The title here brings me to a clover-filled lakeside bank on a summer evening. Watching swarms of flies hover and dance over and around the water. Looking across the lake there are many rings made by the busy Rudd zooming around sipping flies from the surface.
As I walk around the lake lightly holding the chosen size 22 Adams I watch for Rudd. Rudd are a shoal fish and where there is one there are more. I use a light set up for Rudd. I use an 8ft 6in 3wt Cadence rod with the Cadence nymphing line. The nymphing line casts beautifully on the rod and gives such a delicate landing and presentation.
The way I found most successful was to watch the Rudd moving around as they visit the same spots usually each time, I then cast to these areas when I see them approaching and try to get them to take my offering.
Does it always work, no is the short answer. Rudd can be very picky and wary too; I have seen them turn away from many flies.
The leader I use is a progressive 9ft leader, I get away with using a 9ft as the nymphing line is very subtle and has a very thin diameter, if I move to a 3wt forward line then I will move to 10 / 10. 5ft.
The patterns I found best for Rudd were size 22 Addams or black gnat. Some of the takes are super. I also use small spider patterns at times and pull them slowly back, watching the Rudd follow them and then lunge at them is great fun and exciting for the young budding anglers.
So, this summer don’t overlook the Rudd and give them a try.
Rudd on fly
Go fishing…
Courses
Dan will be running many courses in 2025… I like to keep my courses from 1-4 anglers so they get the most out of the course and I get to spend the right amount of time with each person. This makes it more affordable too as the course cost can be split 4 ways. If you don’t have a full group don’t worry just mention to me that you would like to join a group and I will make up the numbers.
The course dates for the “Getting ready for the trout season” course are listed below.
If you are interested send me an email at [email protected] and I will send you on the course content.
Growing up in the countryside of Gowran, Co.Kilkenny, I started my fishing journey on the River Barrow with my dad, which is where I caught my first fish, a lovely brown trout. The Gowran River was also a short walk from my homeplace, and on the days my dad couldn’t fish, I would walk through the fields and fish the Gowran River. My love for fishing grew and took me to Mount Juliet Estate, where I began guiding at 13. I went on to become fisheries manager at Mount Juliet Estate and, to this day, enjoy taking out hundreds of clients every year fishing on the River Nore. I enjoy all types of fishing and guide all over Ireland. I am an Apgai Ireland-qualified casting instructor and have Ambassador roles with Cadence and Yeti. I joined Fulling Mill as an endorsed pro guide and am part of the Patagonia pro team. My angling journey has been an exciting one and hopefully will continue to be.
I take out all levels of anglers, from beginner to experienced. I enjoy what I do and count myself very lucky to be able to meet and guide new people to what might be their first Irish fish.
Round 2 of Cobh SAC‘s Light Lines Competition was fished on Sunday. With the after-effects of Storm Daragh to contend with, it wasn’t clear that the event would be fished at all until the skippers gave the all-clear on Friday evening.
The harbour proved to be a safe haven for the anglers, but the fish were less impressed. The large amount of freshwater flowing into the harbour put the fish off feeding, or maybe even pushed them out past the harbour mouth. In any case the fishing was slow.
Tomasz the tank Kujawa was the overall winner with 49 fish. The other boat winners were Terry Boyle, Piotrek Nowaskowski and Sarah Lynch who had her 2nd boat win in succession.
Fishing was not up to expectations due to the conditions. Nonetheless all the anglers had a most enjoyable day out.
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Norman Dunlop with a triple shot
Go fishing…
Cobh SAC is a very active club with a great series of competitions across the year.
The club is very welcoming to new members.
If you are interested in joining the club or fishing any of their competitions contact them via Facebook.
Offshore 105. 380 HP Iveco Skipper: Alan Kennedy Licence: 713 Base: Crosshaven/Cobh Operational Area:
40 Miles out of Cork Harbour, Ballycotton, Kinsale.
Notes: Lagosta II has a complete inventory of electronic and safety equipment. Fishing in the rich offshore waters of south-west Ireland, Alan specialises in wreck, reef and shark angling. Even in the worst of weather, anglers can fish for rays, flatfish and conger in the extensive and sheltered waters of Cobh harbour.
