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Big bream early spawning roach at Lanesborough

By
IFI Staff
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Monday April 2nd
The very brave souls who spent the night on the stretch were rewarded with some good fish. Chris Ganley amassed around 50lbs with many nice sized Roach and a Bream of about 5lbs. Damien Allchorn didn’t do too well but had two Tench of 3lb 8oz and 4lb 10oz Killian McCormack had a good mixed bag of 22lbs but was beaten by his twin brother Glenn who weighed in 25lbs 4oz. Most of Glenns weight was taken between noon and 2pm. His best Bream went 5lb 8oz.
I was surprised to find no one with the exception of Tim Collier on the river at dawn. It wasn’t too cold and wind was minimal. He had two Tench by the time I set up and by 09.00 he had beaten me 10-5. Mine averaged 3lb 8oz with the best going 4lb 2oz. Tims best went 4lb 9oz. Of the 15, only three were female. Only two others fished the stretch for most of the day, with the overall catch rate down on previous days.
In the evening, Damien arrived with Killian and his twin brother. At 9pm they had limited success but Chris Ganley, also doing a night session was doing better.  My evening session was at Maladys where I joined Peter Wood to catch 24 smallish Roach and Hybrids. For more info on the Inny, go to www.innyangling.net.
Tuesday April 3rd
I ventured out at 6.30 and couldn’t buy a bit on the hot water stretch. The conditions had deteriorated somewhat with a cold northerly wind coming downstream making the stick float presentation almost impossible. I decided to walk across the bridge to fish near the toilets. Usually I’d expect some action here but it was hard. I caught four male Roach up to 12oz but the bad news was the evidence of a mass spawning that had happened in the last 24 hours. This is much too soon and I can only hope it’s just an early shoal doing their business.
Earlier in the day, Steve Blacklidge was fishing the disabled swims and recorded two very small Tench along with some Rudd.
Due to the expected cold winds, tomorrows weeding session is postponed until Thursday.  Please bring any tools or Rakes on a rope.

Wednesday April 4th
The overnight temperature dropped to -2c and I was more than surprised to see 6 anglers on the bank by 8am. Leigh Maitland was doing reasonably well but had vacted his swim by 11.30 along with 3 others.  The few that endured the conditions all caught, but had significantly less than they may have expected. Some Hybrids to 2lb 8oz and odd decent Roach were caught mainly on the feeder, as float fishing was all but impossible. So why I tried the method in the evening, god only knows? It was a complete waste of time and I fluked just one solitary male Roach of 12oz on the gusher. I for one will be very glad when the wind changes direction. If anyone cares to help out tomorrow afternoon, at 2pm we are going to attempt to move the weed from the stretch.
Thursday April 5th
The wind has dropped and there are some fish visible from the bridge. One Tench was caught early this morning, a male of around 3lbs. Only three fishing at the moment. It is now 11am.Further updates at 9pm tonight.

Paul Waghorne at www.lanesboroughangling.ie

John Potters wins the final of the float only league final at the Roslea Lakes.

By
Paul Bourke
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Jack Tisdall – [email protected]  reports on the final of the Float only league held on the Roslea Lakes

The top 18 anglers from the Float Only Winter League fish the final over the weekend in excellent and calm weather conditions.

The match was fished two venues, the Roslea Lakes of Gavin’s, Lyon’s and Inver Lakes on Saturday and the River Erne at Cleenish Island, Cleenish Stands

and Schools on Sunday.  The winner of the day one match was Bill Dodd (Lisbellaw) with 8.750 Kgs, fishing on Lyons Lake peg 4, Bill caught 24 Skimmer Bream and some Roach on the

Pole at 13 m.  Day one runner Up was David Herron (Co Tyrone) on Gavin’s Peg 3, David also fished the pole for 7.120 Kgs of quality Roach.

Third overall was Tony Kersley (Ballycassidy) who was also at Lyons and caught 4.850 Kgs which included two Tench from peg 9.

The other section winner was Simon Huthwaite (Enniskillen) 2.030 Kgs of small fish on the Slider at Inver Lake.

The winner of the day two match was John Potters (Lisbellaw) with 13.410 Kgs, fishing on Cleenish Stands Peg 9, John caught quality Roach and Hybrids

on 10 m whip to hand and long pole.  Runner Up was Paul Eyers (Enniskillen) on Cleenish Island Peg 1, Paul also fished the pole and Slider for 9.000 Kgs.

Third overall was Simon Huthwaite (Enniskillen) who was also on Cleenish Stands 8.580 Kgs from peg 7.

The other section winner was Nick Howell (Kilskeery) 7.120 Kgs at Schools.

