Fine Gael TD for Longford/Westmeath, James Bannon, has welcomed the engagement by officials of the Office of Public Works and their commitment to address the issues of flooding on the River Shannon. Speaking after a meeting of the Oireachtas Environment Committee this week, Deputy Bannon said he made a number of recommendations on how to best manage the river and on a number of issues which affect both its management and residents who live near it… Longford Leader, 25/04/13. Read the full article ‘Bannon welcomes OPW commitment to address issues on River Shannon‘.
Sean Jordan of bassfishingwexford.com reports that sea conditions are still pretty poor along the coastline but during a small window came on Wednesday evening he took to the shore. At the first two marks he looked at the water clarity was poor. Luckily at the third mark and it was better. With all the terns scanning up and down he knew there were baitfish around and after 15 minutes he met the first bass, a little under 5lb.
Just enough time for a quick photo before being safely released
After a quick photo and it was safely released. Another smaller bass followed 20 minutes after and that was it for the evening. Both fish fell to soft plastics.
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Darryl Kennedy Had This 13.5lbs Bar of Silver From The Wash Stones on Sunday
Despite great expectations, the fishing last weekend was disappointing. The largest amount of rods on the river since opening day were out fishing but just 4 fish were confirmed on Saturday, one 10lbs fish for B. Cherry and 3 from 4lbs to 8lbs sportingly released by B. Mc Evoy, all on spinner.
Darryl Kennedy Had This 13.5lbs Bar of Silver From The Wash Stones on Sunday
Three fish were reported on Sunday including a lovely 13.5lbs fish for Darryl Kennedy from the Wash Stones. Two sea trout, one of 1lbs and one of just over 2lbs were reported from above the New Bridge on Saturday.
The first three days of this week were quiet on the Drowes. That said there are fish running with many anglers reporting good numbers of double figure fish moving as well as the first signs of early grilse. No fish were confirmed on Monday although there were fish lost. On Tuesday B. Cherry lost a very large fish at the Wee Drain at the net after more than 25 minutes. His perseverance was later rewarded with a 10lbs fish from further upstream.
Brian Cherry With His Second Fish of The Week From Grimes’ Island on Tuesday.
As of Wednesday the water level has dropped slightly to 0.6 metres on the gauge and the water temperature has risen to over 8 degrees Celsius, the moon is full and the tides large, so currently conditions are exactly what you would want for spring salmon fishing, yet the fishing remains slow. The weather outlook is for wetter and much colder conditions towards the weekend, including frost on Saturday night.
The incessant east/northeast winds have finally come to an end. I was hopeful the southwesterly/southerly winds would bring an improvement in fishing – well it couldn’t get much worse. The last time I was fishing in mid-March I blanked despite a nice surf on a regular beach which normally provides excellent fishing in March.
Saturday was a nice sunny day with a SSW breeze so I headed to the same beach, arriving just before low tide in daylight. Over the winter the beach geometry had changed significantly, the beach was steeper and now there was a sizeable sandbank just above the low tide mark.There was a good surf but the water was still very cold, so I was not too optimistic about getting any bass.
I initially set up two rods on the crest of the sandbank with 4/0 pennel pulleys; one baited with lug the other with lug and razor. After a few minutes there were little tugs on the rod with the lug only. I retrieved, the bait was gone. I cast out again, same thing happened. Probably small flounder stealing the bait. So I put on a two hook flapper with size 2 hooks to see what the bait robbers were.
Bass No1. 46cm
About 15 minutes later just as the tide was starting to push in I had a sharp knock on the rod with the two hook flapper, struck, felt a fish on the end. A few minutes later a hauled a small (46 cm) angry bass out of the surf – the first bass of 2013!!! That was rather later than last year when I had the first on the 4th of January. But better late than never.
Bass No. 2 just made the 40cm mark
About 15 minutes later I had a second bass, this was smaller and scrawny, barely over 40 cm.
Shortly afterwards I had a small coalfish. It was quite for about half an hour before I had a double of another coalfish and a five bearded rockling. The tide then began to push over the the sandbank so I made a retreat, the depression behind me was already knee-deep in water. I was hoping the fish would move into that area with the rising tide. But there then followed a prolonged quite period of about an hour before the fish began to feed again. I had a couple more coalfish and another rockling. The flounder then showed up, they were small and I had four over the next hour, the last and largest was about 27 cm.