Pro Fisherman 33 Skipper: Pat Condon Licence: 1350 Base: Crosshaven and Cobh Operational area: 30 miles from Crosshaven, Kinsale, Cobh, Monkstown and Ballycotton.
Notes: With more than 30 years Sea angling experience in hand and having won several national & international sea angling competitions, Pat Condon offers his clients the wealth of his angling skills as part of their experience.
Anglers can fish many reefs near the Cork harbour for ling, cod, conger eel, pollack and coalfish. Shark fishing off Cork Harbour is from mid june to september.
Even if the weather is poor you can fish within Cork harbour for species such as bass, blonde ray and thornback ray, plaice and dabs.
35′ Offshore 105. 400 HP Iveco Skipper: Jim Linehan Licence: 147 Base: Cobh Operational area: 30 nautical
miles of Ballycotton – Cork Harbour – Kinsale.
Notes: Deora Dé is a fast modern charter boat,
built to the skipper’s own specifications and exceeding the current
safety standards. Species of fish caught include: Blue Shark, Mackerel, Pollack, Cod, Whiting, Conger Eel, Ling, Wrasse, Gurnard, Garfish, Dogfish, Coalfish and many more!Full rod & tackle hire available with free tuition given. Free tea & coffee onboard.
Skipper: Anthony Lane. Licence No.: 1401 P5 30miles. Base: Crosshaven Operational area: Ballycotton to Kinsale
Notes: Cork Harbour offers a wide variety of fish including ling, cod, pollock, whiting, wrasse, ray, conger eel, bullhuss and many more. The harbour can be fished in most weather conditions offering a wide variety of sheltered locations for both the experienced and novice angler. The boat comes fully equipped with all modern navigational aids. Full safety equipment as per licence. Rod and tackle hire are available on board and all assistance will be given to the novice angler. Full galley and toilet facilities on board
So we have now entered December, usually one of the quieter months on the angling calendar, as many of our fish species have travelled upriver or offshore on their spawning journeys. Those fish making their way upstream are greatly aided by the increased rainfall at this time of year, which keeps the rivers topped up with water, helping them overcome the various obstacles we have put in their way… But, like all things in the natural world, it’s a tight balance, as too much rain will bring floods, which can wreak havoc on the gravels that are essential to fish spawning. Luckily, the balance was restored this week, as the copious rain that came with storm Bert has been followed by a relatively dry spell, with most parts of the country having below-average rainfall for the week accompanied by temperatures that have been a few degrees above average. But, with storm Darragh looming, the seasonal cadence of water levels looks set to continue.
One cohort of anglers who continue to be busy during December are the shore anglers, as many sea anglers around the country are competing in club competitions, winter leagues, or open competitions during the month. Such was the case down in County Cork, where the Slob Bank in Youghal saw West Cork & District SAC host the All Ireland Open Shore Competition. Fifty-one anglers from all four provinces competed on a day when senior, junior, and ladies’ titles were up for grabs. And it was great to see the juniors put in a particularly strong showing, including a zone win for Chris Sanbak and a third in zone for Bradley Kirwan. Chris’s catch of 22 fish bested plenty of seasoned senior anglers, won him the Maurice Dalton Cup, and made him the under-sixteen All-Ireland Champion. Needless to say, he also wins our Catch of the Week accolade 👏 👏 👏
JP Molloy presents Chris Sanbak with the Maurice Dalton Cup
South Shore SAC had a late change of venue for the final round of their master angler series. An access issue at their designated venue caused a change to the beach at Arklow, where space was tight, but the fishing was off the charts. It proved to be an exciting day, and the numerous fish being reeled in made it difficult to keep tabs on the leaderboard. But once the totting up was completed, it turned out to be a Fogarty double act, as Gavin Fogarty emerged as the Master Angler for the year, just pipping brother Ciaran to the title by a single point. South Shore SAC will also be hosting the 6th leg of the Leinster League at a Wicklow venue this coming Sunday.
