It has been a very blustery and cool week  but angling around the country was not too badly affected. Although many charter boats were forced to fish in sheltered locations, shore anglers and their freshwater counterparts enjoyed good fishing.  In particular there was a lot of fishing for salmon anglers as most fisheries got a decent fall of rain which brought better sport.

Along the east coast the rivers Fane, Dee and Glyde all produced good late season fishing with a great  fish of 19 lb. recorded on the River Glyde.  The Cork Blackwater has fished well on most beats and on the River Suir there was some big fish taken to 22 lb. on the Kilsheelin beats.  The smaller Cork rivers all produced better fishing and anglers had a bumper week on the River Ilen.  While it was very windy on Lough Currane, there was some excellent fishing for grilse and plenty of small to medium sea trout.  The nearby River Inny also fished well for salmon and there was a great improvement with quality salmon reported from the River Laune. In the west Kylemore, Lough Inagh and Ballynahinch all produced good fishing including a specimen brown trout of 15 lb. 5 oz taken by a salmon angler at Ballynahinch.  This trout is the biggest ever recorded on the fishery and it is our Catch of the Week.  There was good salmon fishing reported on the Delphi system and the nearby River Erriff had a bumper week with excellent fishing on all its beats.  There was better fishing on the Newport River and nearby Burrishoole when conditions allowed.  The upper stretches of the River Moy fished well in the low water conditions while a huge flood on the Ballisodare River made fishing impossible for most of the week.  In Donegal there was some better fishing on River Drowes and there was good fishing on the River Owenea between a few floods in the past week.

The windy conditions had some effect on trout fishing, and the bigger loughs were particularly windswept, but there is still some good fishing to report.  The midland trout loughs all fished well with good hatches of olives reported from Lough Sheelin.  On Lough Owel over 100 anglers ventured out for the National Qualifier and local angler, Paddy Ward won the event with 4 trout for 6 lb. 2 oz.  In the mid west, there was good fishing reported from Lough O Flynn and Acalla.  Trout fishing was quite good on Lough Corrib when conditions allowed.  Similar windy conditions prevailed on Lough Conn and Cullin.  This week we have a report from the TAFI interprovincial River Championships on the Clare River which was won by the Leinster Team.

There was a lot of Coarse angling in the past week with many English visitors over for the annual 28^th King of Clubs festival held at a number of venues near Arvagh in Co. Cavan.  Kevin Rowles became the Champion at this popular event where some very good catches of roach, hybrids and bream.  There was some super fishing at the recent coarse angling festivals held down on Inniscarra Lake where Leitrim man, Charlie Greaves won two of the events back to back.  Roach dominated catches for English anglers fishing a variety of waters in the Longford area.  Anglers are reminded that all eel fishing is closed as a conservation measure.

Pike angling is coming to fore  now that the weather has turned a little cooler.  Up in Mayo, American visitors fishing with angling guide, Kenny Sloan, had great fishing on fly. They had a number of double  as well as a great fish of 22 lb .  On the River Shannon at Banagher there were pike taken on deadbait  up to 19 lb. and in the midlands some scouts had great sport on Lough Glore.  At present, the European Pike Challenge is taking place on Lough Derg and the fishing so far has been excellent with many fish between 15 and 20 lb. reported.  This weekend there is a big two day pike competition organised in Ballinasloe on the River Suck.  Contact Godfrey Donohoe on 087 2650495 if you want to fish this great event.

A fine tope was captured and released by an angler Kayak fishing out from a Wicklow beach.  The annual popular Rosslare small boats festival took place and a total of 33 species were recorded.  The Screaming Reels 1 team of four anglers took first prize.  The good bass fishing in Cobh continues where a party of Dutch anglers caught their first Irish bass.  Deep sea fishing outside Cork Harbour has been excellent for anglers fishing on board the Wreckhunter where good Cod and ling featured in recent catches.  There was a specimen bass reported from Courtmacsherry and out deep sea fishing charter skipper Mark Gannon there was some excellent Cod fishing reported.    Blustery conditions hampered deep sea fishing in the Shannon Estuary but skipper Luke Aston reports that there were a few days where he managed to bring some anglers out fishing mainly for Pollack on shads.  In north Clare there were reports of good bass fishing and up in Clew Bay there was a fine bull huss of 20 lb. reported from the shore.  The good deep sea fishing continues on Killala Bay for anglers fishing on board the Leah.  In Co. Antrim, there were only a few Porbeagle Shark reported this week for anglers fishing with skipper Hamish Currie out from Red Bay.