A decent flounder just short of 27cm
After that I was about to pack up, when there was a strong tug on the rod with the two hook flapper and the rod tip bent over – another bass!!! I grabbed the rod and stuck. It was indeed a bass, not big, but still putting up a bit of a fight. It was a 44 cm fish. There was a small five bearded rockling on the other hook.
Another bass, this one came in at 44cm
I stuck it out for about another half an hour in case there was a shoal of bass moving in but there was only one more bite from a 21 cm flounder.
So while the fish were small it was a definite improvement on the last couple of months with a total of 17 fish (3 Bass, 5 Coalfish, 5 Flounder and 4 Five bearded rocklings).
The winner and Bass king himself, Chris Nelms from waterville with one of his double shots
John Tobin from Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club reports on a great day out at Inch Strand where the bass were feeding hard…
After approximately eleven weeks of stiff easterly and north easterly winds the direction has changed and so has the fishing. Many of our early competitions have been hampered by the bitterly cold weather early in the year with results being well down on the usual. However, the change in conditions had us all quietly hoping that a corner had been turned and that the fish would be ready to feed.
Inch beach was the venue for our latest competition on Sunday 21 April from 2-6pm with a falling tide and a south westerly wind. We had a strong turnout with 18 anglers making the pilgrimage. Those who did make the trip were not disappointed. A heavy surf, overcast sky and stiff off-shore wind made the conditions ideal for Bass fishing. Lugworm and harbour Ragworm or maddies supplemented by frozen black lug were the main baits on the day.
Spirits were high as a report of Pa Egan on the high pegs had begun to plunder bass early with two in the first hour. David O’Sullivan had located the flounder and had four on the card in double quick time. Bass man Phil Ord was positively beaming with the happiness with the conditions and it wasn’t long before he had the first two on his card at 49 and 44cm. Daniel, Troy and Martin had all found the fish while junior anglers Adam and Christopher were landing flounder with ease. Considering the casting conditions were hard at the best of times even for the seniors the junior anglers did extremely well.
The winner and Bass king himself, Chris Nelms from waterville with one of his double shots
With the Halfway point in the match reached Chris Nelms was in real danger of running out of bait such was the extent of his bass catching prowess. Indeed, it became apparent that the winners would all be coming from pegs 17 upward. Pa Egan, Con O’Sullivan, David O’Sullivan and Chris Nelms were locked in battle for number one spot with all except David landing bass almost every cast. A final flourish of Bass and flounder brought the match to a close and some very tired anglers packed away their gear.
This is when the true facts of the fishing came to light , 47 bass had been landed (and all were returned) with double shots a regular occurrence. The bass were clearly very hungry on the day and a keen eye would have seen the crazy amount of shells washed up at the high water mark among them hundreds of cuttlefish bones. Truely this was Kerry fishing at its very best and the reason people come from far and wide to sample it.
Back at the pub David and Pa had the hard job of interpreting the hand writing on the scorecards and totalling up the scores. In a tight run contest Con O’Sullivan took 3rd place with 7 bass and a flounder Pa Egan was second with 8 bass and a flounder but the winner by a clear margin was Chris Nelms with an astonishing 14 bass and once again a solitary flounder. It was an amazing days angling and one which Chris will remember for a very long time. The junior section was just as tough Eoin Foley capped an excellent performance with 3rd place close behind Adam Doyle in second but champ on the day was Christopher O’Sullivan who stole the show.
This was an outstanding competition and one that showed the good natured side of angling indeed special mention goes to Pa Ègan for donating some Lug to Chris Nelms in his time of need!! Congratulations to all who fished.
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.
Kids Can Learn to Fish at the Drogheda and District Anglers Youth Fishing Evening
Inland Fisheries Ireland is delighted to announce that Fisheries Awareness Week will be taking place this year from 11th to 19th May. The aims of the initiative are to encourage adults and children alike who may never have fished before to take up fishing as a new hobby. To achieve this Inland Fisheries Ireland is working with angling clubs, local communities, businesses, stakeholders and organisations to promote all types of angling. The success of Fisheries Awareness Week is totally dependent on the great work carried out by volunteers in the sector including angling associations, anglers, clubs, federations, fishery owners, guides, ghillies, coaches, instructors, tackle dealers, educators and other industry providers. The assistance and support of local businesses and local communities is also vital to the success of the initiative.