Unusually, it has been a slow week for pike angling reports, and the pike fishing was probably not helped by the high water levels after Storm Bert. Luckily, Cormac Walsh of the Lure Fishing Podcast has switched codes this week, moving away from his native salt water to talk all things lure with renowned pike angler Pierre Montjarret.
In other news, IFI will be attending a number of events in 2025 aimed at promoting Irish angling tourism. These events will take place in our main tourism markets of the UK, USA, Germany, France, BeNeLux & Italy. We will be looking to partner up with trade in the Irish angling tourism industry at these events, giving them an opportunity to market their products directly to clients. There are a couple of events in the USA and France in the early new year, and anyone interested in learning more should view this webpage.
Salmon Logbooks
We would like to take this opportunity to remind all salmon and sea trout anglers to return their angling logbooks (setting out their fishing and catch record) and any unused gill tags.
Stocking Fillers
Finally, on the run into Christmas, a number of guides, tackle shops, etc, will be offering vouchers and gift cards that may prove to make a useful stocking filler for the angler in your life. The Irish Specimen Fish Committee Fish Atlas proved a popular present last year, and there are still copies available to purchase for this year’s Christmas stockings. For the next couple of weeks, we’ll be collating all interesting offers we find and publishing them on this webpage.
And now the weather
⚠️ Storm Darragh is on its way and will likely be dominating the news and weather reports over the next day or two. As it stands, we have status red wind warnings for Clare, Galway, Mayo, Leitrim, Sligo, Donegal and Wicklow and it’s status orange for the rest of us.
So it’s going to be wet and windy throughout the weekend all over the country with localised flooding and wind damage a possibility. It will become more settled later on Sunday as high pressure builds, and we will have a colder snap next Monday and Tuesday with frost, ice and fog across much of the country.
If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to [email protected] and don’t forget that all of our fishing reports are available on our dedicated Angling Ireland Facebook page.
Christmas is often a time to look back and reflection the year just gone. And as is customary, Delphi fishery manager David McEvoy has produced another gem to get us thinking about salmon again. The Delphi Fishery annual newsletter is now available on their website here, a must-read for many salmon anglers who have fished this little gem of a fishery, or those who are considering it.
Excellent Grilse Run Follows Slow Spring
Fishery manager David McEvoy reports on a slow spring run, with just 4 fish landed for February, including a cracking opening fish of 15llbs for Thomas Ryan. Davud himself had a couple of fish from the Stream in Finlough, including a lovely fish of 11.5lbs.
March was also a tough month for fishing, with 5 fish landed, but April proved somewhat better, with some fine fish landed, including one of 17lbs for Mark Corps, and a fish of almost 18lbs for former baseball pitcher Rick Porcello.
Rick Porcello with his 91cm springer from the Rock Pool at Delphi, taken on a Sunray Shadow. The fish was released again after the photo.
May proved a very dry month, with low water levels not conducive to fishing, and brought a decidedly slow spring to a close, but not before former Delphi proprietor Peter Mantle’s daughter Lucy landed her first salmon.
Summer
Doo Lough, Delphi Fishery, Co. Mayo
June saw an improvement in catches with grilse arriving, but July was a very good month, with 132 salmon landed! Danny Irvine and Will Parkes had a trip to remember, taking 12 fish on Finlough in 2 sessions, all on a Delphi Collie. Probably the highlight was a fantastic sea trout estimated at 10-11lbs for Hughie Clarke, but there was also the not insignificant achievement of Urs Liebundgut landing his 500th Delphi salmon!
Hughie Clarke’s Delphi sea trout, estimated at 10-11lbs. The fish was released after a quick photo
August was also an excellent month, with 79 salmon landed, helped by plenty of rain, indeed it was the second wettest August at Delphi since 1941!
