Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters reports that the fishing has really switched on on the east coast recently, and that his anglers have had some impressive catches in recent days. One group had cracking action fishing soft plastics for some very nice pollock and they managed a nice ling or two as well. A few fine tope are also showing up as well, so it looks like a prime time to head down Wicklow way…
Well-known angler Mick Flanagan has been all over the midlands lakes in the past week. He’s experienced blue skies on Lough Owel, chased rainbows into darkness on Lough Lene, and spun for perch on Lough Ennell. The best of the fishing seems to have been on Lough Lene, where many of the trout are feeding hard on pinhead fry, but fishing into darkness has produced results when conditions have come right for the buzzer.
Eileen Carrol reports from the Laune and Killarney lakes…
Low water levels still impact on salmon fishing on most of the Laune and the Killarney lakes system. As a consequence, just a few salmon were reported lately.
Weekending 21st July 2 salmon landed on Beat 1, River Laune weighing 8lbs and 7lbs caught spinning. 1 salmon on Beat 3 of the Laune weighing 6lbs caught spinning.
Weekending 28th July 2 salmon from Killarney Lakes weighing 5lbs and 6lbs caught trolling.
2 salmon reported from Johnson’s Fishery, River Laune weighing 7lbs and 8lbs caught spinning.
Eileen Carrol reports from the Munster Blackwater…
Salmon angling on the Munster Blackwater over the past fortnight can best be described as slow. There are fish present especially on the lower freshwater and upper estuary, but these have been described as being very “sulky” which one would expect for August and not so early in July. Having said this there is still some fine salmon about but also some great quality grilse averaging 2 – 2.5 kg.
Blackwater Salmon and Trout Fishery
Blackwater Salmon and Trout Fishery control a number of beats of the Munster Blackwater. The Ballyduff Bridge beat is almost a mile long offering a huge variety of water and is particularly suited to fly fishing. Upstream near the village of Ballyhooley (a few miles outside the town of Fermoy, Cork) we have two beats. The Ballincurrig Beat is one of the most beautiful locations along the river and has an excellent piece of fly water flowing into a deep pool. Just downstream on the opposite bank we have a short but productive beat, called Magners. This beat fishes also well in high water.
Contact Jason Corcoran:
Ballyduff, Co. Waterford.
Tel: +353 (0)586 0146
Mobile: +353 (0)87 720 5690
Web: www.blackwatertroutandsalmon.ie
Blackwater Valley Fishery
Salmon, Sea trout and Brown trout fishing on prime fishing beats River Blackwater Co. Cork and Co. Waterford Ireland.
Email: blackwatervalleyfishery@gmail.com
Mobile: +353 (0) 87 690 5467
Web: facebook.com/Corkwaterfordfishery
Blackwater Salmon Fishery
Blackwater Salmon Fishery has 3 beats downstream of the weir and 2 upstream of the weir. Blackwater Salmon Fishery offers fishing on approximately 5 miles of the river Blackwater. The fishing is spread throughout the middle section of the river to offer good sport throughout the fishing season. Due to the location of the beats, fishing can still usually be offered in low or high water.
Contact Glenda Powell: Lismore, Co Waterford,
Email: info@blackwatersalmonfishery.com
Mobile: +353 (0) 872351260 Telephone: +353 (0) 5853929
Web: www.blackwatersalmonfishery.com
Fortwilliam Fishery & Self-Catering Cottages
Fortwilliam Fishery offers two miles of double bank salmon and trout fishing over five beats on the river Blackwater.
Our salmon include – Springers, May Salmon, Grilse, Back End Salmon, and in Summer sea trout.
Our beats provide a wide variety of water, suitable for both beginners and the more experienced fishermen.
Fortwilliam Fishery, Glencairn, Lismore, Co. Waterford, Ireland
Web: www.fortwilliamfishing.ie Email: fishing@fortwilliamireland.com
Tel: (00353) 87 8292077 or 058 75299
Careysville Fishery
Careysville Fishery offers some of the best salmon fly fishing in Ireland and includes 26 named pools. It is considered by many to be one of premier beats for salmon fishing in Ireland. Wading is excellent and among the numerous streams, pools and glides there is a great variety of fly fishing to suit both complete novice and challenge the most competent of fly casters.