The top prize of £300 went to John Potters won scored 11 pts beating Simon Huthwaite (£250) also 11 pts on total weight.

Dave Herron finished third and won £200 with a 10 point score.

John Potters with his winning catch of 13 kilos of mainly Roach.
The winners, David Herron, John Potters and Simon Huthwaite

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Search for Stingray

By
IFI Staff
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Stingray crab

Back in the 1980’s and 1990’s stingray were a common target for shore anglers, especially from the St Osyth, Essex area, along the Hampshire coast, South Wales, and also from Cardigan Bay in mid Wales, with stingers also showing from numerous marks in between. But with the new millennium, catches seemed to stall and the numbers of stingray reaching UK waters dramatically dropped. So much so that few anglers now target them.

The only consistent catches in the past 10-years, and even here numbers have fallen, have come from marks inside Tralee Bay in Co Kerry, Ireland.

Shore fishing

There are numerous factors that could govern the reason why stingers are not as evident as before, but the erratic weather patterns of the past ten years would shoulder much of the blame. The common factor in the past when stingray were more numerous, were mild winters followed by an early spring.

Stingray are typically found on shallowish beaches and especially so if they are adjacent to, or in close proximity to estuaries. Big stingray can be caught in just two or three feet of water and right in amongst the surf tables!

The weather has to be just right though. The best conditions are a flat calm sea, little or no wind, hot and warm conditions with clear sunshine. Look to fish middle sized tides climbing towards big spring tides. Aim to fish a tide that ideally starts to flood around 1 to 2pm, and fish through the flood tide, though the middle hours are typically the most productive. The time of the tide is actually more important than the size though. There’s a reason for this. The hot sun will heat up the exposed sand. As the new tide floods over this hot sand, in turn the sand heats up the shallow water and the stingray like the warmer water so come in to the shallows. Fish outside this window and your chances drop massively.

Stingray love crab baits

The majority of fish are caught using shorter casts, no more than 40-yards, that puts the bait either in to, or just beyond the light surf tables. A bait at long range can sometimes score, but this is way less successful.

The top baits for stingray are peeler crab or king rag. A few fish are taken on mackerel and squid, but these are third rate for stingers and should only be used as a last resort.

These rays fight hard. They will run parallel through the surf and run off a fair bit of line, especially a big one. Just let it take line if it wants and slowly tire itself. When beaten, use the leader with an incoming wave to slide the fish ashore.

Watch the poisonous tail, which is used just like a scorpion’s arcing over the back! When removing the hook have someone put a gentle foot on the tail to stop it trying to wound you. Experienced anglers hold the tail with a thick cloth just below the sting to handle the fish and slide it back in to the water.  Common sense will see both fish and angler come to no harm!

Article written by Mike Thrussell

www.worldseafishing.com

http://www.worldseafishing.com/columns/mikethrussell/the_search_for_stingray.html

Cod to 10lb on Shannon estuary charter boat trip

By
IFI Staff
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Luke Aston, Carrickaholt Cod
Luke Aston, Carrickaholt Cod

Well after the winter haul out of the boat and some spring maintenance I got the Clare Dragoon back in the water last week. My first trip out was last Monday with a group of Pike fisherman from the Czech Republic.

As it was still early in the season here I was not sure what to expect but at least the weather was lovely. Travelling down the estuary we were met by a lot of very active dolphins and when we got to Loop Head we immediately notice the fins of some Basking Sharks. As we got closer I was amazed to see a pod of at least 50 of these large sea mammals. There were more in this group together than I have ever seen before!

Basking Shark
Basking Shark

So after that exciting start we settled down to the fishing. We tried for a while close in among the sharks to see if any Mackerel had turned up there but after 2 short blank drifts I moved about a mile and a half off the land to try a reef there. This immediately produced results and from then on for the rest of the day, as I tried all the “closer marks”, we had a very steady catch of fish.

 There were plenty of Mackerel about mid water and plenty of Pollack in the 4 to 5lb range on the bottom. We also had Cod up to almost 10lb, Ling, Haddock, Coalfish and a few other odds and ends. All in all a very good day for so early in the year and I now look forward to lots of fine weather and a long fruitful season!

