The Leinster Pike Anglers were out on the banks for their first winter league match of the 2024/5 season at the weekend. They headed to a midlands venue, and the weather was perfect for fishing, with overcast skies and relatively mild temperatures.
And the fish played ball on the day too, with plenty of action leading to some nice bends in rods. The top three anglers each had 12 fish, but Rodney Gaynor’s were of a better average size, and so he topped the table at the end of the day.
Results:
1st: Rodney Gaynor – 12 fish, totaling 56lb 13oz
2nd: Simon Rosbotham – 12 fish, totaling 45lb 14oz
3rd: Luke Ó Ciaráin – 12 fish, totaling 38lb 6oz
The biggest fish of the day was caught by Fergal Doherty, weighing in at 15lb 14oz.
Chris Scally of Fish Tales had the pleasure of guiding two of his regular customers, John and his grandson Cal, on Lough Ree at the weekend. The pair had been on a few difficult trips with Chris already – having had their hopes dashed by terrible fishing weather each time – but they hit the jackpot on this occasion and had a day to really remember.
All day long the lures were attracting pike, but the fish just weren’t nailing them as you’d expect – swirling at them, thrashing at them and swiping at them, but missing them each time and just not getting hooked up.
Then, after missed take after missed take, a beast of a fish of 102cm and 20lb smashed the lure and bent young Cal’s rod in half. After a crazy fight, Cal expertly managed to bring the fish to the net and breath a big sigh of relief! His heart was pumping and his hands were shaking – he really did an incredible job of bringing this fish in.
Cal and his 102cm Lough Ree beast
Chris reckons that, as a guide, seeing young Cal’s reaction to landing that fish was the best feeling he could get, really making it worthwhile to be in a line of work where helping to make people’s dreams a reality is possible.
Granddad John managed to get in on the act too, with some decent fish, but nothing to compare to Cal’s fish! For a grandfather, to be able to watch your grandson catch a fish of this quality is probably the reason why you bring him out in the first place – so everyone’s a winner on a day like this.
I am a pike guide in the Hidden Heartlands of Ireland and also provide trips for perch and trout in some of Ireland’s biggest loughs and the smaller lakes in the surrounding areas…
All gear provided, including a packed lunch, rods, reels, baits, lifejackets etc.
Just turn up and go fishing.
I have over 25 years of experience with angling and welcome anybody of any level to join me.
This report from the organisers of Ireland’s FeederKing 2024:
Saturday, September 21st, was the first day of the Ireland’s FeederKing final which was held on Annaherrin and Lough Sillan in Cavan. Fishing was good on Sillan, with Tony Hopkins winning the day with roach and a total weight of 19.000kg.
Second was Richard Pratt with another roach net of 15.375 kg, while Rory Dunne made up the top 3 on Sillan with a weight of 14.050kg
Annaherrin didn’t fish as well as it did for the previous day’s practice match and Nick Seddon did best with 7.950kg of small skimmers. Darren Fairhurst was second on the lake with a mixed bag of 7.460kg. Charlie Richards was 3rd on Annaherrin with a weight of 6.380kg made up of skimmers, roach and odd perch.
Action from practice and Day One
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Sunday, September 22nd, was the second day of the Feederking Final and what a day it was. Young Charlie Richards had a very impressive weight of 23.990kg of skimmers on the deeps to take the crown of Irelands Feederking champion 2024! He had just over 30kg overall to win the event by 5kg.
It is unbelievable what this very talented young angler has won in his short angling career to date and he was deserving of the €4,000 he collected in winning the event.
Rimantas Kondrakas caught an unbelievable 251 fish to weigh 21.740kg on the deeps to take second place overall and collect €1,800. Rimantas had a combined weight of 25.480kg.
