LADIES LET FLY IN EDENDERRY.The Irish Ladies Fly Fishing Association recently let fly in Lough Ashling In Edenderry.Its a cracking fishery, which I have fished from time to time. The Ladies are regular visitors to Lough Lene in Collinstown, where they hold qualifiers, and really enjoy fishing this super North Westmeath Fishery. If you are interested in getting involved in the ladies Fly Fishing scene please check out www.irishladiesflyfishing.com
Team 2012 Lough Ashling
REX BEAUMONT CUP CANCILLED.Due to very bright conditions Ennell Anglers decoded to cancelled the Rex Beaumont Cup last Sunday. It would have being very hard fishing on Ennell in such conditions, and the competition will be fished later in the season. The lake is producing some nice fish, but its best just before dark, and Buzzers are on the menu for the Ennell Trout.
Report by
Michael Flanagan
Pike and Trout angling guide. Telephone: +353 (0)44 9348969 or +353 (0)87 2797270 Fax: +353 (0)44 9342781 Email:[email protected]Web:www.midlandangling.com
TRIM ANGLER ON FORM.Recently Pirate Pike Anglers from Trim spent a cracking weekend down the west, and the club members produced some good pike. Top Rod was Jason Keogh who rattled the scales with a fine pike of 22lbs. The club is open to membership, and I hope to hook –up with the Pirates in the coming weeks. If you are interested in joining Pirate Pikers call Paul Byrne on 086-3821204.
Compliments of
Michael Flanagan
Pike and Trout angling guide. Telephone: +353 (0)44 9348969 or +353 (0)87 2797270 Fax: +353 (0)44 9342781 Email:[email protected]Web:www.midlandangling.com
Mick Flanagan reports from the Midlands – Well the weather is out of this World as we catch up on last weeks Angling Action. It was a very productive week, even if conditions were difficult. I had some great days on Owel, catching quality brown trout, and on Friday and Saturday I teamed up with French Anglers Philippe and Fabrice Serafini.The lads were in Ireland fishing Derg, the Suck River, and a few more waters. It was hard going in very bright conditions, and managed only a few small pike till they hit Westmeath. I got them stuck into a few hard fighting pike here in Westmeath, and the deadly Duo will be back in Mullingar in the future for sure. Staying with pike young Philip Keena produced some huge fish last week, and we have the photos to prove it.
I did how ever get a photograph of local anglers chilling out Sunday Morning on Ennell.Its younger looking the Ennell Chairman Doc Waldron is getting.
Doc Waldron and friends
FRENCH ANGLERS IN WESTMEATH. I reckon we have the best fishing in Europe be it coarse or game, and if its pushed right Tourism Angling will catch on in Westmeath. Last week French lads philippe and Fabrice Serafini were in Ireland and just by luck they contacted me through my Angling Site. The lads fished all across the Shannon Region taking in the River Suck, and Lough Derg to name just two waters they fished. Conditions were hard and the pike were reluctant to take the bait in bright conditions. They had some very good perch earlier in the week, but pike was on the priority list when they arrived in Mullingar.On Friday and Saturday we were hammered with strong winds, and I got it hard to keep on my favorite drifts for pike. Still we latched onto some real Midland Monsters, and Philippe had a huge fish attack his lure but never hooked –up. It’s very hard to put a size on fish that you see, but the pike that turned on Philippes lure was huge. When you look at the pics this week of pike over 100cm, I can only wonder what size the pike was that we seen. The lads will be back in Mullingar for sure, and Fabrice is making waves on the Lure scene. He specializes in hand made Lures for surface fishing, and next time over I will ask him to bring a few for our readers.http;//plugginweapons.over-blog.com.
KEENA TOP LOCAL PIKER. Well done to Philip Keena on catching some huge pike in recent weeks. Philip is the Grandson of Lene Vice Chairman Paddy Dolan, and he is Angling Mad.On his most recent adventure Philip latched onto two huge pike weighing 22lbs and 24lbs.These are magical fish, and once you break the 20lbs bracket, you are doing something right. Thanks for the super photos of your prized catch Philip, and drop into Liz or Nuala in the Topic office, I have left a few colourful Bulldogs for you.
