Sunday 26th November saw the annual Bective Anglers Club pike fishing competition take place. This year’s event was fished in Co Cavan where the day started wet and miserable with a fine rain that lasted nearly two hours. However, it did stop eventually, giving way to dull, dry and cold conditions.
The fishing was hard for the 15 brave souls taking part in the event. Despite throwing everything they had in the line of dead-baits, lures and flies, the larger pike were unwilling to oblige on the day. In saying that, one or two nice fish were lost over the day but the lads still managed to land circa 16 pike all of which were returned alive to the water.
Thankfully, a good number eager jacks made up for the fact that the larger fish were not on the take.
Only the heaviest fish counted for each angler.
Following the competition, the members retired to the Bellinter House Hotel in Navan where they were treated to a great meal and they discussed the day, the season past and the coming season. To finish up the day Colm Buchanan presented the prizes and trophies to the deserving winners.
Colm thanked everyone who had competed in the event with a special mention to junior angler Cuinn Muldowney who landed three fish on the day, a feat matched by none of the senior members. The future is bright, Colm added.
Colm Buchanan with Junior Champion Cuinn Muldowney who caught three pike on the day.
The Bective Club also expressed their pleasure in having David Byrne from Inland Fisheries Ireland in attendance documenting proceedings with a view to promoting angling in our region. Finally, Colm also thanked the Bellinter House Hotel and staff for a great meal and very warm welcome.
Bellinter House Hotel, Navan, Co Meath
The results of the competition are outlined below.
Senior Section Results
1st Dermot Marshall
2nd Tomasz Zwierzynski
3rd Peter McEntee
Junior Section Results
Winner: Cuinn Muldowney
Go Fishing
Bective Angling Club
The Bective Angling Club control extensive fishing on the River Boyne working closely with the Bellinter House Hotel, local stakeholders, landowners and Inland Fisheries Ireland.
Bellinter House Hotel
Fishing on the River Boyne can be arranged through the hotel.
Norbert Renaud of L’ile Verte Pike Fishing Lodge has a gear review this week on his YouTube channel for anyone interested in capturing underwater footage of their fishing. The item up for review is a Westin Escape Cam and as you would want any reviewer to be, Norbert is honest in his views and goes through each of the pros and cons as he sees it.
Norbert always has some great tips and tricks that could help any pike angler, no matter how experienced, so don’t forget to like and subscribe to his channel.
Cormac Walsh of The Lure Fishing Podcast stepped away from the mic this week to make the most of the big tides building up to this week’s full moon. Here is Cormac’s report:
I always love this time of year on the bass if the conditions are right. I had a note in my diary of good action on these tides last year, conditions were perfect this time around too so it was looking good. An hour before high tide produced the best sessions over the last few days with the big high tides pushing the fish in tight to the shore.
Cormac and one of his November fish
The bass were in excellent condition, best I’ve seen all year, big, well fed and fighting fit – and the presence of large shoals of small mullet inshore stoked the bass into a proper feeding frenzy.
No other lure needed except the trusty IMA Lures UK & Ireland Sasuke 120f and my Major Craft UK & Ireland Major Tidrift as reliable as ever. The bass were hammering the lure in close and nearly pulling the rod out of my hands on occasions, great craic altogether.
Well fed November fish
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Hopefully they stick around a little while longer and we get at them again.
With no league outing this weekend a few members took advantage of the settled weather and enjoyed a fine fishing on the beach with bass, turbot, flounders and coleys keeping the rods hopping.
Nice flounder
We only have 20 places remaining for this year’s charity competition so if you are hoping to fish it, please get in touch with Noel on +353 (086) 1975147 to confirm your place.
Thanks to all the sponsors that have donated prizes and money so far. If you would like to make a donation you can do so using this link (use friends and family option please). Prize donations can be made by contacting any Mariners member.
Keith Barker reports that bass are starting to feed again now the water clarity has improved:
Lure fishing from the shoreline had taken a tumble on the southeast coast with the storm systems rolling in through October and November, but now, with some relatively calmer conditions and improving water clarity, we are starting to find a few well-conditioned bass after the summer feeding frenzy.
Here is a fine 68cm specimen taken during the full moon and big tide three hours before daybreak, falling for the Svobass Sabre 130 in lemon and white.
Munster Coarse Angling Club are affiliated to the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland, NCFFI the National Governing body for coarse and predator fishing and casting. www.ncffi.ie
John Browne reports on Round 3 of Oakland’s winter league which was fished on Sunday…
With the water temperatures down to 7°C we didn’t know what to expect for the 3rd round of the Ger Hennesy Winter league at Oaklands.
After a slow start floats started going under and tips around as it turned out a lovely day. All the top weights came from shop side. Best weight on the day was 65.100 kg from peg 7, well done Attila.
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Results
Section A
1st Ronan Minogue 61.400 kg
2nd Kirstov Kirstov 45.490 kg
3rd Ivaylo Benov 37.710 kg
Section B
1st Attila Paldick 65.100 kg
2nd Leo Lynch 59.090 kg
3rd Trevor Platt 56.240 kg
Great turn out on the day big thank you hope to see ye all again on the 10th December for the next round.
Go fishing…
Oaklands Lake in New Ross Co. Wexford is a fishing paradise for coarse angling. It offers a wide selection of fish. The lake can be fished by people of every level of experience from beginners to professionals.
A very popular carp fishery. Popular with competition anglers and novices alike. Alway a great chance of a bumper bag here. Friendly staff more than happy to advise beginner anglers. Caters to all sorts of clubs and groups.
