One of Rob, John and Tadhg's fish, tagged and ready to go back
Adrian Molloy of Tuna.ie has knocked it out of the park this week aboard Deep Blue, with 28 bluefin tuna in the space of four days in Donegal Bay.
Franco Andreucetti was lost for words with his experience on day one. Franco’s crew caught, tagged and released five tuna – each a fish of a lifetime – and were witness to amazing scenes of hundreds of dolphins and humpback whales during their day afloat.
Franco and fish of a lifetime
Next up were Rob, John and Tadhg and they kept the figures nice and even, with three each and a total of nine for their day in Donegal Bay.
One of Rob, John and Tadhg’s fish, tagged and ready to go back
Day three saw two more anglers share the spoils, with three each for Andrew and Roger and another six fish tagged for the Tuna CHART project.
To the fourth day and eight tuna for Julian Laverty, all taken with very short fight times; all tagged and released!
One of Julian’s
Adrian is now taking bookings for the 2024 season – if you haven’t experienced it yet, what are you waiting for?
Skipper: Adrian Molloy Base: Killybegs Operational area: Up to a 30 mile radius from the point of departure.
Authorised bluefin tuna boat 2025
Notes:We can also offer you some of the finest Sea Angling in Ireland, inshore and offshore on the best boats and with the best skippers.
Whatever your angling interests from ultra light tackle and fly fishing for big reef pollack to trolling and stand-up tackle for fast fighting Tuna – we aim to please ! Dolphin and whale watching, scenic tours and wildlife trips available along some of the most spectacular scenery in Ireland. Shark fishing! Skate fishing! Tuna fishing! Donegal has it all.
There was good cause to celebrate for Adrian Nowatynski of Irish Deep Sea Charters last Saturday as a nice, clear day had finally arrived in West Cork and that meant that the Chloe Jay could get out and take in the influx of wildlife in the seas off the West Cork coast. Loads of birdlife, thousands of common dolphins, minke whales, a fin whale, not to mention two bluefin tuna tagged and released!
Joe got the first one weighing 260lb. Next was Aidan’s turn and a long-awaited go on the stand-up gear with a hard fighting 405lb fish. A great day out, well done lads.
Skipper: Adrian Nowotynski Licence:1779 Base: Union Hall Operational area:30 miles from Union Hall and Baltimore
Authorised blue fin tuna boat 2025
Notes: Wreck, reef, shark and ground fishing. Also half day trips available and individuals catered for when possible. Regular updates on Facebook at IrishdeepseaCharter. Second boat available
ILFA Ladies trial at Carrigavantry Lake, October 2019. 22 members took part.
Any woman interested in learning to fly fish can join a special day that has been set up for women only and which will be held at Laois Angling Centre on Saturday 11th November 2023.
The Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association has organised the event and it will include a short indoor session followed by 3 hours of casting instruction and practice outside.
The course is aimed at beginners and novice anglers aged over 18 and all equipment will be provided. Booking is essential. Please visit www.irishladiesflyfishing.com for a booking form or email Liz Dermott at ilfa9008@gmail.com
Anne Kerrin, Chair of the Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association said,
“The world is still coming out of Covid and as an organisation our annual programme has not yet returned to full strength; however we have held several social events and organised a competitive league this year but all were aimed at experienced anglers.
One of the objectives of the ILFA is to encourage new women into flyfishing. This is our second introductory day this year for women who have never tried flyfishing.
There are many women in Ireland who love to immerse themselves in nature, which is evident from posts on social media. We’d hope to encourage some of them to experience the peace and tranquillity that comes from spending a day on the water, or the camaraderie that stems from attending a women’s fishing event. We will be trying to reach more and more of those women over the coming years.
Angling by its nature takes the flyfisher to stunningly beautiful places and its worth remembering that the angling skills honed in Ireland are easily carried to any fishing venue in the world. I hope that this will encourage a few more women to come along on the day and try it for themselves”
According to American psychologist Dr. Tamar P. Martin-Franklin, the therapeutic benefits of fly fishing include improvement of fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, balance, range of motion, concentration and self esteem. Many anglers would agree that the gentle lapping of waves or a tug on a fishing line is enough to push any stress far from the mind.
Pauline McClenaghan, Lead Instructor for the women’s Introductory Fly Fishing Day
And while flyfishing itself isn’t necessarily going to get an angler’s heart rate up, unless they manage to meet the fish of a lifetime, many fishing venues can require rowing or hiking to reach, both of which have proven cardiovascular benefits. It has been proven that the great outdoors has many health benefits and one of its most promising is its positive effect on a person’s mind and mental state.
The Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association is a national organisation that encourages women to take up flyfishing and it runs a league of 4 trials annually to select a team to represent Ireland at the Ladies International Flyfishing Championships. The last one for 2023 will be happening on Lough Rowan on Sunday 5th November.
To find out more about the last trial of 2023 or for information on the Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association please email Liz Dermott PRO at ilfa9008@gmail.com
For any woman interested in taking part in this training event please contact PRO Liz Dermott on ilfa9008@gmail.com
Killybegs Mariners report from their 4th league outing which took place at Narin Beach last Friday 13th Oct. Read their report below…
Fourteen anglers took part last night for outing number 4 as temperatures dipped for the first time this season but the fishing was quite good on the going tide.
A nice fishing of mostly flounders but a mix of pollack, whiting, turbot and coleys also were got before a last half hour run of dogs upped the scores.
