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Wake up..it's time for the Cork Harbour Light Lines competition

By
IFI Staff
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It’s that time of year again; the start of winter, which heralds the influx of codling, whiting and dabs into Cork Harbour. So if you were thinking of mothballing your fishing gear for the winter, then DON’T!!!
Instead, head out fishing with Cobh SAC. The winter series of the ever popular Light Line competitions are starting again and will run right through the winter until next April. These competitions are for everyone; whether you’re a seasoned angler or a raw beginner. In fact, if you are a novice its no better a place to cut your teeth in boat angling. These are fun competitions where everyone is quite willing to help out each other and you can get great advice. Not that there isn’t a competitive side to these matches as well as some of top rods will be slogging it out to be the Light Line champion over the season.
Cork Angling Hub - Light lines 2013The first of this winter’s competitions is on next Sunday week, the 17th November 2013 (HT 17:10 4.1m). If you’d like to fish this one then book your place with Danny Kane, on 086 – 8161946. Book early to avoid disappointment. These comps are very popular and can book up fairly early. Make sure to get your entry in before the close off next Weds evening at 6pm.
The full list of competitions are as follows:
Sunday 17th November (HT 17:10pm 4.1m)
Sunday 15th December (HT 16:00pm 3.9m)
Sunday 19th January (HT 19:23pm 3.9m)
Sunday 16th February (HT 18:27pm 4.0m)
Sunday 23rd March (HT 22:10pm 3.6m)
Sunday 13th April (HT 17:19am 3.8m)
The scorecard used is the same one that was used for the Boat Fish-Offs and the fishing will be broadly similar. However, the format is much simpler and the rules are kept simple. There will be only one change of positions in the boat; basic IFSA rules apply e.g. you are limited to three hooks. The only stipulation is that your main line is of 15lb b.s. or under. Shockleaders, main rig bodies, and snoods can be made of any breaking strain. There is no restrictions on bait. The rules are kept as simple as possible as it’s meant to be a fun competition; a fun day out. In fairness the craic can be mighty and the slagging something to behold!!!
You can fish one competition or you fish them all. If you fish every one then you’ll be entered into the overall series. Your best scores from 5 comps will count (you can drop your worst score). Last year it was, yet again, a very close run thing; Martin Perryman, Crosshaven SAC, and John Dennehy, captain of the 2012 Irish Home Nations Team, Pat Wright, 2013 Irish Home Nations Team, and Pat O’Shea, Cobh SAC, were all in the reckoning upto the last day….it was that close!
A full report of that final day can be read here http://bit.ly/17NA9AD
Here’s a few reports from a selection of previous comps to give you an idea what to expect:
http://bit.ly/STU8Gn
http://bit.ly/VVtwlC
C’mon give it a go; you know its good for you!!!    (It’ll keep you sane over the winter!)
Courtesy of Cork Harbour Angling Hub

Some fine fat stocky bass that are fiesty fighters !

By
IFI Staff
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Bass 4.25 lb with ruler
Bass 4.25 lb with ruler

Mr RockHunter  from the South Coast decided the recent wet and windy weather it was time to put away the lure fishing rod until next year and concentrate on bait fishing.  He reports:

Last week I picked up a dozen crabs and went for my first cod fishing session of the winter. When I got to my favourite cod mark I realized there was a lot of fresh water coming down the estuary after the recent heavy rain and a huge amount of debris on the shore. But since I was there I thought I would give it a go. I was fishing for about an hour, catching nothing other than eels. I hate eels – too slimy to get a grip on to get off the hook and they make a tangled mess of your rigs. Then there was a sharp strong tug on one of the rods but the fish was not hooked. That was encouraging, at least there was something other than eels out there.

Bass 4.25 lb with ruler
Bass 4.25 lb with ruler

Midway into the rising tide I had another strong bite. This time the fish was well hooked and was fighting strongly. At the time I assumed it was a cod but as I got it in close it broke the surface and I realized it was a fat chunky bass of 51 cm. It weighed 4.25 lbs, well above the average weight for its size, it must have been feeding well over the last few months.

About 20-30 minutes later there was another strong tug on the same rod and the line went slack. I quickly reeled in the slack and connected with a very strong fish which put up a good fight all the way in. This time it was a 7 lb bass, another well fed fat fish. Its was 63 cm in length so again well above average weight for its size.

I wasn’t expecting to get bass from here as I was fishing into a deep channel which normally produces cod at this time of the year. I fished on for a while but just had a few more eels.

