Dermot Page reports on the 2nd qualifier in the Winter League at Rathcon…
The 2nd qualifier was held today in very testing conditions. 20 anglers landed 37 fish over the 4.5 hrs. Some pegs were virtually unfishable such was the strength of the southeasterly wind.
The 1st hour was the best with at one stage 7 fish hooked at the same time around the lake . Di5 or 7 lines were the best bet with a variety of coloured lures in particular a yellow and orange FAB.
The top 5 qualified for the final in March. The next qualifier is in Febraury, apologies to all those who could not get into this one, there was a lengthy reserve list and places are limited for the next one .
The results were:
Ger Fogarty 6 fish
Paul Owens 5 fish
Robbie Phelan 4 fish
Hubert Smith 4 fish
Tony Sweeney 3 fish (and biggest at 63cm)
Many thanks to Southside Angling for sponsoring a prize Dermot Page Rathcon Lake
Happy New Year everyone. Ireland has had a wet a windy start to 2014 but it has generally been mild and not too miserable on the opening days of the season so far. Temperatures while cold at times have been good but plenty of rain over the Festive period has left many rivers and loughs very flooded and it has taken some time for the first salmon to be banked.
Eoin Mc Manus with the first salmon of 2014.
Stormy conditions and high water levels greeted anglers trying to land the first salmon of the year last week on the River Drowes. On the 7th of January, local angler Eoin McManus landed the first salmon of 8 lb. on a Rapala lure near Lennox’s bridge and the fish was photographed and sold for charity. The bright silver fish wins our Catch of the Week to kick off the new season. Water levels while still high on the river are starting to drop now so more salmon should be caught in the next few days.
There was a fair bit of Pike fishing in the past two weeks and Roly Byrne certainly got into a few nice fish on the River Barrow. Up on the upper Boyne loughs, Dougie Robinson landed a great pike and Catch of the Week contender of 25 lb. 6 oz. on a deadbait. An Ireland vs Poland Pike Match will take place on Saturday 25th January in the Ballybay area. Angling guide in the midlands, Michael Flanagan reports on some nice canal pike action as the bigger loughs in the area were stormy and flooded. Many anglers we hear got plenty of fishing gear from Santa so I hope to see many more anglers out fishing soon.
On the Coarse angling front, there was a nice report of the 14 lb. 8 oz. common carp and several other good carp for anglers fishing “the Lough” in the middle of Cork City. The World Feeder Fishing Championship will be held on the Lee reservoirs at Coachford on July 19th and 20th 2014.
There was a fair bit of sea angling activity to report and well known sea angler, Stephen Brennan enjoyed a shore outing to south Wexford landing bass and a fine Specimen Flounder. This weekend sees the Interprovincial Shore competitions commence this Friday the 10th of January in Ulster. The 3rd Irish Bass Festival will be held on July 25th, 26th and 27th 2014. Despite the stormy weather, there was some Codling landed on a shore competition on Ballyquinn near Brandon in Co. Kerry. In Cork Harbour, there was a big range of species reported from boats fishing within the harbour area in the past week.
There were several reports in the past fortnight from the Ardaire Springs Fishery in Kilkenny where angling guide Jason O’Riordan and his son Luke and others enjoyed some terrific Rainbow Trout fishing.
The middle of the week has seen the weather improve and there should be some good fishing in this weekend both in freshwater and at sea.
The forecast is for a cold, crisp day tomorrow but rain will become widespread in Western and Southern areas on Sunday morning, locally heavy. This rain will spread to the rest of the country in the afternoon and early evening. Cold broken weather is coming next week with wintry conditions expected.
Tight lines especially in Ireland,
Paul Bourke Angling Information Officer
Catch, Photo, Release
If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to [email protected].
Persuasive man Stephen Brennan rounds his friend and his bait up and heads off in search of flounders. He reports;
I love it when a plan comes together. The target this time was big flounders, and the first step in this plan was to sort out some crab for bait – this is not easy at this time of year. The second was to persuade Joe Byrne to get out of bed at a stupid hour and go fishing – this is not easy at any time of year! And lastly, I needed the unpredictable weather gods (and flounder gods) to be kind.
