Anthony releasing his blue shark. This fish was a bit camera shy, but it still wins him Catch of the Week
Charter skipper Mark Gannon reports from Courtmacsherry where the first blue shark of the year was caught last week…
The fishing the last week has been good with both the inshore, offshore and Estuary producing some great sport for Anglers from Ireland, England, France, Belgium, Holland, Lithuania and Poland. Offshore the inshore wrecks producing lots of Ling, Haddock and Whiting to near Specimen weight, conger to mid 30s, pollack to 11lbs and medium sized Coalfish.
Marcel with a 8kg Cod.Near Specimen Ling for Isi on light tackle
Several sharks lurking in the wreck were attacking the fish on the way up and Ronnie de Sobre from Belgium had a great fight on light spinning gear with a blue aprox weight 60lbs while retrieving a Pollack from the wreck. The Blue broke the trace beside the boat but what a fight!
On the reefs plenty Pollack, good size Cod were taken with the best method baited Perks. The heaviest was taken by Marcel Wuyts on a flowing trace on a deepwater reef. Plenty of conger up to the 25lb mark were also landed.
Anthony releasing his blue shark. This fish was a bit camera shy, but it still wins him Catch of the Week
On the day we devoted to sharking the weather conditions were difficult but we managed 5 runs with 2 tagged. The heaviest a fish just over 2m for Anthony Hislop.
The self drives had good Pollack fishing with fish over 10lbs encountered and drifting for thornbacks produced fish to 9lbs,with good dabs as well. In the estuaries of Courtmacsherry and Clonakilty Bass were being caught on sandeel and lures. The heaviest I heard of was a fish of 6.5lbs, though there were lots of schoolies at the Woodpoint landed on spinners and lures. Mark Gannon Lady Patricia and Lady Louise Base: Courtmacsherry Operational Area: 30 miles out from Courtmacsherry Address: Woodpoint Guest House, Courtmacsherry, Co. Cork. Telephone: +353 (0)23 8846427 or +353 (0)86 8250905 Email:csal@iol.ieWeb:www.courtmacsherryangling.ie
Last weeks hopes for the Liffey to return to more ‘normal’ levels have been dashed by floods of almost Biblical proportions. The weather forecast is hopeful that next week should be drier. If this comes to pass then water levels should recede slowly – hopefully providing some nymph fishing (Hairs ears and flashback PTN’s work well as always) as water levels drop. If levels return to normal levels then my favourite – sedge fishing in the evenings could be excellent so fingers crossed.
The Rye Water as previously mentioned is in fine fettle. It is less affected by flash floods or high rainfall and although it is a little higher than normal it is providing some excellent sport for anyone venturing out with a nymph. Small Copper Johns as well as the usual suspects – Hairs ear and PTN work well.
However some magnificent fish have been spotted on the estate (unfortunately in very tricky lies). These fish are in the 3lb + range and probably would be best covered by letting a Sedge drift or drag over them from an upstream position.
The Sheet Water is completely unaffected by the recent rainfall and the Brownies (undistinguishable from wild fish) are in superb condition. The Rainbows appear to be very strong at present and fishing them with a relatively light set up – say a 4 or 5 wt provides some super sport – being brought down to or close to backing is commonplace.
While the weather forecast for the next two days is pretty gloomy, next week shows signs of improvement. It’s a big if but IF this happens then the fishing (especially on the Liffey) should improve and targeting large fish with spent patterns could certainly enter the equation.
Carton House Fishery,
Maynooth,
Co. Kildare
Ireland
Neil from Baitdigger’s Blog gives us an insight into fishing in Co Clare. With over 40 years experience, there’s no better man! Here Neil catches a pb shore caught tope that bottomed out his 40lb scales. He has no idea what it weighed but people have estimated it was between 45-50lb: –
Another June day goes past. Weather and tides looked favourable so to start the day I needed a bucket of mackerel. They were not giving themselves up but I had more than enough for the day within a hour, which left me to decide what I could do for the next few hours until I was able to get to the tope mark. I found a big set of coloured feathers on the rocks so I set about shortening them to a more manageable length. Close to the reef on the retrieve a good whack and a bit of a fight produced a nice pollack of around two pounds, which is one of the largest I have seen from this mark.It was incredibly lucky I dont rate pollack as tope bait and he went straight back. There are lots of about a pound but they seldom get to grow any bigger. It had taken the yellow feather half way up the string.