Michael Flanagan
Pike and Trout angling guide. Telephone: +353 (0)44 9348969 or +353 (0)87 2797270 Fax: +353 (0)44 9342781 Email:[email protected]Web:www.midlandangling.com
Mickey McKenna of Angling-in-Ireland.com reports on the recent junior Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs Junior All Ireland qualifier…
What a day we had yesterday as we hosted an Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs Junior All Ireland qualifier. The young anglers came from near and far – from Keady, Newry and Lusk in Co. Dublin. The weather was roasting but the breeze across the lake was more than welcome. Check in took place and the juniors were all given some traces and snap tackle made by Club secretary Brian Donnelly to help them in their quest. Lots of senior members came along on the day to help pass on their wisdom and spread the anglers out to ensure that everyone had the best chance possible to catch a pike.
It wasn’t long until word started to spread around that lake that a few fish were being caught. Jake Fisher was leading the way with a 4lb 6oz fish! Conor McCabe from Newry, while his father Brendan was there for help, said that it was the words of wisdom he received from 2009 All Ireland Champion, Uncle Tucker McCabe, that helped him land two fish! Tiernan McMullen, under the guidance of Jerome Fisher, also got in on the act. Dylan McKenna and Francie McCaughey were the next to catch so things were going well.
Clíodhna McKenna with her catch
The action died for a bit, so Pauric Donnelly decided it was time to have his lunch. Sandwiches out, drink poured and a pike wanted some lunch too and gobbled his float fished roach. Once weighed and returned, Pauric tucked back to his lunch again! Walter B Wood then secured his place in the final and had a smile from ear to ear to prove it. Four year old Clíodhna McKenna, fishing in her first qualifier then got the fright of her life as she caught a pike that could win awards for tail walking!! She was heard to say ‘it was very hard to get in’!
Time soon came round to get back to the check in where Brian Donnelly had made a start on the BBQ with loads of burgers and sausages creating a lovely smell for the hungry mouths. A massive thank you to Lenny McNally from Raffles Bakery in Armagh for the kind donation of the food on the day. Anyone in the Shambles area of Armagh please go in and show your support. Results were tallied and recounted, just to be on the safe side.
While some young anglers were left disappointed on the day, twenty two secured a place in next years final, a brillant result for the juniors and the hard work of the seniors on the day. While those who qualified on the day were all winners, IFPAC had donated prizes for the top three in each section. They were as follows:
The prize winners
Under 13 section Jake Fisher came first, Clíodhna McKenna came second and Tiernan McMullen came third. Other’s to qualify were Grace McKenna; Kate McKenna; Pauric Donnelly; James McClelland; Conor McIlroy; Conor McCabe; Ryan Swift; M Nugent and F Mallon
Under 18 winners were Dylan McKenna in first place, Francie McCaughey came second and Walter B Wood came in third. Others to qualify were Lewis Lappin; Patrick Swift; Harry McCooey; Sean McCooey; Jordan McGleenon; Mikey Tomany & Conor Nugent
Massive thank you to all the seniors who helped on the day and to Brian for all his running about all week and cooking the BBQ. Struggling at the minute to get a few snaps up but between Tony; Brian and meself we’ll get s few up in next few days. Mickey McKenna
31/05/12 When I looked at the forecast on Tuesday they were giving light SW winds so a plan was made to launch around 830 to make a nice long day of it. On arrival we noticed the flags were in full flight with a fairly stiff SE blowing, you guessed it they got it wrong again.
Grey gurnard
Off we went and on the first drift we managed a half dozen mackerel, happy days we had fresh bait. Next stop was at my launce mark and sure enough they were there. We bagged about 20 in a few minutes so we headed into a not very sea (nice wind against tide) in search of bigger things. They didn’t oblige. All we had for our troubles were dogs more dogs and to top them off a few dabs, whiting and nice grey gurnards. At this stage we were on 6 species so we knocked the animal fishing on the head and went in search of a few species to beat last weeks 10 .