Crab and Joe
With crabs and Joe onboard, we headed south to flounder country and arrived at our spot while it was still dark. I had no idea what was in my tackle box as I hadn’t been fishing in months, but luckily I had enough gear to get me through. There was enough line on my reels, and I found a couple of rigs that would do the job (they were at least 8 years old!). Estuary flounder aren’t too fussy, and I can recall many occasions where anglers using more crude tackle have out-fished those using lighter, competition-style tackle. Anyway, I purposely chose not to change the size 1 hooks to a smaller size as they were ideal for the big flounders I was after. It had nothing to do with me being too lazy to change them, I swear!
A bass for Stephen
First cast resulted in a slack line bite. Happy days, although it turned out to be a bass of around 3lb. Still it was very welcome (there were actually reports of a double figure fish taken in the area earlier in the week which was always in the back of our minds!). Next cast I had a flounder of 36cm. Joe got one of 39cm, and we had a few more of similar size.
After around an hour and a half I had a good bite, and whatever I’d hooked felt a good bit heavier on the retrieve. It turned out to be a really thick fish of 2.6lb (the specimen weight is 2.4255lb). We continued to catch steadily throughout the session, with the occasional double and even treble shot coming ashore.
Flounder no 1 – 2.6 lb
Amongst these fish I managed another two specimens – one of 2.5lb and another of 2.6lb. The longest fish was 46cm. The target was to get one fish over specimen weight so to get three in the same session was a real bonus, and not something that happens regularly. Joe did a great job of keeping the smaller fish away from my baits so that the bigger ones had the chance to find them – thanks Joe! He even fished either side of me just to make sure he got all the little ones!
Joe Byrne with a nice treble shot
The majority of estuaries along the south coast hold big flounders and winter is without a doubt the best time to target them. They aren’t a difficult fish to catch, and if you’re looking to target something while having a relaxing day out then look no further. There’s no rushing around involved, and no fancy tackle or rigs required. The bait is probably the only tricky factor with crab being the only bait worth considering.
More good fish, including specimen no.2 on the right
As always with flatfish make sure to unhook the fish gently, taking the time to remove the hook with a disgorger if the fish has swallowed the bait.
Hopefully I’ll get the chance to go after them again over the holidays, as the bigger flounders should stay around for the next month or so. I’ve had fish up to 50cm from these estuaries, and would love to get one bigger!
Angler Roly Byrne captures the fish and also the beauty of the Barrow in stunning photos. He reports on the condition of the river…….
Its been a bit of a funny if not peculiar start to the new season really. All a bit up and down, hot and cold or very mild as the case may be. A false start may be a more accurate account. I started catching fish and then stopped. The Biker Piker and myself had a few decent fish and then things went a bit pear shaped to say the least. Word coming back from the Barrow was that it was all a very hit or miss affair and not for the want of trying. The same was true for many other venues right across the country too. Overall I think the barometric pressure was too high, river levels too low and the water too clear… Eventually the mega blocking high pressure gave way to the current Atlantic depression fronts which seem at this point to be endless. The country has taken its worst winter beating in a long time and now looks as if its been dragged through a hedge backwards and as for the river…
Mmmmm…what’s for tea?
Eventually the levels went up. I watched the river everyday and just as it came right the next series of Atlantic storm fronts arrived. I felt as if the next thing I would see would be Vader’s Death Star on the horizon. Things really were that bleak. Christmas came and went (as it does) the level was up by almost two meters at one point, which is very impressive for the Barrow. The land didn’t take long to saturate as the rain kept coming, the towpaths, drains, ditches and fields all flooded. It was a wash out!
Shadows on the Barrow
Since then the status quo has remained and as I sit here typing this post it is still pouring and blowing a gale…
So what did happen before the biblical floods arrived?
Some dead baiting, some lure and fly fishing, a little river photography, an online radio show and lunch out on the bank!
So what next? Well no matter what shape or condition I find the river in over the next couple of weeks I’m getting out! I’ve a serious dose of cabin fever to remedy. I saw a small drop in the river today and there are plenty of slacks and cuts that are well worth investigation. I reckon the Barrow Pike are holding up in the backwaters, (you know where I mean) away from the main drag. That’s where you’ll find me.
