Newport SAC hosted the clubs 34th annual National Junior Competition with all Junior anglers fishing for the prestigious Daniel Peacock Memorial Trophy on Sunday 30th June. The club’s very first competition dedicated to the Junior members began as far back as 1992 and has been held every year since!
On 30th of June, thirty seven young anglers headed out to sea, spread across 4 boats, all skippered by local boatmen and accompanied by club committee members as mentors. On offer were a range of prizes including overall winner, 8yrs to 13yrs category, 14yrs to 18yrs category, Novice section, largest fish and first fish category. Former club secretary Sue Steer, grandmother of the late Daniel Peacock, also sponsored a beanie hat embroidered with the club logo and badge for all participants in the competition.
When all results were in and tallied up, Laoise Fynes was announced as the 2024 National Junior Champion to rapturous applause! Laoise was presented with the Daniel Peacock Memorial trophy & replica, a rod and reel set and a voucher on behalf of the Peacock family by Sue Steer & Ann Taylor. Laoise had an impressive haul of 26 dogfish and 2 ray giving her a total of 170 points on the day. Congrats to Laoise from all at the club!
Other category winners included Liam Moran who won the 8yrs to 13yrs category with 21 fish and 165 points. Shane Durkan won the 14yrs to 18yrs category with 20 fish and 130 points. James Hastings was the winner of the Novice section with 14 fish and 100 points. The prize for the largest fish was shared between Shane Durkan & Liam Moran with both anglers landing a 52cm ray. Boatmans prize went to Reg Roynane who skippered the Lady Helen.
Every one of the juniors started and finished the day with a smile on their face. Every single junior angler caught fish on the day and no one went home empty handed. There was even a large number of raffle prizes for every junior angler followed by a parents raffle. The day was a great success and the committee would like to thank all of the anglers who took part, the skippers, the stewards, the parents (and particularly those who helped out on the day), those who headed out to sea and took photos during the competition, Nevins Bar for providing the venue and refreshments, Keane’s butchers (for providing the morning sausages), the Port Chipper and indeed anyone who helped to make the day so special and help to make happy memories for the 37 Junior anglers.
The club would also like to thank each and every one of our sponsors including main sponsor Sue Steer & family, Councilor Brendan Mulroy, BIM, Inland Fisheries Ireland, MOWI Ireland, The Marine Institute Furnace, Westport Credit Union, Hastings Insurance, Westport Hotel Group, Midwest Furniture, Burrishoole GAA, Ann Taylor,
Padraic McCormack, Keane’s butchers, Nevins Bar, Port Chipper, Eamonn Kennedy, Mayo Movie World, O’Malley Transport, Doherty’s Mulranny, Without this financial support the event would not have taken place. A very successful day all round and we look forward to the next event!
Please contact any member of the club if you wish to get involved in helping out at any of our events throughout the year!
We are now taking entries for our next competition scheduled for 3rd and 4th of August (58th Annual Sea Angling Festival). Contact any member of the committee for more details.
The results of the 2024 Daniel Peacock Memorial / National Junior Competition were as follows:
The overall winner was Laoise Fynes with a total of 28 fish and 170 points. Congrats to Laoise from all at the club!
Novice Category:
8 years to 13 years category:
14 years to 18 years category:
First Fish on Boat Winners:
The Finnaun – Coleman Moran
White Water II – Finn Grealis
Lady Helen – Laoise Fynes
Mo Chara – Cian Moran
Largest Ray: Liam Moran & Shane Durkan (52cms)
Boatmans Prize: For best angler average score was Reg Royanne who skippered the The Lady Helen.
Congrats to all winners and thanks to everyone who took part on the day! Full photo shoot of all of the day’s action in the gallery below…
As part of Dan O’Neill’s River Whispers series, Anthony O’Neill is back this week and has some tips for when you get to a lake or river for the first time. Tips that are quite useful for beginners and get the angling mind turning…
When I get to a lake or river that I haven’t fished before I like to plumb the depth to find the bottom or deep spots in the swim. It’s the first thing I do when I get there. I always start fishing on the bottom first.
If it’s quiet or I don’t get many bites I move my lead shot up further away from the hook so my bait falls a little more gently to the bottom. Fish sometimes take it quickly when it falls like that.
If that fails I will shorten up about 6 inches so it’s not fully on the bottom. I also like to drip feed which means I throw in a few free offerings of bait every 3 to 4 minutes depending on how the fish react.
