A WASHING-UP liquid manufacturer has revealed it may be responsible for the pollution in the River Tolka which killed thousands of fish. Alma Hygiene said that there was an accident at its plant in Cabra last Tuesday, which resulted in a spillage of about 1,000 litres of washing-up liquid into its drainage system. However, the company said that it has no evidence yet to suggest the liquid ended up in the Tolka. But it felt compelled to alert the city council and Inland Fisheries Ireland to the incident… The Herald, 28/07/14. Read the full article ‘Tolka fish kill may have been washing-up spill‘.
UK: Fisheries are concerned about the future of salmon stocks as over-fishing of the sand eels they eat is causing fish to return to rivers smaller and thinner, making it more difficult for them to survive until spawning season. Grilse salmon, which go out to sea to feed for just one winter before returning to rivers, are coming back to some watercourses earlier than normal, and thinner… The Telegraph, 28/07/14. Read the full article ‘Salmon stocks at risk as sand eels are overfished‘.
Lough Ree's shore can provide access to some fine trout fishing
Many of the Upper and Mid Shannon lakes can provide good sport for trout anglers through the summer. For those anglers who like to stalk a fish there is some interesting fishing possible from the shore of Lough Ree, while those who like the odds stacked a little more in their favour can try their luck at some of the stocked fisheries such as Lough O’Flynn… Lough Ree’s shore can provide access to some fine trout fishing
Arnold Donnelly sent on this picture of a nice trout 3lbs 4oz caught on Lough Ree on Sunday. The trout was caught by Jonathan Craven ofLecarrow, Co.Roscommon. He was fishing on the shoreline of Lough Ree near Rinn Duin Castle using a Daddy Long Legs dry fly. The lake is familiar to many as a venue for big fish from a boat, but not many are aware there is some good fishing possible from the shore when there are terrestrials being blown about…
Lough O’Flynn
Joe Fitzharris and John Devaney tell us there was a little more angling activity to report this week on Lough O’Flynn, the following are recorded catches:-
Junior anglers Gary Madden and Mickie Madden Castlerea had 7 fish to 2lb on fly, all returned.
M McDermott and Mark Malone had 6 fish, best at 1-1/2 lb
P Mcewan and Joe Fitzharris also had 6 on wets, and dryfly with best fish at 2-lb
Most of the fish caught are of the recently stocked variety as were most of the catch for the Malone cup.
Our next event will be the McCarthy cup on the 24-th of August which is the confined club competition.
A young lady well on her way to being the queen of Irish fishing is young Ciara McEvilly. This pleasant young lady gives her feeling on how she loves fishing.
Ciara in action
An interview with an up and coming angler – Ciara McEvilly
Ciara, a member of the Irish Youth Angling Club based in Edenderry shared with us what it is she likes about angling.
– My favourite canal section is Kilmore on the Royal Canal near Enfield.
– I love fishing, I go as often as I can as we leave near to the canal we often take a walk down and have an hour or two in the evening.
– I am 12 but will be 13 next month
– I fish with Brian on the Enfield competitions and often go along to the IYAC coaching days with my two brothers
– My brother Liam has made the Leinster team this year. It was so nice of him to lend me his fishing gear while he was on holiday this week hehehe
– I’d like to thank my Dad for taking me to the competitions
– my best day was a match win last year on the league in Enfield. I had my biggest fish a 1lb Bream and won the match GREAT.
– take a look at my trophies from the series win last year!
Marek with a fine pollack aboard Sea Hawk , one of many on the day
Richie Ryan reports that a returning customer is always a good sign for a business se he must be doing something right when a number of his clients return to him for fishing every year…
And so it is with Marek Dobias from Slovakia , age 16 , attending a fishing school in Ivanka Pri Dunaji. Imagine being a youngster of 15 , Marek started his course last year, and spending 4 years learning about all aspects of angling in a boarding school! How cool is that.
Marek with a fine pollack aboard Sea Hawk , one of many on the day
Latin is one of the subjects taught at the school in order that students can master the myriad of Latin names in the classic language used in the sport. Marek visits his Aunt Jana in Cork every year and her partner Joe Flanagan kindly organises the fishing with the guide. A very keen fly fisherman the youngster thoroughly enjoys his fishing in Cork.
Terry Ring , originally from England , now living in Ireland with a bass caught with Richie last week
This weeks weather has played the part of the villain reports Colin Folan of Lough Inagh Lodge. Flat calm with extreme heat for most of the week with only one day of light rain. However, the wind has picked up the last couple of days which will help cool and oxegenate the water. Anglers have mentioned to me that they have never seen as many Grilse in Lough Inagh, but they have no interest in taking the fly. Salmon are also seen running the river beats as there still is enough water for the to run.
Only 1 Grilse was caught this week by local Willie Kelly. The fish was caught on Inagh and weighed 4lbs and took a Silver Daddy. 13 Sea Trout were recorded this week with the best one being caught by Donegal man David Magill. The fish weighed 2.5lbs and took a Bibio on Lough Inagh.
