A few days ago we had Lisa Engber out fishing her colleague Jan with a fine 11lb 15oz fish but Jan decided it was “battle on”. He came back to beat her with a bigger fish ! David McEvoy reports:
Since my last update our Swedish party finished out their week in fine style with Jan Ronnlund eclipsing Lisa Engbert’s fish by half an ounce.
Jan landed his fish from the Deadman’s in bitterly cold weather with the river at 45 and rising, as we had a good belt of rain the previous night. The fish weighed in at 11lbs15.5ozs, was sea liced and was again taken on a Breakfast fly.
Jan Ronnlund with 11lb 15.5oz salmon
The lake fishers that day only managed to last a short time as it was so cold, it made lake fishing almost unbearable.
The river was in good order on Saturday but again it was bitterly cold with showers of hail. Yesterday conditions were good and Randy Yetmann lost a cracker of a fish in the Rock that decided to leave the pool and in doing so they parted company.
There was another good belt of rain last night and the river is now at 60 with a strong SE gale which makes casting difficult. So far today we have nothing but with the weather calming down a little it bodes well for this afternoon and indeed the remainder of the week for what is a very multinational team with anglers from Germany, Sweden and the US.
David McEvoy Delphi Fishery
Go fishing…
At Delphi Lodge, with many years of experience with the timing of the best runs of fish, we have in place a price system that offers both great value fishing and lets our anglers know when they have the best chance to catch a fresh run spring salmon or a summer grilse or Delphi sea trout.
Micheál Quinn reports that the third leg of the Leinster Shore League took place on Saturday last 22nd March 2014. Seventy one anglers took part in the event and fishing took place from 1.30 to 3.30 at Kilmuckridge. A total 564 fish were caught with the longest round fish at 24cm and longest flat fish at 32cm. The results of the event were as follows
Results for Last Saturdays IFSA Leinster Shore Open League Event at Kilmuckridge
Zone A, 1st Joe Byrne, 2nd Joe Carley, 3rd Adam O’Neill
Zone B, 1st Alan Mulcahey, 2nd Karl Whelan, 3rd Adam Toole,
Zone C, 1st JP Molloy, 2nd Ian Knight, 3rd Micheál Quinn
Joe Byrne won the overall.
The competition was sponsored by Courtown Angling. The next event will take place on 5th May 2014. Full details will be posted prior to the event.
Jim Hendrick can pack more into a small bag than most people I know. There’s a place for everything and everything in it’s place! He tells us:
So what is it as a bass fishing guide that you pack for a 4 hour guiding session lets say for Saltwater Fly Fishing with two customers on the shore? It surprised me when I loaded the sling pack today
The Gear
First aid kit – full kit at car
Kershaw knockout knife
Ross Saltwater pliers
Waterproof mini binoculars
Fishpond pitchfork clippers
Stainless forceps
Braid scissors
Loon reel lube
Wader repair kit
Zap a Gap
Small sun block
Extra pair of glasses
Phone in ziplok bag
Hook sharpener
Tape measure
Waterproof torch
And then there’s the fishing terminal tackle as such
Braided loop connectors
Pre-tied leaders both mono and fluoro
Tapered saltwater leaders
Poly leaders, various
Tippet material
Two boxes of flies, various types
One wallet of flies, various types
One spare reel with intermediate running line
Optional shooting heads (F, I, Sk)
Water bottle
IFI scale collection kit
I think that’s about it from a fly point of view, there’s a few more things no doubt that could be added but you have to stop somewhere!
French Wedding Party Caught 15 Pike on the POuting With Brendan O'reilly
Angling guide Brendan O’Reilly reports that on March 2nd Jean Thiebot got married in Slane and he arranged for the wedding party to spend the day with Newgrange Active Angling guide Brendan O’Reilly. Six turned up on the Monday morning for an early start on the way to Monaghan. Anthon traveled with me and the rest followed behind. Anthon was given a small history lesson on the Battle of the Boyne, Cu Chullain and the poets of Monaghan. When we arrived at the water the wedding party in the car quickly went to Anthon to find out what we spoke about. It was a bright dry day 15 fish was caught and one of my fishing caps went to the heaviest fish when we arrived back to Newgrange Lodge where they were staying. Leon is the lady to talk to about staying at Newgrange Lodge and for fishing enquiries contact Brendan at [email protected] or 086-6010272.