Careysville, Clondulane, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
Email: fishing@careysville.com Mobile: +353 (0)86 2378788
Web: http://careysville.com/careysville-fishery/
Lismore Castle Fishery
At Lismore Castle & Golf Course Fishery, we offer nearly two miles of two inter-linked beats, the Castle Beat & the Golf Course Beat.
The legendary Castle Beat consistently ranks as one of the top Salmon beats on the River Blackwater, for the number of Atlantic Salmon caught per rod. The Golf Course Beat offers about 1.5 miles of fishable water through meandering majestic countryside. The Golf Course beat offers a number of bewildering pools suitable for unmatched spinning and bait fishing.
For bookings contact Joe Willoughby on Mobile no. 00353 87 8295449 or Email: info@lismorecastlefishery.com
Website: www.lismorecastlefishery.com
Blackwater Salmon Anglers, Mallow
We provide Day Tickets for some prime Salmon fishing in Mallow Co. Cork. We have excellent fly water, shrimping worming and spinning also. We also have very competitive Day rates and we have very recently upgraded our fishing.
Tickets available from “The Bridge House” and “Vincent Downes Menswear” Mallow.
Facebook: Blackwater Salmon Anglers
Upper Bridgetown Salmon Fishery
Located on the Munster Blackwater in the south of Ireland. Situated mid river between the towns of Fermoy and Mallow. A productive left bank beat in stunning surroundings.
For bookings contact Conor Arnold: +353 87 755 4682
Facebook: Upper Bridgetown Salmon Fishery
Loungueville House Salmon Fishery
For details on availability and conditions of fishing for salmon and trout on the Longueville House waters please contact them at
Contact : Longueville House Hotel, William O’Callaghan
Address : Mallow, Co. Cork.
Telephone : 00 353 22 47156
Email: info@longuevillehouse.ie
Website: www.longuevillehouse.ie
Skipper Luke Aston had a nice group over last week and they enjoyed some sport. On their last day, despite breezy conditions, they decided for a last go at the sharks. Luke took it easy on the bumpy trip out, and “once set up on a drift, it did not take long for the action to get going”, Luke says and “from then on it was nonstop with blues to over a 100lbs, plenty pollack and spurdogs including a double shot of fish over 20lbs. After a couple of hours drift the sharks where swimming round the rubby dubby bucket and taking the bait as we put it out. A great end of trip day
Andy Elliott is a regular visitor to west Clare, and booked the b oat to try for a sixgill shark. No stranger to sixgills, Andy has already had 5 in the past and was looking for no. 6! Unfortunately weather cut his trip short but at least he had some sport with the blues.
Another group drifted some reegs and got into some fine spurdogs to 17lbs and some big whiting, mixed in with the odd pollack and ling. After a while the blues appeared, swimming around the boat. They were slow to hook up but they did land a couple to about 80lbs.
Clare Dragoon is a LOCHIN 366 powered by 650HP engine, skippered by Luke Aston and operating out of Carrigaholt Co. Clare…
I have some offers up on my web site www.fishandstay.com and if anybody is interested in putting a trip together please do get in touch. Also I Twitter from the boat on @fishandstay and try to update my face book page www.facebook.com/CarrigaholtSeaAngling fairly often!To experience some of the best deep sea fishing available in Ireland contact Luke.
Telephone: +353 65 9058209 or +353 87 6367544
Email: lukeaston@eircom.net Web: www.fishandstay.com
Porbeagle sharks are still hanging around in Galway Bay and providing great sport, according to skipper John Fleming. His guests on the Brazen Hussy have been enjoying great fishing of late, with plenty of sharks about and happy to take a bait.
The bottom fishing has also been very good, with plenty of nice gurnards in particular coming over the rail.
To book fishing with John aboard the Brazen Hussy II, give him a call on 087 7571320
A regular day is between 9am- 6pm from either Rossaveal, Spiddal or Galway depending on species being sought after. Fishing on the inshore reefs for pollock, cod, ling, wrasse, conger eel and mackerel can be reached in 10 minutes from departure, while our offshore reef marks are within 45 minutes of departure. Our ground fishing for tope, spurdog, ray, bullhuss, turbot, plaice and the giant common skate can all be reached within the hour which ensures the most amount of time is spent fishing.
