Superb weather and great fishing was the order of the day at the Cork Harbour Light Lines series which opened on Sunday. 30 anglers took part from all over Ireland. Four charterboats were available and waiting at Cobh’s Kennedy Pier, John Boy, Lagosta II, Lee Star, and Naomh Cartha.
Luck was with the John Boy, Lee Star and Naomh Cartha and they had good catches of whiting in 70 foot of water. However the Lagosta was in shallower water and didn’t have the same success. A smart move by skipper Alan Kennedy changed all that. Alan brought the Lagosta to a channel mark just off the Turbot Bank, then the whiting appeared in twos and threes with some cracking fish over the 2lb mark.
Mick Barry with a superb PlaiceAn unexpected catch – a Brill!!!
The total number of fish caught were 2965, giving an average of 99 fish per angler. These were made up of 2375 whiting, 504 dabs, 4 grey gurnard, 2 tub gurnard, 1 cod, 1 pouting, 18 poor cod, 6 plaice, 8 flounder, and 46 scad.
A European Commission investigation into the impact of sea lice on salmon farms is to be reopened.
The investigation, closed 14 months ago, could have implications for planned Marine Harvest and Bord Iascaigh Mhara fish farms in Bantry Bay and Galway Bay.
In deciding to re-open the file, the Commission referred to recent research which found ‘fundamental errors’ in earlier Marine Institute research which had shown the mortality rates of salmon infested by sea lice is just 1%.
This Marine Institute research had been used to underpin Bord Iascaigh Mhara’s plans to massively expand the country’s farmed fish production.
Instead, the commission pointed to an article in the Journal of Fish Diseases in August and forwarded to them by Friends of the Irish Environment, which found mortality rates of salmon affected by sea lice are 30%…….
Damian Lisewski with the Catch of the Week a 115cm, 18Ib pike
I have just received a report from Paweł Orłów of the Fishmaniak fishing club on their Pike Competition which was held over the weekend on Lough Egish. Pawel reports that the event was very successful and the weather was brilliant even though the morning was very foggy. 15 contestants took part and managed to catch just 5 pike during the event. Half of the group were fishing from the island and the rest of from shore using both dead bait and spinning fishing methods.
Pawel Orlow with his 63cm Fish
Despite the small number of fish a number of quality fish were taken and biggest fish of the competition was caught by Damian Lisewski, a monster pike measuring 115cm in length and weighing 18Ib. This fine pike wins Damian Catch of the Week.
Damian Lisewski wins our Catch of the Week with the Best Pike of the Competition 115cm, 18Ib
After the event the lads as usual collected some rubbish from along the bank before retiring to the Lake View Pub for a barbecue and the prize-giving.
The Results of the Competition Are as Follows:
1st place – Mariusz Pietrzak – 2 fish 74cm and 85cm
2nd place – Damian Lisewski – 1 fish 115cm, 18 Ib
3th place- Pawel Orlow – 1 fish 62cm
4th place – Robert Urbanski – 1 fish 55cm.
Fishmaniak.pl Team on Lough Egish Competition 24th November’13Grubs Up: The Lads Enjoy Some Lovely Sausages After a Hard Day on the BankWinners of the Fishmaniak Pike Competition With Their PrizesAnother Fish Goes on the Measuring Tape
After a busy weekend on Lough Ramor some anglers settled for the Monday morning calmness and the start of a new week. A lovely settled day, mild enough and little or no wind. Some nice perch were taken early in the day on soft plastic’s and bait. A good stamp of roach was also in evidence as were quality hybrids. Pike were conspicuous by their absence and even some boat anglers reported that fishing was difficult today. Gerry Walsh from Dublin had a nice days fishing in the harbour catching perch, roach and hybrids. As evening approached the activity dropped but will surely take up again tomorrow. Anyone thinking of taking the kids out for a few hours fishing would do well to visit the harbour in Virginia. The simplest of tackle will work and all that’s needed is a a float fished maggot on a small whip.
Quality Roach From Lough Ramor in VirginiaGerry Walsh Shows Some Nice Ramor PerchPerch are Effective Predators and Great Fun to Catch
Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club report from Banna Beach:
With twenty anglers including juniors turning out for the rescheduled competition yesterday at Banna Beach it had the makings of a great comp but only for the conditions.
Flat conditions with a cold chill, the fish would be hard to come by and they proved very difficult to catch for a lot of anglers. Chris Sullivan pegged in the middle at peg 9 was catching early with a flounder in the first hour. While all around him, nobody could land a fish.
Banna Beach
Chris landed another, not one, but a double of an undersize turbot and a flounder. It looked like Chris was marching ahead but his brother David Sullivan keeping him in touch with a counting flounder. News was coming up and down the beach that no other fish were being caught and with groups of anglers huddled alongside tripods this was to prove true.