September may have proved quieter for salmon, but the sea trout fishing was excellent, with 214 landed for the month.
But we don’t want to give it all away here! The newsletter is full of more details and great photos, and as ever excellently written by David.
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.
The Irish Specimen Fish Committee published a Fish Atlas towards the end of 2023 and it sold out a lot quicker than expected. Given the demand, the ISFC decided to get a number of extra copies printed, and these are now on sale again. Click this link to purchase… The Irish Specimen Fish Committee has just published a new book documenting and analysing specimen fish catches in Ireland from 1955 to 2019. It promises to make an interesting read for any angler interested in learning about specimen fish and how catches of specimen fish have evolved over time. Details of the book are given below along with a link to purchase.
ISFC & IFI Joint publication – Irish Specimen Fish Atlas
Distribution and frequency of large angler-caught fish 1955-2019
Recreational anglers in Ireland have been recording their record and specimen fish captures with the Irish Specimen Fish Committee (ISFC) for more than 60 years. This comprehensive archive is presented here in the form of a Specimen Fish Atlas, which furnishes both an angler-centric output and a scientific evaluation of the specimen fish information. The Atlas, covering the period between 1955 and 2019, includes species-specific reports and trend analyses for specimen-sized fish of the popular freshwater and marine angling species occurring in Irish waters. Annual specimen catches, specimen weight distributions, and angling techniques are reported. The Atlas provides a map-based catalogue of capture locations which allows for easy interpretation and review of this large dataset. Comprising 83 species and over 27,000 individual specimen fish, results indicate that the numbers of large individuals of many species is declining compared to historical specimen numbers reported between 1955 and 2000 (i.e. pre-2000 comparative period).
Details: 220 pages, full colour – A4 format softbound
2025 Irish Specimen Fish Committee Annual Report PublishedJanuary 28, 2026-Three New Irish Record Fish smash existing records Three new Irish record fish were caught by anglers in 2025. It’s just been confirmed by the Irish Specimen Fish Committee that Sean Bannon, Co. Cork, who caught a Thick Lipped Mullet of 5.24 kg at Cork Harbour in May 2025, has smashed the existing record […]
Deadline for Specimen Fish claims is approachingOctober 8, 2025-Irish Specimen Fish Committee 2025 – closing date for submission of specimen claims is 31 Oct 2025. The deadline for submitting specimen claims is approaching fast. If you were lucky enough to catch a specimen fish this year and want to claim it, get your paperwork into the ISFC as soon as possible so that the […]
Two new Irish records in the 2024 Irish Specimen Fish Committee Annual ReportJanuary 15, 2025-It has just been confirmed by the Irish Specimen Fish Committee that Patrick Lombard, Co. Cork, who caught a Gilthead Bream of 4.37 kg at Clonakilty Bay in April 2024, has smashed the existing Gilthead Bream record by over ½ kg. Another record breaker is Dubliner Ronan Doherty, who caught a superb 38 cm Shore […]
Recent Specimen Fish News
2025 Irish Specimen Fish Committee Annual Report PublishedJanuary 28, 2026-Three New Irish Record Fish smash existing records Three new Irish record fish were caught by anglers in 2025. It’s just been confirmed by the Irish Specimen Fish Committee that Sean Bannon, Co. Cork, who caught a Thick Lipped Mullet of 5.24 kg at Cork Harbour in May 2025, has smashed the existing record […]
Deadline for Specimen Fish claims is approachingOctober 8, 2025-Irish Specimen Fish Committee 2025 – closing date for submission of specimen claims is 31 Oct 2025. The deadline for submitting specimen claims is approaching fast. If you were lucky enough to catch a specimen fish this year and want to claim it, get your paperwork into the ISFC as soon as possible so that the […]
Big Smoothhounds for Mariners in DonegalAugust 20, 2025-The Killybegs Mariners have been getting some great hound fishing off the Donegal beaches of late. There have been numerous 90cm+ fish landed, but there have been a few bigger ones, including a fine 109cm fish for Darren Rawdon and an even better 112cm fish for Proinnsias Doherty, which established a new club record. There […]
Specimen mullet for Gavin Fitzmaurice with Angling Adventures West CorkMarch 13, 2025-David Norman of Angling Adventures West Cork, reports from West Cork… Just completed four short sessions during which I introduced returning young angler Gavin Fitzmaurice from Co Galway, who generally fishes for Pike in his home waters, to the delights of early season West Cork, Mullet fishing. Despite the generally cold and windy weather, we […]