The shark season usually starts at the end of June and runs into late October, this is the ultimate angling adrenaline rush with these hard fighting blue and porbeagle sharks all being tagged and released safely.
Package deals available
Address: Baile an tSagairt, Spiddal, Co. Galway.
Telephone: +353 (0)87 7571320
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BlueSharkAngling
Blue Shark Angling Galway,
Phone John Fleming : +353 (0)87 7571320
Diversity was the name of the game over the last few weeks, according to skipper Sean Maguire on the Isle of Aran in west Clare. Diversity of anglers, with many countries represented on crews throughout July, as well as a great range of species caught. Pollack, ling, wrasse, megrim, pouting, spurs, ray, tope, and many more were among the catches last month, with happy crews enjoying some great sport.
There were some bigger fish around too, as a regular crew from Dublin discovered this week. Their first day was breezy, but they enjoyed good pollack fishing and some fine spurdogs. The second day was much better weather-wise, and they enjoyed a great day fishing for blue shark, as well as good fishing on the bottom.
Fishing Adventures on Séan Maguire’s Isle of Aran, a Lochin 33 charterboat which operates 15 miles from Kilbaha, Carrigaholt, and Kilrush.
Whether you want to go to the Atlantic Ocean for a large selection of species, including different types of shark, or fish the estuary for ray conger tope etc, Fishing Adventures will cater for whatever fishing you desire.
Telephone: +353 (0) 877508758 or +353 (0) 894431182
Email: fishadven@gmail.com Web: www.fishingadventures.ie
Thomas Cahill reports on the 4th and final round of the Athy & District Anglers Summer League which was fished on Sunday…
Our final of the John Shaughnessy memorial mini summer league was held on Sunday in very sunny conditions, so the weights were poor enough.
The league overall results are…
We would like to thank all the sponsors of our matches.
Thanks to all the guys who participated and a big thanks to Mary Whyte for presenting the trophy.
If you’d like to fish the Marina Club Grounds or get involved with the club and fish matches like these, then click the links below!
Athy & District Anglers Club was formed in 1959 and to this day they continue to pursue their goals of protecting, maintaining and encouraging the sport of angling in the greater Athy area. The club works with local authorities to improve and maintain local fishing areas as well as organizing events and matches for local and national anglers. Athy & District Anglers Club welcomes all new members and all age groups to the sport! If you’d like to get involved, please check out the Getting Involved section of their website.
John Browne reports on the sixth match of Oakland’s summer league which was fished on Sunday…
Beautiful day today at Oakland’s for the 6th Round of the Sensas/Dennett Summer league. Leo Lynch kept up his winning streak coming out on top again with 75.880 kg. A close second was Kirean Reeves bagging 70.420kg and not far behind him in 3rd was Ronan Minogue netting 66.380kg.
Big thanks to all the lads that fished. Hope to see you all at the next round on the 11th of August.
It has been a wet week for much of the country, with most areas experiencing between 100% and 245% of average rainfall, but those on the eastern side of the country seem to have escaped the worst of it. Temperatures have remained around normal for the time of year, but it has been quite overcast, with the sun only fleetingly peeping through the cloudline. So, a bit of rain, warmth and a lack of bright sun… sounds like good weather for fishing!
Salmon anglers in particular like a bit of rain to freshen things up in our rivers, and we have some surprisingly positive reports in this week, where the glooom of a difficult early season seems to have been lifted by a good run of grilse (and bigger fish too) on many of our fisheries. In the west of the country, the grilse have arrived in good numbers at Delphi Lodge, and anglers have been enjoying some fine fishing with some notable catches including one angler landing his 500th Delphi salmon! Urs Leibundgut caught his first Delphi salmon in 1993 and has been returning year after year. On the 18th of July this year he notched up his 500th Delphi fish, an impressive feat which wins him this week’s Catch of the Week.
