Jason O’Riordan tells us the place to be in April is the River Drowes where you can avail of a Fishing Course with experts on hand to answer all of your questions.
Date: Saturday April 5th & Sunday April 6th 2014 (includes overnight stay on Saturday night!)
Price: Only €180 per person which includes accomodation at the Drowes Salmon Fishery on Saturday night. (Special course rate of €160 per person for groups of 3 or more!) Deposit of €80 per person applies.
Course Details:
Salmon fly fishing tuition on Saturday with pro guides – casting, demos and instruction. Try out rods, reels and lines from leading brands like Sage, Gaelforce, Rio, Danielsson, and Mackenzie. Fly tying demos and advice from a pro team tyer. Overnight stay on Saturday night included in the course fee. Free fishing for all course participants on Sunday. Places are limited so book early.
Course Instructors:
Jason O’Riordan (Guide, IFFF Casting Instructor, Premier Angling Pro).
Jason O’Riordan
Jason is a pro guide with Premier Angling Supplies and guides on the Munster Blackwater and River Suir for salmon. He is a qualified IFFF Casting instructor and regularly gives talks on salmon fishing at Irelands leading angling shows. His website is: http://gamefishingireland.ie/
Maurice Cahill (Mackenzie Pro Team)
Maurice Cahill
Maurice is a well respected guide on the Munster Blackwater River where he guides at the Ballyduff Bridge Fishery. This year Maurice was appointed to the Mackenzie Pro Team for Ireland. Maurice will have several Mackenzie demo outfits with him for the weekend including shooting head and switch rods.
Denis O’Toole ( Fly Tying Ace)
Denis O’Toole
Denis recently joined the AM Angling “Ace” Team of pro tyers. He is a superb tyer and is well known for his excellent salmon tube flies. You may have seen Denis tying on the Drowes stand at various angling shows in Ireland such as the Irish Fly Fair (Galway) and Ireland Angling Expo (Dublin).
The Milford & District Fly Angling Club is now taking applications for membership for the 2014 season. Current club memberships are now also due for renewal.
Appication forms are available from the IRD offfice in Milford or here at the Lough Swilly Angling Centre.
The new brown trout angling season opened on the 15th of February but the weather conditions have kept away even the hardiest anglers so far. If we get some normal spring weather, the lough should start producing good sport in the next week or two.
The Milford Club would also like to inform all members and indeed visitors that under IFI legislation, Angling on Lough Fern and the entire Lennon system may only be done by single barbless hook with bait fishing strictly prohibited !
In the interest of conservation of the very precious wild brown trout, the Milford club would like to ask anglers to only retain a maximum of 2 brown trout over 11” per day on Lough Fern. John Mc Laughlin
Lough Swilly Angling Centre/ Donegal Angling Phone : 087 292988 or Email:[email protected] Web: www.donegalangling.com and Facebook/Lough Swilly
John Mc Laughlin, Lough Swilly reports on the salmon fishing in Donegal:
Lackagh
I have no reports of any fresh fish from the Lackagh yet but with a bit of luck and the right conditions we might expect a fish or two before the end of the month.
Under the IFI legislation, the entire Lackagh system is strictly catch & release for salmon angling.
The only allowed methods are spinning or fly fishing with single barbless hooks and stictly no bait fishing.
The Creeslough & District Angling club in conjunction with the IFI have carried out some fantastic habitat enhancement over the last 2 seasons.The Lackagh river itself is arguably the most accessable in the whole country with the recently completed walkways and stiles making for a safer and more enjoyable angling experience.
Permits for the Lackagh fishery are available from Sweeney’s filling station, Termon.
The River Finn
The River Finn opens again for Salmon angling this coming Saturday the 1st of March.
Permits for the Cloghan Lodge Salmon fishery are available here from me at the Angling centre.
Hugo Mc Laughlin with his Specimen Tope on the Rathmullan Charters last season
John Mc Laughlin from the Lough Swilly Angling Centre reports:
Lough Swilly SAC will hold their AGM this Friday 28th February in the Tir Na NOg Bar , Letterkenny at 8.30pm.
All members are invited to attend and anyone interested in joining the club on fishing trips in 2014 will also be welcome.
For further details of the Club or outings, please contact Angela on 087 2480132 .
Hugo Mc Laughlin with his Specimen Tope on the Rathmullan Charters last season
Rathmullan Charters boats will be operating again from the end of April. They are also now taking bookings for wreck, reef, tope and shark fishing for groups of up to 12 persons. Last year, some great catches of tope were recorded from mid May and they will again be targeting this hard fighting fish in May, June and July so book early to get your preferred date. Call Angela on 087 2480132 or Neil on 087 0507464 or check them out on facebook.
Magheraroarty & the Islands Sea Angling Club are holding their first meeting of the year in Colls, Magheraroarty at 8 pm on Tuesday March 4th. Membership renewal and trips for the year will be booked. New members are welcome to come along and join on the night.
