It’s the most valuable catch this experienced fisherman has ever landed — but it’s one he’s very anxious to give back. Pat O’Flaherty, 75, from Glasheen in Cork City, who has fished some of the finest salmon fisheries in Ireland, Europe, and Canada, landed this jewel of a specimen while fishing the Lee last weekend. The question is — how did the wedding ring get there… Irish Examiner, 24/02/12. Read the article ‘Reel mystery: Angler nets wedding ring‘.
The very mild and relatively calm weather has led to a huge increase in the number of anglers venturing out on freshwater and to sea right now. And with so many rods in the water there are a lot of good angling stories this week.
Willie Worth wins Catch of the Week with this huge pollack of 18 lb. 2oz
Trout angling in the west has got off to a good start with some productive flyfishing on both Corrib and Mask and some nice fish reported. The Corrib Predator Team guides were back in ferox action over the weekend and landed a number of big ferox trout, including 8 fish between 50 and 90 cm. The best fish was caught by Jacek Gorny weighed 17 lb. 6 oz and another fish over 17 lb and a few smaller fish and all were returned after a few quick photos. The only other trout report was from Lough na Leibe where a few trout to 3 lb. were reported. The Irish Trout Fly Fishing Association juvenile anglers appeared at the Annual Angling Fair which was held at the National Show Centre in Cloghran, County Dublin on the 12th February 2012. These young anglers were on hand to demonstrate their fly tying and casting skills. The season opens next week on many trout rivers and loughs through out the country.
A sudden rise in water levels on the River Drowes brought a bit of sport for salmon anglers fishing the river in the past week and several fish up to 10 lb. were reported on fly, rapala and worm. On nearby Lough Melvin there were no salmon reported and it was a similar story on Lough Currane where only a few kelts were caught and quickly returned. There’s been a great response to our salmon licence competition so we’ve made it even bigger. In addition to the existing prize of a national salmon licence we’re putting 10 juvenile salmon licences and one district licence up for grabs. To find out how you could win your salmon licence for 2012 visit our Facebook page.
There was a lot of pike angling activity and Mick Flanagan had two anglers fishing near Mullingar. They boated 5 pike in 2 days, but never got a hit from a Midland Monster. On their travels they met Rochfortbridge piker Ger Bradley and he was returning a cracking pike of 15lbs 4oz, which fell to static dead bait. Oisín Mac Domhnaill sent us a report of a fabulous pike caught February 15th from a lake close to the River Suck system. The pike weighed 27.8lb and fell to a popped up scad, fished at short range. The Dublin Pike Anglers held their winter league over 4 venues during the past 4 months. It was a tough competition with very mixed weather and results. The winner was Joey Bonnie with 25 fish for 60lb 10oz with a total of 50 points.
Dick Caplice from the Irish Angling Development Alliance reports that 16 competitors fished the South Armagh/Lough Muckno Winter League on Sunday 19th February at South Lodge on Lough Muckno. After a very frosty start, the weather was fine and dry with little wind. Catches consisted mainly of roach with short and long range feeder producing best results. The winner was Andrew Chapman Dromore with a nice catch of 13lbs 12 ozs
There was plenty of sea angling activity in the past week. In the north Kerry area, a shore competition produced some flat fish, dogfish and rockling in the unusually bright angling conditions that prevailed on the day for the competitors. It was very different at the latest light line competition at Cobh last week where 1200 fish were recorded by competitors but only eight species were counted on the day. John Dennehy won the day with a great catch of 111 fish. Still in Cork Harbour, a young angler, Luke McCabe fished with angling guide Richie Ryan and took a lovely Cod on the trip among other fish. Up in Red Bay, Tope to 35 lb. and a range of species were taken by anglers fishing with charter skipper Hamish Currie. Finally a group of Dublin anglers from the Burrough SAC fished with charter skipper Colin Barnes out from Castletownsend and fished several wrecks and rough ground marks. They enjoyed some excellent fishing and the Catch of the Week goes to Willie Worth who caught the biggest pollack of 18 lb. 2 oz. This fish is the biggest pollack reported since 2004 and was very close to the current Irish record.
There are many other reports to be seen in this weeks angling update and the update will be weekly from now on and updates will appear daily on the website. If you have a good fish story and a good photograph during the rest of the season, please contact myself [email protected] or [email protected]
Tight lines especially in Ireland,
Paul Bourke
Angling Information Officer Catch, Photo, Release
There were few fish of this quality feeding at the show.
