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Photo ops but not much fishing as Maigue goes dead low

Carl Liljenstolpe fly-fishing the River Maigue at Adare
Carl Liljenstolpe fly-fishing the River Maigue at Adare

Paddy Dunworth of Celtic Angling reports from the Maigue:

Good for photos… diabolical for fly-fishing. It’s gone beyond a joke at this stage with no rain for 3 months. This has made all of my usual beats on non-tidal sections of the Maigue or Deel unfishable. Such is the state of our rivers I’m now offering the opportunity to cancel for those who have booked fishing up to closing date on September 30th.

Adare has one of the farthest inland tidal reaches in Ireland and it has been a Godsend at times of extreme low water when I use the ebbing tide for sessions. It gives us 2-3 hours fishing an ‘artificial’ high level of water which mimics a slowly dropping river, but this is now compounded by the prolific weed growth which leaves limited pacey water for fishing. Weeds such as long thick bunches of Ranunculus are a natural feature of rivers but in periods of long drought the water drops to the weeds on the bottom and I suspect their growth is further encouraged by the sun being able to penetrate to the riverbed.

I’ve noticed crazy changes in weather patterns during the April-September period over the past 10 years, extremes of wet and dry weather, and floods when we would have drought, vice-versa. The South-East are experiencing the same as us here in the Mid-west, whilst the west and anywhere north of Athlone have had record rain levels, such a difference in such a small country must be another record for the climate change statisticians.

Eric, Carl and Mark Liljenstolpe on River Maigue Adare, with Desmond Castle in background.
Eric, Carl and Mark Liljenstolpe on River Maigue Adare, with Desmond Castle in background.

Eight-two years young Carl Liljenstolpe and his sons Eric and Mark from California are probably no strangers to heat and water shortages, they’re touring Ireland BMW-style for 10 days and their driver Martin Moloney delivered them to me at St Nicholas church at Adare yesterday for a short Intro to Fly-fishing session. Trying to divide the limited practical fishing water between 3 is difficult but as it was more about learning to fly-cast it didn’t matter so much with everyone needing to be together. I have some single rods out next week and that’s not so bad as the angler has the beat to themselves.

The Liljenstolpes worked up an appetite if nothing else and enjoyed lunch and guinness at the local Collins pub and eatery before continuing south-west to Dingle; beaten path, usually the other way around and probably related to the fact they flew into Shannon rather than Dublin on Monday – let’s have more of that!

PS Thanks to Niall Cleary and Martin Moloney of https://www.bestofirelandtours.ie

Go Fishing…

Celtic Angling

Address The Commons Ballingarry Adare Limerick Ireland Phone: +353 69 68202 Mobile Phone: +353 87 652 5687 Website: celticangling.com

Blistering takes, robbed blocks, sharks playing fetch and more

Paul with his first blue! Some great fights and blistering takes.
Paul with his first blue! Some great fights and blistering takes.

Jim Clohessy reports on a great small boat fishing trip out from Cork Harbour…

Saturday was a great run out by any standards. While most other places were basking in glorious sunshine Cork was largely grey with a low cloud bordering to fog at times.

Shark were the first target of the mission. Of course fresh bait had to be caught first. Great to see that the mackerel have arrived in the harbour in numbers. There is a lot of very small fish but we did manage to search out some regular sized.

The change to the harbour area is incredible. Birds working, fish breaking some dolphins and reports of tuna offshore. Outside the harbour was no different but the gloomy sky and poor visibility made spotting activity tricky.

We set ourselves on our shark drift by deploying our usual chum block and settled in fishing the bottom while we waited. We didn’t have long to wait. It was a great initiation to the world of shark fishing for Paul– pure chaos ensues as we had a very quick double take.

The Batallion handles this stuff well
The Batallion handles this stuff well

Fighting two sharks at the one time is not the best thing when there are only two of us on board. Worse again Paul’s shark managed to part the mainline while at the side of the boat (more on that later).

We had a steady stream of sharks caught and it was great to see lots of sharks swimming around the boat – Shark fishing as it should be really. No sign of anything other than blues.

