I imagined that going fishing in Ireland with the fashion designer John Rocha might, in some way, be a holiday from fashion. I thought that Rocha, who is 58 and comes from Hong Kong, would turn up in a big anorak, and drive me to some mucky place in a battered old station wagon. But this is not the case.
Financial Times, 03/02/12. Read the article ‘Fishing with the FT: John Rocha‘.
The cold wintry weather which has hit the country in recent days has curtailed a bit of angling activity this week but there was some fine fishing reported in the days leading up to last weekend. There was very little salmon fishing reported but there was some fine sea angling and some very good pike fishing also.
Many salmon fisheries opened on the 1st of February but conditions are presently very poor with high water levels prevailing and the cold snap has kept angling pressure to a minimum. Last week, some kelts and some spent trout were caught and safely released on Lough Currane, but no fresh fish were reported. In fact were no reports from any other open salmon fisheries over the last 7 days. In the fly tying world Ciaran Reilly (aged 12) from Loughrea, Co Galway, was adjudged best all-round fly-dresser for 2012 at the Connacht Youth Fly-tying Championships in Loughrea and will captain the team in the national championships later this year.
There was a fair bit of pike angling activity up to the weekend just before the weather broke. Angling guide Michael Flanagan enjoyed good fishing on the River Shannon system at Dromod where two anglers took pike to 15 lb. on copper spoons. Mick himself along with well known angler Barry Darby fished in loughs in the Westmeath and Cavan areas taking many pike with a variety of lures to record several high double figure pike. Also in the Cavan area, two anglers had great sport on Lough Oughter area catching a number of pike with the best two fish of 12 lb. and 9 lb on deadbaits. Over on the River Suck near Athleague, Pat Cooper landed pike up to 11 lb. mainly on smelt deadbaits. This week’s Catch of the Week is the biggest pike of the week at 26 lb. taken by Jim ‘red’ McKeever fishing with boatman Justin Bird on a lough in south Monaghan. The fish was taken on the last cast of the day on a float trolled roach.
On the sea angling side the 4th Irish Winter Shore Angling Festival was fished this year on the beaches at Ballinoulart, Kilgorman and Ballinesker in Co. Wexford attracting a big entry of anglers from home and 23 anglers from the UK. The fishing was excellent for the week’s fishing with a huge range of species recorded. There was individual, two man team and four man team competitions including many section wins up for grabs. Dublin anglers David Roe and Ian Knight won most of the main prizes over the week but all anglers enjoyed good sport just before the colder weather hit the east coast. This weekend, the Kilmuckridge Sea Angling Club Open Competition takes place on Saturday 4th Feb 2012. The event will be fished on all local beaches and all baits are allowed. Fishing will take place from 5 pm to 9 pm.
Tight lines especially in Ireland,
Paul Bourke
Angling Information Officer
Catch, Photo, Release
Gareth King reports through email that they had a great days fishing for pike in Co. Cavan on 28th of January. Gareth caught the best fish of 12lb fish and the other man was trevor with a 9lb fish. They had a total of 6 fish for the day with Gareth recording 4 fish and Trevor with 2 pike. These were the pick of the six along with another 8 lb fish and a 6 pound other 2 were jacks and they also lost two good fish. First time writing into this so hope this have given a bit of a story for this week. Hoping we can provide other pictures and storys in the future.
Kind regards Gareth
Local angling guide, Vincent Appleby reports on fishing in the past week from Lough Currane.
23/1/12 Just one or two boats out, and all quiet on the SW front.
24/1/12 No reports of any real rod benders, with only one or two boats out that’s not surprising.
25/1/12 Lough Currane was like the wild west with a storm force SSW wind blowing across the lake, so all boat stations were at a standstill for most of the day.
26/1/12 All quiet on the SW Front, Wind WNW fresh and very cold and overcast with hail showers throughout the day, with plenty snow on the hills early this morning.
27/1/12 There was just bit of action by local Ghillie Mr. Bob Priestly. Bob was telling me that he caught one Kelt, and the odd spent Trout. Wind NW light with showers throughout the day.
