Mayo News - The monk’s fishing house at Cong Abbey, on the Cong River, which could boast high salmon stocks this year. Pic Flickr.comrEn84
James and I leaned, side by side, on centuries-old stonework, watching the telltale ripple playing at the shallow end of the bridge pool; back and across it went; upstream and down, covering ten or twelve square metres of stream bed. Now and then it came to a stop, always at the same place, adjacent to the off-white outline of a broken, sunken branch.
The constant flow of water had long since soaked the bark free from its core of wood and left it pale and luminescent, and in that strange glow I saw them: salmon.
They lay side by side, dressed in dark tartan with lighter hints to jaw and fin. The more we looked the more we saw, until the pool seemed full of fish. The shallow at their tails was deeply scored, showing where at least some of them had spawned. These, heavy in head and slim behind, held station with those yet to fully ripen. These latter patiently wait for their brief moment on the redd, ready to spill their very lives in a torrent of eggs and milt…..
Caoimighn followed up his first pike with this beauty of 26lb
Caoimhghin Phelan fished the mighty Lough Derg last Saturday 11th of January. Some superb sport was had and he finished the day with 3 doubles including 2 over 20lb. Here is his report…
Conditions were tough from the start. Air temp was 4-5°c, water temp probably close to that and there was a hard frost the previous night. Also the lake was flat calm, high, slightly coloured and the sun was beaming down. I was out in my 12′ tinny. I had a joey mackrel on the deadbait rod in 15′ of water while i was working the fly in 10′. Nothing happening for an hour or so, so changed the joey to a popped up roach. It wasn’t in the water 10 minutes when BANG! The float was gone. I landed a beautiful weighed 23lb Esox.
23lb pikeShe swam off strongly, no worse for wear…
I moved location after that but kept fishing similar depths. Another hour passed and I had a lovely 16lb pike, again, on a popped up roach. She managed to spit the bait before being landed and it was my last roach so I was back onto joeys.
Half an hour later in the same spot my float took off again. I couldn’t believe my luck, I was into another pig of a fish! After 5-6 huge runs from her she started to give up. The result; a beautiful pike weighed at 26lb!
Caoimighn followed up his first pike with this beauty of 26lbThe 26 pounder was a deep fish with a huge belly
Never underestimate Lough Derg lads and lassies!! I was using ‘Behr’ pop-up sticks which can be bought from www.fishingtackleireland.ie who stock a vast amount of tackle for very keen rates. Caoimhghin Phelan
This is Caoimhghin’s second report from Lough Derg in the last couple of months. His brother and he enjoyed stellar sport on the lake last month. check out the report here – Six doubles in a day to 26.5lb wows pike anglers on Derg
A working, reliable trailer board is an often overlooked, though essential bit of kit for the boat angler who moves his boat between fisheries. Caoimghin has the following advice. “If there are any anglers out there using PVC light boards- there is a better option. I bought a set of lights from Rockfit for my boat trailer and these things are bomb-proof! They’re 100% waterproof and come with a 10 year guarantee! Plus the NCT is coming in for trailers next year. These lights are the business! The whole system is pre-wired and easy to install and even the plug is a really tough moulded solid plastic that can’t break like all the other ones I’ve had. See for yourself on YouTube the kind of abuse they can take – its well worth a watch: Rock Fit Lighting System
Easily bought on their website: www.rockfitirl.com/buy-online/
Boat angling and invasive species
Cleaning and disinfection of boats and angling equipment should be carried out before and after each fishing trip when moving between waters to prevent the spread of invasive species and fish pathogens. For more information see here:
Stop the spread of invasive species and harmful pathogens
Caoimhghin Phelan tackled Lough Derg last month with great results – pike to 18lb on fly and over 20 on bait. Caoimhghin picks up the story…
The day started off fairly quiet, got onto the mighty Lough Derg with my younger brother Gearóid at around 9am, Sunday morning (December 8th). Into a secret corner I know (and will take to the grave with me)! Still as a sheet of glass it was. We approached it with three deadbait rods and a 9’6″ 10 weight pike fly rod between us. I had a dead smelt out the back of my 12′ tinny and was working the fly (my own tie) in around 10′ of water. Next thing I know I was into an 18.5lb Esox. She was an angry fish! I played her out in around 10 minutes, netted her, weighed her, took a picture and back she went like a shot. Perfect fish. Personal best for me on the fly.
Caoimhghin’s PB on fly – 18lb of perfect pike
Maybe half an hour passed of casting the fly when all of a sudden I hear that heart-stopping click click click noise as it began to increase its tempo. My deadbait rod!! No sign of the float on the water so Struck into it. Another lovely Esox of 16lb, netted, weighed and photo’d again and away she swam.