For 2013, a comprehensive schedule of events has been developed by the staff of Inland Fisheries Irelands, Eastern River Basin District and stakeholders in the Drogheda area to promote game, coarse and sea angling in the Drogheda area. It is hoped that this schedule of events will be enjoyed by all in Drogheda and the surrounding areas.
In order to promote the this year’s ambitious schedule of events, we are kicking off with two information days on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th April in Scotch Hall, Shopping Centre, Drogheda. The promotional stand will be staffed from 9am to 6pm each day so please feel free to come along and see the fish display tanks and learn more about how to get involved in angling. There is lots of fishing available locally so why not come along to Scotch Hall and find out how to get involved? Meet members of the Drogheda and District Anglers, Drogheda Coarse Anglers and Inland Fisheries Ireland teams, find out more about fishing and then “give angling a go”!
We looking forward to seeing you at the Scotch Hall information days and other events listed in the schedule below. Additional Information on Fisheries Awareness Week can be found at www.faw.ie
Our FAW Schedule Starts with the First of Two Drogheda Coarse Angling Clubs Sessions on the Boyne Canal at Oldbridge on 11th MayLearn to Catch Fish Like This with Peter Cunningham at the Sea Angling DaysKids Can Learn to Fish at the Drogheda and District Anglers Youth Fishing EveningLadies Can Learn to Fly Fish at Our Ladies Casting Day Hosted by Drogheda and District Anglers at Kilineer Reservoir on the 16th May
On a recently outing to Lough Sheelin Colm Lynch from Navan and Peter Cunningham from Drogheda along with a number of fishing buddies had some good sport with nice fish to 4lbs. The best fish of the day was taken on a pearly dabbler pattern by Frankie McPhilipps. A number of fish in the 3lb to 3.5lb bracket were also taken. The conditions were very changeable throughout the day and fishing was difficult with a strong breeze, big wave and the temperature quite cold. Despite this, the lads enjoyed the outing and had a chance to catch up.
Colm Lynch from Navan With a Nice Sheelin Trout
A Welcome Break for the Group on One of Sheelin's Islands
Michael Patton and Johnny Reddin with Erne Estuary Sea Trout
There was a great improvement in the weather over the weekend and some fine Spring days earlier this week. Today and yesterday have seen temperatures fall once more and a return to the wind rain we have become more accustomed to. But earlier this week and over the weekend Ireland saw angling activity increase in all areas as fishermen rushed to make the most of the improved conditions.
A fine fat mullet of 7lb 5oz wins Catch of the Week for Myles Kelly
Big salmon made the headlines in the last few days with reports of fish to 21lb on the Bandon in Cork , 18.75lb on the Moy in Mayo and 14lb 5oz at the Delphi Fishery in Galway. Other fisheries that are performing well are the Slaney, Lough Currane, Ballisodare and Lough Beltra. The good run of salmon is continuing on the Slaney and one angler had a 14lb fish and a 15lb fish on the same day. At Lough Currane good spring fishing was had on a daily basis and another specimen sea trout was recorded. Both the Erriff River and the Kylemore Abbey Fishery have reported their first salmon of the season in recent days. Conor O’Leary caught the Erriff’s first fish of the season on Saturday the 20th and Geoffrey Fitzjohn landed Kylemore’s first fish yesterday afternoon at 6.25lb. A few fish were taken on the Munster Blackwater also, and as the levels become more fishable good angling expected as many anglers report sightings of good salmon running the river.