I love to catch Tench because they fight really hard and they are a lovely colour. There are a lot of gudgeon around also and I like to fish them with a 12ft whip. I use sweetcorn mostly this time of year and luncheon meat. I find for Tench that if you crush a few strawberries in a pot add some sweetcorn and boil it that it works very well. It toughens the sweetcorn and makes it very sweet smelling. I have used blueberries and raspberries also but find strawberries to work the best, it makes your hook bait stand out on a bed of bait. An adult helps me when I’m boiling things so its best you do the same.
Beginners Tip: Plumbing the depth
A plumb bob is a lead with a small piece of cork attached to the bottom. You put your hook through the loop at the top of the lead then sink the point into the cork at the bottom. The lead will be too heavy for your float to support, so it sinks. Keep adjusting the float until the tip is visible that way you know when your on the bottom of the lake or river bed. If the float floats or lays on its side then adjust the float down towards the hook until the tip of the float is visible. When at a new fishery start by fishing the bottom and working your way up. The further away from your hook your last lead shot is then the more naturally the bait will move through the water column once the last lead shot settles. I usually fish the last lead shot 6 inches above the bait then adjust for a more natural drop or put it closer if i want to hit the bottom quicker.
Dave Edwards of the West Cork Charters reports on an exceptional overnight session from Sunday afternoon into Monday morning:
First, we headed South, where the five anglers onboard Silver Dawn shared 6 Blue Sharks, including 2 specimens.
As darkness fell, we headed back inshore to anchor for Skate. It didn’t take long before our first fish was measured on the deck. At around 50lb, it was smaller than the average for the area. The next four fish were all dropped after several minutes, probably because of the size of baits we had out on relatively small hooks.
Even more amazing, 14 of these giants surpassed Irish specimen size.
None of us had seen Skate fishing anything like this before and sore arms and shoulders was a small price to pay for it. The Sharks weren’t too shabby either…
West Cork Charters operates the Silver Dawn, a 41′ Rodman 1250 with twin 430 HP Engines out of Courtmacsherry. The range of fishing found within close range of Courtmacsherry is superb, with trips producing anything between 6 and 15 different species as a norm and in excess of 20 is possible if anglers are prepared to change methods and use different baits and lures throughout their trip. As a rule mackerel, pollock, cod and ling are usually encountered but several species of wrasse along with whiting, pouting, coalfish, bull huss, conger and many more are often added to the catch.
If you do choose to head offshore to sample the superb shark fishing available within 10 miles of Courtmacsherry, there is a very strong chance of encountering blue sharks and an increasing chance of bringing a porbeagle shark to the boat.
Address: The Pier, Courtmacsherry, Co. Cork.
Telephone: +353 (83) 449 1403
Email: [email protected]
This week on the river whispers Dan O’Neill speaks a little about his favourite set-ups for a leisurely day on the river. Young angler Reese from Chicago speaks about how he felt when he hooked his first brown trout. Lady angler Vanessa from Boston gives us an insight into her first day on the River Nore. Kevin O’Neill gives us a very useful tip on how to protect those delicate rod tips. Dan’s good friend Andreas Buttimer speaks a bit about how to write what we see. And as if that wasn’t enough it’s all followed by another angling tip that may help you on your angling journey…
I have been there. I have too many rods, fly boxes and ideas that I need new rods / fly boxes. I began to look for versatility in my rods so they would cover a couple of different applications. Let’s take a look at what I carry at the moment.
I have my 9ft 5wt which I use for dry dropper, wet fly and at times dry fly. I then have my 8ft 6in, 3wt that I use for dry fly mainly and also nymphing if needs be. When conditions allow I use a nymphing line on my 8ft 6in. The landing is so delicate which is really useful at the moment with the water being so low. Many people that come to me feel the need to have a different rod for each application which can become costly. Try to get a fly rod that covers a few different applications well. List off or find out the main characteristics of what each application requires and pick a hybrid or compromise to have a more versatile rod. Angling fairs are ideal to try out different rods and lines. It’s also a great chance to speak to the guides and casters who can make one rod work and what they look for when covering multiple applications. I love all types of fishing but prefer one or two so plan my rod choice around those two applications. At the moment I am mostly fishing dry fly and occasionally dry dropper so my 8ft 6in is getting a lot of use. I like to travel light so put the bare essentials in my backpack then work from it once I get to my fishing beat. Some dry flies, pros choice powder, couple of pieces of kitchen towel and a few Werthers Originals (or whatever you favourite sweets may be) I place in my pocket and leave the rest in the backpack. When things begin to go south and I make a couple of sloppy casts, wind knots or just need a quick refresh I have a Werthers Original and a quick look about the river. It’s amazing the difference it can make just taking a couple of minutes to reflect.