The Galway Fishery has also seen a good influx of grilse over the month of July, and water levels have been conducive to good angling, with 180 fish landed so far this month, mostly on the fly. And it’s also good news down on the River Suir, where after a poor 2023, there has been a marked improvement in the fishing this year, including quite a few 20lb+ fish. Unfortunately, there was little good news to report from Waterville this week as all rods drew a blank in what was an unproductive week for the fishery. The Moy saw a bounce in catches last week as the rain spurred on some activity, leading to over 600 fish being recorded throughout the system. In this week’s podcast, the Ireland on the Fly team focuses on the River Moy and speaks to Garrett Ruigrok about the fishing and how the grilse run on the Moy is shaping up. Anglers who applied for brown tags to fish the Lower Lee can check here to see if they were successful following the fourth draw for tags, which was held on Wednesday. A similar draw for brown tags for the River Roughty in Kerry will be held on August 7th, and interested anglers can apply to enter the draw via the link on this webpage.
To sea angling now, and as usual, the Killybegs Mariners were out and about on Donegal’s beaches last week, claiming some quality flounder and a few plump bass amongst their catches. Staying in Donegal, the Saoire Marie fishing out of Kincasslagh saw the mackerel make a welcome return, and this helped anglers aboard to enjoy an impressive 18 different species over the weekend. On the south coast, another nighttime session for West Cork Charters failed to produce the stupendous catches of a few of weeks ago but still threw up a couple of fine specimen-sized skate. It was a similar story on the east coast, where the fishing didn’t hit the highs of the previous week for anglers fishing with Wicklow Boat Charters, but they still managed to tag a few tope for a joint IFI/UCC programme to monitor the movement of tope off Ireland’s east coast. In the Waterford area, Rinnashark SAC held a juvenile competition to help the next cohort of sea anglers brush up their skills, and it was a well-attended event with plenty of fish caught.
To the west coast now, where charter skipper Luke Aston reports that blue shark have turned up in good numbers off the Clare coast, and he’s seeing a bit of action with porbeagle as well. A little further north along the Clare coast, interested anglers should note that the Lidsoonvarna Fanore Sea Angling Club will be hosting their annual International Angling Week from August 4th-10th this year. To wrap up the sea angling news for the week, in the 31st episode of the Lure Fishing Podcast, Cormac Walsh speaks with Keith Barker about the tactics he uses to target bass on the south coast.
In coarse angling news, a bunch of dedicated young anglers were on the water in Enniskillen last week, upping their coarse angling skills with the NCFFI, aiming towards securing a place on the Team Ireland Youth team sometime in the future. And for all aspiring young coarse anglers, Anthony O’Neill, an accomplished young angler himself, has provided a few tips on how he sets up to target roach. Back to NCFFI news now, as they have announced a new club competition to be held on L. Muckno on Sat 27th August, with a seniors & women’s competition to be held the following day.
It’s tight at the top in the ongoing Lough Muckno July Festival, where 22 anglers are competing for the trophy. The final day of fishing is today, so good luck to all the anglers and we’ll be bringing you the results next week. Wrapping up the coarse angling news, last Sunday saw 16 anglers take part in the 5th leg of the Perch Master Ireland 2024 league. There were plenty of perch feeding on the day, and catches were plentiful, but failed to yield any specimen sized fish.
There’s not a whole lot of trout fishing news this week, but Dan O’Neil’s latest River Whispers blog covers a lot of different topics and helps to make up for the lack of other news.
Dan will be running an introduction to fishing and social day on Laois Angling Centre on the 28th of July for anyone looking for some first-hand guidance on how to get into the sport.
For once, the outlook for the coming days is not too bad…, with a reasonable amount of dry, warm, sunny weather promised. There will be some showers today, which will die out as the day progresses, but a fresh band of showers will cross the country from west to east later in the evening. Saturday should be largely dry albeit with a few heavy showers lurking, with temperatures between 17 and 21°C. It will remain clear on Saturday night, and Sunday will be mostly dry and bright, if a bit hazy, with similar temperatures to Saturday. The start of next week should see warm, humid weather with temperatures in the low to mid 20s with a lot of dry weather. Summer might be here at last…
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 reports@fisheriesireland.ie.
Trout Fishing Reports