Duckfly are still hatching on Corrib, with no sign of olives in any numbers yet, which means that spring is at least a month behind schedule this year. Normally the olives would be in full swing, with the first hatches of mayfly appearing this week! Lough Mask rose quickly following last week’s rain, and is at least a foot higher at the moment than it has been recently. The duckfly hatch has petered out, but there are plenty of sedges hatching off though again, there is no sign of the Olives yet. Lough Sheelin was dogged last week by days of wild blustery south to south westerly winds which tore across the lake and on some days reached gale force but some great fishing was had by some and one angler had a trout over 8lb. River fly anglers report that water temperatures are still low and fly life scarce. On the Liffey some good trout were had by dint of hard work while on the Monaghan Blackwater a hatch of Olives brought on a rise of smaller trout. The Suir has been in flood for most of the last few weeks but the past few days have seen an improvement in hatches and fish have become far more active with some good reports coming from the Tar, Anner and Nire. Good news from trout anglers on the east coast confirmed that the use of single barbless hooks due to Bye-law 897 of 2012 can be just as effective at holding your quarry even when spinning.
The mild and settled weather of the weekend saw anglers back at sea from Redbay and a good range of species were landed, pollack, coalfish, spurdogs, ling and a few strap congers, but the best was a skate estimated at 150lb. At the other end of the country mullet were seen back at their usual haunts in Cork Harbour and one lucky angler started his mulleting season with a fish of 7lb 5oz, one of the biggest mullet reported to these offices in a number of years. Reports are also filtering through that bass fishing is picking up again in the Kerry area.
There were 165 anglers on a total of 83 boats in the Lough Ree International Pike Angling Festival where they caught 18 pike measured between 100 and a staggering 113.5 specimen that probably weighed 28lb or so. Dermot Sammon was the overall winner with a 113cm pike and won the €3,000 prize. Two Belgian anglers fished for a week in Longford and landed 79 pike to 92cm. One of the anglers, Eddy Maes was a Catch of the Week winner last year and was hoping to repeat the achievement. Another pair of Belgian anglers spent 5 days bellyboating around Ballinamore last week. Initially the angling was difficult but on Saturday one of them had 32 pike with the biggest fish landed measuring 82cm. One of the pair continued his holiday and reports that the pike fishing continued to improve over the last couple of days. Another good pike was reported at Lanesborough where anglers are convinced there are a number of 20lb fish on the prowl. Some great pike reports were also received from Inniscarra where a number of doubles were taken on fly and lure in recent days but concerns have been raised that the levels there have dropped impacting heavily on pike spawning in the lake.
Anglers from Belturbet AC, Cavan CAC, Gowna Match Group and some UK visitors held a knock match at Gulladoo Lake on Sunday. Conditions were tough and an 8lb 4oz bag was enough to secure the win for Paul Leese. Conditions at Oaklands were also difficult but the fish responded better to the tactics on offer and Adrian Browne needed 64lb to take first place. Paul Waghorn reports that conditions have improved somewhat at Lanesborough and that the first tench of the season have been landed there.
The brief respite in the weather has been all too short and there will be a return to cold, wet , windy weather with widespread showers from Friday and northerly winds. The outlook for next week is for the cool and unsettled weather to continue with spells of rain. The nights will be very cold too with sub-zero temperatures and mainly northerly winds.
Tight lines, Myles Kelly Catch, Photo, Release
If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to contact@fisheriesireland.ie.
Lee Valley Harbour had the pleasure of having German angling expert Babs Kijewski out with them on Inniscarra lake. Fishing is excellent at the moment especially in the evening with good fish in the shallows and Babs proves it with some fine pike catches.
German angling expert Babs KijewskiEvening fishing
Damian Rooney with an estimated 20lb+ Pike landed under the bridge.
At around 7pm Paul Waghorn was called out to witness and photo a very large Pike caught by Damian Rooney. It was estimated at 20lbs and despite being weighed on three different sets of scales, all had very different readings between 19lb 8oz and 22lb.
Damian Rooney with an estimated 20lb+ Pike landed under the bridge.
One set was certified but even that was reported to be playing up. The fish was relatively short, but unbelievably fat and all convinced it had not spawned.
In the meantime they can listen to Paul on his new radio show – Get Ya Tackle Out on www.getyatackleout.ie. This an audio magazine for angling in Ireland. Paul is hoping to get this format onto mainstream radio and is asking everyone to please forward this message to all your friends or put a link on your webpage.
For the next few weeks, there will be two 25 minute shows at 9pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