This one came to a deadbait – 16lb
We moved the boat to another spot – a bit deeper here. Maybe another fifteen mins pass when- click…….. click……. click.. click.. clickclickclickclickclick!!! A huge fish of 22lb was in the boat being weighed before we knew it! We couldn’t believe it! This time on a mackrel tail. Again, unhooked quickly and safely and on her way she was in a matter of minutes!
This 22lb pike fell for a mackerel tail
My brother picked up the pike fly rod and had a few casts until- BANG! Into a lovely fish of around 7lb, his PB on fly!
Gearoid also had his best pike on fly – 7lb
As I was attempting to net her along came that all-too-farmiliar sound again from behind me- click……. click…… clickclickclickclick so I struck into it……. Gone! So started to reel the bait in for a check, but I couldn’t feel resistance from the bait/float/weight etc…. Wait a second, this fish is coming towards the boat!!! I started to reel as fast as I could but couldn’t match her pace, still unaware of the fish’s size. Until she turned. Until she feckin turned!!!
She started tearing across the lake, pulling the anchored boat with her in the process. I looked at my brother, but I didn’t have to say anything. He knew from the expression of fear and excitement in my face. This is a donkey of a fish!
After around 5 huge runs she began to run out of steam so with a few attempts, we had her weighed and photographed. 26.5lb!! My PB to date.
Caoimhghin’s all method PB – 26.5lb of boat towing pike
The wind picked up a small bit so the fly rod had to take a rest for awhile. Sitting there trying to relax the nerves after all the drama when- click…..click……click! Landed another lovely 15lb Pike!!! Then my brother lands a nice 10lb, his PB!!
Another double – 15lb pike on deadbait
Its going to be very hard for me to top that days fishing, but trust me, I will try!!!!!! Caoimhghin Phelan
It’s not over yet…
Caoimhghin returned to the lake in January and though they didn’t get another half dozen double they did mannage 2 more over 20 – Read about it here: Super pike fishing on Lough Derg last weekend
A report into the socio-economic challenges facing coastal communities has recommended that the Government focus on maximising the benefits of inshore fishing and aquaculture. The report said it is essential that people doing business on the islands and in rural coastal areas get relevant assistance to safeguard the economic viability and sustainability of the areas in question… RTE News, 14/01/14. Read the full article ‘Report calls for focus on inshore fishing and aquaculture in coastal communities‘.
Cuan Muyllaert describes his fishing adventures and makes us envious of the action which ensued:
My friend Davie and I recently took a trip out in our float-tubes – my first outing in a float tube at all! Our venue of choice was a small midlands lake which is known for a decent quantity and quality of pike. Davie assured me he had had great success fishing pike on the fly the last session he was out in early December and though the fish weren’t that big, the sport was constant.
Dawn broke on the faithful morning as we geared up in our neoprines and got our tubes inflated. There was a strong wind blowing but the lie of the land gave us the impression that we would have some shelter in the water, this was confirmed when we reached the shore and we flippered our way out into the calm with some anticipation.
It took me some time to get the balance/flipper action/fly-casting all in check but after making our way slowly around the shore, and with some good practical advice from Davie I finally felt like I was fishing with some accuracy and my retrieve was under control. By now the wind was blowing force six to seven and just holding position to get a cast out was work in itself – indeed the hands were beginning to seize up. Still though, it was good to be out.
Cuan Muyllaert with his tube caught pike
As we rounded the corner of a small bay I launched several casts in towards the dead looking reeds, searching for a take. Davie had already lost one fish and things were looking promising. as I came into the bay proper I felt the line tighten and hardly daring to hope, I lifted the rod: Solid. Then she began to move, breaking the surface, a mesh of big open jaws, white water and spotted green… Pike!
The next ten/fifteen minutes were a mixture of strong dives and runs and the constant fear that this fish’s teeth were going to end up in my nether regions, as she kept mistaking me for cover when I stopped moving.
A shout from the bank let me know that one of my other friends had arrived for a bank session with dead-baits and had spotted the commotion. I decided that I didn’t feel confident enough to land the fish by hand without hurting me or the fish, so I began back peddling towards Chris, who had the net and all needed for safe return to hand.
A short time later we netted the fish and the result is evident in the photograph; a fine, healthy female of between 15 and 20lb. I like to lean towards 20… There was a little superficial wound from the hook but the fish swam off fine and was handled with utmost care.
The rest of the day panned out windy, but about five or six more fish were landed, though none as big as my first. All in all a great first day out in a float-tube and to get pike on the fly of that size in December? Well, my new year is made!
Estuary’s are a special place to be any time of the year in my opinion, I spend a great amount of time in estuary’s throughout the country fishing or often time is simply spent walking, kayaking, boating or just observing the surroundings. Species such as Bass, Sea Trout, Flounder, Gilthead Bream and Mullet are the most sought after estuarine fish and can be targeted using bait, lure or fly methods.
