Charter skipper John Brittain operating out from Cliden in Connemara reports that We are having great fishing from Cleggan for the last month or so but the weather is the enemy and despite the prolific shelter of Inishboffin Inshturk and Inshshark Isalnds we have had to cancel a couple of trips.
The weather finally settled down a bit over last weekend allowing Ray Mayock and his group to get out top the ground around Slyne Head for a days drifting last Saturday. The fish were in good form as well with just about everything except for Mackerel showing up in abundance. Plenty of Cod in the 5 to 10 lb. range unlimited Pollock for those who fished an artificial and some nice Ling taking what Mackerel we had.
On Sunday Mark McEwain had a group out from Galway for the day and in spite of the good fishing around Slyne Head the previous day we headed North to the grounds 5 to 10 miles west of Clare Island in calm seas. The Mayo fish were just as hungry as their Galway neighbours and we had big numbers of Cod and Pollock for most of the day with whiting wrasse scad pouting and some fine red gurnards adding to the species count.
Mackeral have been in short supply all year and there seems to be even less of them around now at a time when they are normally at their most abundant. I hope this is a cyclical thing and not the start of a stock collapse.
Blue Water
42′ Cygnus. Twin 250HP Skipper: John Brittain Base: Clifden/Cleggan Operational area: Aran Islands to Achill Head Packages of fishing and accommodation are available in the Skippers own guest house at www.sharamore.com Address: Streamstown, Clifden, Co. Galway. Telephone: +353 95 21073 or +353 87 2779622 Fax: +353 95 21678 Email:[email protected]Website:www.seafishingireland.net
Jack Tisdall reports that Match 4 of the Irish Float Team Qualifiers proved to be the most successful yet, both in terms of the numbers of fish caught and the total weight caught by the anglers on the Newry Canal. Top individual angler of the day was Nick Howell (Tyrone) with 80 fish for 4.080 Kgs. of Roach, Perch and Hybrids (80 fish) on peg 14. Runner up was David Burleigh (Fermanagh) who had 40 fish for 3.200 Kgs. at the next peg. In third place was Vincent Walsh (Donegal) with 72 fish for 2.640 Kgs. on peg 18. The other two sections were won by David Herron (Tyrone), Gary Radcliffe (Antrim) both equal first with 1.150 Kgs. in B Section, And Bob Hume (Dublin) 1.000 Kgs. in C Section. Tommy Dowd (Cavan) remains on top of the league with 6 points. The final two matches in the series will be fished on the weekend 29/30 Oct on a venue to be announced shortly by the Manager. The top nineteen anglers in the League will then represent Ireland in the 2012 Float fishing international events. Mark Theedom, team manager also thanked the 4 anglers who travelled to fish as end peg blockers, Gavin, John, Stevie and Ian.
The top six anglers going into the final round of the qualifiers are:
Lough Melvin was quiet over the week with little angling effort taking place once again and it seems that the Sonaghan were somewhat dour and hard to tempt. There was however 3 good trout caught over the weekend in local club competitions. On Saturday, Mr Brewster landed an 8lb 2oz trout on a fly from along the Garrison Shore. On Sunday, Sean Maguire accounted for a trout of just less than 5lb caught on a fly from Rossinver Bay and Tom Burns landed a trout 9lb 15oz on a fly, also in Rossinver Bay.
There were some fair water conditions in the Owenea again this week over the first 4 days of the week. Thereafter, water levels fell away towards the weekend and by Sunday the gauge was only reading 0.15 metres. The gauge average for the week read 0.26 metres. The river was busy with 52 visiting rods fishing over the week. There were good numbers of salmon caught over the week and given here are some of the catches from the catch register. On Tuesday, Vincent Hatton recorded a 6lb grilse caught on a fly from beat 5. Dermot McLaughlin registered 2 fish caught weighing 5½ & 9lb on a fly from beat 5 with the larger fish being released. On Wednesday, Frankie Byrne logged a 6lb grilse caught on a fly from beat 6. He also caught & released 2 sea trout of 1lb each. On Thursday, Bill Murray recorded 3 grilse caught from beat 5 on a fly. The fish weighed 6, 6 & 7lb and were all released. He also hooked but lost a much bigger fish. On Saturday, Lance King accounted for a 7lb grilse caught on worm from beat 5 and Brian Stark logged a 4lb grilse caught from beat 5 on worm.