28/1/12 Lough Currane was on the quiet side, with just one or two boats out, Local Gillie Mr. Bob Priestly caught a Kelt on the troll fishing on the north side and an angler from Cork, fishing on the south side caught two spent Sea Trout on the troll and both Sea Trout were in the 4 to 5lbs class. In the past day, I have been criticized for the lack of reporting on the web, all I can say is, you can blame my Noble anglers because if they don’t produce I can’t report. Wind well I will leave that until tomorrow.
29/1/12 All quiet on the SW front in all departments except for the Odd Kelt and a few spent Trout being caught. Wind, little too none and reasonably mild.
That is your ration for this week, from your Ghillie/Guide and the Waterville fishery. No Spin No Fly’s just facts.
Pat Cooper reports through email that he went west last week-end and he fished the River Suck near Athleague . The river was starting to flood but he managed to catch 5 fish on smelt the best fish was a little over 11 lb and he was happy with the results given the weather that was in it.
David Byrne reports that following on from last weekends successful Irish Winter Shore Angling Festival, the action continues this weekend with the Kilmuckridge Sea Angling Club Open Competition which takes place on Saturday 4th Feb 2012. The event will be fished on all local beaches and all baits are allowed. Fishing will take place from 5 pm to 9 pm. Check in is at Sean Ogs Hotel in Kilmuckridge from 2-30 pm to 4 pm. Entry is 22 euro including pools and there is 100% payout.
Entries and further information to Jimmy Doyle 087 2077330
David Byrne reports that another recent pike outing was undertaken on Wednesday the 25th by Dundalk anglers Jim ‘Red’ McKeever and boatman Justin Bird. The lads were fishing on a lough in the South Monaghan area when Jim hooked a cracker which turned out to be his personal best a fantastic 26 lb fish in great condition. I t gave a great scrap before being boated. The fish was caught on float trolled roach. Weather conditions were very poor on the day with strong winds and rough conditions. The lads were on the verge of quitting and calling it a day when on troll home the fish was hooked. It just goes to show that the last cast can be as important as the first. The picture here shows the boatman Justin Bird holding Jim McKeever’s great fish. The good pike wins our catch of the week award.
Last week I spent a few days trolling colourful lures for pike in and around Westmeath and Cavan. The weather had changed for the better, and we had a blast of mild weather, which seem to get the bigger pike on the move. I teamed up with local pike angler Barry Darby and we boated some beautiful high double figure pike, on a variety of lures.
Barry latched onto a cracker while trolling a bright Red coloured Savage Lure, and I had a belter on a Bass Harasser. This fish was a real powerhouse. With the tail fanned out it is easy to see where all the power comes from for those hard-hitting strikes.
It was a strange day and though we had no fish most of the day, and then just after 3pm we boated 5 pike with–in 10 minutes. I picked up another jack just before dark, so our tally was six for the day.
Michael Flanagan
Pike and Trout angling guide.
Telephone: +353 (0)44 9348969 or +353 (0)87 2797270
Fax: +353 (0)44 9342781
Email: [email protected] Web: www.midlandangling.com
Last Sunday I ventured to Dromod with a few more Mullingar anglers, and we got hit for six with very heavy rain. The weather had changed for the worst, and over night rain had discoloured the Shannon system, and it certainly had an effect on catches. We fished from 11am-5pm and I got 2 small jacks on a very brightly polished copper spoon. Its incredible with all the new lures available, we still revert back to the original Copper Spoon when the going gets tough.
The best pike caught on Dromod was boated by Longford angler Sam Champ, and Sam was fishing with Angling pal Mick Dalton of Ballymore. The fish rattled the scales at just over 15lbs, and was a great pike on a hard days fishing. Well-done lads.
Michael Flanagan
Pike and Trout angling guide.
Telephone: +353 (0)44 9348969 or +353 (0)87 2797270
Fax: +353 (0)44 9342781
Email: [email protected] Web: www.midlandangling.com
A LITHUANIAN man has been fined after he admitted using a net to fish in a freshwater lake and has now given up fishing for good. Eduard Markovsky, 14 O’hare’s Mill, Nicholas Street, Dundalk, was before Dundalk District Court last week on foot of a summons issued by Inland Fisheries Ireland.
The Argus, 02/02/12. Read the article ‘Used net to fish in lake’.