Two new Irish records in the 2024 Irish Specimen Fish Committee Annual ReportJanuary 15, 2025-It has just been confirmed by the Irish Specimen Fish Committee that Patrick Lombard, Co. Cork, who caught a Gilthead Bream of 4.37 kg at Clonakilty Bay in April 2024, has smashed the existing Gilthead Bream record by over ½ kg. Another record breaker is Dubliner Ronan Doherty, who caught a superb 38 cm Shore […]
Overnight session brings spectacular results for anglers fishing with West Cork ChartersJuly 9, 2024-Dave Edwards of the West Cork Charters reports on an exceptional overnight session from Sunday afternoon into Monday morning: First, we headed South, where the five anglers onboard Silver Dawn shared 6 Blue Sharks, including 2 specimens. As darkness fell, we headed back inshore to anchor for Skate. It didn’t take long before our […]
First time fish of a lifetime for junior Dublin Pike AnglerFebruary 7, 2024-Senior members of the Dublin Pike Anglers held a competition recently on the Erne system, where they mentored some of the up and coming junior members of the club, passing on their pike fishing knowledge to the next generation. Fishing under the watchful eyes of old hands Godfrey Donohue, Paddy Burke and Gavin Downey, junior […]
Weather finally breaks for Wicklow Boat ChartersFebruary 6, 2024-After a frustrating month, during which Wicklow Boat Charters couldn’t fish the prime marks due to weather, leading to plenty of cancelled days, things finally came good for the lucky anglers fishing at the weekend. In a short, 2.5 hour session, the guys managed around 30 spurdog, with 11 of them reaching specimen size. A […]
Spur season in full flow for Wicklow BoatsJanuary 10, 2024-After last week’s first specimen spur of the season, things have kicked on a bit, and it’s fair to say that the spurdog season is in full flow for Wicklow Boat Charters. In recent days, another four specimens were landed, falling to Clyde McElwaine (2), Bert McGregor and Brian Cooke, none of them strangers to […]
85cm bass for Keith Barker in WaterfordOctober 10, 2023-Keith Barker is no stranger to big bass but at the weekend he he surprised even himself by beating his PB by 5cm… I would like to report my fish caught at the weekend from a shingle beach in Co. Waterford, taken on light lure gear, on a neap tide on the 6th of October […]
Irish Specimen Fish Committee Fish Atlas PublishedOctober 2, 2023-🎁🎄🎁14 Dec 24: With Christmas only round the corner the Irish Specimen Fish Atlas would make an ideal present for that special angler in your life. Click this link to purchase… The Irish Specimen Fish Committee has just published a new book documenting and analysing specimen fish catches in Ireland from 1955 to 2019. It […]
Specimen smoothhounds hit the beaches as the sun comes outSeptember 4, 2023-Dawid Kopczynski was back in touch with another great report from the east coast… With the return of long awaiting but late summer to the Irish coast loads of anglers flocked to the beaches. Stuart and Josh Maher were among them. Duo specialise in specimen hound fishing. The spirits were high and the fish didn’t […]
Specimen tope tagging for Kit in WicklowJuly 31, 2023-Its been a tough week in Wicklow for Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters, with winds making things tricky offshore, but local knowledge and persistence meant that the fishing still came good despite the conditions. Kit reckons that the Tope fishing is still very good at the moment with plenty of pack and young tope […]
It’s windy in Wicklow, but the specimens keep coming.July 4, 2023-Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters has found the wind to be a bit of a nuisance of late, hampering his plans to target tope with any regularity. But any time the wind dies away, he’s back on the water, and luckily the tope are still there in good numbers. Earlier this week he managed […]
Specimen sea bass for Craig in Kerry!June 29, 2023-We received a great report from Craig Murphy, who caught his fish of a lifetime in Kerry. Read his report below… I haven’t shared a report in some time but this fish is a special one for me. Stephen Gibson and myself drove from Dublin to Tralee Bay for the day’s ray fishing. Crazy I […]
Mariners league outing number 7 took place last Friday on a balmy blustery southerly wind blowing 13° down the slopes of Benbulben and blowing the barrel waves spray back up into the air as they rolled into Streedagh Beach making it a splendid location to spend the day.
