with 26 children between the ages of 8 to 15 attended the “Come and Try Angling session”
The NCFFI were represented by members of the Erne Anglers AC at the Fermanagh District Council organised Loughfest 2014.
Just a few of the thousands of people turned out on the banks of the Erne in Enniskillen to take part in events
Loughfest has been running for a number of years now and is designed to give children in the area the opportunity to try various water sports on Lough Erne. On Saturday thousands of people turned out on the banks of the Erne in Enniskillen to take part in events as well as watching displays on the water by the emergency and rescue services.
Even the dogs in the street knew it was a great chance to find out more about fishing
The Erne Anglers AC were asked to provide 6 coaches for a four hours period on the Derrycharra section of the river. All the coaches had recently taken part in the ACI coaching training and were delighted to put the skills they had learned into practice.
Loughfest is designed to give children the opportunity to try various water sports
Both sessions were fully subscribed with 26 children between the ages of 8 to 15 attending the “Come and Try Angling session”. Club secretary Jack Tisdall who coordinated the event with FDC was delighted with the response; “all anglers taking part had never come to an angling session before” “they were delighted to catch some fish and left with some great memories” “well done to the lads for the professional way they conducted the sessions”.
with 26 children between the ages of 8 to 15 attended the “Come and Try Angling session”
Thanks to FDC for again finding the time to support an angling programme on the Erne.
Brendan O'Reilly with Minister Fergus O'Dowd and Principal of St Mary's Boy's school Jim Brady and some Boy's from 4th year enjoying a lesson with Newgrange Active Angling coach Brendan O'Reilly.
Brendan O’Reilly with Minister Fergus O’Dowd and Principal of St Mary’s Boy’s School Jim Brady and some Boy’s from 4th year enjoying a lesson with Newgrange Active Angling Coach Brendan O’Reilly.
Students from St Mary’s Boys School in Drogheda spent a day out recently with Brendan O’Reilly learning how to fish. Minister Fergus O’Dowd dropped in to support the event. The event was also supported by school principal Jim Brady who is himself a very keen angler.
A Calm and Serene Muckno Yesterday at White Island
Brian O’Neill from Dublin reports that they went onto White Island yesterday for some feeder fishing. The day was warm and very overcast and very slow to start. Our first fish netted at around noon which was a Perch of about .5lb which was followed in quick succession by Bream and Hybrids. Talking to a couple of regulars which only landed one Roach for the day thinking that spawning must be at its peak due to the lack of tight lines. The day was taken in our group by Ian McFadden who had most success with ledger and Cage feeder.
A Calm and Serene Muckno Yesterday at White Island
Andrew Ryan welcomes guests from around the globe this week with Clonanav Fly Fishing’s and reports: The fishing has been amazing the last few weeks. The warmer milder weather has ensured some good hatches. The water levels have been fluctuating but the fishing has remained excellent. We have had clients from all over the world including Holland, UK, USA, France and Germany. Andrew Ryan Clonanav
Go fishing…
Clonanav Fly Fishing is one of Irelands leading destinations for river fishing. We specialise in fly fishing for both brown trout and salmon in the River Suir and tributaries. Crystal clear rivers teeming with native brown trout await you on you visit to Clonanav. Experience some of the best river trout fishing Ireland has to offer coupled with excellent guiding and tuition. Clonanav Fly Fishing
Ballymacarbry, Clonmel, Co Waterford. Tel: + 353 (0)52 6136765 Web:www.flyfishingireland.com
River levels are in cracking order and clarity is just perfect. A few fish are starting to be taken off the fishery as Ian Dolley and his 12 year old son John Joe have proved. Father and son have had great sport with John Joe landing a cracking fish of 12lbs on spinner.
12 year old John Joe with his fish at Fortwilliam
His Dad Ian had the first couple of grilse on the fishery both fish were 4lbs. Nice few fish seem to be showing themselves in the morning also as we have early morning tides too so fish are travelling off the tide.
Salmon Spey Casting Course
Andrew Ryan of Clonanav Fly Fishing tells us that it was a full house for last weekends Spey casting course of 2014 at Fortwilliam Fishing on the Blackwater. A great group of enthusiastic anglers took part on the day and we had great fun. Paul provided us with some amazing beats as usual and the hospitality and riverside bbq was amazing.