At times we had lost of sharks cruising around the boat, chewing the engine and such sharky type messing
At times we had lost of sharks cruising around the boat, chewing the engine and such sharky type messing

It was all going along swimmingly until I had a shark at the side of the boat only to see that it had two traces but only one hooked. The shark was the first shark we had hooked of that session and the hook of my trace had caught the snap swivel of the trace that the shark had swam off with. Unbelievable!

Brought this one on board to clear traces. Quick snap as I was putting her back.
Brought this one on board to clear traces. Quick snap as I was putting her back.

I had to bring this shark on board as it managed to tangle up rightly while at the side of the boat. While I was working on getting the shark free and released, I suddenly realised we had been robbed! Our chum bag had a big hole and the remainder of the chum block was gone! It was almost welcome after the hectic two hours we had put down.

We drifted for whiting at that stage. It was steady but not hectic fishing so I decided to check out a wreck. I had fished it recently enough but there wasn’t so much ling action so I decided to drift the edges for big whiting. I had a tussle with a shark here too. It could well be a blue but I’d like to hope it was a small porgie.

We didn’t get to see though.

On the first drift I had a decent whiting followed by a small ling. The ling coughed up a small mackerel. I decided to put down a mackerel bait on a wrecking trace (Hard To Bait It ….. The Perfect Wreck Fishing Trace!). It was explosive. Non stop ling!

Some super ling fishing on bait. We had whiting to 2.5lbs too!
Some super ling fishing on bait. We had whiting to 2.5lbs too!

It was like “silly season” had fired, you know that time when predators seem to click that the winter is coming and they better bulk up. We had lots of ling to mid-teens and our biggest touched 20lb. Best ling I’ve had in a few years. We were running out of time and tide.

One of our better ling. I’ll look forward to getting back here again.
One of our better ling. I’ll look forward to getting back here again.

It was choppy enough for the spin back to base but we were travelling across the swell so could maintain a comfortable 20 knots, the big Suzuki humming away on the back. We spent a good hour filleting…

Looking dashing in Leech X2’s superb glasses
Looking dashing in Leech X2’s superb glasses

Troy Francis wins Munster Open at Inch

Inch Beach Kerry

IFSA’s Munster Provincial Council report on the Munster Open fished on Inch Beach at the weekend…

Huge congratulations to Troy Francis from Tralee Bay S.A.C. who scooped the Munster title on Inch beach yesterday in scorching conditions. Unfortunately the bright sunshine and calm conditions impacted the quantity of fish but not the quality. Troy finished the day with 16 fish to emerge as a clear winner.

Troy Francis

Troy adds the Munster Open title to the Munster closed that he won recently in Waterford. It’s great to see a form angler heading for the world championships later in the year in Spain.

Mochara Fraher

Junior Munster champion 2024 goes to Mochara Fraher. Representing Clashmore SAC, Mochara picked out the flounders in tight to seal the win.

Results

Overall

1st Troy Francis 16 fish 370pts
2nd Aidan O’Sullivan 12 254pt
3rd David O’Sullivan 11fish 229

Juniors

1st Mochara Fraher 2 fish 52pt

Zone A

1st Brian Reidy Galway Bay 9fish 183pt
2nd Jp Molloy West Cork 6 fish 181pt
3rd Timmy O’Sullivan Galway Bay 3 fish 148pt

Zone B

1st David Kennedy West Cork fish 227pt
2nd Finn Healy Tralee Bay fish 159pt
3rd Fiachra Cronin Tralee Bay 6 fish 129pt

Longest round Timmy O’Sullivan Galway Bay Stingray 88cm (18 -20lb approx)

Longest Flat Troy Francis 29cm Flounder

Congratulations to all the anglers that came along specially the Galway Bay contingent that made the trip down. In total 40 anglers fished on the day.

Landing a fish at Inch Beach

Ronan Minogue wins 9th round of Sensas Summer league at Oaklands

oaklands new pegs

John Browne reports on the 9th match of Oakland’s summer league which was fished on Sunday…

Good weights all over today for the 9th round of the Sensas Summer league at Oaklands.
Mr consistent Ronan Minogue winning on the day bagging 79.150 kg.