European Pike Challenge winner Dermot Hickey receiving the winners trophy and a picture of the boat he has just won from Bill Hickey and Jim Robinson in the background at the presentation in Reddan's in Killaloe
European Pike Challenge winner Dermot Hickey receiving the winners trophy and a picture of the boat he has just won from Bill Hickey and Jim Robinson in the background at the presentation in Reddan's in Killaloe
Over 80 anglers fished the annual European Pike Challenge held over 3 days on Lough Derg last week. Anglers from Ireland, England, Wales, Poland, Germany, and Belgium took part in this popular pike competition which has being running now for over 20 years. There were many sponsors and a fine aluminium boat and trailer was the first prize and there was many lovely prizes including many echo sounders sponsered by Seiwa. Among the many sponsers was Inland Fisheries Ireland who supplied all the fisheries personell to help weigh the many pike recorded over the three days.
Anglers coming to the marina in Killaloe at the European Pike Challenge after the final day on Lough Derg
Well known angling supremo, Jim Robinson and Derg Marine’s Bill Hickey continue to run the event with such expertise and the many anglers really enjoyed the whole event especially the many anglers from the UK and continental europe. The winner for the second year in a row was local angler, Dermot Hickey with 8 Pike for 28.53 Kilos. Johnny Mowat caught the heaviest fish of 9.454 kilos during the competition.
Allister Johnson was hoping for a double, this 25lb pike wins him Catch of the Week
Allister Johnson was hoping for a double, this 25lb pike wins him Catch of the Week
Although the last few days have been very summery in some parts of Ireland in much of the southern half it has remained wintry enough. For most anglers the weather in the last week has made angling very difficult as gales and heavy rain combined to bring floods to some venues and convince sea anglers to leave their boats tied up at others. As ever during these periods of unsettled weather there were a few windows of opportunity and those able to make the most of them enjoyed some lovely fishing and you can read all about it in this week’s Irish Angling Update.
The salmon season is almost over for another year as the 30th of September looms. The season produced a bumper catch particularly in the west. Water levels remained high for much of the week on the Moy and once again it was the mid and upper fisheries which reported better catch returns, with the weekly total for the system at 389 salmon. Probably the biggest fish of the week was reported from Lough Currane. Bruce Penwarden, a regular visitor to the lake caught a massive cock fish on a trout fly. It measured 42 inches long with a girth of 20 inches. It was then returned carefully and swam strongly away. This salmon would have weighed about 30lb. Anyone looking for a bit of really late season fishing could try their luck on the River Fane which stays open until the 12th of October and has been fishing well. Another fishery which might be worth considering is the sea trout anglers favourite Lough Currane. The lake will be open for sea trout fishing until the 12th of October, though salmon fishing there will be finished. Elsewhere in salmon news the return of the king of fish to the River Tolka in Dublin was covered by the international media and on RTE news.
Tony Kersley stamped his name well and truly on the Carrick-on-Shannon Angling Festival honours list by scoring his fourth win on the River Shannon and lakes of County Leitrim. On the last day when some pegs did not produce a fish in the difficult conditions that prevailed, Tony took 7th place but this did not matter as he had already won the competition with his scores on the four previous days. English anglers fishing in Longford endured high winds, heavy rain and rising water levels, but despite the bad weather they still managed to catch some good bream, hybrids, roach and perch. Prebaiting and fishing only two venues using feeder tactics paid off for them in the end. Flooding on the Suck and other parts of the upper Shannon made many venues inaccessible. Some fishing was possible on the River Shannon at Lanesborough where catches to10lb were made by the few anglers who visited.