French Wedding Party Caught 15 Pike on their Outing With Brendan O’Reilly
Brendan O’Reilly reports that the 5th leg of Newgrange Active angling was held in Monaghan on Sunday 23rd March. The weather gods was with us as it stayed dry all day. With the current leader of the League not available to fish it gave the reat of the lads a change to close the gap and close it they did with good quality fish caught with 3 of the lads catching their PB’s. Darragh O’Neill won the competition and had a PB of 14-12oz Luke Everard was 2nd and also had a PB with a fish of 9-14oz and 3rd was Sparky McQuire and also had a PB in his catch of 8 lb. 35 fish was landed and returned on the day and the the league turned up-side-down it means that 6 anglers in contention to win the league with only one competition left the results on the day was.
1st Darragh O’Neill. 5 fish.
2nd Luke Everard 7 fish.
3rd Darragh McQuire 5 fish.
13 th of April is the last comp of this league.
For info on angling contact Brendan O’Reilly 086-6010272. [email protected]
Angling guide Richie Johnson reports on Floodwater Piking with clients on small midland water as bigger waters were very high and coloured.
The months of January and early February were awful with so much water spoiling the fishing. We had a client over from America just when the waters started to drop off. Anietra has fished in many countries, most recently in Thailand for the hard fighting Mekong Catfish. She was keen to try her luck with some Irish Pike, and luckily the fish played ball. Finding areas to fish were difficult, with lots of the river systems and lakes too full of coloured water.
Being based in the midlands Anietra was lucky to have some smaller waters nearby that were not fed by major rivers and therefore were high, but clear. Along the shoreline there were a lot of boats totally submerged, giving an indication of just how much rain we had. In the morning out we fished from the boat and had some great success on both wobbled deadbaits and also float trolling. The first fish Anietra hooked we never got to see, as after a short fight it threw the hooks. It seemed to be a good one.
Not put off, another bait was soon out and Anietra had a screaming take, again on a wobbled Roach. After a dogged fight in the deep water, I put the net under a beautifully conditioned fish. In a minute she was in the weigh sling and turned the scales to a shade over the magical 20 lb. mark at 20-02. A quick photo and she was away to the depths once more.
Anietra with a super pike over 20 lb.
During the day another few fish followed, also on wobbled baits, coming in at 17 lb., 8 lb. and 14 lb. After lunch, we tried the fly for a while and also pitched a few lures but had nothing at all.
For the last hour we trolled dead baits and lures in the deeper water and after 2 hours of no action, we had 2 takes at once on the deads. I handed Anietra the first rod and she soon was bent into what seemed like another decent fish. I too, was playing a good fish on the 2nd rod. I got the net quickly under Anietra’s, and then played the other fish which was fighting hard in the now windy weather. Once landed, we pulled the boat into a small island to take a few pictures. Anietra’s fish went 17 lb. 8 oz and mine went 20 lb. 7 oz. It was a great end to the day. The last fish of 20 lb 7 oz had a slight pug nose, quite a common thing on the fish on this system.
Two fine pike caught on the day
I was back a week later and the lake had dropped a few feet and this time all I had was a couple of Trout while trolling lures. Not a sign of a Pike.
Jason Nash of www.savagefishingblogspot.ie reports from the River Bandon where he enjoys some good trout fishing:
This year I promised myself I would do some more trout fishing at the start of the season when salmon are less plentiful. Good numbers of fast growing brown trout are present throughout the Bandon. Rather than employing the usual nymphs or wet flies I decided to fish with small weighted streamers on a fast sinking line, something I’ve never done on the river. Takes using this method can be savage and I’ve really enjoyed targeting these yellow bellies after mostly ignoring them for a long time. The biggest I’ve had so far was just over a pound in weight but bigger trout are about.
The last photo shows one such fish which I estimated to weigh over three pounds. When I saw it first I thought it was a salmon kelt but a look at the photos afterwards proved otherwise! In general, the brown trout fishing has got off to a very good start on the river, with french nymphing being particularly effective.
Salmon fishing is picking up and slowly gaining momentum. The first confirmed springer was caught and released on March 5th using a Dee Monkey fly tied on an aluminium tube. Another fish was grassed yesterday, March 20th and also fell to the fly. Water levels over the last fortnight have been perfect and today there is a small rise in the water. A fresh fish with my name on it will hopefully come sooner rather than later but at least a few salmon are running.
Adrian Browne of Oakland Lake Fishery held a coarse fishing competition on Saturday. Results as follows;
Dave Minogue continued his great start to the year with another winning bag from end peg 22. Dave caught steadly throughout the Match catching mostly carp to 8lb to finish with another ton plus bag of 121lb. His son Ronan was second with 80lb from peg 20. It was a great turnout for the first club match of the year with 16 fishing. The conditions were hard with bright sunshine and a stiff breeze blowing up the lake. Well done to all the winners and hope to see you all next week for the open match.
Results
1st Dave Minogue 121lb
Dave Minogue- Senior winner
2nd R Minogue 80lb
3rd D Murphy 69lb
Juniors
1st Niall OBeirne 34lb
2nd E Minogue 30lb
3rd T Quinlin 26lb
Niall O’Beirne – junior winner
Go fishing…
Adrian Browne
Oaklands Lake,
Marshmeadows,
New Ross, Co. Wexford.
Ian Morris with his 8lbs fish from the Sand Hole this afternoon.
Drowes Fishery manager Shane Gallagher reports on conditions on the river…
21/03/2014: Yesterday marked the vernal equinox so by any measure spring has officially begun. Conditions over the past few days however, were anything but spring like. There were gale force winds and very heavy rain on Wednesday night and sleet and hail showers have turned the mountains white again. The river rose very rapidly as land is still saturated following the very wet winter. The gauge is back over 0.7 metres and the water was noticeably coloured yesterday.
Ian Morris with his 8lbs fish from the Sand Hole this afternoon.Nash Mc Daid with his fish from the Meadow on Tuesday.
Fishing was quiet yesterday with no fish reported and it had been a similar story today until the afternoon when a fish was reported from the Sand Hole and a second fish on fly from the Trout pool this evening. There have been 15 fish reported since my last update but it has been slow going at times. Among the fish reported during the past week were, Bob Amlung had an 8lbs fish from the Wash Stones on Wednesday evening, On Friday Colin Harbinson had a 6.5lbs fish on a Willie Gunn tube from Brineys , a French angler had a 9lbs fish on spinner from Rooney’s and a small fish was taken on prawn from the Wash Stones.
Daryl Kennedy with his fish from the Meadow on Sunday.
On Sunday D. Kennedy had a 7.5lbs fish from the Meadow on prawn and Anthony Murphy had a well deserved 7.5lbs fish on prawn from the Soft Hole, on Monday S. Morgan had a 7.5lbs fish on prawn from the Old Sea Pool, T. Browne had a 5lbs fish on fly from Lennox’s and J. Ciconte had a 6lbs fish on rapala from the Perch Pool, on Tuesday morning Michael Foley had a lovely fresh 10lbs fish off the tide at the old sea pool on black flying c and Nash Mc Daid had a 6lbs fish from the Meadow on flying c.
Michael Foley had this 10lbs bar of silver from the Stoppage above the old Sea Pool on a black flying c on Tuesday morning.
On Thursday M. Schofield had a 10lbs fish on prawn from the Money Hole, a 9lbs fish was taken from the Meadow on spinner and B. Mc Clintock had a 9lbs fish on worm from the Cascades. This afternoon Ian Morris had an 8lbs fish on rapala from the Sand Hole and Packie Mc Dermot had an 8lbs fish on a Green Butt Cascade tied by Denis O’ Toole from the Trout Pool this evening.
The weather outlook is for further cold, wet and windy conditions until drier, milder weather returns on Wednesday.
Maybe not gold but there is sure to be silver at the end of this rainbow in Rossinver Bay.
Fly fishing tuition
The fly fishing tuition weekend at the Fishery on the first weekend of April will also be available on day only tuition and fishing basis, without an overnight stay, pm or email [email protected] for details and bookings.
Henrik Mortensen seminars
There is still some availability for the Henrik Mortensen seminars hosted by AM Angling on the 22nd to 26th March, contact [email protected]
Lough Sheelin Angling Report By Brenda Montgomery, IFI – March 17th to March 23rd, 2014
Fishing consists of a series of misadventures interspersed by occasional moments of glory…
Howard Marshall
Happiness is a Sheelin trout – Paul Lunney with his 4lb prize
A cold westerly wind swept across the lake for most of the week with days of varying wind speeds and temperatures dropping as the weekend approached. Because of a cold air mass originating from Greenland an unwelcome mix of strong gusts intermingled with heavy showers of rain and in some instances hail and sleet made fishing conditions challenging at times for the Sheelin angler.
With the receding water levels the shoreline is gradually reappearing with the surrounding lake vegetation looking somewhat like a faded hemline.
White horses skimmed the lake’s surface and the water churned to a moody blue/black colour, but beneath those waves, in the dark recesses of the water, still feeding low are those much coveted heavy weights – the Sheelin trout, waiting for the right fly or lure to tempt them.
The turbulent weather meant that most anglers remained glued to the shoreline and sheltered bays as besides being the best places to fish in early season, the middle of the lake proved stormy and unforgiving.
For most Sheelin trout anglers, winter and the closed season seem like an eternity of waiting. Sometimes it feels as if you’d forget how to cast a proper line after all those months of abstinence. The flies that have been tied during the long winter evenings are in their boxes waiting to be tried and tested and then March 1st, the open season, finally arrives like some sort of a saviour but alas except for a few days and snatched hours for this month, anglers have been met with conditions that are too cold, too windy, much too wet or a most complicated mixture of everything.
Once St. Patrick’s Day is over, we are forever hopeful that the weather will ‘pick up ‘but March coming in ‘like a lion and going out like a lamb’ doesn’t seem to be the case for this year – the lion prevails and the lamb doesn’t seem to have been born yet…..
The weather needs to soften up a little for a real take off in fishing. Some say that the ‘trout are still laying deep’ and it’s true that mid-March is not the time to be expecting a multitude of rises particularly as the recent cold has caused last week’s tentative little duck fly hatches to all but disappear. Deep and slow is the rule so the wet flies and lures are still top of the game for trout catches this week. Fishing a sinking line is still the order of the day.
Danny Murray, Dublin (ghillied by Gary McKiernan of Lough Sheelin Guiding) with his impressive 8 1/2 lb 64cm Sheelin trout, caught and released on Saturday March 22nd.
The Humungus (in black, black & silver and gold) is still responsible for most of the catches on the lake this week. Minkies (in black) also feature with one angler landing himself a lovely 4 pounder with a Minkie on the top dropper and 2 Dabblers behind with his confident theory that the trout will follow the Minkie but take the Dabbler.
Shane MacNamee’s 5 pounder caught using a Golden Humungus
Along with the usual fly patterns worked singly or in teams – the Dabbler (fiery, brown, claret and silver), Connemara Black, Black Pennell, Hare’s Ear, Golden Olive Bumble, Glister Ollie, Dunkeld, the Midnight Stalker and a large black lure like the Sweeney Todd there are other successful newcomers appearing namely The Butcher, the Sooty Olive and the Snake Fly.
Andrew Brown, Dublin with is fish of over 3lbs (released)
Chairman of the LSTPA Kenneth O’Keefe presenting the Kilroy Cup to Peter Boyle, Monaghan for landing the winning fish of 6.3 lbs
The Butcher pattern with its red tail, silver body and rib, black iridescent duck feather and black hen hackle is now over 170 years old and is a fly designed to imitate little fish. One Dublin angler landed himself an impressive 4 ½ lb trout using a two fly set up, with a Bibio as a dropper, fishing deep and slow on a very cold and windy Friday afternoon of this week.
In March a combination of Bibio on the bob with a Butcher at the end mostly saves the day. It is definitely an attractor fly, since it is impossible to say what it is imitating.
The two Fly-cast Combination game regarding wet flies have one constant – it catches fish during the entire season and brown trout just love it, because it somehow represents perfectly everything and nothing.