Organisers and Participants at the Fly Tying Classes last Weekend
Enda Fields reports that a number of youths from Emyvale and Monaghan attended a recent Ulster Fly Fishing development workshop; organised courtesy of Co Tyrone based Loughmacrory & Murrins District Angling Association.
Campbell Baird from the Anglers Federation Of Ireland (TAFI) is the national youth officer and was on hand to give expert fly tying instructions and advice to the Emy and District youths. Campbell managed and coached the Irish youth national fly fishing team to silver medal position at last year’s world youth fly fishing championship. Emy lough was one of the venues for the 2013 world youth competition.
An Attentive Audience at the Weekend Fly Tying WorkshopYouths Getting to Grips With the Practical Elements of Fly Tying
Any youths from Co. Monaghan interested in joining theses junior fly fishing & fly casting workshops and visiting to fly fish other lakes/rivers North & South please contact Enda Fields 087 6319298 and/or [email protected]
The next cross border workshop is planned to visit ‘Termon fly fishery’ in Co Tyrone on Sunday March 9th.
Organisers and Participants at the Fly Tying Workshop last Weekend
PLEASE NOTE: – If Interested don’t forget to call over to Emy & district anglers annual FREE youths/beginners fly fishing open morning which is on this Saturday March 1st on Emy Lough. Registration will commence at the club Jetty from 11am and finish at 1pm. Membership application forms for the season can be got from Enda on March 1st at jetty area from 11am.
Yours in Sport.
Enda Fields, Emy & District Youth Coordinator 2014
Daniel Brosnan, Tralee Bay SAC reports from a stormy Sandy Bay on the competition which took place on February 16th:
We have been battered by winds and rain over the last few months and this comp proved to be just as bad. When we arrived it looked ok but the wind changed direction and the sea got a bit wild. Everybody had there beach buddies up for some shelter and thank God we did….
Sandy Bay has been a bit of a regular venue over the last few months and has thrown up some good fish. Some excellent flounder and coalies were caught during the Winter League and I will include some of those photos with this report. We have fished it twice with the winter league and on both occasions could not fish the preferred stoney bank….
Altogether 24 anglers turned up and there was some top anglers down from Clare to fish with the bog boys from Kerry. The weather became quite torrential and as far as I know some of the Clare lads couldn’t handle the Kerry weather and left early!!!! LOL…
View of Sandy Bay beach
On to the fishing and the first hour was slow but Aidan O Halloran had a head start with some undersize flounder. The fish were not playing ball and word spread up the beach that anybody could win today but the ould reliable Phil Ord put on another blinder…
Ronan Hartnett hauled a beauty of a flounder of 36 cm and that went onto win the overall flat pool. James Allman was catching some nice fish and things started to heat up going into the last two hours…
Eugene Farrelly, Chris and David Sullivan, Anthony and Niki Foley were all off the mark with a couple of fish…
Ann Kelter with specimen flounder
Everybody was catching a few but Phil Ord started hauling in fish every cast, I was pegged alongside him and I only counted two casts with no fish…
For second place Aidan o Halloran and Eugene Farrelly were neck and neck but when Aidan pulled out a treble his last cast, Eugene couldn’t match it…
The weather so bad that taking pictures of fish after the first hour became undoable, I want to include some of the fish caught in sandy bay over the last few weeks into this report… It really is a good venue, the stoney bank seems to have the name as being better then the beach but with the catches over the last few weeks, show the beach to be better..
Our next comp is the 13th of April in the Cashen, so we have a month of a break but there is a comp coming up by South shore in the Dingle peninsula in March, so I will keep people posted about that…
Also we have the end of our winter league to finish off which was scheduled for this weekend but with the fish offs it will have to be either Saturday week or Sunday week, again I will keep people posted…
So hopefully our lads can do us proud this weekend, Aidan O Sullivan, Vincent Tierney and Eugene Farrelly all fish next weekend in Cork against the best anglers in the country… They will fish for places in the Irish Team and it would be great if one of them could get on it and everyone of them have the ability to do so, so good luck lads…
Tralee Bay SAC is a thriving community of enthusiastic anglers – young and old, experienced and newcomers – with new members joining all of the time. We have a busy schedule of shore and boat competitions and lots of social events planned throughout the year. Tralee Bay is a family friendly, welcoming club with a reputation for promoting angling and encouraging newcomers to the sport.
Joining could not be easier – simply get in touch with us via our Contact us page leave your address and we will send you out an application form. Please also let us have your email address – especially if you have any queries for us. We are especially eager to hear from junior anglers who want to take advantage of club membership. For more information on joining see here – Joining Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club.
Irish Times - Keith Barry (centre) enjoyed his day at the Angling Show in Swords last weekend. Seen here with Grace McDermott and Hugh Bonner (show organisers).
Conservation of bass ( Dicentrarchus labrax ) stocks continues to remain intact which is aimed at preserving stocks in Irish coastal waters.