As the weather was unusually mild for this time of year and nearly every river and lake was flooded and the seas too rough to fish we decided to give carp a go at the Lough in Cork. As I arrived at the lough there wasn’t a sinner to be seen. Just as I turned my head to see what side of the lake I was going to fish at a carp jumped out of the water. “That will do” I said to myself. With our shelter put up and our rods out I knew it would be slow due to the water temperatures being only 8 degrees. A few hours passed before I got my first fish. It was a common carp of 14lb 8oz. A great start to my specimen hunting year! Fifteen minutes had passed when I landed another specimen of 13lb 8oz, I just could not believe it. It was getting cold so I decided to pack up, as I was walking towards my rods the right one took off. It was another specimen carp that weighed 12lb 6 oz. What an end to the first day of the year!
13lb 8oz common carp14lb 8oz common
After a few phone calls I was joined with Tony Cotter and Bill Brazier
We decided to fish the same area and drew straws for first choice. With that over with it was time to fish. Within the first hour Tony was into the first fish which weight 10 lb. Soon after Bill was fighting with a 13lb 8oz common carp. A few hours passed before Tony landed another common that was the same weight as Bills. It was getting cold and the rain was coming down in sheets but just as the rain stopped I got my only run of the day – a mirror carp that weighed 14lb 8 oz. It was a cracking looking fish. All in all it was super fishing for the time of year. Have a look on YouTube under sids fishing adventures carp lough
13lb 8oz common14lb 8oz mirror carp
Warning
When fishing around the island there are a lot of snags like roots of trees, under water trees limbs, submerged bird boxes, light cables and the odd surprises.
Make a booking
Lee Reservoirs Angling Services have an angling guiding service for pike, ferox trout and any coarse fish of your choice on the Lee Reservoirs.
Boats are available for rental on previously untouched water..
Be sure to visit their new website www.leeangling.com for a range of guided angling options in the Lee Sytem.
Ross 087 920 8742
Sidney 087 281 6778 [email protected]
The World Feeder Fishing Championship in Coachford.
A world coarse fishing championship is to be held in Inniscarra next summer. The championship, which is estimated will bring €2m to the region, will be held on Jul 19 and 20, and will be screened by Sky Sports and TG4, and covered by a number of specialist fishing publications. The World Feeder Fishing Championship will feature teams from 30 countries.
The competition will be held on the Inniscarra Reservoir/Lake in the locality of Coachford, Co Cork. The venue Section is 2-8 km long and a road has been put in place along the section for easy access to the entire venue. Depth ranges from 6 meters to 9 meters at 30meters out from bank. Fish mostly present are Bream ranging from 1kg plus, Skimmers, Hybreds, Roach, Rudd are in abundance other species, Tench, Carp, Eels, Perch, Brown Trout, Pike, Gudgeon.
The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland is a voluntary organisation of Coarse Angling Clubs throughout the island of Ireland. The link below brings you to the NCFFI list of all domestic and international matches.
Dougie Brown with a fine 25 lb. 6 oz Pike caught on Deadbait
Robert Bergin from the Eastern RBD of Inland Fisheries Ireland reports on the capture of a super Pike in the Upper Boyne Loughs
Dougie Brown with a fine 25 lb. 6 oz Pike caught on Deadbait
A Boyne catchment Pike of 25 lb 6 oz, was caught on a deadbait by Dougie Robinson of the newly formed Navan Pike Anglers.
The fish was in magnificant condition and was witnessed by myself and P Duff. The fish was quickly photographed and put back alive
THE OUNAVARRA River which flows through Courtown Woods has been closed for salmon and sea trout fishing for the coming year.
The bye-law came into effect on January 1, and the Ounavarra was the only river in the country, which was previously open, to be closed on the order of Fergus O’Dowd, the Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
The regulations are being implemented to help ensure sustainable fish stocks…….
It certainly tough going for our local Predator anglers, and the floodwater on our Lakes and Rivers are playing havoc with Anglers. The Rivers are high and discolored with all the recent rain, and the Lakes are also quite high with fish reluctant two feed in these conditions. Plus the gale force winds have us Anglers anchored up at home, much to the delight of our wives and partners? It was back to the old banker last week as we done a few hours fishing along the Royal Canal. Its in great shape, and crystal clear along some sections. The Royal Canal produced some fine Pike all year round, and its very simple fishing. Go light few lures or pike flies in you Tackle Box, light spinning gear, and Forceps for unhooking your prized catch, plus your camera. I had a few lovely canal pike last week on small lures, and it was mighty sport fighting these super fish on light tackle.
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.