Goldsinny wrasse
We went to the reefs and soon enough we had a bit of fun with the pollack and a couple of coalies. Next stop was in search of the poor cod and we had a few take the baits, with a surprise few herring. To finish off we went after wrasse. We managed a few ballans and a couple of goldsinny’s. At this stage we still had not manages to catch a single codling, but all in all a reasonable days fishing.
News from the Cork Harbour Angling Hub by Tina Kneeshaw: June 1st 2012
As we head into the weekend its encouraging that the fishing has been good of late. Last weekend was almost as good as the weekend before. Tina Kneeshaw got a round-up of all the fishing from the skippers and filed the following report….
“…What a great weekend here in Cork Harbour! The weather was a bit hit and miss, but a lot of the Charter Boast were out with full crews. The anglers were a mixture of experienced lads and lads out for the craic. The first report I heard was from John Geary of the “Lee Star” who fished down off Power Head. He was mostly drifting and had some great cod. One of the recent lunkers is pictured below. The cod are of a good size in fairness but they just took home enough for a feed. Great news, though, was that they found some Mackeral….the first I have heard this season….
18lb cod caught recently on the Lee Star
Alan Kennedy aboard “Lagosta II” went out on Saturday. He reported that it was quite enough. Saying that though, while everyone ashore was enjoying the sun, at sea the weather was not the best. They did get a great selection of cod, dogs, conger, and grey gurnard. Alan did tell me that Sunday was different. The wind died down, and there was a bit of a slow Southerly swell. On the fishing front they had plenty of pollack around 6-8lbs, a few good cod of around 4-8lbs, and the odd ling wrasse, pouting, dogs, and grey gurnards. They also had 1/2 a box of mackeral. That’s great to hear. I KNOW WHERE TO FIND MY BAIT NOW!!!
Pat Condon, a great fishing mate of mine and now a skipper aboard “Osprey” Charter Boat, had a great time with a boat load of beginners. They fished 3 miles off Power Head. Pat felt it was patchy enough, but the novices felt otherwise. They had a great day and ended up with cod, grey gurnard, pollack, ling and they also had mackeral. I can’t wait to get out next weekend!!!
What a harbour we have got in fairness; the selection of species is something else. Now that the mackeral are back it is looking like we will have loads of bait and, ummmm, a feed for Brekkie.
A1Fisher of Boat-Angling-Ireland.com reports on a very hectic kayak fishing session on Lough Swilly…
Duration: 10hrs Tide: 2hrs before low slack tide Weather: over cast warm and flat calm Bait: Mackerel and sandeels Rigs: Mickey fish, lumi tube and muppet rig. Results: 23 spurdogs, 2 red gurnard, grey, a couple of whiting and one 2lb codling
It was the usual Wednesday off and with a heads up from a fellow angler that the tope at my usual haunt there was only one place to go on my day off. Since I was on my own there was nothing stopping me from going early so I was up at 6am up out the road and on the water for 7.30.
The weather was warm and very over cast so it couldn’t be better. After a brief stop to catch some fresh mackerel I went then to my usual spot. Down the baits went; one set for the tope and one set for the spurdog and ling.
It was seriously quiet for the first 2 hours and I was kicking myself that I didn’t go to Lough Swilly. I thought to myself “Sod the dogs and the ling” and I put a glitter rig on tipped with small bits of mackerel and over the next hour I had 3 tiny ling. Then as the tide began run I drifted along a rise on the sea bed and about 5 minutes later on the mickey fish rig baited with sandeel I got a nice rod nodding take. Not a doggie but something else and thankfully it was, it was a nice codling of 2lb I was delighted to see it on such a quiet day.
A change of tactic resulted in this cod
Lines down again and very soon after I had a better take on the glitter rig. There was a good tussle and half way up everything went slack. I reeled up and the hook was cut clean off. There’s really only one fish here that does that – a spurdog . Glitter rig off and a home made rig of lumi tube and a large pink muppet (and a smaller size 2 hook to pick up the whiting and gurnard) tied up on 65lb mono. Down they went and 2 minutes later this nice ling came in on the sandeel.