Summer in Clare....eh...I don't think so !
I had brought my bass rod so I had a wander around the rocks for the next few hours looking at marks that I had been to before but never taken much notice of because they appeared too shallow or too difficult to fish. The colour was beginning to fine down but not enough for me to entice a bass from the surface or with the SP’s. It did look very promising for the future.
Time was ticking by and I was ready for the main event. After the last session I could feel a few scuffs in the line when reeling in so I re-spooled with 30lb suffix tritanium. Just to get it to bed nicely I had three or four casts with a plain lead. I am glad I did that now.
Two hours still to go to low water and I was struggling to hold bottom and picking up clumps of fine weed.The rod started to nod a little I was not sure whether it was a dog, weed or just failure to settle so I struck anyway as the bait had drifted out of the area I wanted it in. Among the clump of weed there was a small dog or even a huss. I couldn’t be sure either way. It was very dark, appeared to have small nasal flaps and had fairly well defined teeth.
As the tide ebb away it became easier for me to get a big bait to stay roughly where I wanted it but nothing was happening……. other than a rather annoying little tapping bite which was showing clearly on the big rod now the rip had calmed. I let it go a while while I prepared the next tail section bait on the 8/0 hook.
It was not what happened next but the manner in which it happened that shocked me so much. I picked up the big Conoflex, knocked of the ratchet and wound down the drag, striking out of habit to get the lead out of the weed. I knew something was amiss when the line started hissing and I managed to knock round the drag before the strain got too much, something was on, it wasn’t a dogfish and it was emptying my spool at an alarming rate. I knew what it was I just hadn’t expected it quite then, and I knew it was big. It wasn’t a series of blistering runs just one long charge out to sea with me thumbing the spool as it continued to empty. I was following the fish down the mark and by now I was around one hundred and fifty yards from where I started and up to my waste in my waders. I could see the gold of the spool and knew I had to start making some ground. But it just didn’t happen, although I had increased the tension in the drag the fish just hung out there happy to sit in the flow. My arms, back and thighs were screaming for a rest but all I could do is lean back and let the rod wear down the fish which just seemed to be waiting.
It seemed to change tact and turned inland which allowed me to gain on it a good amount at first but then it just stopped again and I had to pump every yard of line. I could feel it tiring and got my first glimpse of it as it broke the surface around eighty yards out.
It had now been around forty minutes since I hooked it and although I definitely had the upper-hand the loss of the last big fish weighed heavily in my mind. It was now in the shallows and the temptation to run in and grab it became almost too much. It was easily the biggest fish I have seen landed. Once I had drawn it into the shallows enough that it couldn’t get back out I grabbed my weighing sling, soaked it with water and got the fish into it.
I have absolutely no idea what it weighed as it easily bottomed out my forty pound scales so all I can claim is forty plus!!!!!
Sorry the pictures are not up to much, they do the fish very little justice again but try getting a fish over five feet long to behave while you do a self-portrait on the timer. I think my facial expression says it all !
Look at the length of the pectoral fins!!
That rod is a Conoflex Nemisis SLR plus fourteen foot. At home I measured where the fish came to and it was between five feet three and five feet six long, definitely a personal best which I struggled with in every way, from the moment I hooked it to the moment of release. I am not a Tope expert but I think it was a big female that had already pupped out. I cannot begin to imagine what she weighed a month ago.
Owenea Fishery report by Lindsey Clarke– Monday 18th to Sunday 24th June 2012.
