Shane Redmond of Loughshinny SAC was fishing with his brother Trevor out of Rush in north County Dublin a couple of weeks back. In bright sunshine and calm seas, Shane landed a tremendous tope that measured in at over five feet in length. Once measured, the tope was released to fight another day – and fight another day it did!
One week later, a mile from the first capture location, the pair were fishing again and this time Trevor tamed the tope – which was easily recognisable by a scar along its belly! We’ll wait and see if there’s a third time unlucky for this tope, but in the meantime it’s good to know that careful handling and Catch, Photo, Release can help to conserve fish stocks.
ince October started with unseasonal warm temperatures and a continuation of the wet and windy conditions, which characterised our weather for most of the summer, we are finally experiencing conditions which are more typical for autumn time. Cool nights, foggy mornings and generally light winds with little rainfall have dominated for the last few days. This should normally make for good pike angling. However, water levels throughout the country still remain on the high side which might be an explanation why we only received a couple of pike angling reports this week.
Chris Barry of Go Fishing Ireland was in touch to let us know about a recent trip guiding two anglers from Michigan. The day out produced a new personal best, breaking the magic 1 meter mark for one of the visiting anglers while the other caught his first pike ever, making this quite a memorable trip for the two US fishermen.
Over the meter…great catch for Mark from Michigan
Speaking of personal bests, Carmel Devine sent us a short report from Lough Key and a photo of her new PB pike. With 96cm, Carmel’s Esox was just short of the 1 meter mark, but we’re sure she’ll rectify this soon!
Carmel measuring her new PB pike
We have high hopes that pike angling will improve over the coming weeks as this time of year usually sees some of the best predator fishing Ireland has to offer.
Over to coarse fishing where a couple of competitions were fished during the week. The Connaught Match Group two-day October festival was held on the River Suck at Donamon. Rising water levels in the week leading up to the competition made fishing difficult. However, there were still plenty of fish caught, with Shane Dunne finishing 1st over the two-day event.
Meanwhile, the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland, NCFFI reports that Cavan angler and member of the CM Lakelands Feeder Club bronze medalist team Steven Whyte wins the All-Ireland Method Feeder Championships again. Steven finished the match at Oaklands with a phenomenal 92.780kg, putting Damian Foltyn in 2nd place and Grazvydas Karalius in 3rd.
Some fine carp caught at Oaklands
The NCFFI are also delighted to present the Celtic Cup angling competition on the 14th and 15th October. The Newry Canal, specifically the Albert Basin and the developed ‘coal yard’ match stretch is the venue for this weekend’s championships, which is the biggest coarse angling event on the canal since the Home International of 2015.
Yesterday, the last few remaining brown and sea trout fisheries which were still open, closed their doors for yet another season. Vincent Appleby tells us that wild days, bright days, slack days and a couple of good days marked the last week of the trout season on Lough Currane, while Peter Driver reports in his recent Piscari-Fly Newsletter on some challenging Euro-nymphing on the River Fane in County Louth. We also received a final report from Lough Arrow Anglers who held their rescheduled end of season competition on Saturday 30th September.
Wild Fane trout caught on nymph
Keen trout anglers who can’t wait until next year to cast a line might be interested in checking out some of the country’s rainbow trout fisheries, which will remain open during the winter months.
For others such as Dan O’Neill, fishery manager at Mount Juliet, autumn means a transition from game to coarse and pike fishing. Read about Dan’s transition from river to lake fishing here.
We would like to take this opportunity to remind all salmon and sea trout anglers to return their completed logbooks (even if there is no catch recorded) and all unused tags to the issuing office of Inland Fisheries Ireland by the 19th of October!
While game angling takes a break until next season, sea anglers are still able to enjoy some great fishing always weather permitting of course. In particular, shore fishing for sea bass can produce some great catches during this time of year. Last weekend this was the case for Keith Barker who is no stranger to big bass but with an outstanding fish of 85cm he beat his already high PB by another 5cm. Therefore, Keith’s phenomenal specimen Waterford sea bass deserves to win our Catch of the Week!