FeederKing Final
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Tony Hopkins had 5.700kg today on Annaherrin and this give him 3rd Overall with a combined weight over the 2 days of 24.800kg
RESULTS OF FEEDERKING 2024
1ST Charlie Richards 30.370kg (€4000)
2ND Rimantas Kondrakas 25.480kg (€1800)
3RD Tony Hopkins 24.800kg(€1200)
4th Darren Fairhurst 23.340kg (€900)
5th Nick Seddon 23.140kg(€700)
6th Richard pratt 21.875kg (€500)
7th Paul Leese 21.330kg (€400)
8th Robertas zilaitis 20.820kg (€300)
9th piotr Horbiński 20.400kg (€200)
10th Rory Dunne 20.200kg (€100)
11th Philip hartin 20.170kg
12th William Wheeler 19.500kg
13th Brenton Sweeney 17.330kg
14th Johnny Mckinley 16.375kg
15th Nick Howell 15.525kg
16th JP Molloy 15.500kg
17th Brian clarke 15.470kg
18th Adrian van de heer 14.300kg
19th Rory o Neil 14.175kg
20th Sean Tallon 13.275kg
21st Irmantas sriupsa 12.980kg
22nd Andy Butterfield 12.900kg
23rd Bruce Zhou 11.725kg
24th Paul Eyers 9.475kg
25th Mark Alcock 6.025kg
We would also like to acknowledge the support of our sponsors and organisers – without whom this event would not take place:
Thanks to C. Gaughan Contractors limited for the sponsorship of the trophies and also to the Inland Fisheries Ireland for their continued support.
Thanks to Peter Lynch for doing a great job transporting the gear on his boat.
Thanks to all that helped, weighed in and organised qualifiers.
Thanks to Johnny Mckinley for doing a great job printing the cheques.
Thanks to the C/M Lakelands Committee who run this event, especially Darren and Paul.
John Browne reports on the 10th and final match of Oakland’s summer league which was fished on Sunday…
On Sunday we had the last leg of the Summer league @ Oaklands.
After a very competitive 10 rounds of matches with your top 7 counting overall.
Two time league winner Ronan Minogue
Mr Consistent, Ronan Minogue, was the overall winner with a round to spare taking the league title for the 2nd year in a row, well done Ronan.
In a close 2nd came a vastly improving Matija Ivkov well done to him and Ivylo Benov came in a very good 3rd.
On the day the fishing was very good with Matija Ivkov netting 89.640 kg on the method feeder very impressive to win the day.
Sundays Results Top 8
1st Matija Ivkov 89.640 kg
2nd Andries Pirchio 82.500 kg.
3rd Leo Lynch 73.920 kg.
4th Ronan Minogue 70.940 kg (sec)
5th Adrian Browne 64.310 kg
7th I Benov 52.730 kg ( SEC)
8th k Reeves 51.470 kg
Overall top 8
1st Ronan Minogue 10 points
2nd Matija Ivkov 11 points.
3rd Ivylo Benov 13 points
4th Adrian Browne 15 points
5th Andrei Pirchio 17 points
5th Leo Lynch 17 points
7th Sion Pritchard 18 points
8th Kirean Reeves 19 points
Big thanks to all the lads who fished the league.
Go fishing…
Next up the silver fish 2 day 19th & 20th October book know 0877811042.
A very popular carp fishery. Popular with competition anglers and novices alike. Alway a great chance of a bumper bag here. Friendly staff more than happy to advise beginner anglers. Caters to all sorts of clubs and groups.
Peter Driver of Piscari Fly is back with his weekly roundup of the fishing scene on the Nore and beyond:
How’s the Fishing
River Nore
Peter spent a bit of Sunday on the River Nore with his good friend Darius Simkus. Darius was out testing the Venator Rod 10 foot 6, 2 weight and seeing how the fishing was and managed to pick up a lot of nice fish. They were fishing some of the lower beats in Thomastown. They were mostly being picked up on caddis nymphs in their channels on silver and gold beads, with some fish coming to the drys also.
Peter was working the dry dropper up through the slower water and picked up some nice fish coming into the evening. Darius fished the faster water. Great to spend the day out on the water with Darius, one of Ireland’s top anglers.
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Sea Fishing
Peter was out twice during the week on the sea chasing Bass. Good tides but the wind on the coast was a bit tricky and Peter didn’t manage to get any Bass but seeing a few. Owen Condon joined Peter one of the evenings and caught this lovely bass down in South Wexford just on the edge of dark.
Owen with his bass
Nice to be out on the coast, plenty of time left, the next couple of weeks can be some of the best Bass fishing. Autumn bass fishing can be great fun and well worth getting out there. If you need any advice or patterns give us a shout, or any gear ring 0879787040 or email info@piscarifly.com. Can be a great hangover cure for the trout season so get in touch if you need anything
Competition Round Up. Gold for Ireland!
