Club Chairman Paul Beck with a fine pike caught in Lough Rinn recently.
Its only seven weeks to the first day of 2014 and on that morning when many shall be recovering from the New Year eve celebrations you will find me on the banks of the beautiful river Drowes attempting to land the first salmon of 2014. The Last Cast – Jarlaith Gallagher
The River Drowes extends from Lough Melvin at Lareen to the Sea Pools near Tullaghan just outside the town of Bundoran and spans an area of about 5 miles in total. It is one of Ireland’s premier Spring and Summer Salmon Fisheries and in addition holds good stocks of wild brown trout. It has accounted for the first recorded Irish Salmon of the season caught on rod and line on numerous occasions over the past 20 years. The fishery is based at Lareen Estate, where the river flows from Lough Melvin….. Leitrim Observer 14/11/2013 Read the article ‘New Year’s Day on the Drowes’ Club Chairman Paul Beck with a fine pike caught in Lough Rinn recently.
Garrett from the Courtlough Trout fishery near Balbriggan Co. Dublin reports:
we are holding round 1 of our Winter fishing competition on Sunday 24th November from 10 am to 2 pm.
The top 3 anglers in each heat will receive prizes and automatically qualify for the grand final in March.
This competition is fly only and is open to all, only €20 entry, which includes lunch.
Each heat is limited to the first 30 to register for the round.
To book your place contact Garrett on 087 2712704 or by e-mail : [email protected]
Garrett reported that Rainbow Trout up to 8 lb. were taken in the past week on the fishery . He advised that sunk line tactics were now the main attack as the water temperatures have dropped considerably in the past week and inching lures and buzzers along the bottom were working well
Luke Fitzpatrick with his 30lb 2oz pike from on of Monaghan's lakes
14 year old Luke Fitzpatrick from Monaghan landed a monster pike of 30 lb. 2 oz. on Saturday evening. Luke is no stranger to big pike despite his young age. His previous best pike was a 22 pounder which he nabbed last year.
Luke Fitzpatrick with his 30 lb 2 oz pike from one of Monaghan’s lakes wins our ‘Catch of the Week’. Well done Luke!
On this occasion Luke was fishing one of his local venues with a ledgered herring. The capture was witnessed and weighed on certified scales and wins the Catch of the Week.
Seamus Mc Kenna from Monaghan Angling Club poses with Luke’s fish
The Chill Factor bit hard into my hands last Sunday on Derravaragh as I done a few hours Piking with Marty Smith. We trolled for the first few hours and only managed one small Jack before lunch. Some of our Top predator Anglers were out on Derravaragh, and Damian Grifferty, and pal Johnny Corcoran also found it hard going to entice a Derravaragh pike to take the bait. I whipped up the Inny River towards Coolnagun Bridge for a bit of shelter from the harsh wind on the main lake, and on the way back down the River got a few nice Jacks on spinners.
DERRAVARAGH COMPETITION. This Sunday weather permitting Derravaragh Anglers will hold their Christmas pike competition, and also that day the Moffatt Cup is up for grabs. This is a club competition and new members are more than welcome on the day. Plus you will also need a current IFI permits to fish Derravaragh, so its membership 20 Euro, Entry for competition 10 Euro, and a day Permit is 12 Euro. Top this up with Petrol, and Diesel for the Fish mobile, and 2- Stroke Oil for the Outboard Engline.Yep it all ads up as they say. Anyway boats will drift out from Donore Shore at 11am, and hopefully a few good Derravaragh pike will take the bait next Sunday.
If you are planning a fishing trip across the greater Westmeath waterways, and need some up to date reports, and information on Guiding services/Accommodation providers etc. Check out my Fish & Stay section on www.midlandangling.com .
I can be also contacted on 087-2797270.Or e- mail [email protected].
On Face/book we keep the fishing on line as it happens. www.facebook.com/midlandangling
Michael Flanagan reports on the fishing recently at Lough Ennell…
Lough Ennell is well up on water levels, and looked a Million Dollars last weekend on the cold frosty Mornings. The surrounding Countryside is changing rapidly as we settle into the cold winter Months. The Ennell Pike and Perch were reluctant to come on board last weekend, but in the coming weeks this will all change. I got it hard to pin point the larger shoals of Perch, but did find a few fish in 80ft of water and caught a few on small rubber Jigs. The November Irish Angler has a feature on Jigging for perch, and its worth checking out, if you are going to target perch this winter. They are fantastic sporting fish, and can be fished for all year round.
If you are planning a fishing trip across the greater Westmeath waterways, and need some up to date reports, and information on Guiding services/Accommodation providers etc. Check out my Fish & Stay section on www.midlandangling.com .
I can be also contacted on 087-2797270.Or e- mail [email protected].
On Face/book we keep the fishing on line as it happens. www.facebook.com/midlandangling
Great reviews from the Irish Fly Fair last weekend. A super well run show with an abundance of stands, fly dressers, fly casters and the crème de la crème of all things fishing.