A few hours were spent flounder fishing yesterday in the calm upper reaches of a south coast estuary. It was a impromptu session so as a result frozen crab was the only bait option. Tidal state was not ideal for the location either so the odds were against me from the start but I still remained confident in catching at least one flounder as water conditions were good. On location base camp was promptly formed with three hook flowing rigs strategically cast out about 10 meters from the bank. It did not take long before the flounder showed there presence with a typical slack line take. A couple of fish were landed before sundown and carefully released back.
Flounder fishing from harbours and estuary’s generally produces fewer than the open shore but usually bigger flatties with a specimen always a possibility. Fresh crab would be first choice bait but do not let its availability put you off as frozen crab or lug will catch estuary flounder.
Competition Time
Be in with a chance to win a ticket for the Irish angling Expo held in the National Show Centre, Dublin on February 15 & 16th.
You must like the South East Angling Services page and also like this competition photo on the page to enter.
Winners will be picked at random in early February.
Back on track for 2014 we have Hamish Currie skipper of the Predator II reporting from Red Bay:
It was good to get a window in the weather to allow us to get into the deep water for the first time this year and as usual at this time of year it was not disappointing with a pile of congers spurs and 4 skate boated the lads had nothing to complain about. The venue was a piece of ground 17km south east from Red Bay where in the past we have had many many juvenile skate so it was nice to see them still there in numbers. I reckon this is a nursery area for them as every time I have fished this area there is always good numbers of small stuff. Herring are not difficult to find mid channel and between them and coalfish bait wasn’t a problem.
The Lough Ree International Pike Festival returns for its fifth year and will take place this year, we are now taking entries and the forms are attached or can be downloaded at http://www.activeirishangling.com or on http://www.athlone.ie . The competition has been sponsored by Failte Ireland for the last four years but as the term of their sponsorship has now come to an end this year’s first prize of €1000 will be sponsored by Athlone Town Council.
Before I get into the nitty gritty of this years competition I would like to acknowledge the contribution that has been made over the last few years in getting this competition off the ground and up and running and in particular I would like to thank Mark Rowlette, Marie McCormick, Michael Brady, Colm Breheny and Michael Fitzsimons all from Failte Ireland and Martin McEnroe. There is one person who above all others who should be thanked and that is Dave Houghton as without his tireless enthusiasm and dedication this competition would not be what it is today so a big thank you to Dave for all his work.
So what does that all mean in terms of running the competition, well it will be Eamon Cunningham along with a small but dedicated committee who will be running this years competition but they have been well tutored over the years by Dave Houghton so everything should run as it did before and with the support and good wishes of all the anglers we will have another excellent event. As a consequence of the above there are some small changes to how the event will operate and I have detailed these here.
This pike festival is unique in that prizes are awarded based on the length of the pike rather than the weight and anglers are given a measuring board on which they must place their catch, photograph it, return the fish to the water as quickly as possible and hand in the photo at the end of the day for judging.
The entry fee for this years competition will be €110 per angler for three days of quality pike fishing and of that fee €100 goes into the prize fund while €10 goes to pay for administration and insurance and at the end of the competition any excess in the administration fund will be donated to the Lough Ree R.N.L.I. The competition is a non profit making event.
With the competition limited to 80 boats which is approximately 160 anglers this will give a total prize fund of approximately €17,000 to be won over the three days. There will be thirteen cash prizes awarded at the end of each day and the angler who catches the single longest fish over the three days will win the €1000 which is sponsored by Athlone Town Council in addition to their daily prize. The daily prizes are based on entries and going on last year’s prizes the daily winner will take home €1000 and this means that the overall winner could walk away with €2000!!!
Coosan Point, Lough Ree
Please note that in a change to previous years the number of prizes that can be won on a daily basis will be restricted by the number of anglers in the boat. For example if there are two anglers in the boat then that boat may only win two prizes each day and similarly if there are three anglers in the boat then that boat may only win three prizes each day.
The very popular World Cup event also takes place and is awarded to the boat which catches the longest length of pike over the three days. This is worked out by adding together the longest fish caught each day in the boat to determine the overall length and the winner will receive the beautiful silver World Cup along with €1000 for their efforts.
One other small change to the rules is that photographs must be in jpg or jpeg format, this should not be a problem as all cameras are automatically set to take photographs in this format anyway
Fishing expert Jason O’Riordan takes a close look at what our salmon and trout desire in his blog Game Fishing Ireland. From Black Tarantula blobs to Black Sculpin Helmets. From Rabbit zonker strips to sea trout snakes.