Last Sunday I decided to fish for bass and with another dozen crabs made my way to a mark which I had only lure fished before but one that had a chance of producing bass on a dropping tide. Following the strong winds on Saturday the shore was blanketed with a mass of kelp but the water looked reasonably clean. There was quite a strong cold NW wind blowing and intermittent rain, I was thinking I should have stayed at home in front of the fire.

I set up and cast out the first rod. While I was setting up the second rod there was a small tap on the first. I reeled in and found one of the smallest pollock I have ever caught trying to get the crab off a 4/0 pennel pulley.

Bass 8.25 lbs
Bass 8.25 lbs

It was quite for about 30 minutes after that then there was a strong knock on one of the rods and the line went slack. I wound in the slack, at first I thought the fish was gone as I had to reel in a lot of slack before I caught up with it. It felt to be a very good fish and fought extremely strongly. As I got it in close the fish was thrashing about in the shallows until I eased it onto the beach. It was a fine, very fat stocky bass of 8.25 lbs. It measured just under 70 cm and must have been feeding very well over the summer. When I released it the fish gave one powerful flick of its tail and surged out into the bay at speed.

I had a couple of 1 lb coalfish after that. Then I had a more substantial tug. This felt to be a much heavier fish than the coalfish and fought strongly all the way in. It was a 3.25 lb cod.

Cod 3.25 lbs
Cod 3.25 lbs

I had one more coalfish after that before packing up.

As I had some crabs left I returned to the same mark last night but the coalfish were there in plague proportions. If there were any bass about the coalfish were onto the bait before they had a chance. I caught 10 or 12 and dropped half as many before all the bait was used up.

Compliments of:

RockHunter
South Coast, Ireland
Web: www.rockhunterblog.ie

RNLI to establish new Cork lifeboat station – RTE News

By
IFI Staff
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The new station has been announced following the Tit Bonhomme tragedy
The new station has been announced following the Tit Bonhomme tragedy
The RNLI is to establish a new lifeboat station at Union Hall in West Cork.

The announcement follows the deaths of five fishermen after their trawler, the Tit Bonhomme, hit rocks and sank at the entrance to Glandore Harbour on 15 January 2012.

The Tit Bonhomme was within 2km of the safety of the pier at Union Hall when it sank in heavy seas at Adam Island.

Five of the six fishermen on board lost their lives. The search to recover their bodies continued for 26 days and was one of the most intensive searches ever undertaken in the country…..

RTE News 07/11/2013: ‘RNLI to establish new Cork lifeboat station’

The new station has been announced following the Tit Bonhomme tragedy
The new station has been announced following the Tit Bonhomme tragedy

 

Ombudsman fish lice investigation widened – Galway Independent

By
IFI Staff
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Opponents of the Galway Bay salmon farm claim important information on sea lice was withheld from an EU investigation. Photo Boyd Challenger.
Opponents of the Galway Bay salmon farm claim important information on sea lice was withheld from an EU investigation. Photo Boyd Challenger.

Ombudsman investigation could damage Galway Bay salmon farm

In a move that could prove damaging to plans to locate a €100 million salmon farm in Galway Bay, a second government department is to be investigated over claims that important information was deliberately withheld from an European Commission investigation into sea lice.

Following a complaint by the environmental lobby group Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE), the office of the Ombudsman has now opened preliminary investigations into both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The complaint alleges that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which through Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) is seeking to locate the salmon farm off Inis Oírr, deliberately suppressed a report by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) in which the state body was critical of sea lice control in Irish fish farms…

Galway Independent 30/10/2013 Read the article: ‘Ombudsman fish lice investigations widened’

Opponents of the Galway Bay salmon farm claim important information on sea lice was withheld from an EU investigation. Photo Boyd Challenger.
Opponents of the Galway Bay salmon farm claim important information on sea lice was withheld from an EU investigation. Photo Boyd Challenger.

 

Irish Angling Update – 07/11/2013

By
Paul Bourke
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Officially we are now in winter time here in Ireland but the fish are still biting well although the numbers of anglers out fishing is smaller than in the recent mild period of Autumn.  The weather is still fairly mild although there has been more rain in the past week and the occasional frosty night bringing water temperatures down on most waterways.

It is that time of year for the first big fly fair here in Ireland for the third year running in Galway this weekend in Salthill and I am sure many anglers will flock to this popular event.