A close 2nd behind him was Matija Ivkov netting 74.360 kg. And not far behind him in third was Kieran Reeves with 69.680kg.

Big thanks to all the lads great turnout today. Final round Sunday September 22nd.

Today’s Results

1st Ronan Minogue 79.150 kg
2nd Matija Ivkov 74.190 kg
3rd Kieran Reeves 69.680kg

Section A

Ivylo Benov 64.350 kg

Section B

Adrian Browne 42.360 kg

Go fishing…

Oaklands Fishery

Address Marsh Meadow New Ross Wexford Ireland Phone: +353 51 445348 Mobile Phone: +353 87 6988979 Mobile Phone: +353 87 781 1042 Website: oaklandslake.com

Calm seas and clear skies for Newport SAC Teams Competition 2024

Newport SAC hosted their final competition of the season on Saturday, September 7th. This was a teams event which meant that the total number of fish caught by each of the 4 team members were combined together to calculate the overall winners.

The long awaited summer weather finally arrived on Saturday morning and allowed the anglers to mingle on the quayside over a cup of tea before boarding the boats to head out on to the beautiful, calm seas of Clew Bay.

In clear, blue skies and little or no swell, the boats vied for position around the bay, with some opting to move during the designated fishing times to try to gain a better advantage over the others. Lines were up at the designated time of 4.30pm and all boats returned to Newport Quay, where team members met to discuss their respective catches.

The prize presentation took place in the Grainne Uaille (as they were winners of last year’s local shield) and they also sponsored some hot food for the hungry anglers during the presentation). When all scores were tallied up, the winning team ended up 75 points clear of their nearest rivals but the contest for the 2nd and 3rd places was a much tighter affair as the teams were only separated by 4 fish / 20 points.

The winning team trophy was presented by committee member Shane Gilvarry on behalf of J Coffey Construction to ‘The Village Inn’ winning team members Peter Coyne, Padraig Munnelly, Peter McKeown & Paul Murphy. Each member received €100 in prize money as well as an NSAC plaque and winning trophy.

The Village Inn Team were the overall winners of the J.Coffey sponsored Teams competition. The team members were presented with their prizes by Shane Gilvarry Newport SAC on behalf of the main sponsor J.Coffey construction). From left Paul Murphy, Peter Coyne, Shane Gilvarry NSAC, & Padraig Munnelly.

Peter Coyne also claimed the Individual winners trophy following his haul of 30 fish and 180 points. Jason Moran took home the largest fish prize for his 40″ Conger Eel.

As this was the final event of the year, Declan Moran was presented with the league cup as this years club Master Angler.

Declan Moran was the Newport SAC Master Angler for the 2024 season seen here receiving his prize from committee member Shane Gilvarry.

The club also honoured Club President Pat Moran who was presented with an award for his dedication and support to the club for over 60 years. Pat also became the oldest club member to fish in a Newport SAC competition at 86 years young!

The club would like to thank J.Coffey Construction who sponsored the main trophy, Harry & Liz from the Grainne Uaille for sponsoring the food during the presentation, Inland Fisheries Ireland for their continued support and our thanks also to OK Trophies Castlebar for sponsoring the 3rd place Team prizes.

The results are as follows:

Winning Team – Team B (Village Inn)     —     (Total Fish 49 & Total Points 345)

Peter Coyne (30 Fish & 180 Points), Padraig Munnelly (10 Fish & 80 Points), Peter McKeown (9 Fish & 85 Points),  Paul Murphy (0 Fish & 0 Points),

Runner-Up Team – Team C (J. Coffey)     —     (Total Fish 38 & Total Points 270)

Mary Pavey (14 Fish & 110 Points), Eoin Kirby (11 Fish & 75 Points), Sean Kilroy (12 Fish & 60 Points), Jason Moran (1 Fish & 25 Points)

3rd Place Team – Team F (Abbvie)     —     (Total Fish 32 & Total Points 250)

Ed Kirby (12 Fish & 110 Points), Dave Fearson (9 Fish & 65 Points), Paul Ruddy (9 Fish & 65 Points), Padraic Ketterick (2 Fish & 10 Points),