Water levels this week were only fair to low (despite everywhere being inundated with rain!). The highest water level occurred on Tuesday which saw the river rise to reach 0.20 metres on the gauge. The gauge average for the week was somewhat disappointing reading 0.14 metres. As such, the fishery was not particularly well attended with only 13 visiting rods fishing for the week. Despite the lowish water and low attendance, there were a number of fresh salmon reported and it seems there are good numbers of salmon running the river. On Friday, Billy Blair recorded a 5lb grilse caught on a fly from beat 8.
On Saturday, Alan Watson logged a 9lb salmon caught on a fly from beat 8. Maurice Kennedy reported 2 fish caught and a better fish lost at the net. The fish weighed 3 & 8lb and were caught on a spinner from beat 8. Alan Mooney also recorded 2 salmon weighing 6½ & 9½lb caught on a fly from beat 9. On Sunday, George Friel registered a 7lb salmon caught on a fly from beat 8 and James Forster reported a 6lb salmon caught on the fly from beat 8.
The forecast for the coming week is for rain at times and hopefully this will be heavy enough to give us some nice floods. If so, prospects look very good 🙂
For info/bookings etc on the Owenea Fishery –
Tel: 074 9551141. (9am to 1pm April to May & 7am to 1pm June to Sept).
LOUGH MELVIN report by Lindsey Clarke– Monday 18th to Sunday 24th June 2012.
The Lough fished well again for salmon this week with the good run of grilse continuing. There were at least 15 salmon reported with a couple of boats accounting for the fish for the day. The trout fishing was variable as were the winds which varied from flat calms to gale force winds. The hatch of mayfly was fair and there were good catches of sonaghan reported on occasions though overall, it seems the fishing was hard going at times.
LINDSEY CLARKE REPORTS ON THE RIVER DROWES – Monday 18th to Sunday 24th June 2012.
The Drowes continued to fish well this week with some 50 salmon being caught. Water levels remained good all week dropping from around 0.68 to 0.6 metres by Sunday. The fishery was well attended and this is reflected in the catch register. Given here is a selection of the catches. On Monday, Paul McCausland recorded 3 salmon weighing 4, 5 & 5lb caught on a spinner returning 2 of these. Seanie Carty logged 2 grilse weighing 5lb each caught on a spinner. On Wednesday, John Roy reported a 10lb salmon caught on a fly from the Crooked Hole. On Thursday, Mark Sandford registered a 6lb grilse caught on a fly from the Corry. Mervin Bell recorded a 5lb grilse caught on a fly from the Crooked Hole and Adrian McGrane accounted for 2 salmon caught on a fly.
On Saturday, Sean McCloskey logged 2 grilse weighing 5 & 6lb caught on a fly from the Mill Pool. Kieran Connors reported a 10lb salmon caught on a fly from Scot’s Corner. John Fox & Gerard Lopez Betencourt both registered a 4lb grilse caught and Eamon Little accounted for a 6lb grilse caught on a fly from the Washstones.
John Roy with his 10lb Salmon June 2012
On Sunday, Jim Atkinson recorded grilse of 3½ & 5lb caught on a fly from Briney’s. Stuart Morgan logged a 4lb grilse caught on prawn from Lennox’s. Marty King reported 3 salmon weighing 8, 4½ & 5½lb caught on prawn from The Grazings & the Money Hole. Stephen Hoper registered a 5lb grilse caught on prawn from the Money Hole and John Walters Phil Fuller recorded 9 salmon caught between them on prawn (with 5 released) weighing from 4 to 8lb on prawn from The Island Pool & the Blackwater.
There is rain forecast for the coming week and with good run of grilse at present, prospects look very good for the coming week.
A tope session south of red bay was the order of the day for Hamish Currie on Predator II and they were not disappointed with numbers, but size was smaller than expected as many specimen size tope have come from this ground over recent years. So as Hamish says “Better small than none at all”.
They will continue hunting this piece of ground till either he or the Dutch lads decide what to hunt next. Whether its back to basics – spurs, congers and skate or maybe something else. Time will tell !