Barbeque
Salmon Sprey Casting, how it’s done by an expert !
No fish were caught, but a huge amount of casts and techniques were learned by the participants. We covered Roll casts, switch casts, Circle C, Snake roll and double spey. The course also consisted of a shooting head clinic and lots of info on the latest gear available on the market.
Flowing through Cork and Waterford, in the south east of Ireland, the river Blackwater is most famous for it’s salmon fishing. Fort William Fishery has 5 beats on the river, which include stretches particularly suited to flyfishing. Our beats offer a wide variety of water, suitable for both beginners and the more experienced fishermen. In summer we have also good numbers of sea trout. On the estate there is two self-catering cottages and tackle/freezer room. Whether you like fishing for salmon or fly fishing for sea trout, Fort William will meet all your game angling requirements and much more.
Paul Whelan,
Fishery Manager,
Fort William Estate,
Glencairn, Lismore, Co. Waterford, Ireland
Oaklands Lake Fishery in New Ross are now getting ready for the Dunbrody Festival which will be held on the weekend of July 5th & 6th. Places are filling up quick so get your name in if you want to fish. This year’s event is being kindly sponsored by Preston Innovations which will offer some great tackle & cash prizes.
For times check out events page and more info on www.oaklandslake.com.
Contact:
Shop 051 445348
Mick 087 6988979
Adrian 087 7811042
Go fishing…
Adrian Browne
Oaklands Lake,
Marshmeadows,
New Ross, Co. Wexford. Telephone: +353 (0)51 445348 Mobile: +353 (0)87 6988979 Web:Oakland Lake Fishery
Tommy Pickering had 132-400kg over 5 days to win first place
Day four of the Mahon’s Festival and Tommy steals the match with a five hour catch of 58 Bream and 6 Hybrids to give him 109.900kg. This Erne match record came from peg one on the Sligo Road, Enniskillen where Tommy cast a feeder towards the Town Bridge. Tommy Pickering had 132-400kg over 5 days to win first place
84 paid into the renowned Mahon’s Festival fishing in Enniskillen Monday 19th to Friday 23rd May providing a prize fund of £12,600. Tom receives his trophy
The 85th angler, Ron Williams one of the longest serving match anglers to visit Northern Ireland having competed now for over 30 years receives a free entry.
Mal Scott who originally set up Vale Royal Angling, Northwich and Joey Mahon of Mahon’s Hotel, Irvinestown, Co.Fermanagh originally created the match fished alongside the prestigious Waterways Classic over 30 years ago. Mal who sadly passed away in 2011 passed over the business to his son’s Mike and Rod who learnt their fishing skills as youngsters in Ireland and Rod now carries on the matches in Ireland. Mahon’s Hotel has always had strong ties with the angling community
Such is their relationship with Mahon’s Hotel, Mal’s ashes are kept on the bar and you’ll find many match anglers congregating here in May each year alongside the legendary Kevin Ashurst who classes it as his local during the summer months.
Go Fishing…
Kevin Locke has been bringing anglers to County Fermanagh for many years. Ireland Travel Plus have a range of packages available including B&B and HB options at Mahon’s Hotel sailing with both Stena and Irish Ferries from the UK. With their close connections with the Irish angling scene they can always put you on the fish! Call 07736 129627 for details or visit www.irelandtravelplus.co.uk Another few of these are that’s needed…
Fermoy Coarse Angling have been running festivals on the River Blackwater since 1957 and continue to organise angling festivals for those who enjoy the traditional skills of river fishing with stick floats, toppers and wagglers. Dace is the target fish with some Roach and the odd large Bream to 7lb+. Fishing the Fermoy Festival
The Spring festival is the harder of the two festivals and really depends on the river conditions; you will need to catch 15 to 20lb on any of the 3 days to do well and backup weight over the next two days of 10 to 14lb so to win this festival you would need somewhere between 40 and 50lb. Keeping the fish coming helps build the weight
22 fished this year and the river was in good condition for the first day of the competition won by Karl Stephenson, Mirfield with 16lb 8ozs. The river then rose 16 inches on Wednesday which made the fishing more difficult and Nick Chaffer, Mirfield won with 14lb 8ozs. Friday saw river conditions begin to improve with Nigel Hirst, Mirfield winning with 15lb 4ozs. Dace are the main species targeted in this competition
Nick Chaffer was the overall winner of the week and it was the Mirfield and Leeds anglers that really dominated this years festival. Well done to all. Nick Chaffer was the overall winner of the week
We would like to thank all our sponsors; our main sponsor Brian Enwright Alberts Bar, other sponsors TJ Goodtymes, Avondhu Bar, The Wagon Tavern, Springfield B&B, Springmount B&B, Blackwater B&B and Virginia House.