First casts and shoals of trout were passing as 5 were landed and released all around the 40- 50cm length.
Some nice turbot were also going with flounders hard to find but a fine 34cm for Shane Cunningham and 27cm for John Cunningham were the best of the bunch. Turbots were mostly 18cm to 23cm but our minimum size limit is 20cm.
Winner on the day John Cunningham with a trout ready for release after measure
As the scores were counted up the longest flattie prize has to be won by an angler outside of the top two places so that was won with a 23cm Turbot for Stefan Martin. Second place overall with flounders and turbot was Shane Cunningham. And in 1st place with 3 species of trout, flounder and a few turbot winning was John Cunningham.
Flounder on the measureTurbot love the surf
18 anglers fished and 3 species were caught and released after measure.
Well done to all out enjoying the fishing and a warm welcome to our new members joining up on the day.
In the latest episode of the Lure Fishing Podcast, host Cormac Walsh speaks with well-known pike angler, Pierre Monjarret. Originally from France, Pierre now runs Predatorguiding.com on Lough Derg and has over 15 years’ experience of fishing in Ireland and around Europe.
Pierre is very well known from his YouTube appearances on Fly Vs Jerk and Pike-Fight, in which some of the best pike anglers in Europe compete against one another, scoring points for the most and the biggest pike. Pierre is a wonderful guy who is more than happy to share some of his vast knowledge on predator fishing.
West Cork & DIstrict SAC hosted the All-Ireland Open Shore competition, also known as the Jimmy Smith, last Saturday. And as ever, they had a great report on their social media, which we share here:
Saturday saw us host the All Irelands. There were three categories up for grabs on the day. The Jimmy Smith senior title, Maurice Dalton/Juvenile title and the Ladies all Ireland title.
The Slob Bank in Youghal was the venue for this championships.
51 anglers in total entered from all four provinces and we would like to thank all the anglers that travelled to support this event.
The peg draw was done on Friday evening and four of Irelands top anglers had all drawn in Zone C, JP Molloy and Derek Kenrick – both only back a few days previously from a successful trip away with Team Ireland at the world championships where they took home a bronze medal, both anglers had been drawn in the zone of death.
Alan O Dowling another very successful angler was in this zone. Alan was part of the Irish team who won gold in the Home Nations this summer. Finally after a few years out, ex world champion Alan Mulcahy was the other big name in this zone.
The weather wasn’t kind to us on Saturday however it was well manageable.
The match time was 1pm – 6pm. Good fishing was expected on the day after the water was stirred up by the high winds.
Lines out at 1pm and 15mins later there was lots of activity all over the bank with anglers moving around getting their match cards filled in. This continued for the duration of the match and it was very tight between the top three anglers in the end.
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Zone A was rumored to be the hardest zone on the day however it didn’t turn out that way. It was the best zone overall producing 201 fish. Lugworm worked best for most anglers in this zone. Young Chris Sanbak from Tralee Bay SAC ran away with the zone with a fantastic match card of 22 fish. Outstanding fishing Chris!
This also helped Chris to win the Maurice Dalton Cup and become the under 16 All Ireland champ. Brian Mansfield was runner up in this zone with 14 fish.