Martin “Ullcatch” McGowan pegged at peg 10 landed a beauty of a flounder in the thirties and things were hotting up!!! Thank god!!! With the darkness coming in, lights were turned on and people were starting to run up and down the beach which meant that a few fish were being caught. Josh Corbett had caught a few turbos and Eugene “Lucky” Farrelly catching some undersize fish.
Then David Sullivan caught a beauty of a 53cm mullet and now he was in the lead. Allen Griffin had caught two dabs and nobody was talking with the last half an hour to go. A fish could win it as it was between about five different anglers.
Overall it turned out to be a good day and sometimes when there isn’t a lot of fish being caught anybody could win.
Results Seniors:-
1ST : DAVID O SULLIVAN
2ND : CHRIS O SULLIVAN
3RD : ALLEN GRIFFIN
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.
Jason O’Riordan heads to Kilkenny’s Ardaire Springs which is situated in Ardera, Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny and covering over 2.5 acres of lakes, stocked with Rainbow trout ranging from 2lb to 20lb. He reports:
It’s that time of year to try the small water trout fisheries rather than packing away your fly fishing tackle. I recently visited Ardaire Springs in Mooncoin with my friend Kuba to show him some of the tactics I would use on a small water in winter time. Kuba is a great guy and has experience working for a fly fishing magazine in Poland. In fact he still submits the occasional fly fishing article.
The weather was somewhat wintery as we set off on our journey to Kilkenny, although not quite as cold as I would have liked.
When we got to the lake I set up 2 rods. A 10ft 7wt Hardy with a sinking sweep line and a 10ft 6wt Hardy with a full floater.
A few fish were cruising the margins just below the surface. I quickly tied on a black fly and dropped it as close to a trouts nose as I could manage for my first cast.
CRASH – Fish on!
Making a splash!
Once I had caught a fish or two from the margins in one spot they moved out further and into deeper water after the disturbance. I walked around the lake targeting fish along the margins in this fashion for a while. A few more anglers arrived so I decided to opt for a change in tactics which met with instant results. Just a look at the bend in that Hardy 10ft 7wt!
I switched to lure on a sinking line and caught a few nice rainbows. Kuba put on a lure (saltwater fly!) and had some success with that also. Some visiting anglers from Cork were having good success with BIG Snake Flies on really fast sinkers. A few more fish and it was time for lunch.
With the fish having seen all manner and colour of lures I figured that something more subtle would work best after lunch. There was a spell of about 2 hours where the fish went sour and the other anglers were really struggling. Even guys fishing the ever reliable bloodworm weren’t catching. However, my decision to switch to a dabbler on a sweep line caught me several nice fish.
When I went back over to where Kuba was fishing he looked quite surprised that I was catching on a dabbler but that’s fishing. I demonstrated the technique I was using to him and caught a few more fish in the process.
It was a very enjoyable day and we agreed to return to Ardaire Springs around Christmas by which time the weather should have turned colder and I can hopefully demonstrate some more tactics and techniques to Kuba. With a bit of luck we will catch lots more quality fish!
A trial is to take place next summer to reduce the risk of flooding in the Shannon Callows area. To achieve this the ESB has agreed to a lowering of spring/early summer target water levels in Lough Ree. The issue of summer flooding in the area was raised in a parliamentary question by Deputy Denis Naughten recently. In response Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brian Hayes, noted: “The core strategy for addressing flood risk in the Shannon Basin is the River Shannon Catchment Flood Risk Assessment and Management (CFRAM) study… Agriland.ie, 25/11/13. Read the full article ‘Lowering of Shannon water levels to be trialled‘.
An EU inquiry into the prevalence of sea lice around salmon farms and their impact on wild salmon, which was closed in September 2012, is to be reopened. The reopening of the inquiry follows complaints that information from State agency Inland Fisheries Ireland on the scale of damage caused to wild fish from lice associated with salmon farms, was withheld by the Department of Agriculture. The EU initially sought information on the scale of the sea lice issue from Ireland as part of a larger EU study as far back as 2009… Irish Times, 25/11/13. Read the full article ‘EU to reopen salmon farm inquiry‘.
I HAVE always maintained that our Atlantic salmon (Salma salar) should rate alongside the Seven Wonders of the World. To understand their path through life is possibly the clearest indication of nature at work in its truest form. Beginning at the tiny alevin stage in the freshwater streams, their mammoth journey on the high seas is fraught with danger until returning fully-grown to within a stone’s throw of where their life began to restart a new generation… Irish Times, 25/11/13. Read the full article ‘From river to plate: a celebration of the wild Atlantic salmon‘.
The concerns expressed by Paul Lawton (Letters, Nov 18), on the treatment of outbreaks of amoebic gill disease at fish farms once again highlights the hazards associated with fish farming in a captive and artificially controlled environment. The propensity of such farms to produce sea lice which has a detrimental effect on the wild salmon stocks, is well documented… Irish Examiner, 25/11/13. Read the full letter “Fish farms just aren’t worth it“.