5 Nations Championship
It was a busy week on the competition Scene. A huge congratulations to our very own Mark Driver on getting the Silver Medal and Team Gold in the 5 Nations Championship in France.
Mark along with his team members to make up the 4 – Man Irish team traveled to Landry in France early last week to compete on behalf of Ireland at the 5 Nations. The lads headed over a few days prior to offical opening ceremony on Sunday the 15th. They then had two day official practice on the competition venues on Monday & Tuesday. Unfortunately on Tueaday a call was made to cancel the river venue due to issue with the Dam further up river so levels were unsafe for anglers. So one of the lake venues was used for a second sector due to its size.
The lads had 4 sessions to fish for the competition over two days. 2 sessions Wednesday and then two Thursday. Mark & Campbell got drawn on Barachaut Lake for a boat session & bank session each for Wednesday. Mark started off on the bank session winning his session with 25 fish. With nearest competitor having 15 fish. Campbell had 29 fish from the boat session. Leaving the 2 lads with 2 session wins. On the other lake Tueda, where Roger & Shane were for the day, they had 3 placings each after a tough start on a cold morning. In the afternoon the guys swapped over and Mark went on the boat and had session win with 15 fish after making an important change of method to stay ahead of French competitor. Campbell won his bank session with 19 fish. On the other lake the guys wrapped up with Shane getting a session win also with 15 fish and Roger with 9 fish for a 2nd place session finish.
This left the lads sitting on top of the leader board for Wednesday with 5 session wins. Ahead of the French, other Irish team, English and Scottish teams. Thursday then seen Mark & Campbell swap lakes with Shane and Roger. Knowning what to expect. Mark had a 2nd session placing with 6 fish, with Campbell session win with 15. Shane on Barachaut started on boat session, Roger won his bank sessions. A great start to Thursday with 3 sessions wins and a 2nd. In afternoon Mark had another 2nd place finish, Campbell with a 9 fish session win. Roger moved to boats and won his session well with 15 fish. Shane had a 2nd place finish with 17 fish.
The lads finished up very well overall with 9 session wins out of 16 sessions & good fish numbers per sessions. Leading them to take home the Gold and Win the 5 Nation Championships. With Campbell placing 1st overall 4 place points and 72fish, Mark 2nd overall with 6 placings and 59 fish. The 4 Irish lads from the Team in the top 5. A great result!
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Gold for Cian Gates
All Ireland Youths Rivers and Lakes competition were held in Cashelgolden on Saturday and Ardaire Springs on Sunday. Peter was down there with Team Leinster on Saturday and they had a great day. The lads all loved the day and great experience for all of them. It was a well run and well organised event, thanks to all involved in organising. Well done to all winners and in particular to Cian Gates from Munster who was the overall winner and had the longest fish. The river was very low and tricky, it was amazing to witness the level of ability of our youths on the day and see how they approached this challenging water.
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TAFI Youth Lake Championships
On Sunday the youths headed over to the Ardaire Springs Angling Centre in Mooncoin for the All Ireland Lakes. There was a great turn out and plenty of fish caught through out the day. Well done to all the youths that took part and to those who finished on top of the leader board. So the top youths from the rivers and lakes over the weekend have now qualified to compete for Ireland in next years World Championships in the USA. We wish them all the best.
Tackle Talk
If you are getting into bank fishing Airflo Rods and reels are a great choice. Contact us for more information 0879787040 or email piscarifly@gmail.com
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What’s New?
With the stillwater season going to be kicking off soon or bank season once the trout season ends make sure you are all stocked up from Piscari-Fly. We have a great range of Flies here in the shop. Selection boxes can be made up to suit your needs, your budget and the location that you will being fishing.
Based on the River Nore just outside Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Ireland. Piscari-Fly is a growing Fly-Tying and Fly-Fishing business with a vast amount of experience and knowledge. If there is ever anything I can do to make my service better for you please feel free to suggest it to me and I’ll gladly try my best to accommodate your requests. Thanks again. Peter Driver.
As a small business we depend on the satisfaction of our customers and there word of mouth reference, google reviews are important to our online presence and we sure would appreciate your review. Just head over to this link and give us a quick review.