While the east coast enjoyed settled weather and low winds charter boat fishing in the west was severely curtailed but there were a few outings and porbeagle sharks were reported off the Clare coast and at Red Bay in Co. Antrim. Blue sharks also made an appearance off the Clare coast but deep sea anglers there were mostly confined to the estuary and other sheltered marks. The Cork Small Boats Festival finishes on the 30th of September and has been fished in very challenging conditions with fog, rain and wind working against the anglers. On day 3 of the competition Screeming Reels was leading with 24 species with O2b@C close behind with 22 species. We’ll have a full report next week.
Pike anglers relish the early onset of winter and they have not been disappointed this year. Over 80 anglers fished the annual European Pike Challenge held over 3 days on Lough Derg last week. Anglers from Ireland, England, Wales, Poland, Germany, and Belgium took part in this popular pike competition which has being running now for over 20 years. The winner for the second year in a row was local angler, Dermot Hickey with 8 Pike for 28.53 Kilos. Johnny Mowat caught the heaviest fish of 9.454 kilos during the competition. Some good pike were also reported from Shepperton in West Cork and from the mid lands where Allister Johnson, who was hoping for a double, ended up with a 25lb pike which wins him Catch of the Week.
Trout anglers are also looking at the end of another season. In the last week fly fishing at Loughs Owel, Ennel and Sheelin has been fairly productive. On Ennel trout to over 5 lb were landed and on Sheelin one angler had as many as 11 trout on drys and Stimulators, with 9 of these between 1.5 and 2.5 lb.
On Saturday the 22nd October Inland Fisheries Ireland will again be holding an introductory ladies fly fishing day in aid of Action Breast Cancer at Annamoe Trout Fishery near Glendalough in Co. Wicklow. These events are free, open to any lady and run from 10.30 to 16.00. Reminder – introductory ladies fly fishing day 22 October.
Tight lines especially in Ireland, Paul Bourke Angling Information Officer
Low winds and high pressure have brought some great fishing conditions to the East coast. William Walsh, Director, IFI Blackrock caught a cracking specimen mullet of 5 lb. 1 oz. in Wicklow fishing on the surface with bread flake.
Josie Mahon reports that the salmon fishing during the last week improved. Last Saturday 10 salmon were caught the best a lovely 11 lb Salmon by Gerard McCormick from Dundalk. The water has risen well and the fish are beginning to move upriver. Michael McKenny from Ardee had three Salmon average 6 lb. each. Brendan Rice, Dundalk had 2 salmon 7 lbs. & 6 lbs., Leo Flannagan, Ardee had 2 fish 10 lb & 8 lb, Adam Crawley, Dundalk 7 lbs, David Crawley, Dundalk, 10 lbs., Anthony Carty, Dundalk 5lbs, Brian McShane, Dundalk 9 lbs, Patsy McArdle, Kilkerley, Dundalk 6 lbs., Derek Timmons, Navan 5 lbs ,Jim Curley, Duleek 9 lbs.
The Fane is traditionally a late river and does not close until 12th October so it looks like there are better fishing days ahead.
Kevin Hickey spent the day fishing on Shepperton Lake in West Cork last Saturday the 24th of September. What was already proving to be a very enjoyable day on the water was crowned by the capture of this 21 lb pike which fell for a copper spoon. This fine pike is Kevin’s biggest to date.
Allister Johnson was hoping for a double, this 25lb pike wins him Catch of the Week
Allister Johnson was hoping for a double, this 25lb pike wins him Catch of the Week
I have met some characters over the years on the angling scene, and Allister Johnson is up there with the best. Allister is Director of Johnson Caravans in Letterkenny, and enjoys his fishing big time. As a rule he spends his time sea angling, but fancied his chances at latching onto a good pike.
The Allister boy dropped down to Mullingar with his good lady, and spent a few nights in Bloomfield, and was very impressed with the hotel. I was under pressure to produce fish as we had only 2 days to get Allister his magical double. I took a leave from the Paul Daniels Magic Show, and waved my magic wand on the Midland Lakes. Allister boated a huge pike of 25lbs, and will be back in Mullingar quite soon. I also dropped a lure down deep and caught one of my favourite fish, a beautifully coloured Perch.