Brian Nally reports on the fourth match in the Annamoe Trout Fisheries Fly Fishing Winter League….
Saturday the 25th November was a cold, dry, calm day with an air temperature of 5°C. Trout were mainly swimming at lower levels where the water temperature was slightly warmer. Consequently anglers were using intermediate and sinking lines. Trout were mainly caught on lures and buzzers.
The total number of trout recorded was 34 by 11 anglers over a four hour period.
Results
1st. Steven Byrne 5 trout.
2nd. Tony Finn 4 trout.
3rd. Dave Rowan 4 trout
Patrick Mc Donnell won the prize for the biggest trout 2.5kgs.
Thirty four trout were landed, measured and returned safely back into the lake.
The Grand Final is scheduled for 9th December.
Go Fishing…
The fishery is open every day from 10am until dusk.
Gift Vouchers for Fly Casting Tuition are available .
Annamoe Trout Fishery is a 4 acre fly fishing lake set in the village of Annamoe, Co Wicklow on the banks of the Avonmore River. The Fishery consists of a fly fishing lake and a Junior Bait Pond. The fly fishing lake is open all year round allowing you to fish for brown or rainbow trout from 10am till dusk.
Brian Curran, fishery manager at Costello & Fermoyle, reviews the 2023 season:
The angling year at Costello & Fermoyle opened on 1st February with high water levels which pertained for several months. Little angling effort took place and as the season moved on, a small number of springers were seen buy not caught.
May saw warm weather, low water levels and little rain. The result was the closing of the system from June 7th to July 8th under advice from IFI as water temperatures had gone above 20°C.
Finally rain started to fall about the 6th July and good numbers of salmon and sea trout were seen running that evening as water levels rose and temperatures dropped.
The fishery reopened and local angler Geoffrey Fitzjohn had the first salmon of the year, a fine 5lb from beat 1 at 1.30p.m. while Brian Kerr had a 3½lb salmon shortly afterwards. Up at the Butt of Fermoyle, Seamus Lowry opened the sea trout catches with 3 fish. The next day Rory Campbell had a 4lb grilse and 9 sea trout on Beat 1.
Catches continued with 11 salmon for July, 6 in August and 1 in September with most of the 18 returned.
Sea trout remained good for the season and fresh sea trout were running in from the sea while the angling season was open to the end of September.
Best sea trout caught and released by a male angler was 4 lbs by local angler Michael Dillon from Inverin on August 10th on Lough Carrick while the best sea trout caught and released by a female angler was taken on Glenicmurrin on 29th August by Michala Walsh and weighted about 3½lbs. This was one of 21 seatrout caught with her partner on that day.
Overall the season was poor for salmon due to poor weather conditions in May / June but sea trout showed a big increase with a catch figure of 842 for 2023 as opposed to 304 for 2022.
Notes PAGI: For the beginner Brian can provide instruction in basic fly-casting techniques. During the season, professional guidance can be given to ensure a successful day’s angling whether it is fishing Lough Corrib, one of the numerous small lakes of the neighbouring Connemara area for sea trout, small wild brown trout or the chance of a salmon. Accommodation is arranged and boats and engines provided.
After a pretty wet weekend, the past five days have seen a return to normality, a welcome break from some of the more severe stuff we’ve endured in recent weeks. According to Met Éireann, rainfall was about average, temperatures were a bit above average and sunshine a bit below average. It looks like being much the same for the coming week, so it might give us all an opportunity to get out on the water without getting soaked or blown into next year…
In looking through this week’s angling reports, it strikes me how important a role angling clubs and competitions play in encouraging many of us to get out and fish. No fewer than ten out of the eighteen reports posted this week come from angling clubs and/or competitions. I think that during the winter months, in particular, angling clubs become an important focal point to encourage us to go fishing. Left to our own devices, it’s too easy to look at a bad weather forecast and make excuses not to venture out, but when you are engaged in, e.g. a club winter league, you have that extra incentive to get out there, knowing you’ll meet like-minded folk to share the fun or the failures. So, if you are wishing you could do a bit more fishing but can’t find the motivation to do it, maybe it’s time you checked out your local angling club; most are more than happy to welcome new members.
Speaking of angling clubs motivated to go fishing, none are more active than the Killybegs Mariners, who seem to have boundless energy when it comes to getting out on the water. Last weekend saw their final league outing of 2023, and they had to cope with strong winds and heavy rain, but it takes a lot more than that to put them off. Tralee Bay SAC also faced some wet and windy weather, which forced them to change venue for their club competition. But Liz McMahon made light of the situation, beating off 11 international anglers with a run of 10 fish in 90 minutes to storm the field and win comfortably. Liz’s catch included a fine 39cm flounder, and her stellar performance wins this week’s Catch of the Week.
Liz McMahon (pictured with her 39cm flounder) beat off competition from 11 international anglers out of a field of 15 fishing to win comfortably and take the pools to boot.
Friday afternoon will be cool with a mix of cloud and sunny spells. It will remain cool overnight with temperatures as low as -2 °C in places, and Saturday morning will see some frost followed by a cloudy, cool day with some patchy drizzle. Sunday will be much the same, with some rain in western areas spreading to the east in the afternoon before breaking up. Monday will be wetter, with rain spreading from the south in the morning, before clearing to cooler and brighter conditions as the day progresses.
If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to reports@fisheriesireland.ie and don’t forget that all of our fishing reports are available on our dedicated Angling Ireland Facebook page.