Autumn Festival
The Autumn Festival is really different and you could need 40 to 50lb to win on a day!! Bigs shoals of Dace are around at this time of year and if the conditions are right there is fantastic Dace fishing to be experienced. Anything between 75 and 126lb will win this festival. For more information visit www.ncffi.ie or contact Tommy Lawton tel; 00 353 (0) 25 33574/ 00 353 (0) 86 104 3040 or mail [email protected]
The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland
The NCFFI is responsible for a wide range of angling matters and focus on all aspects of coarse angling including management of international teams that fish in World and European championships according to CIPs rules, improving facilities for all coarse anglers, introducing young and old alike to coarse angling, protecting our fish stocks, and involving all people regardless of background, sex, religion or angling ability. Website:www.ncffi.ie
Content and additional photography is available on our Facebook page at wwww.facebook.com/coarseangling Facebook: www.facebook.com/coarseangling
May is always one of the busiest months in the angling year and this year has been no different. The last seven days have seen everything May has to offer, including some unpredictable weather, and all branches of angling from coarse to deep sea have enjoyed some great catches.
Pat Swan, Irish International Angler, caught a Specimen Spurdog of 16.4lb which wins him Catch of the Week
In Donegal, Rosguill is back on the water and with plenty of fresh mackerel in the boat it was not long before really good plaice, dabs, gurnards and the other usual suspects followed. Hamish Currie was back plying the waters off the Antrim coast and his anglers had some fine fishing with 2 really impressive skate landed. The Irish Boat team fished with Kit Dunne out of Wicklow last week on a training session. Local team member proved his worth by landing a 16.4lb spurdog. This specimen sized fish wins Pat Catch of the week. Austrian anglers fishing from the Sioux in Valentia had great fishing in fine weather for ling, pollack, coalfish, pouting, cod and gurnards with some quality fish landed. After a difficult April May saw charter fishing improve off the Clare coast and anglers on the Clare Dragoon even tried for 6 gill shark last week. None were caught but no one was disappointed with the congers to 20lb, bullhuss to 10lb and an unusual 40lb Skate. Galway Buccaneers were also on the water and they enjoyed a good variety of fishing at anchor and drifting over mixed ground, rocky ground and sand. This produced 11 different species on the day. Anglers fishing at Killala Bay with charter skipper Donal Kennedy had good coalies, ling, pouting and cod into double figures. The fishing was so good Donal had to drop a line himself and it wasn’t long before he had some of the big cod in the boat. Sea anglers are reminded that the bass close season is in place until 15 June – if you inadvertently catch one over the weekend simply release it unharmed.
Last week water levels were better on the Drowes and the fishing reflected this with good numbers of salmon caught. No one was giving Melvin much of a go and there was little to report from that lake. The Owenea was also quiet, as water levels have gone very low. With a total of 68 salmon, anglers on the Ballisodare Fishery enjoyed their best week of the season so far. Most fish were released and averaged 7 lbs. Some good fish were reported from Lough Beltra and Newport and with the recent rise in water levels, prospects for the coming days are looking good. The Moy had its best week of the season, so far, with a reported catch of 197 salmon. However, it was a difficult week for anglers as water levels fluctuated for most of the time. Fishing picked up last week with some nice conditions on the Erriff, frequent rain brought some good water levels and fresh fish running the river provided some good sport. The Delphi has also been reporting good fishing where a mix of grilse and double figure fish were landed. Water levels on the Galway Weir have returned to something approaching fishable with some nice fish caught and the early grilse starting to appear. A 20.5lb salmon was caught on the Laune, but the river has been quiet apart from this great fish. Some great specimen sea trout and not a few salmon were landed at Lough Currane in the last week and visiting anglers seem to be outfishing the locals. This week’s banner photo was taken from the shores of this great fishery. The River Bandon has produced some great fishing for individual anglers but things should improve as grilse are starting to run the river. On the River Lee there were 15 salmon reproted for week ending 25 May but there were some better fish caught. The Blackwater Lodge reported fishing on the Blackwater improved and they had 4 fish on 24 May. Fishing on the Slaney was a little hit and miss due the heavy rains but some anglers did well in particular Andy Kelly who landed a 37″ (estimated 20lbs) fish on Tuesday at Clohamon.