4th Place Team – Team D (Gilvarry’s)     —     (Total Fish 27 & Total Points 185) 

Shane Gilvarry (5 Fish & 25 Points), Joe McManamon (7 Fish & 55 Points), Danny Murphy (9 Fish & 75 Points), Ciaran McGowan (6 Fish & 30 Points)

5th Place Team – Team A (Grainne Uaile)     —     (Total Fish 22 & Total Points 170)

David Moran (8 Fish & 70 Points), Declan Moran (1 Fish & 5 Points), Pat Moran (9 Fish & 75 Points), Thomas Moran (4 Fish & 20 Points)

6th Place Team – Team G (Brodericks)     —     (Total Fish 25 & Total Points 125)

Clodagh Moran (10 Fish & 50 Points), Eoghan Ketterick (10 Fish & 50 Points), Aaron Ketterick (3 Fish & 15 Points), Roisin Moran (2 Fish & 10 Points)

7th Place Team – Team E (Westport House)     —     (Total Fish 13 & Total Points 115)

Sean Fahy (4 Fish & 50 Points), Mick Moran (9 Fish & 65 Points), Francis O’Toole (0 Fish & 0 Points), Robert Healy (Did not fish)

Local Shield:  The local shield was won by the Grainne Uaille TEAM A – This ensures that next year’s presentation will once again take place in the Grainne Uaille.

The Grainne Uaille Team were the local shield winners on the day. Team members from left Declan Moran, Pat Moran, David Moran & Thomas Moran. were presented with their prizes by Shane Gilvarry.

Overall Individual Winner:  Peter Coyne (Total Fish 30 & Total Points 180)

Largest Fish: Caught by Jason Moran (Conger – 40″)

Club Master Angler 2024: Declan Moran.

Skipper of the Day:  Darragh Magee who skippered Mo Chara.

Sea Fishing in Clew Bay

Nore quiet, tough conditions on Corrib – PiscariFly update

Peter Driver of Piscari Fly is back with his weekly roundup of the fishing scene on the Nore and beyond:

How’s the Fishing

Lough Corrib

Over the weekend the T.A.F.I. All Ireland Lake Championships were held on the mighty Lough Corrib out of Oughterard Pier. Mark was up on Friday for some practice before hand with our friend Roger. They had some good fishing in very bright & hot conditions. Saturday, then was the day for the Championships. 50 anglers on 25 boats headed out from Oughterard pier fishing from 11am to 6pm. Over the 7 hour fishing session, conditions started off well with nice wind and cloudy conditions for pulling & dries. Some fish were met pulling before the sun got high and burnt away the hazy sky. Winds dropped and things became hot out on the water with very bright sunshine. Less fish showing themselves at times. Some cloud cover came in afternoon for approx 1.5 hrs providing some nice dry ripple winds, cover from the sun and a hatch to come on with a good rise of fish coming on. Dries proved to be the best method for the weekend with small dark sedges proving best on long leaders.

Congratulations to this years All-Ireland Champion Shane Callen with 3 fish, followed closely behind by another Leinster angler Eddie Rowe from Wicklow with 3 fish. In 3rd was Hubert Smith also from Dundalk Anglers fllowed by Fergal Cormican with 2 fish. A tough day for many with only 28 fish caught by 17 anglers out of the 50 anglers competing. But as always Corrib is a beautiful lake to have the joy of being out on with its beautiful islands, vast hills in the distance and the stunning trout it holds below the surface.

 

The River Nore

So not much update on the Nore, fishing has gone back to being a bit patchy. The drop of fresh water has gone out of the river now and so its low again with lots of weed. Hopefully we can get a wash out before the end of the season which is fast approaching at the end of the month and get few good days on the river before it all shuts down at the end of the month. It’s been slow all week with the evening rise basically finished now and not much activity at daytime at the moment. Hopefully some rain comes soon for a few good weeks fishing to end the season.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or queries. We have permits in store for the Nore.


Piscari Travels

The final big International Championship is coming up, The 5 Nations, will take place in France on the 15th to 20th September. Established in 2014, The 5 Nations Fly Fishing Championship (5NFFC) was formed to enable multiple teams from the UK and Europe to compete and gain experience in a FIPS-Mouche style format over boat, bank and river disciplines. The venues are River Isère (River sector), Lac de Tignes (2 Lake sectors) & Lac Méribel (Lake sector).

