtis, Gleesons Butchers, Martin McNamara and Martin Quinn.
Find out more about Gormanston and District Anglers Club HERE
Visit Gormanston and District Anglers Facebook page HERE
Smiles All Round As this Anglers Receives His PrizesAnother Well Done at Last Sundays Charity EventMore Prizes Being Presented Last Sunday at the Wavin LakeThe Social Side Of Angling. Anglers at the Gormanston And District Open Charity Event Last Sunday
There have been a few reports recently of some sea trout being caught on the Boyne estuary around Mornington with fish averaging over a pound in weight. Fish are reportedly being taken on fly and lure. Water levels are still high at this stage but have been falling back and clearing in recent days.
In addition, we have just received a report from Peter Cunningham of the Drogheda Angling Centre who paid a visit upstream to the Oldbridge Fishery yesterday evening in search of a sea trout or two. This was not really a speculative visit though. Peter had noticed a few signs over the last few days which led him to believe that there might be a few fish around so he decided to pay a visit to the Oldbridge fishery. His hunch proved to be right and fishing into darkness he was rewarded with 7 nice fresh run fish, the biggest of which weighed in at just over two pounds. All of the fish were taken on the fly with traditional sea trout patterns working well. All fish gave a good account of themselves, fought well and were photographed quickly before being returned safely to the river.
For all of your up to the minute information on fishing in the local area why not give Peter a call or drop into him for a chat at the Drogheda Angling Centre, Boyne Shopping Centre, Drogheda.
Stefano Balisario had a fish of a lifetime on the fly weighing 24lb, Lough Ree.
The weather has changed drastically since last week. The long, dry, bright days gave way to colder, windy weather which was very wintry in places (sleet, snow and hail!). This in turn has developed into wet, windy grey days which are often bemoaned by others, but suit the angler’s needs a good deal more.
Gerard wins Catch of the Week for this monster pike which weighed in at 39lb 2oz
Last week was really all about the pike. Some huge fish were reported from the Monaghan area, Lough Ree, Lough Derg, and Lanesborough with pleny of other respectable fish coming off of waters in Longford, Derravaragh, Killeshandra, and Lough Oughter. It will come as no surprise that Gerard Smyth wins catch of the week for his 39lb 12oz fish from the Monaghan area. Upstream of Lanesborough near Kilnacarrow a lovely fish of 28lb 2oz was landed, this beauty had already spawned. The Fishmaniaks held a competition on Lough Derravaragh on Sunday where 66 pike to 98cm were returned. Big numbers of French and Belgian anglers holidaying in Co. Cavan report some of the best fishing they have ever had with loads of pike around Lough Oughter, including 4 over 100cm. German anglers in the area also report good piking as do the German anglers staying at Melview Lodge in Longford. Italian anglers on a return trip to fish with Michael Flanagan are also having the fishing of their lives with pike to 122cm landed on Lough Ree including some great fish to 24lb on fly. Other pike anglers on Ree also encountered good sport, especially junior angler, Callum Rickard who had pike to 8lb on the troll and a huge trout to cap it all off.
Salmon anglers were entirely fed up with the continually bright, sunny days which were made worse by low water conditions on most rivers. Even the lakes were effected. Anglers on the River Boyne have had some good fish recently with salmon to over 2olb reported this season and the 7 fish caught over the last week weighed between 7 and 17lb. The Slaney missed what rain was on offer over the weekend so fishing has been slow but some good fish to 25lb continue to be caught, though more water is needed. Two salmon were caught on the fly on Saturday at Ballyduff Bridge on the Munster Blackwater, one weighing 6lb and the other 8lb, both were returned successfully. There will be a Spey Casting course run at Fortwilliam on the river next 17 May. Salmon anglers found Currane in a dour mood over the weekend but on Tuesday things picked up again a few good fish were taken, all on the troll. Spring fishing has begun to improve in Galway, with 7 fish landed for the week, and a remarkable number of fish hooked and lost. Delphi fished against a backdrop of snow at the weekend, and a few fish were taken last week. The meltwater is bringing up the water levels and hopes are high that fishing will improve. Carrowmore Lake did well last week. Despite the changing weather, the fishery produced a total of 11 salmon, 4 of which were released. Salmon were caught throughout the Moy system last week and the first fish of the year was landed on the Ridge Pool. There were only 5 salmon on the Drowes last week as water levels fell each day and all through the weekend.