Capaclough open competition was held on Sunday February 12th. Recent club competitions have been fished in some brutal weather during the winter months so it was with some relief that members set off for the venue in bright sunshine on Sunday afternoon. As they arrived at the beach Tralee Bay was like a mill pond with a number of pleasure boats out of Fenit marina taking advantage of the unseasonably good weather.
There were few fish of this quality feeding on Sunday
In total 24 anglers set up their equipment on the beach – clearly a number of regular competitors had themselves decided to take advantage of the good weather in order to do other things. As it turned out they were perhaps wise to do some gardening or watch the rugby on the TV as the fishing was disappointing to say the least.
Bright sunshine on shallow water coupled with a lack of any surf can be a recipe for a poor days fishing at any time of the year. Add to that the fact that it is mid-February and this dampens expectations still further. Nevertheless, early success suggested that fish were about and were on the feed. A couple of dogfish were landed early in the competition and shortly afterwards a rockling came ashore suggesting that a number of species might make an appearance. These expectations were short lived and bites became less frequent after the intial phase of the event. It was also the case that when fish were caught they were all too frequently undersize.
Techniques were much in evidence for the remainder of the competition. Short casting coupled with small hooks and different bait combinations were employed in an attempt to make the most of the difficult conditions. Despite these efforts a total of only 13 fish were caught and returned on the day.
It was generally agreed that this was one of the least successful outings the club had had for a very long time. Certainly by the time the final whistle went all were ready for the roaring fire and warm welcome which was waiting for us at Railway Bar in Camp. As hot drinks, sandwiches and sausage rolls were consumed everyone agreed that despite the poor fishing that it had been a grand day spent in good company and the fresh air.
Results
Junior Results:
First: Adam Doyle
Second: Darragh O’Sullivan
Senior Results
First: John Williams
Second: Ann Kelter
Third: Vincent Tierney
Best Flatfish:
1st Adam Doyle, Flounder 36cm.
2nd Vincent Tierney, Flounder 25cm.
Best Round Fish:
1st Sean Fitzgerald 20cm Rockling.
2nd John Williams (drawn).
The raffle was won by Matt Hopper.
It was good to see the first prize go to a former club member who was returning to the club and competitive angling after a break for several years. It is always good to see young anglers doing consistently well and Adam Doyle’s name is featuring regularly in the prize list indicating his improving match angling skills which bodes well for the future. Many thanks to Ann and Mike O’Neil for their hospitality and generosity – a warm welcome, great pint and live music – what more could we possibly require. John Tobin Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club Web:www.traleebaysac.org
East coast angler, Stan Ryan and a party of anglers headed off with well known charter skipper Colin Barnes out from Castletownshend. He set sail at 8.30 with the group and fished all day in different areas and eventually arrived back in port at 19.00 because thay had to drive to Dublin that night. The first venue was a wreck 32 miles offshore. Colin reckoned it would be stuffed with fish, in particular big ling. He had only dropped anchor ( at 11 am) a few minutes when Willie Worth got a gut wrenching pull on a jelly lure and after a great fight landed a monster pollack.
Wilie Worth with a huge pollack of 18 lb. 2oz
It was like a stuffed pig and was bursting at the seams. Estimates of its weight varied from 15-17 lb. Pulling a fish this size and strength up from 120M was a test of Willie’s fitness. Nicky then followed up with a fine ling of about 15 -16 lb. Fishing was not exactly frantic but there were some fine ling caught. There were no small fish. Colin was very disappointed that the wreck did not produce enough fish and so eventually we decided to do a drift for the elusive big haddock. They would not cooperate and so after a few of about 1 lb we headed for another wreck further inshore. The depth here was only 110 M. Fish appeared almost immediately with everyone catching ling. Barry had a nice fish of about 12 lb and Joe several one after the other. Late at 19.oo the big pollack was weighed onshore at a whooping 18 lb. 2 0z the biggest pollack since 2004 in Ireland. The anglers commented that if it had been weighed when caught it could have threatened the Irish Record of 19 lb. 3 oz. which was taken at Ballycotton in 1903! Willie’s big pollack wins our Catch of the Week.