Our very own Mark Driver is captain of one of the teams, so best of luck to Mark and his team which consists of Mark Driver, Campbell Baird, Shane Callen and Rodger Fowler. There will be daily updates, interviews and videos posted on Piscari-Fly Club. Mark will come on every evening with some updates i.e. pictures, videos of the sessions and things like that. so make sure you tune into our club to follow the teams journey through the 5 nations. Wish them and the other Team Ireland the best of luck and looking forward to hearing all about it.

Click here to register or login https://club.piscari-fly.com/


Tackle Talk

Mivardi Net Handles. These handles are highly sought after and won’t last long so make sure to get yours.https://piscari-fly.com/collections/mivardi-net-handle/


What’s coming

The launch of the Irish Spring Angling Fair 2025 is in October. Peter Driver, Tom Doc Sullivan and Jimmy Tyrell will be tying at the event down in Ardaire Springs, Mooncoin, Co Kilkenny. Make sure you come along on the day and check it out. Sunday October 20th from 10am. There will also be casting clinics with Jason O’Riordan and Maurice Cahill.


About us

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.

Thanks for the support its greatly appreciated

Peter Driver.

Piscari-Fly, Woolengrange, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, R95 Y860, Ireland, 0879787040

Jack Reidy wins World Youth Lough Open on Melvin

The Rossinver Fishey Syndicate and Foyle River-catchment Outdoor Group (FROGs) jointly organised the World Youth Lough Open competition on Sunday, September 8th, on Lough Melvin. The competition was fished by 42 young anglers and they were ably assisted by 24 of Ireland’s most experienced anglers who acted as boatmen/women for the day.

Full house on Melvin

It was 15-year-old Jack Reidy, from Loughrea in Galway, who won the event with a total of 7 fish, including a monster trout of 78cm – estimated at over 9lbs – which was released along with all of the fish landed on the day. Jack is one of the Irish youth team members who recently won gold in this year’s international at Grafham Reservoir, so it’s been a busy summer for him! Fintan Carlin (current Irish Youth Captain) was runner up and winner of the 16 – 22 age group with 6 fish, and young Erin McCloskey aged 11 who won the Ladies title.

Fish of a lifetime for Jack

The winning prize was jointly sponsored and presented by Rossinver Fishery and Garrison & Lough Melvin Anglers (GLMA) and was presented to Jack by Philip Rooney (RF) and Terry McGovern (GLMA).

Fifty three trout were caught and released by the participating anglers, with individual prizes awarded to winners in various categories. Sharpes of Aberdeen were the lead sponsor of the event, and the organisers managed to pull together over €7,000 in prizes and support. Such was the scale of the event that over 150 angling folk were in attendance at the presentation BBQ! IFI were proud to provide a boat and crew to assist and support the competition boats on the water.

LOUGH MELVIN

IFI launches new national €250k scheme for accessible angling

go fishing fund
  • IFI Go Fishing Fund part of Government’s Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan 2024

Inland Fisheries Ireland(IFI) is seeking applications to a new €250k fund enabling those who are disabled or disadvantaged to enjoy fishing and related activities.

IFI’s Go Fishing Fund 2024 will provide angling supports to people with a disability or restricted mobility, or people facing social, economic, or educational barriers.

Applications for the scheme can be submitted via IFI’s dedicated portal from today until November 7th, 2024.

Barry Fox Deputy CEO of IFI commented: “IFI’s Go Fishing Fund 2024 will play a key role in empowering people to take up angling on Ireland’s many rivers and lakes – regardless of background or ability.

“This new investment will provide opportunities to experience recreational fishing and the natural environment. It allows people to pursue personal growth, education, or social inclusion by taking up angling-related leisure activities.”

Grants of between €2,000 and €5,000 will be allocated in the new initiative for fishing facilities, equipment, events, and biodiversity awareness outreach.

Eligible projects are being sought from not-for-profit organisations or registered charities delivering services to disadvantaged or disabled communities/persons.