After a fantastic mayfly season, Lough Corrib has seen the slow end of the main hatch over the last few days, with hatches diminishing and the current warm sunny conditions probably seeing off the last of the big hatches. Lough Carra is fishing very well with good action being enjoyed by anglers, and no blank days reported, despite a poor mayfly hatch. The strong north westerly winds that pounded the eastern shorelines of Mask this week produced some of the best wet and dry fly fishing we have had reported for years with rods averaging 10 trout over the limit. Despite the poor weather conditions with high winds, thunder & lightning and some heavy rain, Lough Conn saw another very good week. Mayfly and olive hatches were still plentiful and good numbers of trout were caught throughout the lakes. Lough Arrow has been pretty good for the past week with most of the action taking place in the evenings. Anglers reported a good fall of spent and the buzzer fishing was also productive. Lough Sheelin has continued to report big fish and good catches as the mayfly season there continues to amaze anglers. Some great individual catches were recorded with on angler netting 17 fish in a session and another catching and releasing a 27 inch monster. There were some great reports from the River Fane also where olives and sedges are taking trout off the top. Similar reports were received from the Suir, but streamer fishing produced some great looking trout to a remarkable size. In the Midlands anglers are enjoying modest success on Lough Ennel and Owel.
231 pike were caught over three days by Dutch anglers fishing in the Longford area with Kevin Lyons. Three members of the French Salmo Team fished with Kenny Sloan in the Foxford area they enjoyed some great fishing and came within a couple of ounce of a 20lb pike on a number of occasions. Italian anglers fishing with Bodo Funke had no difficulty breaking the magical barrier and fishing around Boyle they had some great pike to 26lb. This was quite an achievement as Bodo had just guided angling journalists to similar success only days before. Elsewhere on the Shannon system some enjoyable pike fishing was reported around Mullingar and at Portumna.
There was some great tench and bream fishing reported in the Cavan area and one angler had 150lb of bream in a day at Dromore. 29 junior anglers competed in the Junior Canal Championships at Daingean. Some good bream and hybrid fishing was also reported at Portumna. Congratulations go to Darragh McKenzie, Harry Whitehead and Rhys Walsh who won each of their sections. The recently fished Ballinamore Festival was won by Roscommon angler Dara Finnegan, Ballyhaunis AC with 101lbs 07 oz. The festival was fished entirely on Garadice Lake. The upper pegs at Haughton’s Shore and D section at Church produced the top weights of 26lb and 33lbs yet the catches were fairly consistent all round.
This June Bank Holiday there are a number of simple steps you can take to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable time on the water. If you are wading, kayaking, fishing from a lake boat or small boat; wear your lifejacket or PFD. Make sure to check weather forecast and tide tables. Above all don’t take needless risks with your life and keep an eye out for the safety of others around you. See the angling safety checklist here.
Tight lines especially 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].
Dutch anglers John, Frank, Bart, Nico, Guus, Dennis van der Veen, Dennis Peek, Rob, Kevin and Martin were over for a long weekends Pike fishing.
John with a jack
Staying once again with their host and guide Kevin Lyons from Melview Lodge guest house, the party used mainly lures to temp fish to 90cm.
Bart with a better pike
Some very nice Perch were also caught while fishing and some very big Pike lost.
Rob with one from the shore
Kevin said the guys have been before and enjoyed every minute of it also taking advantage of the towns hospitality, well done guys, see you in November.