Rainbow trout fishing is always popular at this time of year as many fly anglers don’t put away their fly gear and dabble a bit on their own local put and take fisheries which are now dotted all over the country.  It is nice to report that the boys from St. Joseph’s Deaf/Blind Anglers enjoyed good rainbow trout fishing at Rathbeggan Lakes and very nearly won catch of the week with their nice trout.  Down in the Rathcon Fishery, over 40 rainbow trout were caught at the first qualifier of their winter league and Dave McBride and Freddie Miller were worthy winners.  There was great catches of rainbow trout recorded in a competition on Knockaderry Lough in Co. Waterford and Brian Brennan was the worthy winner with four fish.

'Catch of the Week' winner Christin Breuker, Germany, with fine pike PB
‘Catch of the Week’ winner Christin Breuker, Germany, with fine pike PB

At this time of year, pike angling is dominating most of the fishing effort and it has been a good week with catches of nice fish reported nationwide. Up in Co. Mayo, a first time visitor to Ireland, Christin Breuker from Germany linked up with angling guide Kenny Sloan and she enjoyed super pike fishing on fly catching many fish including pike up to 97 cms which wins her the Catch of the Week.  Down on the River Barrow, Roly Byrne reported some super fishing for good pike in his blog.  Another pike competition on Lough Boderg on the River Shannon produced some excellent boat fishing with several good double figure fish recorded.  In the midlands on the River Inny, some nice pike up to 14 lb. 3 oz. were reported in a weekend competition.

There was only a handful of sea angling reports this week and Gerard Doran down in Wexford had some nice shore fishing with quality Dabs and a few Whiting making up most of the catches. Cian Twomey reports that they had a great day small boat fishing near Courtmacsherry taking nice catches of Dabs and many dogfish while small boat fishing.

There was some good coarse fishing to report with Garadice lake in Co. Leitrim continuing to fish well and Rory Dunne was a worthy winner at a match there last weekend. Good catches of Carp and coarse fish were reported taken at a match at the Oaklands Fishery near New Ross in Co. Wexford last weekend.  Dave Houghton from Active Irish Angling has given us a working list of Coarse Angling Festivals for 2014 and anglers from home and abroad will be eager to plan their coarse fishing matches next year.

Finally IFI staff will be present at the Irish Fly Fair in Galway this weekend to help you with any queries on all types of Irish Angling

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].

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John Flynn - Aughnaclanny River north of Dundrum, Co. Tipperary.
Aughnaclanny River north of Dundrum, Co. Tipperary. Photo: John Flynn IFI

Are you towing your Boat with the correct driving licence ? – Afloat.ie

By
IFI Staff
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Laws about towing boats and trailers in Ireland has been considered a bit of a grey area by some sailors who hope for the best every time they hitch up but now the Road Safety Authority has announced that a person who held a full driving licence for a car before 13 November 1989 and who did not then avail of the car and trailer licence option may now do so.

A car licence allows you tow up to 750kgs but if you tow a bigger weight without the correct licence you could be driving uninsured….

Afloat.ie 06/11/2013 Read the article ‘Are you towing your Boat with the correct driving licence ?‘

Angling experts fly in to Galway for international fair – Galway Advertiser

By
IFI Staff
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A host of the greatest fly tyers, fly casters, and angling celebrities throughout the world will once again gather in Salthill this weekend to take part in the fourth Irish Fly Fair and International Angling show.

The show, which takes place at the Galway Bay Hotel on Saturday and Sunday, will feature the largest host of fly tyers and game angling stands under one roof in Ireland.

Visitors will have the opportunity to see some of the finest fly dressers practise their art, while champion fly casters and angling celebrities Hywel Morgan, Glenda Powel, and Peter O’Reilly will be available to demonstrate and advise on fly casting techniques and fishing tactics….

Galway Advertiser 07/11/2013 Read the article ‘Angling experts fly in to Galway for international fair’

Gerard is a dab hand at fishing

By
IFI Staff
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Whiting
Whiting

Planning ahead is the key to a good days fishing.  Gerard Doran of South East Angling Services prepares for his trip…..

With a fishing trip planned next morning the car was packed in advance with bait fishing and bait digging equipment. Upon awaking the following morning it quickly became evident that spare clothing would be required in the car because of the horrible conditions outdoors. Thankfully the forecast was for an improved evening.

A short drive to a local bait digging location to top up supply was required. Thirty minutes digging and plenty of lugworms were in the bucket to accompany the ragworms,crab and mackerel that was collected and prepared at an earlier stage.

Sand-dab
Sand-dab

 

 

 

All set for fishing and the weather had improved slightly as forecast, The poor weather earlier in the day seemed to have revoked other anglers from heading out as it was very quiet locally.

Tackle was promptly set up with clipped down rigs baited and cast out. It did not take long for the first fish a fair sized whiting to be landed. Most casts thereafter produced either whiting, codling’s or some very nice sized sand dabs.