Plenty of space this week if anyone needs to escape the madness which is Race Week in Galway…
Loughs Derryclare and Inagh lie in the lovely Inagh Valley with the Twelve Pins (Bens) of Connemara rising steeply to the west, and the Maumturk Mountain range to the east. There are two short connecting rivers, which contain four river beats. The fishery has spring salmon, grilse, sea trout and large indigenous brown trout. In recent years the fishery has seen a resurgence of fish numbers, and in 2010 – 2012, the fishery has produced Salmon to 15lbs, Sea Trout to 5lbs and Brown Trout to 12lbs.
Taking a morning off from salmon angling French Gerard Garnier gathers a fine flush of Chanterells on the banks of the Erriff River.
Jin Stafford at the Erriff Fishery reports that water levels were low on July21st with temperatures reaching 20.5C. Rains increased levels to 1.2 meters on the 22nd and this brought more fresh salmon and sea trout into the river. Levels remained good for the next few days but unfortunately water temperatures remained and overall there was little cloud cover or wind. There was monsoon type rain for an hour or two on the late afternoon of Thursday the 24th – this resulted in several landslides on the mountain overlooking Beat 4. In a matter of an hour or so water levels increased at an enormous speed with the spate reaching 2.0 meters on the Aasleagh Guage. The water was muddy from all the sediment but it did clear to allow fishing the following day.
Taking a morning off from salmon angling French Gerard Garnier gathers a fine flush of Chanterells on the banks of the Erriff River.
Fishing the Falls Pool from the right bank Peter Huggard, U.K. caught a good grilse of 5.75lbs on an Alley’s Shrimp pattern. Martin Davison, N. Irl. returned a fish estimated at 8lbs taken on a Cascade in the Colonel’s Run on Beat 6.
Gerard Garnier, France fishing the Erriff for a second week caught nice grilse of 5.5lbs in the Colonel’s Pool on Beat 6 on a s14 Cascade and also 4 sea trout in Jenkin’s Pool on Beat 5 and another 4 in the School House Pool on Beat 3. Gerard also released a grilse of 4.5lbs caught in the Sea Pool on Beat 9.
Jean Jacques Eugene, France managed a nice fresh grilse from the Garden Pool and lost another before the spate finally put an end to fishing on the evening of the 24th. The same day Voler Laux , Germany and fishing friend fishing salmon for the first time were unlucky to part with 3 salmon including one estimated at 8-10lbs in the Falls Pool on Beat 9.
The following day when the river had settled down Enda O’Connell retained a grilse of 4lbs and released another estimated at 7lbs caught in the Guage Pool on Beat 9 on a Cascade. Arthur Muckian, Irl. released a grilse estimated at 4.5lbs and 2 sea trout caught in the Bridge Pool on Beat 9.
Two rods fishing Tawnyard at the end of last week reported 7 sea trout up to 1.25lbs in relatively poor angling conditions. Tawnyard Lough is well worth fishing with the excellent run of sea trout this season – so watch out for a decent wind.
Anglers reported seeing a lot of silver fish in the beats upstream – there is no doubt that angling catches would have been higher if conditions had been more favourable as water temperatures remained high at 19.3C .
The total catch for the period was 9 salmon and 28 sea trout.
When it comes to angling updates Terry Jackson is the man who will captivate the reader with his wonderful flow of words to draw you into the story. This week Terry ventures to the Bantry Bay district with top class fishing companions Kevin, Trevor and Simon onhand to fish for mullet. Pat the baker played a role in this story too, and with a good few fist fulls of bait scattered to draw in our fishy friends it was game on!
Kevin, Trevor and Simon, Mullet guides for the day.
Chasing the mullet
Terry tells us “Mullet are great fighters on light, balanced tackle, we all know this, but what I had not realised is just how dogged they can be. They simply refuse to give up, and it became almost comical after the fish literally jumped out of the landing net for the third time. Eventually, with a sigh of relief, Simon managed to safely net the fish for a camera shot. At only three pounds in weight, it had put up a tremendous account of itself, little wonder our Grey Mullet are known as the bonefish of Ireland.”
Sean Carty of Carty’s Land and Sea Sports was on the water this week with Boris Siegel out looking for Tope with Rosses Point skipper Daryl Ewing. Conditions were beautiful as expected, Daryl’s knowledge came up trumps and over the 3 hour session they landed 3 male fish up to about 155cm which is close if not a specimen size. They also had a few other runs that didn’t hook up, a very enjoyable evening that will be repeated again in the not too distant future.
Sean Carty of Carty’s Land and Sea Sports in Bundoran, Co. Donegal reports: – 27th July 2014
Water levels on the rivers remain very low this week leaving the salmon fishing difficult. At the time of writing the Drowes is at 0.35 on the gauge at the four master’s bridge. There is a large build-up of fish at a few spots on the system but very few fish are being caught. The best chance of a fish seems to be at the sea pools on the prawn. Likewise on the Duff, there is a large number of fish in the pools below the falls but with water levels so low the only chance of a fish seems to be early mornings or late evenings. The weather for the next week is mainly dry with scattered showers, hopefully enough to put some life into the system.
