Paul Harris reports on shore fishing for his clients on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork.
The Nutley family comprising of father Malcom with sons Shaun and Simon from Hampshire UK arrived for their annual visit and despite the fishing being at least a month behind normal managed some very good catches. Huss were targeted at several of the favourite marks along with a couple of new ones and plenty of double figure fish topped by a near specimen of 15 lbs 12 ozs. A bigger fish was sadly lost during the same session due to a forgotten drop net.
Conger were also caught mainly at the same venues and as with the huss there was plenty of doubles to 16 lbs caught with plenty of hard luck stories of bigger fish lost. Big shore caught conger are truly a great test of both the angler and his tackle.
A change of pace saw them after flatties and plaice to 2 lbs 8 ozs plus some wrasee to 3 lbs were also caught. The pollack fishing should be in full swing by now but with the low water temperatures they are only now just starting to show but the group managed fish to 6 lbs taken mainly on bottom baits or float fished sandeel.
As water temperature starts to pick up we should start to see the ray showing which have been absent from their normal haunts so far.
Anyone looking for information on fishing on the Beara can contact me at dromagowlanehouse@eircom.net or ring me on 00 353 27 60330.
The Feasibility study into the flooding at Lough Reane, will be submitted to the Office of Public Works in the coming days. The news follows a motion by Cllr Gordon Hughes at the recent monthly Council meeting. Speaking at the April meeting, Cllr Hughes sought confirmation on the completion of the report and also asked what solutions are being examined and what the proposed time frame and projected costs would be… Leitrim Observer, 30/04/13. Read the full article ‘Fenagh flooding study to be submitted to OPW‘.
Carroll O’Donoghue of the charter boat HARPY out of Kinsale reports on the angling there this week…
01/May/13 (Afternoon): 9 anglers fished for 4 hours today on Harpy’s first angling outing of the year. Most of the fishing was done around the Old Head. Between them the caught 22 pollack, 3 – 7 pounds weight. They also had 1 cod of 7 lbs, 2 whiting of 1 lb each. Delighted with their catch they prepared some of the fish for their company barbecue which followed the day on the water.
02/May/13: 2 young Dutch anglers fished with me today for 6 hours. We fished the Old Head again. They had 1 small Ballan wrasse, 1 cuckoo wrasse, 1 dogfish, 1 nice cod of 6lbs, 7 whiting all around the .5 lb mark and 12 pollack between 1 and 5 lbs.
The fish that caused the biggest stir was a common octopus – about 5″ tall and 13″ wide and they enjoyed spotting 3 small porpoise.
A nice pollack for one of the Dutch anglers out last week on Sioux
The charter boat Sioux started her season last weekend…
Our angling season started with a group from The Netherlands. While spin fishing five to nine anglers on board Sioux caught 183 pollock, 1 cod, 99 coalfish, 1 ballan wrasse, 3 octopus and 1 sea cucumber.
A nice pollack for one of the Dutch anglers out last week on Sioux
Most of the fishes were released. Siegy Grabher Sioux
Sea trout smolts should be handled carefully and released safely - they are the future of your sport!
Sean Jordan of bassfishingwexford.com reports that the last week has been a somewhat mixed bag. Sean had a few sea-trout to hard lures last weekend on morning sessions, and bass to soft plastics on evening sessions. But he still finds the port is unpredictable.
One of Sean's evening session bass
One big positive was the numbers of sea-trout smolts descending estuaries. Sean changed over from fly to lure fishing to avoid these little gems, a quick photo from this one and it darted back to its comrades.
Sea trout smolts should be handled carefully and released safely - they are the future of your sport!
Sea trout fishing at sea
To fish for sea trout a licence is required and the tagging regulations and bag limits apply. The closed season of the local river also applies. Sea anglers are advised to handle any sea trout inadvertently caught with great care to assure their safe return to the sea. More information…
Make a booking
If you’d like a day out with Sean you can book him at…
Dan Lynch reports on the carp fishing in Cork’s Lough…
The Lough is fishing its socks off at the moment. My daughter Sarah and I fished it on Monday evening. We had 6 fish. Sarah had the biggest carp, her personal best, at 16lb 4oz .
Sarah's carp was 16lb 4oz
My biggest of the night was 14lb 3oz. With the conditions settled there should be good fishing for a couple of weeks .