Sea Temp is slowly decreasing with Met buoy 5 currently reading 13.2 degrees.

Whiting
Whiting

Make a booking…

Gerard Doran,

South East Angling Services

Web: www.southeastanglingservices.com

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 086-3769727

Super pike fishing on fly for first time German lady visitor to Co. Mayo wins her the Catch of the Week

By
Markus Muller
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'Catch of the Week' winner Christin Breuker, Germany, with fine pike PB
'Catch of the Week' winner Christin Breuker, Germany, with fine pike PB

Markus Muller reports from the Inland Fisheries Ireland Office in Ballina

German Lady Angler enjoys fantastic pike fishing on the fly

Once again the pike waters around Foxford produced the goods: This time for Christin Breuker from Germany who was flyfishing for pike on several waters in the Foxford/Pontoon area including Lakes Conn & Cullin and Levally.

Christin Breuker Germany with her personal best pike of 97 cms on fly.
Christin Breuker Germany with her personal best pike of 97 cms. on fly.

It was Christin’s first time flyfishing for pike in Ireland and she broke her personal best twice with 2 cracking pike just under the magic one metre mark (95cm & 97cm = close to 20 lb.). However, Christin who is from “Haltern am See” which is part of the Rhur Region landed a total of 13 pike with many between 70cm and 85cm, all on fly. Christin was using an intermediate line with roach imitations working best. She was guided by pike expert Kenny Sloan who has specialised in flyfishing for pike. To book fishing with Kenny visit www.pikemania.co.uk

Angling guide Kenny Sloan and Christin Breuker with a lovely pike on fly.
Angling guide Kenny Sloan and Christin Breuker with a lovely pike on fly.

 

 

 

Mayday…Mayday…Big net needed for massive pike!

By
IFI Staff
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Burkies Whopper!
Burkies Whopper!

Barrow Piker is back and back with a bang!  Here’s what he has to say………

Summer! Where did the summer go? more about that later, right now I think we should cut to the chase…..
In reality to start piking in October this year would have been car crash material. The river was ridiculously low due to a serious lack rain and still full of summer growth from the unseasonably mild weather. I must admit that I’m not one for farting about with lures up to my neck in nettles trying to tempt lazy sunbathing Pike. I much prefer my piking cold and calculated (literally). So finally the rain came, a fortnights worth… in a week. It lashed like never before, I held my breath as the river shot up and the mercury dropped.
Phones started chirping across the mobile networks as a few of the usual suspects and myself texted covert daily reports on the state of the river, after a few days, the overall concensus was It was time, “The Boys Were Back In Town”

Burkies Whopper!
Burkies Whopper!

After much sorting of tackle and cobweb blowing we arrived at the river on Friday morning with more gear than a subterranean terrorist cell. To say we were ready for the “first” day of the winter season was an understatement. Alan “Burkie” Burke fished downstream. The junior Piker and myself fished a slack above him. Things were quite, very quiet. An opening day anti climax I thought to myself. Then my phone rang…”A NET…. I NEED A BIGGER NET” Burkie screamed down the phone so loud he needn’t have bothered ringing. The junior piker legged it down the bank.
I waited for news, then waited some more… it was uncanny to say the least. I missed a run and then my phone rang, it was Burkie breathless but happy. As it happened he put the bait in the swim and was hit immediately, he couldn’t reach the net. After a major power struggle on a tricky piece bank himself and the junior piker landed a really decent double. Its fair to say, on our first day out since last spring the Biker Piker nailed a WHOPPER and was he nowhere near Burger King. But there was more to come…

The River Barrow Piker and the tail walking Pike.
The River Barrow Piker and the tail walking Pike.

With a double already accounted for we fished on, enthusiasm and confidence had been intravenously pumped into our systems. Even though we were on a high things remained quiet our prey had gone to ground, we fished on ever optimistic. I searched the river and finally decided to settle down once I hit my fifth swim. Some time later my rod gave a gentle knock,  the alarm barely croaked a couple of sedate blips, I squinted at the rod tip through the cold sunshine. Hmmm maybe, maybe not… I struck and was well in, not such a big fish but still this bad boy got 10 out of 10 as he cleared the surface and tail walked across the water. We were gobsmacked.

We saw no more fish that day but what a great start to the new season on the Barrow. I went back to the river on Monday and met another three fish. That story and others will be posted here in a day or two. I headed home for a cuppa thinking along the way, Philo said it well when he said “The boys are back in town”…

Roly Byrne,

Barrow Piker

Web: riverbarrowpiker.blogspot.ie

 

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