Wednesday June 27th: We have already recorded the Best June Total for the last seven years. 65 fish to 13lb. have been caught for a mere 94 rod days to yesterday which is remarkable. Of these, 12 were double figure fish & 34 were over 7lb., a far cry from the small grilse that we always used to catch in June before the drift nets were banned.
There were 70 fish caught in 2005, but this total is set to be broken very soon.
There is already one fish of 9lb. reported this morning on fly from the upper river. It was taken on Curry’s Red on floating line as the water temp is. 14C this morning.
Thursday June 28th: Below is the Blackwater @ 07.30 in the morning at Ballyduff Bridge. Better call it the Brownwater! Chocolate, full of debris & rising fast.
Blackwater flood at 7.30am on 28.06.12
This is the scene most of you will be familiar with from my Fishing Report page, but we don’t see it like this very often in June! 1.70m and rising fast.
The river at Killavullen is rising at one foot per hour at 08.00. It’s already up 1.7 metres.
Dusk at the Clongee Fishery, visiting French angler Beatrice Valaize, proudly displays her catch, a fine 10lbs caught on a spinner.
High water levels on the lower fisheries have continued to hamper angling, in particular, on the Moy Fishery. Arnaud Van Der Hove, Belgium, was among the few to fish the Ridge Pool last week, he landed two grilse while spinning. Angling on the rest of the river has been excellent, with well over 500 salmon reported for the week once again. The Ballina Salmon Anglers water produced almost 50 salmon and at Mount Falcon, Philippe Kerbrat, France was among those to have success, accounting for three salmon during his stay.
Dusk at the Clongee Fishery, visiting French angler Beatrice Valaize, proudly displays her catch, a fine 10lbs caught on a spinner.
Knockmore, Attymass, Armstrong’s and Gannon’s all yielded good numbers of fish, as did the Foxford Fishery. At Armstrong’s, Pat Gorman, Co. Offaly landed a fine fish of 14lbs on the worm, while Emily Braun, Germany, also enjoyed her visit, taking three salmon also on worm. Geoff Wilies was among those to enjoy good fishing at Gannon’s, taking an 8lbs fish on spinner. At the Foxford Fishery, Mick Tooman, N.Ireland, caught one of the 22 salmon the fishery had for the week, weighing 11lbs and was caught on worm.
Rinanney also enjoyed great fishing, producing well over 60 salmon, as did the Foxford Salmon Anglers’ water. At Rinanney, Gilbert Le Coq, France had one of 10lbs while Ian Grimley, U.K. had one of 11.5lbs, also on worm. Further upstream, the Cloongee Fishery had 46 salmon, where Beatrice Valaize, France, had one of 10lbs while spinning, Stephen Brennan, Co. Dublin, caught one of 9lbs and Francis Higginbotham, N.Ireland, had one of 8lbs.
At the East Mayo waters’, 68 salmon were reported, many of those caught on the fly. Paul McGrath, Swinford, had one of 11lbs to fly while visiting angler Angelilli Frances, Switzerland, had one of 5lbs also on fly. The worm proved successful for other visiting anglers, with Christian Bardet, France, capturing two of 10lbs and 4lbs and Tod Helmlit, Austria, landing one of 7lbs. At the Ballintemple Fishery, Paddy McLoughlin, Dublin, landed one of 4.5lbs on the fly.
The lake has continued to fish well, with many anglers enjoying good sport on the water. Despite three days at the end of the week being unfishable due to high winds, many salmon were caught earlier in the week. Brian Hamrock and S.Kelly accounted for two salmon, while Jack Spratt, Co. Fermanagh, had four over two days. John Long and Martin Wood boated one fish each, as did Sean McQuaid and Peter Sexton. Vincent Rigney and John Campbell had two each, as did Eamon and Paul Gibney, Brian McAnerny, Paul Jeating and Russel Simmons. Once again the Green Peter has been a very successful fly, as has thee Black Dabbler and Clan Chief.