We have enjoyed something approaching an Indian Summer over the past week, with plenty of bright sunshine and what seemed to me like warm weather, so it was somewhat of a surprise when I checked on Met Eireann to find that temperatures have actually been below normal…? It was a relatively dry week too, with only the southwest of the country seeing any significant rain. We also experienced a fantastic ‘blue moon’ on Tuesday night, and, with the clear skies, anyone who was out on Tuesday evening had a fine spectacle to behold. Full moons mean big spring tides, and we had some of the biggest tides of the year during the week. As anglers know, spring tides get the fish moving around the coastline, and it seems like it was a bumper week for many of our sea anglers…
We start our reports this week up in Donegal, where the Killybegs Mariners had a memorable league outing, as numerous quality fish were landed in one of those evenings where all the angling stars aligned for them. There seemed to be quality fish turning up all over the beach, with numerous painted ray, including a specimen-sized one for Shane Cunningham, which also broke the club record. There were a number of quality bass too, and with a fantastic evening like that, Shane and the Mariners win this week’s Catch of the Week accolade.
New Killybegs Mariners club record 83cm painted ray for Shane Cunningham
South Shore SAC held their yearly festival weekend over the 14th and 15th of September and it was a weekend of two halves, as difficult fishing on the Saturday was followed by some fast and furious fishing on the Sunday. Ciaran Fogarty won Saturday’s event with 12 fish, while Thomas Keogh won out on Sunday with 38 fish, 29 of which were school bass.
The competitive trout anglers were out in force over the past week or so, with a few competitions held at different venues around the country. Beginning on Lough Corrib, 120 anglers from all over Ireland and further afield participated in the East Corrib Alliance Catch & Release competition last Sunday. It was a super day out for all involved, and the top angler on the day was Mick Mellamphy, who managed two cracking trout for 7.53lbs. Competitors fared less well on Loughs Conn & Cullin, as 35 anglers fished the Kieran Lynn Perpetual Cup. They faced difficult conditions, and only seven trout were returned, with Padraig O’Sullivan taking the trophy home for the year. Meanwhile, on Lough Lene, the ITFFA held their second youth qualifier event, and 33 young anglers went head to head to win a place on the youth team. They managed to boat 35 fish, and Jacob Griffin had a great session, with five fish in total, which won him the prize on the day. Meanwhile, Evan McMickan, who caught seven fish over the two competitions, won Youth Angler of the Year. Congrats to both young anglers 👏 👏.
Corrib anglers on the way out, full of hope. Heading under the causeway into Ballynalty Bay
Coarse anglers are also in competition mode at this time of year, wrapping up their busiest match period. The final of the VDE Canal Masters was held at Daingean over the weekend, and it seems the unseasonable sunny weather put the larger fish off the feed, and as a result, bags were on the small side, with Alan Bell coming out on top with 6lb 12oz. Competitors fared better on Lough Muckno, where 19 anglers faced off for the Irish Open Feeder title. The 2-day event saw Darren Fairhurst put in a master class to finish way ahead of the field with 30kg. In the south east, Oaklands Lake hosted the final of the All Ireland Method Feeder Championships over the weekend, where 30 anglers lined the banks to compete for the title. But it was a familiar face who came to the fore, as Steven Whyte topped the standings for the third year in a row.
All lined up at Oaklands
As we are quickly approaching the end of the salmon season, anglers will be hoping that conditions stay in good order on our fisheries. There has been some decent water on the River Moy over the past week, and that seems to have kept the salmon interested, with plenty of anglers catching, and the Foxford area proving to be a hotspot. On Lough Currane and the River Inny, a bit of rain freshened things up on the system, and that brought salmon to the net on both river and lake, where a few sea trout put in an appearance too.
It is set to be another dry day today, with temperatures hitting the low twenties in places. But things are going to change from Saturday as the sunny spells will be mixed in with showers, some of which may be thundery, with temperatures from 16°C to 20°C. Sunday will also see rain moving in from the east, with some heavy, thundery showers in places. The wet weather will have passed by Monday, which looks like being mostly dry, and it will remain that way into Tuesday, before rain arrives again later in the day.
Last weekend saw 19 anglers fish the Black and Yellow Island sections of Lough Muckno for the title of Irish Open Feeder Champion 2024. The competition was fished over two days, and it was a feeder fishing master class for Darren Fairhurst, which saw him bag 30kg to take the title. He was head and shoulders above the rest, as second place went to Piotr Horninski with 17.5kg, just ahead of Johnny McKinley with 17.3kg.