A short while ago I had the pleasure of fishing with Reese Edwards from Washington. Reese is age 11 and was looking to catch his first Irish Brown Trout. Reese indeed met a Trout and wrote a few words on what it meant to him.
“I was very happy to try fly fishing for the first time. I usually catch panfish,blugill and walleye back home with lures, now i want to try to catch them with a fly. I really enjoyed wet fly fishing and found that the fish taking the fly was really exciting and i wanted it to happen every cast. I was very lucky to catch such a lovely trout for my first one. I can’t wait to go back home to show my friends. I even got to keep the fly that I caught it on.”
Vanessa from Chicago was another wonderful angler and had fished Montana quite a bit using the Hopper Dropper technique. I must say the first time I saw a hopper it looked like something you would get in a Kinder Egg. However, it worked quite well and Vanessa talks a little bit about fishing with terrestrial patterns.
“In Montana where I was introduced to Terrestrial fishing we would fish grasshoppers with a small nymph under it. We generally would fish the grasshopper when it was windy and there was a high bank along the river. The grasshoppers would get blown in and the fish would hit them. The added splash of the nymph would really get the fish to look up and when they did, they would see the grasshopper and hit it. We use different colors with dark red or orange usually being the most successful. We also use beetle patterns during the same conditions. Dan encouraged me to try my patterns, I had some nice trout on beetle patterns at the back of the White Bridge by the laurels. Super fun.”
Kevin O Neill sent in a great tip to protect the delicate rod tip. It sounds like he may be speaking from experience here, I have managed to break one rod tip doing exactly what Kevin tells us not to.
“This is a tip that I read in The Little Red Handbook of Fly Fishing and is a real timesaver when you’re moving from one spot to another and need to wind your rig in.
You should always keep the fly line-to-leader connection pulled through the top ring of your rod otherwise you run the risk of breaking the tip by attempting to pull the knot through. I nearly always fish a leader that is longer than the length of my rod so this little trick is one I use every time I’m on the water.
With the fly line-to-leader connection through the tip top, firstly attach your bottom fly on a snake guide halfway up the rod. Then drape the leader around the backside of the reel. Finally, wind in the slack ensuring the fly line connection remains outside the guides.
When you are ready to fish, undrape the leader from behind your reel, and let the line hang free. A gentle tap on the top of the rod, just above the handle creates a small vibration that will pop the fly off the guide. If you’ve done it correctly your line will fall into the water. It saves time (and perhaps your rod tip from potential breaks) and makes you look like a pro!”
I have been lucky enough to fish with Andreas Buttimer and gifted a couple of his wonderful books. I like to write about my journeys but want to be able to take the person with me when I write it in words, Andreas always manages to do that and I would give anything to have that trait. I asked Andreas to write about a recent trip to the Nore, enjoy the adventure.
“People differ in what is of interest to them. Probably the best thing is to write what most appeals to you. The best writing is like that. The reader senses you love it. Otherwise it tends to be flat, dead. Write for yourself, and it may be good. Others may see its worth. And if they don’t, who cares?
I do a lot of fishing writing. I catch very few fish. I like the whole ambience of rivers. Each one is different, unique. It has a character all its own. Some are sedate, mature, peaceful, others talkative, youthful, free of deep thoughts. They speak, sing.
The life along the river is seen by few. You are like a heron. You see more than most. You could write about that. I do.
Last week Dan let me fish his stretch of the Nore. I had written of it previously, vicariously, before I ever fished it. The surprising thing was, I found that description to be correct. How can that be?
You descend through old woods to White Bridge, continue upstream past Back of Bridge (the surest salmon lie), Lower and Upper George’s, good fly casts all, come at last to Plantation Pool. You clamber out some stones placed as a kind of croy. The “Roaring Nore” does not roar. Not today. Instead, it sings. You look along the old cane salmon rod to the most perfect bit of wet fly water. You Spey cast a Rogan’s Fiery Brown. It lands perfectly for once, near the far bank, is seized by the stream, pulled around. You know how it looks, plucked and teased by the current. It grasps you.
Downstream, a Mallard flutters madly from one side to the other, clearly unhappy about something. Above, a Buzzard soars. Blackcap are busy in tall trees that mark out that place from any other I have fished. As you leave in the late evening, a Song Thrush serenades the dusk.