Luke Aston, Carrickaholt Cod
Luke Aston, Carrickaholt Cod

Luke Aston
Carrigaholt Sea Angling
087 6367544

http://www.fishandstay.com/

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/CarrigaholtSeaAngling

Over twenty salmon caught for the week on Carrowmore

By
Markus Muller
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Another excellent week was had on Carrowmore Lake, with many anglers boating fine catches and returning salmon during excursions. The lakes total catch has more than doubled in the past week, with over 20 salmon caught in the past seven days. Visiting angler Dave Elliot, Enniskillen, enjoyed great sport, retaining one salmon of 12lbs and returning three others. Tony Gibbons had two for his day, including one of 8lbs which was retained, while John Cosgrove had one of 10lbs and returned a second. Mr P. Doherty boated a fine fish of 13.2lbs, Andy Latimer caught one of 12lbs while both Martin McCoy and Vincent Rigney had a salmon of 9lbs. Mr C. Long had one of 8.5lbs, while Ken Henry, Sligo, captured a fish of 8lbs.

Success on Lough Beltra opening day

By
Markus Muller
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Lough Beltra opened on the 20th March and it was Vincent Rigney who claimed the honors for first salmon of the season, landing a salmon estimated at 6lbs on opening day. This was followed by Ben Baynes who boated one of 8lbs on the 21st March. Jonathan Murray enjoyed good fishing on the weekend of the 24th/25th March, boating three fresh salmon, all estimated at over 10lbs. The past week has seen little angling activity on the lake as weather conditions have not been suitable. Anglers fishing Lough Beltra from the Glenisland Co-op side are reminded to flush their engines before angling in the newly installed bio-security tanks.

Twelve salmon on Ballisodare opening day

By
Markus Muller
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Ballisodare Fishery opened for the season on Sunday 1st April and enjoyed great success, with 12 salmon in total landed, three of which were released. The first fish of the season on the fishery was caught by local angler John Connolly, weighing 6lbs 9oz and was taken on a worm. The first fish caught on the fly was hooked by visiting angler Dennis Barrett, N.Ireland, who took the fish of 6lbs 6oz on a Willie Gunn. The heaviest catch of the day was a fine 13lbs 1oz salmon caught by Francis Kearns, while the second heaviest was taken by Richie Watters and weighed 12lbs. For information on fishing at Ballisodare, please contact Dermott Glennon on +353 (0)86 2515064.

Mid and upper Moy Fisheries produce salmon

By
Markus Muller
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There have been few fish of late of the River Moy, only three in total for the past week. However, angling effort on the river has been low, although water levels are suitable for all methods. It has been the mid and upper Moy which produced this week’s sport, with the Foxford Fishery reporting their first salmon of the season, a 10lbs springer caught by Padraig Corrigan, Navan, taken on a spinner. The East Mayo Anglers’ water produced a further two fish, with Aiden Sheridan, Kiltimagh, landing one of 8.5lbs on worm, and Declan Mc Nulty, Swinford, (his second of the season) also having success with the worm.

Trolling for trout tough going on Lough Derg

By
myleskelly
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A total of eleven fish for thirty rods were weighed in at the end of a trout trolling competition on Lough Derg on Sunday last (April 1st).  The event, sponsored by Gerry O’ Brien of Irish Slate Supplies, and hosted by Garrykennedy Fishing Club, was won by John Kennedy with a trout of 2lbs 8ozs.  The club will host another trout trolling competition on this Sunday, April 8th.

Fish over 6 lbs caught

Sean Collins had a 6 lbs ½ ozs trout to win the competition hosted by Ballina-Killaloe and District Anglers Association on Lough Derg on Sunday last (April 1st). The second heaviest trout (1 lb 5 ozs) was caught by Shane Lancaster.

There are reports of the odd mayfly coming off the lake. With the current cold conditions it won’t come to much this weekend but the expectation is that it will be early again on Derg this year again.

Lough Conn continues to produce sport despite weather conditions

By
Markus Muller
-

Angling on Lough Conn remains slow but steady, although recent changes in weather conditions have hampered efforts some what. Once again Ronnie Chambers, Belfast had success while fishing Massbrook, with four trout to the buzzer. Mick McNeeley, Mullingar had one of 1.5lbs on a Bibio with Brendan Breslin also landing one of 1.5lbs off Brankwansha shore.

Peter Roche, Cloghans, had three to wet flies, his best 1.5lbs and fishing out of Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Jonathan Glennon, Ennis, had three to an octopus. Jack Mellet, also fishing out of Pontoon Bridge had one to a Green Peter off Glass Island, while at Enniscoe, Ian Wise had one trout of 1.5lbs to a buzzer.

Ballina and Cloghans Angling Club are hosting the Jack McNeely Perpetual Cup competition on Easter Saturday, from Cloghans Shore with fishing allowed between 11am and 6pm. Food and weigh-in at the Lodge Bar, Cloghans from 6.30pm. Entry fee is €50.00 per boat for two anglers. To confirm entry, please contact +353 (0)871802636 via text message.

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