Just a few points either way separated 2nd from 5th but a nice fishing of 5 flounders and whiting secured 2nd place for Chris Whyte.
Longest flattie prize was won by John Cunningham with a 31cm flounder.
And 1st place with 5 counting flounders, a coley and two dogs was won by Gavin Dorrian taking his second win of the season.
Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters thinks that this month has been the best ever October for big tope on the Irish east coast.
Kit had the UCC tagging team aboard last Thursday and four super Tope were caught – all specimens of course, including one fine lady at 170cm x 70 girth, touching 70lb.
Playing tag with tope
1 of 7
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Other captures measured up at 163cm, 160cmand 156cm. For Kit it was nice to do something different, with the UCC guys electronically tagging for research purposes, it was very interesting stuff.
Kit also had Anthony out with him earlier in the week getting another four Tope – well done to him.
Go Fishing
Angling Charters are offered on a full-day, half-day and evening trip basis and can be tailored to suit your needs. Two boats are available – Lisin and Castle Maiden. All levels of anglers are catered for. Anglers will benefit from your skipper’s angling experience and local knowledge with advice and guidance on-hand at all times.
SPECIALIST ANGLING CHARTERS
Specialist Angling Charters are offered for those who wish to target specific species, specimen fish or try new angling methods.
ANGLING COACHING
Whether you’re a Club, Individual, School or Junior, you can have an angling coaching session or programme tailored to suit your needs.
The Connacht Predator Anglers held an open Pike competition last Sunday, October 15th, on Lough Ree. It was a beautiful day to be on the water, but conditions were not ideal for pike angling; nevertheless, plenty of Pike were caught, measured and of course safely released again!
Scoring was based on the overall length of the anglers 3 longest Pike. Well done to all anglers and congrats to the top 3 teams, who were:
3rd place: Simon & Robbie
2nd place: Igor & Rafal
1st place: Mel & Franek
Robbie had the longest fish of the day, a fantastic fish of 116cm and 24lb. Photos from the day’s action are below – some great pike and happy anglers.
The Saltwater season in review & why more anglers are targeting mullet on the fly
With the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having lately – although this is probably going to be the new norm anyway – it’s also a good time to be casting a fly in the salt with bass fishing particularly good at this time of year.
But how has the 2023 saltwater season been overall? Were the bass biting and what about other species like pollack and mullet? Guide and instructor, Jason O’Riordan, joins Daire & Tom on this week’s episode with some insights into how his season went and why his success targeting mullet has been a stand-out highlight for him on the Copper Coast.
Our regular guest Gerald from Austria was back recently, for another week of chasing pike on fly. His efforts of relentlessly casting big flies in often challenging winds paid out again. He managed to land several meter pike up to 103cm and many just under the magic one meter mark. Fantastic result on the fly!
Plenty flies to chose fromGerald from Austria delighted with a fly-caught pikeAnother one on the fly for Gerald
More recently, repeat guests Michael and Martin from Germany had some nice fish on lures during their autumn trip with us. They also had many pike up to 103cm and several just under the meter. See you next Spring guys…
Martin and Michael from Germany also had a great time with Angling Services Ireland
Go Fishing
Bodo Funke, Angling Services, Ireland
Pike, Game and Coarse fishing Guide
Notes: Angling Services Ireland provides the very best in angling and angling tourism. We are based in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, in the North-West of Ireland, an area with many superb angling opportunities.
The Proprietor Bodo Funke holds the Marine and Countryside Guiding Certificate (achieved with distinction) and his expertise and local knowledge will be to your avail when you go on a guided angling trip or angling holiday with Angling Services Ireland. Pike fishing, Fly-fishing for Pike, Game fishing for wild Brown Trout, Float- tubing, Coarse fishing. Salmon fishing and Sea-angling can be organised.
“Great success today at the BFT. Had 4 nice lively fish to the boat 130lb, 220lb, 350lb, 390lb. Still so much life in Donegal Bay at the minute, plenty of tuna about and we were treated to some great views of humpback whales feeding not even 30min from Killybegs Harbour.”
into a bluefin tunafine BFT from Donegal Bay
Earlier in the week, anglers aboard Fiona Tee enjoyed some good pollack fishing in very windy conditions though. The anglers also had some ling, conger, and wrasse to make it a great day’s fishing.
The trout season may be over for another year, but fishing for other species continues all year, with pike fishing particularly good at this time of year. You can even fly fish for them if you’re suffering withdrawal from trout fishing…
Top guide Tomi Kurman has been out and about on Lough Corrib with some guests keen on catching big pike. A bright day saw them shallow water casting, and although the blue skies and calm lake didn’t help, when a bit of breeze got up the fishing mproved. Guest Pauric certainly had a day to remember, landing this 24lbs fish, a PB for him!
Cather and son Borys and Krzystof spent q couple of days with Tomi over the weekend, hoping to get some good fish. Day one was tough, with fish ignoring all everything thrown at them. Day two was again tough conditions, but this time fish were taking, with 5 hooked and 3 landed. The fish measured 95, 105552 and 105cm! Cracking fish to make up for the first day, and the lads were very happy – check out the photos!
Not every guide provides Irish coffees to round off the day! Great service!
Go Fishing
Tomi Guided Fishing
To book a trip with Tomi Kurman, give him a call on 085 7318541 or check out his Facebook page here: Tomi Guidedfishing
Deep Blue
Chloe Jay