JP Molloy present Chris Sanbak with the Maurice Dalton Cup
Brian also had the biggest round fish on the day a bass of 45cm which was worth €200. New comer to match fishing Steve Watkins was also in this zone and it was great to see Steve winning the flat fish pool with a nice 40cm flounder.
This was also worth €200.
Well done to both of you lads
Alison O Sullivan and Fiona Ryan were also in zone A competing for the ladies title and what a battle they had. Both ladies had 13 fish , Fiona got the win by just 2cm. Well done Fiona! Sean Bannon grandson of the famous Cod Father Donal Domeney was in this zone. Sean will definitely be one to watch out for in the future.
Fiona receives the All-Ireland Ladies trophy from JP Molloy
Zone B fished well too, Three of Irelands up and coming stars from the Irish underage set up were in this zone battling against each other. Sally Gilvarry, Liam Davis and Bradley Kirwan all fished very well on the day.
Bradley showed his class getting a zone 3rd place.
Mr Consistent Jordan Muir would get a zone second with 20 fish and Stephen O Donovan won the zone with 25 fish.
Zone C, an outstanding performance from Mochara Fraher who is another juvenile angler would see him get a zone 3rd place.
Mochara had 18 fish and held his own with some of Irelands top rods in this zone. Alan Mulcahy showed no sign of being away from the match scene. Alan showed his class as usual and ended up with 26 fish for a zone second and a 3rd place over all but the day belonged to Alan O Dowling. After coming close so many times over the years Alan finally became the All Ireland champ. 26 fish would see him pip Stephen O Donovan and take the title. Well done Alan and very well deserved.
Alan with the Jimmy Smith trophy
Alan will now captain Ireland at the Home Nations and get a chance to defend the title with his team mates.
This event ran very smoothly and thanks to everyone for making it work.
The fifth round of the Erne Anglers Winter League was held in excellent conditions on a high and fast flowing River Erne over the weekend. This round saw forty dedicated match men take to the riverbank for a match that fished extremely well, with lots of small fish showing throughout the river. So good was the fishing that over 5kgs was required to win on all but one section.
Winner of match 5 was Johnny McKinley on peg 18 at Bellanaleck Middle winning the first prize with 7.875Kgs.
Runner Up was Eddie Griskaitis on peg 6 with 7.400Kgs at Bellanaleck Marina while Antony Sparrow (on Bellanaleck Marina) and Simon Huthwaite on (Derrychara Low) had 7.125Kgs each.
Good fishing in fast water
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Other Section winners were Rodney Topping on the Ring, Paul Boothby on Bellanaleck low, Paul Eyres on Derrychara High and Jeff Margetts on QE Road.
Scoreboard
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Next match will be in two weeks on December 15th, the final match before the winter break.
Tench aren’t known for feeding hard in December, but when conditions are mild overall throughout the autumn – keeping water temperatures higher than the norm – there is always the chance of one…
That was the case for the CM Lakelands Club open match on Sunday, fished on Haughtons shore, Lough Garadice, as Robertas Zilatis finished in first with a very impressive weight of 6.330kg which included a 4lb December tench. Robertas also had a couple of big skimmers along with small hybrids and roach.
December tench and skimmers
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2nd overall was Nick Richards with a weight of 3.775kg, Nick caught most of his fish at distance and had a mixed bag of skimmers, roach and hybrids.
3rd Overall was Brenton Sweeney with 2.550kg of mainly small roach caught at distance as well.
Osprey
Sea Otter is a safe and fast 30′ Evolution boat with a 420hp engine that can fish 8 anglers or can take 11 people out for scenic trips.
Camden Mist
Pierre is very well known from his YouTube appearances on Fly Vs Jerk and Pike-Fight, in which some of the best pike anglers in Europe compete against one another, scoring points for the most and the biggest pike. Pierre is a wonderful guy who is more than happy to share some of his vast knowledge on predator fishing.