Reports from Inishowen, Co. Donegal are that the trout fishing is picking up as hatches improve, though most fish continue to be caught on intermediate lines. Staying in Donegal, Lough Fern saw 39 anglers turn out for a competition on Sunday. The freezing temperatures and driving rain and hail made for gruesome fishing and the trout were not impressed either. Lough Melvin was so foreboding few took to the water and no catches were reported. Lough Arrow did a little better with some good trout landed, but again conditions were off putting. It was a slow week for trout angling on Loughs Conn & Cullin as bright, hot, calm conditions were superseded by a sudden return to winter weather. Some good catches were recorded by a few lucky anglers and the first mayfly were seen. Strong winds coupled with single figure temperatures battered Lough Mask’s shorelines over the past few days, making angling extremely difficult but surprisingly anglers reported some great fishing with best results on wet fly. Anglers throughout the Corrib are reporting good hatches of olives and Campto buzzer, with reports of early mayfly in the Corr na Mona area. Anglers are getting trout on dapped Mays and the lake fished well over the weekend. Last week’s mixed weather did not suit Lough Sheelin and though some good fish were landed the return for the week was poor. Lough Owel is producing some lovely trout of late but a sharp easterly wind has made things tough at times.
The wintry weather had an impact on coarse fish too. Many of the big spawning shoals retreated from the shallows as water temperatures fell in some areas. At Lanesborough good tench and roach were taken over the weekend and anglers were excited to see some really big carp in the area, perhaps feasting on the roach spawn. Anglers endured some freezing weather at Lough Sillan where bags to 6.3kg were mainly made up of roach. We have had a lot of kayak angling reports recently, but this is our first coarse angling kayak trip. Enterprising Gary Robinson drifted some likely spots while trotting for roach on one of Lough Corrib’s tributaries. He got there a little early though and the spawning shoals were not yet in attendance.
Sea angling reports were scarce last week, though what we have is worth reading. In Co. Kerry a French angler had a bass of 15lb. There were a number of witnesses to this feat and the fish was safely released. In the Cork Harbour area good fly fishing for pollack was reported, smaller patterns did best and late reports of good cod were also taken by the office, though the weekend’s weather forecast will mean anglers will have to wait a little longer to get out on the water again. Charter fishing reports from Killala are that there are some lovely cod and pollack, as well as some good ling, are on the fishing grounds at the moment.
There is a Small Boat Warning in effect today. Easterly winds will reach force 6 or higher today on Irish coasts from Carnsore Point to Valentia to Erris Head, veering southeast to east tonight and increasing to force 6 at times on all coasts. Tomorrow, Saturday, will be mostly overcast, with occasional rain, heavy at times, with a risk of thunder. Maximum temperatures 8 to 13C, in a moderate to fresh southeasterly wind. The outlook for Sunday and next week is for very unsettled weather. Breacaimsir as we say in Ireland…
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].
I was lucky enough to get over to the Gweeebarra on Sunday morning last in great fishing conditions.
My father also landed an early Sea-liced Grilse of nearly 5 lbs on a silver bullet flying C.
Meanwhile on the Cloghan Lodge Estate Fishery, river Finn, James Crompston landed a lovely fresh fish of around 10 lbs and lost a fish of similar size below the Ivy bridge on the fly on Monday.
Winner of the heaviest bag with 2 fish weighing a total of 3lb 8ozs and winner of the Pat Owen McMahon cup presented by Pat’s son, Leo, was Dick Kiernan, club secretary. Second heaviest bag was Brian Corrigan. The youths had a good result also with a fish each for Calum McKenna and Kieran McQuaid. Hard luck to James Hughes, who had to retire with rod damage. Thanks to all who took part.