You make your weary way back to wherever you came from, knowing you have known the Nore. You have it within you as a happy secret. It is yours alone. And no one can take it away.
Quick Tip
It’s always a good idea to keep a diary or note book on water temps and heights. Keep a track of what patterns worked and when. See if you can see a pattern linked between water height and temps with fly patterns used. If you go to the hydro data site it will tell you all you need to know about the river.
Office of Public Works (waterlevel.ie)
Brown trout count: 195
Largest brown: 30cm on a spent spinner,mid way down the long pond.
Salmon count: 8
Largest fish: 12 pounds caught at the plantation pool.
Sea Trout: 4
Largest sea trout: 38cm caught at pebble beach.
Peter is back with a weekly round up from Piscari-Fly…
Fishing on the Nore has generally been good through out the week. Peter was out making videos for Piscarifly Club and they had some good sessions and met some nice fish. Mostly nymphing during the day though, the fly life and surface action in the day time is isolated enough to certain areas. The unsettled weather still is around and I find this can upset the feeding behaviour of the trout.
Ricky was out on the Nore during the week also, having great action on spiders at the moment. Coming in on the evening rise he caught a couple of really nice fish. Here is Rickys top spider pattern over the few sessions. Keeping it simple is the key to tying good effective spider flies and they do work.
Mark got out on the Kings River a few mornings for the early dry fly and managed a good few fish on small olives too. If you would like any information or you would like to come fish the Nore make sure and give us a shout here in Piscarifly and we will get you sorted, also Permits can be got here at the shop.
Ireland on the Fly
Peter is doing a masterclass with Ireland on the Fly on the dry dropper technique for river brown trout.
At the height of the summer there’s no better way to target river trout than with the deadly combination of dry fly and nymph underneath. Whether they’re taking on top or sub surface, Peter will be giving invaluable tips and advice.
For river trout anglers this will be a must-see webinar on Thursday the 25th of July.
Tickets cost €10 and to register and pay go to:
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/2927294018476207710
Piscari-Fly Club
Peter has started his masterclasses on euronymphing on the Club and they will run for the next 3 weeks so there will be a segment posted every week. Feedback so far is very positive. So make sure to check that out. Once all the sessions have been posted on the club we will host a live questions and answers for our members.
The lads are off to Cork today for the week fishing around the coast. They will be fishing around Crookhaven and will be hunting Bass, Mullet, Pollock and anything else they can find swimming around. Peter has been busy all week topping up his flys for the trip, there is a vast array of flys that could work on a trip like this. You must try and have all fish covered and something that they will hit if you come across them.
They will be fishing rocks, estuarys and beaches over the few days they are there. The tide times are early morning and late evenings so the chances of some fish are good and the weather looks to be settled enough, fingers crossed for tight lines.
They will be putting lots of information on social media. Check out our Tiktok for some of the action with regular updates and then the Piscari-Fly club will be updated with videos during the week.
Give us a buzz here for fishing advice, [email protected] or [email protected]
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Brand New – Piscari PolyleadersThey are perfect for getting streamers and wet flies down fast. They are used on Nymphing and wet fly fishing. Polyleaders are available in different sink densities, making them the perfect sink-tips. Check it out https://piscari-fly.com/?s=piscari+polyleader&post_type=product&product_cat=0 Also a few new flylines are just in and more coming over the next day or 2. We are excited to be able to add to our fantastic flyline range and as such great value you really should take a look. https://piscari-fly.com/?s=piscari+fly+lines&post_type=product&product_cat=0 Or give us a bell here at Piscari-fly 0879787040 or [email protected] |
What’s Coming
Tafi Leinster are holding an Open Fishing Day at Laois Angling Center. An Introduction into Fishing & Social event for all ages. Admission is free on the day. So why not come along and bring the youths to enjoy a few hours out learning about fishing, ask questions, get tips and much more. A full filled day for all. Contact us if wish for further Information.
Laois Angling Center in Coolrain, Co. Laois.
Based on the River Nore just outside Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Ireland. Piscari-Fly is a growing Fly Tying and Fly-Fishing business with a vast amount of experience and knowledge. If there is ever anything I can do to make my service better for you please feel free to suggest it to me and I’ll gladly try my best to accommodate your requests. Thanks again. Peter Driver.
As a small business we depend on the satisfaction of our customers and there word of mouth reference, google reviews are important to our online presence and we sure would appreciate your review. Just head over to this link and give us a quick review.