Finally, please see our press releases on our website at http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/ about recent fish kills and poaching convictions.  Inland Fisheries Ireland would like to thank those members of the public who contacted the Macroom office and those who used the 24 hour hotline for their vigilance. Anyone who sees pollution or poaching is encouraged to report it to our lo-call number – 0818 34 74 24.

Tight lines especially in Ireland,
Paul Bourke
Angling Information Officer

Coarse angling reports

• Roach are on the feed in the Longford area when the bream switch off in the higher water levels.
• Inniscarra Lake Autumn 2011 Results – Charlie Greaves on the double
• Richard Caplice reports on plans for the European Police Championships to be held at Lough Muckno, Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan in 2012
• Kevin Rowles is the 28th King of Clubs Champion at Arvagh, Co. Cavan.
• 2 anglers net over 140lb of bream and roach in Longford
• Anglers are reminded that all eel fishing is closed

Pike fishing reports

• Super pike fishing on fly with fish up to 22 lb. reported from the Foxford area.
• 19lb pike makes the day at Banagher
• Scouting for pike on Lough Glore

Salmon fishing reports

• Some great salmon on the Suir with fish to 22lb taken on fly
• Blackwater at perfect height after spate, salmon taking well
• Heavy floods reported on the Ballisodare River.
• Windy and Blustery weather hampers good salmon fishing at Burrishoole.
• Good improvement in sport on the Newport River.
• Better salmon fishing reported from the upper stretches of the River Moy
• Very good sea trout fishing reported from the River Dee and a lovely 19 lb. salmon reported from the River Glyde.
• Salmon up to 16 lb. reported from the River Fane
• Good improvement on salmon fishing at Kylemore.
• Salmon Fishing Picks Up at Delphi
• Some big salmon recorded on the Laune Salmon and Trout Anglers’ Association waters and Beat 3
• Very good salmon fishing reported from the River Ilen and fair reports from the small Kerry and west Cork Rivers
• Very consistent salmon and sea trout fishing reported from Lough Currane.
• Too much water on the Owenea, but good fishing between floods
• Good water on the Drowes and fishing picks up
• Great salmon fishing on River Erriff – 79 fish for the week

Sea angling reports

• Very good cod fishing along with specimen bass reported from Courtmacsherry
• Very good deep sea angling reported from Killala Bay.
• 33 species recorded at the excellent Rosslare Small Boats Competition.
• Good bass fishing reported from north Clare and a 20 lb. bull huss reported from Clew Bay
• Summer action onboard the Wreckhunter
• Recent weather no help to Clare coast charters, but prime time coming
• Double Dutch result for bass anglers in Cobh
• Porbeagle becoming scare, but still a few about
• An east coast adventure: Tope from a kayak

Trout fishing reports

• Inclement weather curtails trout fishing on Loughs Conn and Cullin.
• Report from the TAFI Interprovincial River Championships on the Clare River.
• Good trout fishing reported on Lough Corrib despite the blustery weather conditions for most of the week.
• Nice trout fishing reported from the Gowla and Athry Fisheries at the TAFI Interprovincial lake championships
• Mick Flanagan reports on recent fishing on the midland trout loughs
• Olive hatches reported from Lough Sheelin in blustery weather conditions.
• Last Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association Trial for 2011 Season
• Lough Melvin very quiet, Freddie Steel wins Kinlough & District Anglers competition
• Fine specimen 15 lb. 5 oz. brown trout at Ballynahinch on fly is the biggest trout ever recorded in the fishery.
• River suck in flood but Loughs Acalla and O’Flynn fishing well