Sitting here at my desk with the wind rattling the windows, it seems to me that we have had a near-constant blow over the past week… Every time I’ve looked at a forecast, it’s been Force 4, 5, or 6, and on any trip I’ve made to the coast, I’ve faced pretty wild conditions. That said, rainfall was well below average for the week, while temperatures and sunshine have been pretty good too, but so far this year, we’ve rarely got the right weather mix to make it feel truly summery.

The sea anglers were the most active cohort over the week, and in Clare, Luke Aston echoed my views on the wind, as he had to shelter in the Shannon Estuary for most of the week, where rays, doggies and the odd tope featured in the catches. A little further north along the Clare coast, the Lisdoonvarna Fanore SAC held their International Angling Week, and that too was wind-affected, with one competition postponed due to a strong blow. But the other events went off without a hitch, with some great fishing against a spectacular Burren backdrop. Up north, the Killybegs Mariners took advantage of some good tides over the weekend to hit the Donegal beaches, where the wind helped to throw up a good surf, which had the bass active, and a few fine fish were landed.

West Cork seems to have been a hotspot recently, and we have a few reports from that neck of the woods this week. Starting in Courtmacsherry, anglers fishing with Mark Gannon have had some super skate recently, many of which have been tagged for scientific research. Also in Courtmacsherry, skipper Dave Edwards of West Cork Charters reports some excellent ling fishing, with fish to 133cm landed. Last up, David Norman of Angling Adventures West Cork had a Swiss angler out for a first-ever kayak session, and they caught some nice bass on lures.

A little further east, small boat specialist Jim Clohessy had an interesting day off the Cork coast, searching the reefs for fish, followed by a hungry seal which was adept at snatching his catch! Anglers who would like to notch up a mullet or two will be gearing up to take advantage of the prime mullet time, as from now into autumn, we will see shoals of these hard-fighting species close to shore, and the Irish Mullet Fishing Facebook site has plenty of tips for aspiring mullet anglers looking to take up the quest for these elusive fish. Last up in this week’s sea angling reports, we head to Ireland’s east coast, where Wicklow Bay SAC had a great session fishing a competition with skipper Kit Dunne. They brought 450 fish to the boat, and Kit, who is a member of the club and so fished the competition, put his vast knowledge of the area to good use and won the prize on the day, also winning him this week’s Catch of the Week.

We are entering into the competition season for coarse anglers, as between now and the end of September, we will see numerous festivals held all over the country. These festivals are a great boost to the Irish angling scene, attracting plenty of UK anglers over to pit their skills against the homegrown talent. The Clones Angling Festival is one of the first matches on that competition schedule, and it was run over four fish-filled days last week. And with double-figure bags on each day, including a super bag of 28kg+ on Day 2, Dave Hemingray won out with an impressive total of 67kg.

In Tipperary, thirty anglers fished the Sean ‘Shanks’ Memorial match over the bank holiday weekend and enjoyed both good weather and fishing, as Grant Peters topped the table with 18lb+ to win the trophy. It was a smaller turnout for the Leinster Coarse Fishing Federation, as some regular anglers were fishing matches elsewhere, but the ‘Magnificent Seven’ who did turn up enjoyed the fishing, despite a squally wind making things difficult, and Karl Woodhouse won out with 9lb+. The Lurgan Coarse Anglers had somewhat bigger bags, albeit from a commercial venue, as they visited Tooman’s Fishery for their yearly carp match over the weekend. It really was a net-busting event, as Kevin Maguire put in a masterclass on Sunday, bagging 348lb to give him a whopping 551lb for the two days, almost 100lb clear of his nearest rival. Staying on the competition scene, registration is still open for the qualifiers for the FIPsed World Championships for Clubs in 2025, and any clubs interested should register with the NCFFI.

In trout fishing news, some of the Piscari Fly team headed up to Tyrone last week, while others stayed closer to home on the Nore. Fishing was a bit slow in Tyrone, with low water making the fish wary on the River Mourne, but they still managed plenty of trout, mostly on nymphs. Meanwhile, on the Nore, the evening rise is going strong, kicking off at around 9.30, as trout go mad on gnats and sedges. Also on the Nore, guide Dan O’Neill was out with a client from Phoenix, Arizona, and he too found trout actively feeding on sedges in a productive evening session.

With many pike anglers taking a summer hiatus, we have no pike reports this week, so we finish this week’s update with salmon angling; and it seems salmon anglers, too, have been taking things easy over the past week, as we have little enough by way of reports from them. In Mayo, the River Moy is still fishing steadily despite relatively low water levels, and over 600 salmon were reported for the week. On the Erriff, the fishing in July was affected by the dry weather, as low water levels made it a tough month for anglers. And we wrap up this week’s report with the latest edition of Ireland on the Fly, as the guys chat to Chris McCully, co-author of the definitive book on sea trout fishing in Ireland: Nomads of the Tides.

And now the weather

Today, Friday, will remain mostly dry, with sunny spells, isolated showers and temperatures of 18 to 22°C. It will remain dry overnight, and Saturday will see similar weather to Friday, with much of the country remaining dry and sunny, but with moderate westerly winds having a cooling effect. Sunday will begin dry, but some cloud and light rain will spread northwards, and there is a possibility of heavier rain in western areas in the evening. Sunday night may see thunderstorms in the east of the country, accompanied by heavy showers, and a band of rain will push from west to east overnight. The outlook for the rest of the week is uncertain, but it looks like remaining quite unsettled with low pressure dominating.

Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.

IFI Staff
Catch, Photo, Release

If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to [email protected].

All the angling news

Sea Angling Reports

• Mullet season kicks off
• Sea bass, wrasse and sea trout for Killybegs Mariners
• Tope and more from Shannon Estuary in windy west Clare
• Some great fish at Lisdoonvarna Fanore International Week Festival
• Dodging seals and catching fish in Cork- the continued adventures of a small boat angler
• 450 fish for Wicklow Bay SAC fishing with Kit Dunne
• “Slow” fishing is anything but in west Cork
• Great ling fishing for anglers fishing with West Cork Charters

Coarse Angling Reports

• Grant Peters wins Sean ‘Shanks’ Stapleton Memorial Match
• Steve Hemingray wins Clones Festival
• NCFFI Hosting Float Club Qualifiers on Inniscarra
• Massive weights for Lurgan Coarse Anglers at Toomans Fishery
• ‘Magnificent 7’ compete in Leinster Open

Trout Fishing Reports

• Ireland on the Fly: Chris McCully, prolific fishing writer and author of Nomads of the Tides: Fishing for Irish Sea Trout
• Nore and more fishing well for trout – Piscari-Fly Update
• The River Whispers – Dan’s blog returns

Salmon Fishing Reports

• Steady Fishing on the Moy, despite lower water levels
• Ireland on the Fly: Chris McCully, prolific fishing writer and author of Nomads of the Tides: Fishing for Irish Sea Trout
• Low water on Erriff made fishing difficult in July