Jason explains;
Having recently experimented with trout snake flies I had an idea for some salmon and sea trout ones. These are not the traditional snakes tied with a long mylar body over braid and a hair wing. Mine are tied with rabbit zonker strips. A treble right in the tail and a salar double up front. I have seen a few salmon flies tied with zonker strips out back as a sort of long flowing tail. I could just see sea trout nipping at the tails of these with little or no hook ups. Take a look at these!!
Red Salmon Snake
The treble right in the tail will sort out any short takers.
Cascade Salmon Snake
The hooks are connected by a uv straggle twisted into a rope which forms the body.
Silver & Blue Sea Trout Snake
This facilitates lots of movement in the water. Blue and silver is a great combination for sea trout. The flies are finished off with some arctic fox and a little bling. They have a super profile!!
Salmon/sea trout snakes
12/01/2014: Dave from Waterford Angling is going to fishing in New Zealand later this season so asked me to tie up a few snake flies for him to try on his trip. The first pattern I opted for was a Black Sculpin Helmet. The Helmet should add weight and black is a great colour for browns.
The next pattern will hopefully work for him on the lakes there. It uses White Barred Rabbit, bright braid and has bead chain eyes.
I couldn’t send him off to do any streamer fishing without flies in brown and olive. These are always great colours. I decided not to add weight on these ones so Dave can let his streamer line pull them down. I did add realistic eyes though.
While I had the materials out I got to thinking about these flies and that the big attraction of them to trout has got to be their movement in the water. However, when fishing on stocked lakes these flies can work well fished slowly. In this case what I wanted though was a bit more body to the fly and a splash of colour without taking away any movement. So I came up with this variation. Trials start soon . . . .so watch this space!
06/01/2014: Have had massive interest in the fly I caught that superb double figure brown trout on at Ardaire last Saturday. So what is the Tarantula Fly – it is a mixture of egg laying blob, worm, and booby! I’m sure someone somewhere out there has something similar tied already but this is my Black Tarantula pattern!!!
Tarantula Blob
Talk about trigger points. This pattern has a Glo Brite tag for starters. Another key feature is the use of the Oval Rainbow Bead for the egg laying element rather than the usual round beads. The finish on this particular plastic bead is fantastic. The body has UV Blob Material. We all know by now that UV can make the difference at times.
Then there are the straggly “worm” legs. Worms are great at this fishery. Finally this version is a booby and has those cool eyes too. Will it continue to work as well as it did on its first outing? I don’t know. The latest version is the Turbo Tarantula but I did not yet get to see how this behaves in the water:
Black Turbo Tarantula
I have a few more tied up in various body colours . . . Orange
Hardy/Greys approved guide and an IFFF Qualified Fly Casting Instructor
Notes: Jason has a lifetime of experience in fishing and guiding on the rivers, lakes and coastline in the area. Jason has given talks on fishing techniques at the leading angling shows in Ireland. Game Fishing Ireland offers guided packages for salmon, river trout, lake trout and saltwater game species. Fishing packages can vary in price depending on the target species and time of year. A typical package can include permits, travel, guiding, and packed lunch. Tackle hire is also available.
Boat Angling Ireland member CianFisher had a good start to the small boat angling season last week in Cork Harbour which included what he hopes was a small shark but might just be a regular seal…
Intentions were to check the boat after the bad weather expecting it to be full of water, batteries dead, rods soaked or tackle box flooded. As ever I decided to bring a little bit of bait just in case…
Got to the boat and found it to be bone dry, batteries kick started the engine first time and for once no gull crap on the deck and sure before you knew it I had to take it for a test drive just to check out the electronics and radio . Soon enough I reached Turbot Bank and Buoy no 6 and decided to test out everything down to the rods and reels to made sure everything was ship shape.
The reliable dogfish was the first fish to be caught on the small boat Cianfisher this year
With lines down into water that looked as if light wouldn’t get past two feet there was not much sense of hope and the tide was well on the way out – the amount of junk that passed me was nobody’s business. But it didn’t take long for my old friend the dogfish to appear, first on the three up and then on the three down. God it was good to be back on the water. Next to appear was the whiting and nice sizes they were as well.
A nice sized whiting for the new year…What did this – tope or seal?
Dinner was sorted out after an hour when one of the uptide rods screemed and the line took off -“TOPE” I prayed, but after a blazing run and a great fight it suddenly went slack but no there was still something there but not as big and what comes up but a big whiting chomped in half. No seals or dolphins were in the area so I’m sticking to Tope on this issue.
Storm damaged boats in the channel
After two hours my small bit of bait was gone but the rods had a good workout and the dinner was sorted so decided to call it a day. On the way in I took a few photos of boats damaged as I made my way up the channel. I don’t know how some of them are still floating.