I was there in October 1987 when the then Minister for Marine, Brendan Daly, proposed a suite of tough measures to conserve bass stocks, which had dropped dramatically and were at a dangerously low level. Commercial fishing for the species was the main reason for the decline, the Minister said back then.
His measures included: a ban on commercial fishing and the use of nets for bass fishing; a ban on the sale of bass, except for imported bass; a minimum size limit of 40cm; a bag limit of two bass per person per 24- hour period and a close season from May 15th to June 15th…..
Irish Times – Keith Barry (centre) enjoyed his day at the Angling Show in Swords last weekend. Seen here with Grace McDermott and Hugh Bonner (show organisers).
A SCHEME by Kerry County Council, to take up to 3,500 cubic metres of water a day from the Sheen River near its picturesque Falls at Gort na Dullagh, was struck down by a judge today.
Judge Pauline Codd said there was a scientific doubt as to the conclusions reached by experts with regard to proposed mitigation and monitoring measures for the protection of salmon stock and otter life on the river should the scheme go ahead.
The judge made an order disallowing Kerry County Council’s plans for taking water from the River Sheen for the Kenmare Water Supply Scheme which had already been given the green light by An Bord Pleanala….
Paul Mc Causland and Colin Gardiner With Their Fish From The Mill Pool and Sand Hole Respectively.
Shane Gallagher from the Drowes Salmon Fishery reports:
As we enter our 12th week of unprecedented winter flood conditions the the gauge is still topping 1 metre. The rain and wind remain relentless with only occasional days of respite when spring seems imminent. Last Tuesday was one such day when temperatures rose in spring sunshine and John Parkinson recorded his first springer of the season. The 8lbs fish took a Rapala at the Stoppage, between the old Sea Pool and the Point of the Meadow. The rest of the week was quiet and the end of the week was particularly wet and stormy and water levels rose further making conditions over the weekend difficult. A number of fish were reported lost over the weekend, including one lost at the net on the third attempt on a butch special toby. Paul Mc Causland and Colin Gardiner With Their Fish From The Mill Pool and Sand Hole Respectively. Colin Gardiner’s Fish at a Very Flooded Sand Hole Monday.
The sheer volume of water in the current conditions means that when playing a fish, in many pools, the fish has the upper hand. Today, Monday Paul Mc Causland had a fish of around 7lbs on worm from the Mill Pool after an epic battle and Colin Gardiner recorded a fish of similar size on a Firetiger Rapala from the Sand Hole. This morning started off dry and bright, before turning very wet and windy in the afternoon with plunging temperatures and driving rain. Not pleasant fishing conditions for spinning never mind fly fishing. Despite the very high water and stormy weather there does seem to be a few springers about which is encouraging at this stage of the season. Paul Mc Causland With His Fish on Monday.
More wet and windy weather is in store for the rest of the week so there seems little prospect of a significant drop in water levels for the weekend. There is a glimmer of hope in the long term forecast for an improvement in the weather from early March. Licence Returns
Licences and log books received after Friday 28th February will not have their catch returns included in the salmon ans sea trout catch statistics for 2013, so it is vital if you have not already done so to return licence and log books ASAP. Returns can be posted to:
Inland Fisheries Ireland
Station Road
Ballyshannon
Co. Donegal
Mullingar Angler Frank Cotter with super Royal canal pike.
Angling Guide and journalist Mick Flanagan reports on some good pike fishing on the Royal Canal:
We certainly have some fantastic fishing on our doorstep, and just 10 minutes walk from my house, some huge pike were banked on the Royal Canal last weekend. I worked a variety of colorful Lures along the Royal Canal last week, and had some fantastic sport banking pike from 2-3lbs up to 10-12lbs in weight. The fish were in mint condition, and are wintering well on the huge numbers of shoal fish along the Canal.
Mullingar Angler Frank Cotter with super Royal canal pike.
One of the best pike for some time caught on the Royal Canal was banked by Mullingar Angler Frank Cotter, and it hammered a Savage Eel Lure. Frank did not get a weight on his fantastic catch and after a quick photo it was released to fight another day. The Royal Canal is in great shape with all the recent rain, and is crystal clear in some stretch making lure fishing very exciting; as you can see the pike attack your bait. Waterways Ireland are doing a great job on keeping the Royal Canal free of shopping Trolleys and Rubbish, but unfortunately every weekend another batch of rubbish, and Trolleys are bumped into the Canal.
Midlands Angling provide a top class Guiding service covering many of the top coarse and game waters across the Midlands. Visiting fly anglers have landed some fine trout while out with Midland Angling Guides, pike anglers also recorded some net bursting catches including many pike over 20lbs. Top waters include Lough Ree, Ennell, Owel, Lene, Mount Dalton, and Glore Lake just to mention a few. Michael Flanagan Midland Angling
Pike and Trout angling guide.
Course Details:
