Donal Connolly of Nonaim Lodge Angling & Accommodation had a great day out on the Corrib with Chilean Visitor Gabriel Orellana from Patagonia region of Chile – a fantastic fishing area for fishing in Chile. They had a great day fly fishing for an Atlantic Salmon, Gabriel was very unlucky as he moved 3 salmon but they failed to hook up. They did however finish with 4 trout – not bad for what is often regarded as a slow time for trout fly fishing. Gabriel enjoyed the beauty of the Corrib and when a couple of Salmon launched out of the water 2 metres from the boat in quick succession he was delighted. Donal hopes to meet and fish with Gabriel again here on Corrib and one day get to Patagonia for some fishing!
After completing one of Delphi’s Flyfishing Courses in July 2008 with Peter O’Reilly one of Ireland’s foremost flyfishing tutors, Pat Cassidy finally managed to land his first ever salmon. Ten minutes later he then managed to land his second. Both fish were taken on Finlough on a Delphi Collie. The fish were both sea liced and weighed in at 5lbs8ozs and 7lbs8oz. Pat’s fishing partner was his brother in law Cian Murtagh who I’m afraid was a mere spectator on the day as Pat took all the glory.
Pat Cassidy with his two sea liced fish weighing in at 5lbs 8ozs and 7lbs 8oz.
Besides these two extremely expensive and long awaited fish we have had 14 others since my last update.
Delphi regular Alan Dunlop had a fine 9lbs1oz fish off Finlough on Monday afternoon. The fish was taken on a Silver Stoat.
On Tuesday we had 4. Thomas Ahlers had a sea liced grilse of 4lbs9ozs from the Waterfall pool on a Collie Dog. Chris Flanagan had a fresh grilse of approx. 2lbs8ozs from the Schoolhouse on a Collie Dog. Jim Jackson and Alan Dunlop had one each off Doolough weighing in at 10lbs and 6lbs respectively.
Thomas Ahlers
Wednesday there were 2 fish landed, both off Finlough. Alan Dunlop had a fresh fish of 11lbs on a Collie Dog and John Somerville had one of 8lbs15ozs on a Delphi Collie.
On Thursday we had 2 fish, one off Doolough of approx. 8lbs taken by David Heweston Brown and the second off Fin taken by Alan Dunlop on a Collie Dog and weighing in at approx. 5lbs.
Yesterday after some heavy rain the previous night 27.4mm and difficult fishing conditions with high water we landed 5, all of which were sea liced.
David Heweston Brown had one in the morning off Finlough of 3lbs8.5ozs on a Collie Dog. In the afternoon Pat Cassidy had his 2 off Fin and Peter Eaton had 1 of 3lbs2ozs on a Green Highlander. Rocky Moran managed to land a fish on the Deadman’s of 6lbs10ozs on a Willie Gunn.
So far this morning we have landed 2. Garret Byrne had one off Finlough of approx. 5lbs on a Cascade and David Dunne had one off the Rock pool of 5lbs15.5ozs on a Willie Gunn.
With the river at 50 and fresh fish running the outlook for the next few days looks good. (God I better shut up now or I’ll sound like a weather man.)
The journey from the edge of the deep water of the continental shelf to the Irish coast was just too much for one giant box crab. The crustacean died last Friday in the National Aquarium in Galway, days after he was caught by an Inishturk fisherman.
The rare giant box crab was hauled up in the nets of fisherman Michael O’Toole last Tuesday afternoon a mile off the stags of Inishbofin in approximately 70 metres of water. The species, rarely caught in Irish waters, normally lives in the great depths of the continental shelf, around 3,000 metres beneath the surface.
The ‘monster from the deep’ was taken to the National Aquarium in Salthill in Galway. However, it was unfortunately found dead in its tank on Friday morning.
Kevin O’Hara, Manager of the National Aquarium told The Mayo News that while they are not sure why the crab died, they believe that it may have been the stress of the journey from its natural habitat…….Mayo News……12/06/12…..read full article…
Speaking on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, Galway County Councillor Seosamh Ó Laoi said the increase in the seal population was responsible for a steep decline in inshore fish catches.
Mr Ó Laoi referred to past practice where fishermen carried guns in their boats, and “kept the place clean.”
He said that a cull was necessary and that it had to be carried out urgently…..RTE News….13/06/12…..read full article…
MARINE WILDLIFE – The video shows the moment when an angling boat was surrounded by a pod of killer whales at the mouth of Lough Swilly in Co Donegal.(see Link below for video)
Sea angler Kevin Doherty, whose boat was treated to the spectacle, told UTV News: “We knew ourselves at that moment we were going to witness something special.”
June 16th: The day was almost a complete carbon copy of last year’s comp in terms of weather and fishing. On the weather front there had been a gale the previous day but winds were from the northern quadrant and it was hoped, with winds off the land, that this would flatten the seas a bit and so it transpired! The seas were virtually flat calm which allowed some of the boats to venture as far as the Ling Rocks. It actually turned out to be a beautiful summer’s day with the sun coming out and many of the anglers, on return, sporting a bright red complexion!
On the fishing front those boats that ventured to the Ling Rocks fared a bit better, in general. Mind you the winner, Pat Condon, on-board his own boat, Osprey II, opted to stay in a bit closer and did quite well on the Smiths.
Cobh Fishing
Alan Kennedy, skippering the Lagosta II, was one of those who opted for the Ling Rocks. He had a motley crew on-board that included Anthony Austin, Martin Perryman, Pat O’Shea, and Tina Kneeshaw. Competition here was going to be tight…and so it turned out to be. Fishing at times was hectic with Alan firstly fishing the northern peaks and later trying out the southern end. A great selection of reef fish came over the gunwhales with a good number of pollack to 7lbs. There were also a number of fine ling, ballan wrasse, cuckoo wrasse, pouting, poor cod, etc.,… For the last hour Alan brought the crew to the mixed ground north of the Lings were the species count was ratcheted up. Haddock, red gurnard, grey gurnard, whiting came on-board aswell as a superb megrim for Martin Perryman. We all reckoned it was a specimen but Martin opted to return the fish. The only species that wasn’t caught, which was unusual, was cod !
On the other boats similar species were being clocked up. However, on the Camden Mist angler Ray Meaney, fishing for Ryan’s Bar, went one better. Ray managed an Angler fish of 8kg! Now that’s unusual. Well done Ray!!!
It had been a long day’s fishing for the 32 anglers as four boats set out at 10am and lines-up wasn’t until 5pm. Mind you for those that ran into fish the day seemed to fly. All retired to Tradewinds Bar & Restaurant were there was a local band playing and some superb finger food put up by Sandra O’Shea. As the scores were being totted up, stories were swapped, a few beverages were sunk, and a bit of aftersun applied!
Finally, Danny Kane delivered the results. Tradewinds Team had won once more. The team included Danny himself, Pat Condon, Martin Kennedy, & Rob Porter. Second were Crosshaven SAC and third The Commodore Hotel. On the individual scores Pat Condon (Cobh SAC) won by a close margin of 7pts with 443pts in total. Pat O’Shea (Cobh SAC) was in second with 436pts and Martin Kennedy (Cobh SAC) was in third. Martin Perryman won the most species prize with 9 species. All in all, another great comp…roll on next year!!!
We are now taking entries for this year’s Festival.
We’ve retained the prize fund for this competition at €7,500. Of this €2,000 will be in cash, the breakdown of the cash element is as follows:
1st Prize €1000
2nd Prize €400
3rd Prize €200
Best Team of 4 €400
However, there are numerous other prizes. Each day is a competition in its own right and there are prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.,…. plus heaviest fish. For the whole week there are also category winners like heaviest conger, heaviest cod, ling, pollack, most species, most fish….the list goes on and on.
The competition will be run over four days from the 3rd to 7th September 2012 (Mon, Tues, Thurs, & Fri). This Festival is great craic and if you want a week away with your buddies with great craic and good fishing well this is the fishing break for you. Many of the anglers are coming back to this event year after year, after year!!!
This report from last year (2011 Report) will give you an idea of the quality of fishing (and craic) to be had over the week.
Charter Boats will be provided by Cork Harbour Angling Hub (http://www.corkharbouranglinghub.com) and accommodation packages are available from the Commodore Hotel (http://www.commodorehotel.ie or ring 00-353-21-4811277 and just ask for Mary, tell her you want the fishing package and she’ll sort you out), and Bella Vista House Hotel (http://www.bellavistahotel.ie).
For more information contact Cobh SAC on 00-353-21-4812167 or thru the following email addresses:
Martin Mc Kenna from Emyvale has launched a new guiding service in the North Monaghan area. Martin has been fly fishing in the area for 25 years and knows all of the waters where anglers will have the opportunity to get some great fishing for trout and pike. Martin can cater for anglers wishing to fish whatever methods they prefer and will offer the best advice on fishing locations and techniques.
Located in Emyvale, Martin is ideally placed to provide daily lake and river guiding services to all fisheries for both pike and trout in the north Monaghan area. Martin will be providing guiding services on Emy Lough, Lough More, the Monaghan Blackwater, Blackwater Emyvale north, and a number of secluded lakes in the Bragan mountains. Martin also knows a large number of pike venues that are just waiting to be explored.
Martin will be providing a comprehensive range of services to day and longer stay visitors to north Monaghan and will assist in organising, day permits, boat hire, motor hire, bait advice, tackle hire, wader hire, meet at central point and brought to lake/river, lunch (if required), car hire, accommodation and restaurants.
If you fancy a fishing break or just a day out on the water in North Monaghan please contact Martin McKenna, Emyvale, Co., Monaghan. Tel +353 86 8565737 e-mail [email protected]
Martin McKenna Now Offers a Comprehensive Guiding Service in North Monaghan
The weather is still very changeable with heavy rain and strong winds on some days and sunshine on others. The rain has been more widespread this week and nearly all those fisheries which were suffering from low water have no more than enough. While the rain did not cause sea anglers too much trouble the wind have been over gale force on some coasts which is never welcomed by those hoping to get afloat. Overall this did not impact on the fishing too much with lots of good fishing reported nationwide.
Maciej Dukacz wins Catch of Week with a huge 35.5lbs pike from Lough Corrib.
For coarse anglers the Longford rivers and lakes were in flood but good bream and tench were regularly showing up in catches at Melview Lodge. The annual festival on the Grand Canal at Edenderry attracted nearly sixty anglers most from England and despite the poor weather all week, good bags were recorded. Up in Leitrim, there were great catches reported for anglers fishing with Brian Bohan. Nearly one hundred Dutch anglers and friends fished the annual Kings of Clubs competition on waters close to Drumshambo and Carrick on Shannon and they enjoyed a great week of excellent catches of mainly bream, roach and hybrids. Sixty six anglers competed in the Arva Seniors Classic 2012 and several ex world champions took part and the fishing was good and competitive. Down in Clare anglers staying at Clondanagh had some super bream catches including a fine bream catch of 125 lb. in one day.
There was fair pike fishing reported in the Lough Derg area but up in Foxford area some lovely fish were taken on fly in the Foxford area. Well known angling journalist Bob Roberts enjoyed good pike action in the Belturbet area. There was a Kingspan pike qualifier held on Lough Egish and many pike were recorded on the day. A superb pike over 35 lb. was caught twice in one week on Lough Corrib and returned alive and this is our Catch of the Week.
The higher water levels improved salmon fishing almost everywhere and there were some good catches on the fisheries in the Cork Kerry area. On Lough Currane, anglers had excellent fishing for salmon and sea trout and regular Dave Ecclestone caught a fine specimen sea trout of 9 lb. 2 oz on fly. Up on the River Moy, over 400 salmon were reported for the week and over in Carrowmore more salmon were recorded when the weather allowed the anglers to go afloat in the very windy week. There was also good salmon fishing reported from clients at Newport House fishing the river and on Lough Beltra. The fisheries in Connemara also produced better fishing at Kylemore, Delphi and at Inagh in particular. A 17 lb. fish was the best of the week at the Galway fishery. In Donegal, the Owenea and the Drowes are seeing a good run of grilse. In Cork, the Blackwater produced better fishing on all the major fisheries at Careysville, Fortwilliam, Blackwater Lodge and at Ballyvolane with the best fish reported coming from the Fishhunt beats and weighing 18.5 lb.
Sea anglers reported excellent sea fishing with some fine tope caught and tagged at Cahore and Courtown. As usual there was plenty of activity in the Cork harbour area with great fishing reported from small boats and also out deep sea fishing including a fine 4.2 lb. plaice. There was some fine deep sea fishing reported at Courtmacsherry for Dutch clients. Over in Beara, shore anglers enjoyed some excellent rock fishing for plenty of variety of fish. In Valentia, there was some deep sea fishing for parties of Scotch anglers. The 56th Westport International Sea Angling Festival 2012 takes place next week. Shore and boat anglers enjoyed good sport in the Sligo area. Up in Red Bay in Antrim there was many species encountered including some huge spurdogs. The bass season opens again on the 16th of June.
There is still quite a bit of trout fishing going on after the Mayfly period although there are still some falls of spent gnat producing good fishing on Lough Sheelin. Emy Lough is still fishing well for trout and nearby the River Fane is fishing well also. The other midland trout loughs continue to fish well and there was also good fishing on stretches of the River Inny. There were many rainbow fishery reports this week with good fishing at Pallas, Carton, the Southern County fishing resort and at the Cashel Trout Fishery in Derry.
Ian from Scotland with his wild trout of over 6lbs caught on a buzzer (an F fly)
Brenda Montgomery reports from the IFI Lough Sheelin Office.
“My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things – trout as well as eternal salvation – come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy.” Source:A River Runs Through It
The jewel in the Crown
June 4th to June 11th 2012
‘I have fished many lakes in Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland but the numbers of free rising trout and the quality of fish in this lake far out weighs any other lake I have ever put my boat on, This is the jewel in the crown for any angler’ Martin McDaid
Martin McDaid, Belfast cradling his 6.75lb wild Sheelin trout caught on a dry green mayfly on 4lb fluorocarbon on June 6th, this fish was returned along with Martin’s other 5.5lb trout caught later on in the day on a dry spent.
This week was a tough week for anglers and it was all down to the weather making everything very challenging for those brave souls who ventured out. Thursday saw heavy downpours followed by continuous rain and gusts of up to 50mph on Friday – the water levels rose and the fishermen’s hearts sank.
The earlier part of the week with its mild temperatures and more settled weather proved to be the more productive for Lough Sheelin’s anglers with large hatches of mayfly still happening. What can only be described as spectacular were the volumes of fly coming in off the lake on Tuesday evening after 7pm and the lake’s surface was blanketed by spent. The levels of the lake rose considerably so that by Saturday evening the water looked black and ominous with the fresh churned up water but still the lake fished well and there was good fly life on the surface, certainly Andrew Brown with his trout of 6½ lbs caught on a spent was happy, also two Omagh men – Joseph Turnbull with his trout weighing in at 5lbs and his fishing companion Shane Colgan with two trout at 6 and 5lbs weren’t complaining, all these fish were caught on the spent gnat.
Richie Meacle fished the lake on Monday with his father. They put in a hard day's work and at quarter to 5 his rod was nearly pulled into the water. They knew it was a good fish and after a 20 minute battle the fish was netted. Richie says it was a monster off a fish, his biggest ever and it weighed in at 8lb 2 oz.
The most popular flies being used are the wulffs (grey, red and green), the green mosley mayfly, the Barbie (creation by Sheelin angler Michael Kelly), the spent gnat, humpies, nymphs, fast, intermediate and small dabblers and sooty olives. This week also saw trout starting to come up to a small brown sedge.
The Sheelin Classic Fly Fishing Competition was the highlight of the fishing week This highly anticipated and successful competition is now in its eighth year and attracted 95 anglers on Sunday June 10th.
The gods however were not smiling on this event and the weather conditions of bright harsh sunlight throughout the day (11am – 6pm) severely influenced the number of catches with a total of less than ten fish being caught. The anglers despite this were happy and as a rule the entrants accepted good humouredly that you must take the rough with the smooth and most competitors saw plenty of movement of fish to give hope and encouragement for other angling days on this great lake.
The winner of the Sheelin Classic was Athlone man Michael Mckiernan with his 4.41lb trout caught on a spent.
Winners of The Sheelin Classic (left to right) – Gerry O’Brien, Enniskellan 2nd and Michael McKiernan, Athlone 1st. (pic. Mick Flannagan)
2nd Rory Coleman, Navan 2.87lb trout
3rd Gerry O’Brien, Enniskellan 2.76lb trout
4th Steven McManus, Kells 1.79lb trout (caught on a sooty olive)
5th Dave McBride 1.78lb trout
Its not all about fishing –
Entrants for the national and Olympian fresh water qualifiers took place on Lough Sheelin last Saturday June 9th. The water was a chilly 11 degrees (pool water is 27!). Over 40 swimmers took part from all corners of the world including Malta and America.The L.S.T.P.A will be running a ‘not to be missed’ Youth Angling Day on Saturday July 7th at Lough Sheelin. This day is open to all 8 – 18 year olds. The day will include fly tying, casting and then fishing, finishing with a Bar-B-Q. Everyone must bring a life jacket and eye protection and of course lots of enthusiasm and energy.
Contact E.Ross @ 087 9436655 or Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033
Ian from Scotland with his wild trout of over 6lbs caught on a buzzer (an F fly)
A catch and release policy is actively encouraged on this lake at all times
‘It is only the inexperienced and thoughtless who find pleasure in killing fish for the mere sake of killing them. No sportsman does this’. W.C Prime, 1888
Please remember anglers that the size limit on this lake is 35.5 cm (14 inches) – we need our small fish alive…….
Ian Kelly, Mullingar – 1 trout at 5.5lbs on June 7th using a mosley mayfly (tied by Ian).
Graham Moss, England – on June 9th at 8.30pm 1 trout at 4¾ lbs caught on a spent gnat.
Pat Savage, Swords, Co.Dublin – 1 trout at 5lbs on the spent, 1 at 1¾ on the dry mayfly.
Ken Kearns, Dundalk – 2 at 2½ & 3½ on a buzzer on Wednesday evening.
Mickey McCluskey, Donegal – 2 wild trout at 4lbs and 2lbs on a murrough on Sunday June 10th.
Frank Kelly & Eamon Ross, L.S.T.P.A – on Wednesday evening using a spent gnat, Frank landed himself 3 trout at 3½, 5½ and 6lbs, while Eamon got 2 trout, heaviest was 3lbs.
Denis Moss, Galway – 1 at 1¾lbs on the spent on Saturday June 9th.
Thomas Lynch, L.S.T.P.A – 1 trout weighing in at 7½lbs on Wednesday June 6th on the spent and 1 at 3¾ lbs on Monday June 4th, again on a spent – all released.
Oliver McCormack – 1 trout at 3½ lbs
Eamon Connor – on a green X spent, around the Long Rock 1 at 3½ lbs.
Paul O’Meara, Dublin – 3 trout, all caught on the spent gnat, heaviest weighed in at 3½lbs.
Mark Carolan, Meath – wet fly fishing, 3 trout weighing in at 2 – 2½ lbs.
Larry O’Sullivan, Trim – 2 trout on the spent – 2 and 3lbs.
Brian McAveney, Clones – on the spent 1 at 5lbs and 3 averaging 3lbs each, all on the spent.
Andrew Brown – 1 at over 6lbs on Saturday June 9th on the spent, 2 on Tuesday and Wednesday, all on spents and greens – all released.
Pat Savage, Slane, Co.Meath – on the spent 1 at 3lbs.