Holly Joe
Catamaran 36′. Twin 225 HP Skipper: Colin Barnes Base: Union Hall Operational area: 30 miles out of Castletownshend and Baltimore. Address: Ballykahane, Castletownshend, West Cork. Telephone: +353 (0)28 36832 or +353 (0)86 3273226 Web:www.whalewatchwithcolinbarnes.com
Cobh was the venue for the latest 2012 Light lines competition. The weather was great, calm and bright. Fishing was super from the start with dabs and whiting and lots of doubles and trebles.
A total of 1,200 fish were landed, averaging about 35 per angler. Though only 8 species (whiting, dab, grey gurnard, lesser spotted dogfish, poor cod, plaice, flounder, sea scorpion) were caught. The competition was won by John Dennehy with 111 fish. There are two more winter light lines competitions left this year.
A sea scorpion
The remaining competition dates are:
Sunday 25th March 2012
Sunday 22th April 2012
If you are interested in fishing book in with Mary on 021-4812167.
Also, for those anglers travelling, we’ve negotiated a special deal with the Commodore Hotel if overnight accommodation is required – Bed & breakfast will be available at €29 per person.
The water level rose to 0.7 metres yesterday at Briney’s. There have been some more fish reported. P. Mc Causland had a 7lbs fish on tube fly from the Terrace on Monday.
Derek Jermyn with his 12lb fish from Briney's
On Tuesday D. Jermyn had a 12lbs fish on worm from Briney’s and S. Carty had a 10lbs fish also from Briney’s on a Rapala lure. Conditions are good with mild temperatures, light wind and high tides. The weather outlook is for continued mild conditions with only light rain.
Seanie Carty with his 10lb fish from Briney's
Make a booking
For info/bookings etc on the Drowes Fishery & Lough Melvin see the website: http://www.drowessalmonfishery.com/ or Tel: +353 (0)71 9841055 (8 am to 12 noon).
Up to 45 anglers fished the 1st leg of the Irish Open Shore League at Ballyhealy on Saturday 18th February 2012. The event was organised by Wexford SAC and ran from 6pm to 10pm. The weather was good with only a light southerly breeze and the water was coloured with lots of weed. Coalies, flounder and rockling were the main species taken. Winner of the event was Alan Mulcahy from Cork, Second place went to JP Mulloy from Waterford and Ian Knight from Balybrack SAC took third place.
Dick Caplice from the Irish Angling Development Alliance reports that 16 competitors fished the South Armagh/Lough Muckno Winter League on Sunday 19th February at South Lodge on Lough Muckno. After a very frosty start, the weather was fine and dry with little wind. Catches consisted mainly of roach with short and long range feeder producing best results.
Very little divided the top three and the results were as follows
1st Andrew Chapman Dromore 13lbs 12 ozs
2nd James Gargan Lough Muckno 13lbs 01ozs
3rd Philip Jackson Lurgan 12lbs 03ozs
On the previous Sunday 12th February 2012, the 7th leg of the Dromore league was fished at Annaghearn in Shercock. The conditions were flat calm but temperatures had plummeted which slowed the fishing. Feeder tactics were most productive for roach and skimmers at 40yds. First place in this event went to Brenton Sweeney from Cootehill with 9.11lbs, second place went to Rory O’Neill from Newry with 8.03lbs and third place went to Neil Mazurek from Cootehill with 7.12lbs.
Yes on March 1st we start our trout fishing here on the Midland Lakes and Rivers. It will be interesting to see how the Triploid trout over wintered on Owel and Lene.I hope to venture out on Lough Lene for a few days, and will have full report next week, on opening day.
Michael Flanagan with Perch caught in the Miclands.
PIKE & PERCH FISHING. If you are into the pike fishing, it’s full steam ahead as the pike are gearing up for spawning. Last week Wexford anglers Mayler and John Colloton were back in Mullingar staying in the Friars Hotel. John is a school teacher, and Mayler is enjoying his retirement and his angling. The lads boated 5 pike in 2 days, but never got a hit from a Midland Monster. On our travels we met Rochfortbridge piker Ger Bradley and he was returning a cracking pike of 15lbs 4oz, which fell to static dead bait. The water temperature is quite cold, and the pike are reluctant to chase colourful lures at time, so have a go at static dead baiting on your local waters.
Midlands fishing
I spent a few hours last week jigging for perch and also did a bit of trolling for pike on Ennell. There were quite a few boats out on the Lake, and some nice fish are being taken on jigs. Full reports and loads of pics on www.midlandangling.com
Michael Flanagan with Perch caught in the Miclands.