A view of Lough Conn from the northern end of the lake
On Saturday 14th September thirty-five anglers with eighteen boats fished this competition under somewhat difficult conditions and brought back a return of seven trout over the 13-inch measure. The winner with the heaviest fish was Padraig O’ Sullivan and in second place was Michael Noone with the heaviest bag of two fish. Third place went to John O’Connell.
Water levels at Ballylahan fluctuated again this week with a reading of 0.5 m early on Monday morning 9th September rising to 0.86 m on Sunday 15th. Weather-wise, the past seven days sees Connacht having the wettest conditions and most rainfall, with Claremorris recording 21.8 mm of rain.
Moy Fishery
One salmon was caught this week on the Ridge Pool. The fish weighed 3 lbs and was caught on a spinner.
Ballina Salmon Anglers.
A total of twenty-six salmon were reported caught this week, with spinning working best, with the majority weighing between 2 lbs and 5 lbs and the best weight of the week coming in at 7.5 lbs. Saturday was the best day of the week accounting for 12 of the total weeks catch.
Mount Falcon Estate
A total of thirteen salmon were reported caught of which twelve were released. The best weight of the week was 12 lbs.
Knockmore Salmon Anglers
Kenneth reported twelve salmon caught spinning and on the worm, of which six were released. Best fish of the week weighed 10 lbs.
Attymass Angling Club
Kevin reported that twenty-nine salmon were caught this week, mostly using the prawn.
Coolcronan Fishery
Nick reported thirteen salmon caught mostly on the prawn of which ten were released. Best weight of the week was 7.5 lbs
Byrnes Fishery
Roy reported fourteen salmon caught this week. Eleven were caught on the prawn and three spinning with twelve overall being released.
Gannon’s Fishery
Pat reported fourteen salmon caught for the week using all methods, four of which were released.
The Foxford Fishery
Granville reported six salmon caught for the week, four of which were released. The best weight for the week was 6.5 lbs and this fish was caught on the prawn
Reports were received of six salmon caught this week spinning and on the prawn in the Foxford town area.
Foxford Salmon Anglers
Harry Feeney reports that the river remains high but is dropping slowly with more anglers arriving to get in the last cast. Overall, 63 salmon were reported caught for the week with a good number released.
East Mayo Anglers Association
Kathleen reported ten salmon caught for the week with nine released. Best weight for the week was 10.5 lbs and the fish was caught on the fly.
Denis Goulding of the ITFFA reports on the recent your event on Lough Lene:
On the 15th of September, the 2nd I.T.F.F.A Youth Qualifying Heat was held on Lough Lene Collinstown. 33 Young Anglers from the Four Corners of Ireland came to compete on the day. Lough Lene had been fishing well, but the change in wind direction always affects the fishing. At the end of the day, 35 fish were caught, and a credit goes to the anglers who took part in the competition.
After the scores were ratified by Julie Gerry and Jenny Casey. Jacob Griffin Frogs Cic was announced as the winner with a great catch of 5 fish on the day. Jack McGuinness Coosan Anglers was second with 3 fish, and Lewis Porter was third with two fish.
The winner of the Youth Angler of the Year was Evan Mc Mickan, Coosan Anglers; Evan caught 7 fish over the two competitions. Many congratulations on your win.
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I would like to thank all the boatmen that turn up at every youth event and give up their time to support their youths. I would also like to congratulate Matt Campbell, who was the top boatman on the day. Without these individuals, the competition would never have taken place.
We would also like to thank all the parents and guardians for all their help at these events. I would also like to thank Jenny for providing lunch for everyone on the day, some amount and on Julie’s behalf, I would like to thank Jenny for all the help she has given to Julie over the year and for all the work she does within the I.T.F.F.A Youth system. Julie presented Jenny with flowers on the day.
Lastly, I would like to thank Tommy Fagan and the Lough Lene Committee for their help and support and for allowing us to use their facilities. The Irish team travelling to Scotland next year will be announced later.
On a personal note, I would like to thank everyone who has helped us out over the last year. If anyone needs any support getting youth events going or has young anglers wishing to attend and compete in our events, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
The youths are the lifeblood of our support, and without them, our sport would fade away.
With the stillwater season going to be kicking off soon or bank season once the trout season ends make sure you are all stocked up from Piscari-Fly. We have a great range of Flies here in the shop. Selection boxes can be made up to suit your needs, your budget and the location that you will being fishing.