Fantastic work done by Elaine Munn and all the gang.
Winning smile of Caroline
Laurence Finney writes :Well what can i say about this years Irish fly fair?
1./ the venue was out of this world, as soon as i arrived i was greeted by Stevie Munn, Gerry Teggart and some old guy called mr Hywel Morgan (think i saw him somewhere before)
2./ The traders stalls were laid out perfect with covered tables and chairs for the weary traders.
3./ the staff of the Galway bay hotel came round every hour with tea, coffee and refreshments.
4./ A big thank you to Elaine Munn and those who worked tirelessly ensuring all were looked after.
This event has certainly shown that a quality organised fly fair cannot be beaten and i for one will be there again next year.
To all the guest tyers who displayed some of the best tied flies in the world it was an absolute pleasure to watch them.
And finally i have to mention A.P.G.A.I. Ireland the instructors casting outside in the wind and rain were faultless and the fly dressers provided some of the best tuition i have ever seen.
Joe Stitt
Stevie Munn says: Well I am Home now going to rest for a few days then start working on the 2014 Irish Fly Fair . I would like to thank everyone , The fly dressers that came from all over the world, The fly casters , the ones that gave the talks , the trade stands and to my family and friends in the Fly Fair Team that put up with me and helped us all . A MASSIVE thanks to you. Also to the angling public who came to support the show , I hope you enjoyed it . Hope to see you all next year.
Jason O’Riordan
Jason O’Riordan reports:
There were simply too many awesome tyers on display to mention them all. So it was off to the seminar room to give my talk. A great bunch of interested anglers came along and everything went well. After lunch I browsed all the stands and made a few (too many) purchases. I met and spoke with lots and lots of people about all things fishing and more.
There was an unbelievable range of tying materials on display. The Clonanav/Fortwilliam stand had lots of tackle and clothing from all the leading brands including the new Hardy Jets which are simply awesome. In the next room there were more fly tyers and fishing organisations including our very own Waterford Fly Fishing and the Drowes stand where my good friend Denis was busy tying tube flies. Read his article ‘Irish Fly Fair Review’
NAGLI SPEY VARIANT
and finally a note from the lady herself;
Elaine Munn: It was a really good show and I hope it was enjoyed by everyone, traders, tyers, casters, talkers and of course the people who paid their hard earned cash to come through the doors. Without all of them there would not be a show. The Irish Fly Fair team are already looking at how we can improve this event for next year.
There have been some great reviews and I have seen some super photographs and hopefully in the next couple of months I’ll be able to add a reviews page and a photo gallery to the website. If anyone has images or videos I can use they would be very useful, or if anyone has a review please send, my email is [email protected] Please email me if you have anything that might help to make this show even better. Thank you all for your support, the team really do appreciate it. Elaine
The Fishmaniak Club have kindly let us know that the club will be running its last competition (pike) of this year on Lough Egish on Sunday 24th November 2013. Fishing will take place between 7.30am – 3.30pm. The lads will be fishing along the Castleblayney road and from the island. We would ask all anglers to support this great club and to leave these swims for the competitors. The lads are going to put some signs with information about the event beside the gates along Castleblayney road.
Newgrange Active Angling Coach Brendan O’Reilly was out recently with his Nephew Jamie on a lake in Monaghan. There was a light onshore wind blowing when they started off so it was ok to cast into. Jamie was first off the mark with a fish of 2lbs-12oz but his cheers died off when Brendan caught one of 2lbs-13oz. The lads continued catching a few small pike when the rain came in on them. They moved over to the other side of the Lake and continued catching. After a while Brendan struck into a better fish, it went out into the middle of the lake and then it came to the suface and turned. Yes it was a double! After a good fight and a couple of jumps Brendan brought it to the bank. He unhooked the fish and placed it into the pike tube while he got the sling and scales together on the a couple of snaps and away she went. The fish weighed in at 15lbs-12oz.
To fish with Brendan Phone 086-6010272 or visit Newgrange Active Angling on Facebook.
Brendans Nice Double Taken Over the Weekend in Monaghan
Ghille Vincent Appleby reports from his blog at Waterville Fishery :
13,500 fry have now been released into the upper catchment! Tom O’Shea has produced 20,000 fish from the hatchery this year, a massive increase from the same number of broodstock salmon. A total of 15 hen fish and 9 cock fish, caught up on the Cummeragh River last December have produced this amazing result. This week the fish were graded for size and the smaller fry released. The grown on parr are to be finclipped towards the end of November and a proportion released into the system. As reported earlier, 5 fin clipped grilse were caught this last season from the stocking in 2011, a very good result from the 4500 total of fish stocked.
The Waterville Fisheries will be represented this coming weekend at the Fly Fair in Galway! Tadhg O’Sullivan, chairman of our local steering committee and Secretary, Kevin O’Sullivan will represent us at this popular fair and hopefully generate new business for the Waterville Community!