Sandeel tempted this ling
They day was starting to look up, and on the drift I picked up red gurnard, grey gurnard, a couple of nice whiting then finally – nod nod – and away she goes. Class! It was a spurdog and they first of many and they were very lively. Every ten minutes I’d get another and some times 2 and then 3 at once! The best fish of the day was a tad over the 15lb mark. It came to the side of the kayak and I grabbed it by the nose. I could see it was a good fish but it had to have a roll and the wrists were getting tired holding the wriggly buggers down to remove the hooks. So I let him roll and as he did out poped the hook. The fish very slowly started to swim away till I made a grab for his tail and then he took off. No photo of that one but a nice fish. The best spur of the day that was properly landed and pic taken was this beauty of 13.5lb.
13.5lb spurdog - the best of the day that I got on film
The fishing continued to get better and better. At one stage one the rod went and I was in a nice lively fight again. As I nearly had him at the kayak the other rod started bouncing. I hauled him in and held him down with my leg and fought the other to the surface. I thought 1 was a bugger on the kayak, but 3 on board was mayhem, still not sure how I was wasn’t stabbed.
3 spurdogs at once!
At this stage I had to ring Oliver to see if he was coming out and after a quick verbal catch report the words his response turned the airwaves blue as he was tied up in the shop and couldn’t get away.
At this stage I had drift 2.5 miles and it was time to head back to where I started. I was keen to see if there were any spurs there and 5 minutes after the lines went down the answer was “Yes!”.
The Boat Angling Ireland crew hit Cobh earlier than usual in 2012, with a species hunt the order of the day. Attendance was up on previous years, with over 20 anglers in attendance. The weather didn’t play ball on Saturday, with a stiff easterly wind keeping most boats to within the confines of Roche’s Point and making fishing difficult , but Sunday improved vastly and many a fish were taken on the reefs and the Ling Rocks.
The team of Screeming Reels, Martyn Raynor & Siert Shultz, proved to be the stars of the show, racking up an amazing amount of species for the 2 days.
Red Gurnad
Martyn had the most species with 24,a superb achievement considering the conditions, but Siert was not to be outdone, as he bagged some fabulous Pollack and a fine specimen Gurnard, weighing in at 2.1lbs.
The evenings festivities, on both nights, were of the usual BAI standard , as old friends met and many a drink were had, in both the Commodore Hotel and Tradewinds Bar.This did result in a few casualties, with some failing to make it to sea after having one too many. Many thanks go out to Pat, Danny & Sandy for not only sponsoring the meet , but for also providing hospitality of the highest order.
SEA: Waterville SAC fished a shore competition on a cold dry day at The Spa. Anglers from two Kerry clubs fished from 4 to 9 p.m and returned a catch of 40 fish. The anglers caught 36 flounders, 3 sting rays and 1 grey gurnard.
1 P Ord, Tralee Bay SAC, 8 fish, 324 pts; 2 J Osborne, Waterville SAC, 3-262 pts. 3 C Nelms, do 2- 248 pts. 4 A O’Sullivan, do 4 – 142 pts. 5 P Egan, do 3 – 112 pts. 6 A O’Halloran, do 3-110 pts. 7 C O’Sullivan, do 4-108 pts. 8th E Farrelly, do 3-107 pts.
Cork SAC fished their RNLI shore competition at the Slob Bank, Youghal on a sunny dry day, with a strong north-west wind. Anglers from two clubs fished from 11 am to 4 p.m on a flood & ebb tide. They caught 29 fish. ……Irish Examiner……06/06/12…….read full article…….
FOUR weeks away from home creates plenty of downtime and Ireland’s social committee has been working hard to alleviate the boredom factor in Auckland.
On Sunday, players and backroom staff had the option of a round of golf or a fishing trip, with the anglers getting the opportunity for sustenance as well as diversion, — cooking and eating the marlin they had caught on their return to harbour……Irish Independent……06/06/12….read full article….