Saturday March 15th was the first reasonably mild day of the season, a ‘pet day ‘and with the mildest came hatches of duck fly causing a few anglers to chance a Sooty Olive on their lines. The Sooty Olive is one of the better- known traditional Irish patterns and imitates the duck fly. Their time is the spring and usually April is a great month for this fly. When trout don’t take the Butcher too well anymore, but Wickham’s and Invicta are not working yet, that is when the Sooty Olive has its heyday. On Sheelin the duck fly only lasts 2 to 3 weeks so this is when the Sooty Olive features most.
The Duck Fly
Andrew Brown, Dublin bring in his 4 pounder
Mary Kelly and Nana Payne, Dublin heading out for a days fishing on Sheelin Saturday March 22nd
Oliver McCormack braving the elements with his 4.6 lb beauty caught using his own tying of a Sooty type Silver Dabbler
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.
A catch & release policy is actively encouraged on the lake at all times
Most of the fish featured in these angling reports are returned carefully and safely to the lake
A new and welcome pro-active approach by Lough Sheelin’s angling club the L.S.T.P.A to conserve and protect the fish stock in this lake
“Catch and Release fishing is a lot like golf. You don’t have to eat the ball to have a good time.” ~Anonymous, Fly fishing guide
Oliver Ross’s 4lb trout swims away to live another day in Sheelin
Upcoming Competitions
The popular SheelinClassictrout competition now in its 10th year will be run onLough Sheelin on Saturday April 19th which is the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. The kick off time is 11am with a finish at 6pm. All boats should be on the shoreline and ready to go by 10.50am. There is a strict 15” size limit and the individual with the heaviest fish wins. There comes an impressive list of prizes with this competition with a 19ft Sheelin boat as a first prize.
For further information on this competition please contact NoelMcLoughlin at 087 2179460
Oliver Ross, Tyrone (ghillied by Lough Sheelin Guiding – www.loughsheelinguiding.com) with his 4 lb 51cm trout
Please remember All anglers are required to have a Fishery Permit to fish Lough Sheelin which must be purchased before going out on the lake.
The heaviest fish for the week was Danny Murray, Dublin with a trout of 8 ½ lbs 64cm caught on saturday March 22nd using a Minkie.
Total number of trout recorded: 31
Selection of Catches
Barry Fox, Ratoath – fishing on Thursday March 20th 3 trout, 1 @ 5 ½ lbs and 2 at over 2 lbs, the 5 ½ pounder was caught in Chambers Bay, the other two fish were landed around Crover. This was Barry’s first day out on Sheelin this season so it was an impressive breaking of the 2014 duck egg on this lake.
Shane MacNamee, Dublin – March 17th 3 trout heaviest weighed in at 5 lbs using a gold Humungus.
Danny Murray, Dublin fishing with ghillie Gary McKiernan (www.loughsheelinguiding.com) – Tuesday March 18th 4 trout on wets all over 2 lb in weight. March 22nd 1 trout at 8 ½ lbs using a Minkie – all released.
Oliver Ross, Co.Tyrone – fishing with Gary McKiernan on March 17th, 1 trout at 4lbs (51cm).
Andrew Brown, Dublin – 1 trout fishing wets at over 3 lbs (47cm).
Larry McAlinden, Newry – 1 trout over 3lbs fishing wets on Friday March 21st,
Peter Boyle, Monaghan fishing with Kenneth O’Keefe, Cavan – 2 trout fishing wets averaged over 2 lbs on Saturday March 22nd.
Oliver McCormack – 1 trout at 4.6 lbs fishing around Crover using his own tying of a Sooty type Silver Dabbler
Thomas Lynch, Kilnaleck – 1 trout at 5 ¾ lbs on March 23rd on the wets.
Mike Redmound, Belfast (ghillied by Lough Sheelin Guiding – on Saturday March 22nd 1 trout at 54 cm.
A stormy shoreline, Crover, Lough Sheelin March 20th
It was with profound sadness that we record the tragic and untimely death of 27 year old David Warnock on Lough Ree earlier this week and as yet (as we go to print) the unrecovered body of 30 year old Darryl Burke.
There is an invisible line of connection between all anglers whatever their lake or fish preference is and so it is with unreserved conviction that the sympathies of all the angling fraternity and IFI go out to the families of these men.Deus vobiscum.
Brenda Montgomery IFI
Note: All anglers report that they are wearing lifejackets or jackets with built in lifejackets