Thanks for the support its greatly appreciated
Peter Driver.
Piscari-Fly, Woolengrange, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, R95 Y860, Ireland, 0879787040
Anthony Weir reports from east Clare…
There was a great turn out for Shoemaker Cup at Silvergrove on Saturday. Fishing was not easy so weights were very variable. Yet again Kevin came out on top with 9lb 4oz. Just 1 ounce behind was Clive who took second with 9lb 3oz.
It was great to see junior member Daniel coming in 3rd with a very respectable 7lb 3oz and well done to 4th placed Ed with 6lb 6oz.
Tulla District Angling Club is a Pike and Coarse fishing club founded over 50 years ago. They are based in East Clare, Munster, Ireland.
For information on joining and club events see the Tulla District Angling Club Facebook page
Andrew Ryan of Clonanav Fly Fishing reports from the River Suir…
On the 8th and 9th of June we had the honour of hosting one of the worlds most renowned Spey casting instructors and Demonstrators – Simon Gawesworth. Simon was here to demonstrate the new range of Sage R8 Spey rods and the new range of Outbound Elite lines from Rio. The event was very well received and we had a big number in attendance for the demos.
On Sunday the 9th Simon ran a spey casting clinic on the Suir – this allowed the participants to get more time with Simon and really hone their spey casting skills. All the students really enjoy the day and hugely benefited from his spey casting experience.
On the Monday Simon managed to get some fishing time and was hugely impressed with the river Suir as a salmon fishery. There were quite a few fish showing and we managed to land a really fresh run fish that morning.
Several other fish were showing and we had a few more takes. Simon was really impressed with the Suir as a salmon river and how catch and release has been such a success on the system.
Thomas Cahill reports on the 3rd round of the Athy & District Anglers Summer League which was fished on Sunday…
Our 3rd match of the John Shaughnessy Memorial mini summer league was fishing on Sunday. It was a hard day on it water being racked till 1.30 and on top of that the canal was gin clear. Catches wern’t huge but we enjoyed it anyway, plenty of good banter!
Results as follows.
This match was sponsored by Clive Dunne of Elk RECRUITMENT CARLOW.
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.
Adrian Browne reports on the Dunbrody Festival which was fished on Saturday and Sunday at the weekend…
The first day of the Dunbrody Festival at Oaklands was graced by heavy showers and gust wind which made fishing difficult at the shop end of the lake. The weights improved further up the lake with in form Leo Lynch winning the day with 84.820 kg.
In second on the opposite bank on end peg 33 was Andrei Pirchio netting 69.210 kg.
Not far behind him was Jon Roca bagging 67.270kg all to play for tomorrow.
1st Leo Lynch 84.820 kg
2nd Andries Pirchio 69.210 kg.
3rd Jon Roca 67.270 kg.
A John Mulligan 12.290 kg
B Clinton Walsh 41.010 kg
C John Thompson 25.020 kg
D M Ivkov 50.490 kg
E Ronan Minogue 31.290 kg
F Paddy O’Neill 39.980 kg
G Ewan Weed 37.240 kg
H David Minogue 50.490 kg
We said it was all to play for going into Day2 and what a tight finish it was.
Starting with Day 2 results, winning from end peg one was John Browne netting 73.060 k.
2nd on Day 2 was was Ronan Minogue bagging 59.560 kg and 3rd Andrei Pirchio with 56.160 kg.
The Overall win came down to 2.5 kg between the top 2 and for the 2nd year in a row Leo Lynch comes out on top and close behind him was Andrei Pirchio with John Browne finishing in 3rd.
1st John Browne 73.060 kg
2nd Ronan Minogue 59.560 kg
3rd Andrei Pirchio 56.160 kg
A. Vlad Alexandru 29.580 kg
B. Paddy O’Neill 55.560 kg
C. A Browne 52.400 kg
D. Leo Lynch 43.060 kg
E. P Mansbridge 29.290 kg
F. Velimer Mozart 39.040 kg
G Ewan Weed 25.840 kg
H Attila Paldick 22.490 kg
1st Leo Lynch 127.880 kg
2nd Andries Pirchio 125.340 kg
3rd John Browne 110.260 kg
4th Paddy O’Neill 95.540 kg
5th Jon Roca 90.750 kg
6th Ronan Minogue 90.640kg
We’d like to thank all the lads who fished and congratulate all the winners.
Big thanks also to Ewan Weed and Preston Innovations for the sponsorship and we are looking forward to the 25th anniversary of the competition next year where planning a big one.