Dan Lynch Halfway Angling Centre,
Halfway, Ballinhassig, Co. Cork. Tel: (021) 4885894 Web:www.tackledirectireland.com
Dan Lynch reports on the first leg of the Leinster League…
I fished the first leg of the Leinster League in Kilmore Quay on Sunday. The fishing was pretty good. The competing anglers caught plenty of pollock, coalies and dogs. There were also few cod and dabs, and i managed to catch a lemon sole .
Dan Lynch with a lemon sole
Dick Hayes, skipper of the Enterprise charter boat said he hasn’t seen a lemon sole caught on rod and line for a long time.
Dan Lynch Halfway Angling Centre, Halfway, Ballinhassig, Co. Cork. Tel: (021) 4885894 Web:www.tackledirectireland.com
Want to fish at Kilmore Quay…
Enterprise
35′ Offshore 105. 400 HP Iveco Skipper: Dick Hayes Licence: 235 Base: Kilmore Quay Operational area: Kilmore Quay, Dunmore East, Rosslare Harbour.
Notes: Reef, wreck, tope and general inshore fishing.
Notes: Sails from Kilmore Quay. ‘Lady Alison’ is an Aquastar 33 powered by a 270 H.P. engine giving 15 knots. Electronics include a 10 inch radar and dual frequency colour sounder, D.G.P.S. with Chart Plotter. Additional boats are available for larger groups.
Offshore 105. Iveco 320hp Skipper: Sean Radford Licence: 813 Base: Kilmore Quay Operational area: 30 miles out of Kilmore Quay
Notes: Sails from Kilmore Quay; General Sea Angling; Licensed and insured to carry 12 people Complies with all safety Regulations Expierenced Skipper. Rod and tackle hire
Daniel Kolomanski - 7.8lb. sea-liced. Taken on spinner on Woodstream
Blackwater Lodge updates us:
The quiet spell had ended (as I reported in the last newsletter) on Sunday April 22nd. which was the Best Day of the Season so far, & also produced the Biggest Fish of the Season.
We then had a very good week, with a total of 12 fish caught in just 8 days giving the best total for the month since 2008.
April 21: Dave Walsh from Mallow had two fish on Killavullen. His very first ever springer with one of 6lb.,
followed in quick succession by a 9-9½ pounder released – both on spinner.
John McNulty had a 15 pounder on spinner on Woodstream. This was the Biggest of the Season.
John McNulty - 15lb. Showing off his fish at Upper Kilmurry to the participants of the Open Weekend
April 23: A 13½ pounder for Barry Kendellan on Bridgetown & one ~8lb. lost on Kilmurry.
April 24: Two 7-8 pounders from the same beat on the upper river. One on fly & one on spinner.
April 25: A 10 pounder reported by midday from Bridgetown on the upper river.
An 8.6lb with sea-lice taken later at Ballyhooly. Both on spinner.
April 26: One very large fish (15-20lb) on one of our upper beats.
April 27: A 7 pounder released on spinner from one of our upper beats.
April 28: The First Grilse was caught, plus two 7 & 11 pounders – all taken on the lower river.
Daniel Kolomanski - 7.8lb. sea-liced. Taken on spinner on Woodstream
Prospects
With the forecast now mainly dry through the coming weekend, except for some light rain on Friday. Prospects of sport are looking superb as there is now obviously a good head of springers in the system & the river is coming into superb condition. Clarity is 3½ – 4 feet & the height on the Ballyduff gauge is now only 0.51m. It is at perfect fly height on both the upper & lower river.
Kieran Conlon's 7lb fish released
Open Weekend April 21/22
Please see my Facebook Photo Album of this outrageously successful weekend attended by 46 particpants who were treated firstly to presentations on fly lines (Glenda) & followed by welded loops (Conor Arnold). Thereafter, it was off to the river for an afternoon of presentations & clinics on fly casting. It was so successful & booked up so quickly that a second has been arranged for May 4 which is also fully booked.
May 1st 2013: The second day of the three day Waterways Ireland Classic saw a change in the weather, with warmer conditions bringing an improvement in the fishing on almost all of the sections.
The 216 anglers lined up at the draw box in the Lakeland Forum in Enniskillen, each one knowing that the peg he drew today could net him one of the many daily prizes, or even set him up for the overall Classic top prize of £5,000 and a Crystal Chalice.
The leader board going into day two was made up mainly of regular English visitors, with local angler Gareth Williams in second place, but as is normally the case, the competition was wide open, with only a few kilos separating the top ten.