Such organisations may collaborate with educational institutions, angling clubs, or federations to deliver fishing or related educational activities.

Applications can be made for fishing activities, and the purchase of fishing and/or related safety equipment.

They can also be made for the delivery of educational programmes concerning environmental stewardship, water safety, careful handling and release of fish, and vulnerable fish habitats.

The €250k expenditure is part of a suite of measures included in the State’s Dormant Accounts Fund Action Plan 2024 involving 11 Government departments – including IFI’s parent department, the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

The Dormant Accounts Fund provides a framework for the administration of unclaimed accounts in credit institutions such as banks, building societies and An Post, and unclaimed life assurance policies in insurance undertakings.

Apply for IFI’s Go Fishing Fund here

Great week for Belturbet Autumn Festival

This report in from the organisers of the weekend’s Belturbet Autumn Festival 2024: 

Well that’s a wrap for another year, as forty four anglers fished hard on venues around the Belturbet area over five days of competition. Massive congrats to Belturbet angler Roger Baker on finishing in 1st place, with some of the biggest weights across any festival in Ireland. Venues fished during the week included Killygowen, Town Lake, Eonish, Deravona and Killykeen/Derries and every venue produced the goods – with some exceptional weights, like the 59kg/130lb haul for Baker on Day four from Killygowen which put him in first position. Michael Buchwalder’s strong performance on day five saw him close the gap, but when the claxon sounded he was just over 2kg shy of pole position, with Baker’s 3500g getting him over the line in first.

As always our main sponsor The Castle Sports & Gastro Bar Belturbet put on an amazing show for us all week, the craic in the pub every evening was great it was like being back in the old days. The night of the presentation was unbelievable, with the lads up singing karaoke going on till the early hours. Massive thanks to Ray and all the staff for their top notch service as always.

This year we were delighted to have MAP Fishing came on board to sponsor us. With world champ Michael Buchwalder representing them, he fished amazing all week showing everyone how suited to Ireland the map tackle is and just falling short of the top spot himself.

Irish Bait and Tackle Limited massive thanks to Sarah McPartland and all the lads at the bait farm – they had a real tough time leading into the festival as most of you know, but worked literally through the night to make sure everyone had enough bait. Great to have the only Irish made bait on our door step and so willing to help us out

Inland Fisheries Ireland – great assistance from the IFI lads again, helping out with pegs and providing other forms of support to help us run this event successfully.

This is Cavan – great to also be working with Cavan tourism. We do pride our selves on showcasing what Cavan fishing can really be like.

Maura Hughes Church View B&B who isn’t keeping anglers at the minute but has continued to sponsoring top overseas angler.

Thanks to Cazalan B&B, a lot of our anglers stayed with them and all say how well they get looked after and we would highly recommend anyone coming to the area for fishing or pleasure to give them a shout.

Final scores

BELTURBET

 

Impressive weights from young anglers at NCFFI Youth Team Qualifiers

The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland report on the recently held Youth Team Qualifiers:

What can we say, all credit to Team Ireland Youth Manager Adrian Browne for bringing through this group of talented young anglers all coming together for the first time keen for a spot on the world stage.

Most of our young anglers aspiring to fish the World Championships in Spain next year joined us at Gaulmoylestown AC Carp Match Ireland yesterday to display their match fishing expertise. Two 3-hour competitions were fished in accordance with FIPSed rules and with bait limits at play.

Well done to John Mulligan and Conor Fitzharris for winning the matches overall. Weights were close and it’s a very well done to each and every one of these dedicated individuals some who had travelled many miles to take part.

Final scores

Adrian will review the performances of yesterday along with all criteria in accordance with protocol with a view to proposing his team in the coming days. The selection protocol can be viewed here https://www.ncffi.ie/teamireland/

A big thanks to Dave & Louise at Gaulmoylestown Lake, a superb facility ideal for bringing on the talent of young anglers and to Irish Bait and Tackle Limited for sponsoring the maggots. Plus to Jack Tisdall, James O’Doherty and Mary Tigwell for their support. Lastly to all the parents for supporting these young anglers’ commitment to angling sport.