Top weight today was 29kg 600g, landed on the productive Rossahilly section by London angler Peter Vasey. Second overall was another English visitor, Gary Morgan from Coventry who extracted 15kg 700g from peg 20 on Lough Acrussel. Peter Jones from Cork finished third with 15kg 320g, from the Ely Lodge section. The top four was completed by another Classic regular Kevin Rowles from Devizes, with 13kg 410g from the Manor House section.
Tomorrow, Thursday, is the second day of the popular King of the Erne competition, which is run in conjunction with the Waterways Ireland Classic Fishing Festival. The Classic action continues on Friday, with current overall leader Peter Vasey carrying a 12kg 450g advantage over his nearest rival Steven Priestley from Manchester. The prize presentation will be held in the Westville Hotel, Enniskillen, on Friday night.
The Classic is sponsored for the eleventh year by Waterways Ireland and is organised by Fermanagh District Council, in conjunction with the Inland Fisheries Division of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure.
For further information contact Katrina McGirr, Waterways Ireland on +353 (0) 71 96 50560 or Eddie McGovern, Fermanagh District Council on +44 (0) 28 6632 5050.
Jim Lawless with a nice little Rainbow caught on the Sheet of Water last Friday.
Rob Love from Carton House Fishery reports:
Hurrah for a little bit of warmth – with milder weather featuring and with more of the same to come over the next week things are certainly looking up (including Mr Trout on the lookout for his next meal).
There are good hatches of Large Dark Olive now featuring on the river and fish have been a little more enthusiastic about coming to the dry fly in the last few days.
CDC Duns and F flies are worth casting over any feeding fish as are CDC bubble Olives in size 14 or 15.
As already mentioned in the previous reports both flashback PTN and Hares Ear in size 14 or 16 are worth a try – especially when fished through any runs or riffles.
Declan Doyle had a smashing days fishing on the Rye on Tuesday with 15 fish up to 3lb.They were all caught on nymph – Hares ear & Copper Johns being particularly successful.
The River is running clear at present so a fair degree of stealth is required when approaching pools and fishing – casts really have to be kept to a minimum. Having said that, fish can be spotted feeding in some runs and targeted individually by creeping up sometimes on hands & knees and with short accurate casts.
Floating lines of 4 or 5 weight are ideal – anything heavier can tend to spook the beautifully marked resident brownies.Fishing is strictly by fly only and all fish caught must be returned.
Permits should be purchased at the hotel main reception (where maps are available) prior to fishing. Parking is at the hotel car park or by the boathouse on the Rye Lake.
Fly fishing for both pike and trout is available on the Rye Lake. With milder weather forecast we could start to see fish coming up to the good hatches of Large Dark Olive over the next week.
While fishing from the bank is an option the best way to cover this water is from the hotel Sheelin boat – this can be arranged through the hotel.
Tickets / permits should be purchased at the hotel main reception prior to fishing. Parking is at the boathouse on the lake. Please respect the wishes of golfers and stay off greens and Tee areas as they can become badly cut up when fishing activity takes place on them.
The Sheet of Water
A large group of Anglers fished the Sheet of Water on Tuesday. Quite a number of fish were lost at the net or came short however a good number were still landed making for an exciting days fishing.
The Sheet of Water has had a fresh stocking in the last few days. With rising temperatures and more in the form of insect activity fishing here should be quite good over the next week. Various midge are hatching in large numbers and the Alder has started to make an appearance which should get fish in the mood for feeding at the surface.
It is an excellent spot to get some casting practice in as there is little fear of back casts becoming snagged etc and it is quite sheltered even in the most unfavourable of conditions.
Several types of fly are working well with the more typical ‘rainbow flies’ at the top of the list. The more successful flies at the moment are in orange fritz or pink fritz. Also worth a try are more traditional nymph patterns such as GRHE and Goldheads.
Jim Lawless with a nice little Rainbow caught on the Sheet of Water last Friday.
Typical river set up’s are perfect as the water is not particularly deep – a 5wt rod being perfectly adequate.
Fishing / watercraft lessons can also be arranged on this stretch of water. Included in the price for a lesson is the hire of a rod, reel, line and flies for anyone new to the sport.
A day permit is €50. Anglers should note that this means they can fish for pike on the Rye Lake, trout on the Rye Lake, trout on the Rye Water and trout on the Sheet of Water (all fly only) in this timeframe – so if one is not working the other might.
Rob Love Carton House Fishery
If you have any queries about fishing at Carton House please contact Guest Relations on (01) 5052000 or me on 087
1947811. You can also see the other activities on offer at Carton House by checking the Carton House website www.cartonhouse.com