A happy Keith with his 85cm sea bass
Up north, Killybegs Mariners also made use of the settled weather, catching some fine sea trout, bass and turbot from a number of Donegal shore marks. Staying in Donegal Bay, charter boats did well on the tuna with some fine bluefins caught, tagged and released. Co. Clare based skipper Luke Aston will probably also target mostly bluefin tuna from now on as his main fishing season has come to a close. Check out his résumé and some of the most memorable catches of this year’s season here.
Bluefin tuna from Donegal Bay
Further south, avid small-boat angler Jim Clohessy has been back on the water again. In his informative report, he tells us about the many different choices boat anglers have during autumn along the Cork coastline.
For Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters who is also a regular contributor to our Angling Update, it was the beginning of a new era when he recently took delivery of his superb new charter boat christened “Manannan”. While his vessel may be new, the quality of the fishing hasn’t changed much, as Kit showed a group of Dutch anglers the best of what the Irish east coast has to offer. The anglers from Holland all caught tope but also appreciated some fine bullhuss, which are quite rare along the Dutch coast.
Super tope off the Wicklow coast
Staying with sea angling, the Irish team are now back on home shores after a very intense two weeks in Croatia, where they competed in the FIPS-M World Boat Championships, representing the Island of Ireland. Finishing in 7th place is a great achievement as all the Mediterranean teams were heavily favoured, being more used to the species, venue and type of fishing. So, well done to the Irish lads who represented Irish sea angling extremely well in tough conditions, worked hard and fished very well.
Finally, we would like to draw your attention to a new series of marine maps from Infomar. Not only sea anglers will be interested in these stunning marine maps, anyone with an interest in Geography or Oceanography will be fascinated by their detail and appearance. Further information on how to obtain the free maps is available here.
Superb new free marine maps available now
In other news
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, water quality in Ireland is not as good as it should be. Only just over half of rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters are in satisfactory condition. While improvements are being made in some areas, these are being offset by declines in water quality elsewhere. At the current level of progress, Ireland will fail to meet the EU and national goal of restoring all waters to good or better status by 2027.
In the light of this, this week’s Ireland on the Fly podcast addresses the future of heavily polluted Lough Neagh the largest freshwater lake in Ireland or the UK. Tom and Daire are joined by Dr. Les Gornall who did his PhD with Prof. R.B. Wood on Lough Neagh and by Seamus Donnelly who is Secretary of the Moyola Angling Club.
Algal boom on Lough Neagh
Finally, we would like to draw your attention once again to the Irish Specimen Fish Atlas, a brand new publication. The Irish Specimen Fish Committee has just published a new book documenting and analysing specimen fish catches in Ireland from 1955 to 2019. It promises to make an interesting read for any angler interested in learning about specimen fish and how catches of specimen fish have evolved over time. Find out more about the Irish Specimen Fish Atlas and how to buy your copy at: Irish Specimen Fish Committee Fish Atlas Published
And now the weather
Tonight will bring a mix of clear spells and scattered showers, most frequent in the west and north where a few could be heavy with a slight chance of hail. Tomorrow will be a cool and mostly dry day with spells of sunshine, though a few well scattered showers will feed in from the northwest. Daytime temperatures will range between 9 and 12 degrees. High pressure will keep our weather cool and mainly dry for Sunday and the early days of next week. Ground frost in places at night. Current indications suggest that the rest of next week will be milder and more unsettled with rain or showers at times and temperatures in the mid teens.
Mark Deavin being presented with the Jack Guildea Memorial Cup by Collette Noone
Lough Arrow Anglers fished their last competition of the year on Saturday 30th September. Read their report below…
We held our rescheduled end of season competition on Saturday 30th September. 35 anglers took part, competing to win the Jack Gildea Memorial Cup. The day started off with nice wind and overcast conditions but the rain started around 1 oclock and it tested the best rain gear available. Still, it was very enjoyable to be out, especially as it was the last day of the season.
Back at The Mayfly, Colin and Roger got to work weighing in the fish. We had some good trout weighing over 3lbs but Mark Deavin stole the show with a trout weighing just over 6lb. Mark also won Angler of the Year for the second year in a row. Our Junior Angler of the Year was won by Abbie McTiernan – what a wonderful young angler.
With the proceeds of the raffle held that night, together with competition entry, we will donate €750 to The North West Hospice.
As usual we would like to thank Philip and Ellie and all their staff for hosting the competition. Thanks also to everyone who donated prizes for the raffle, to our ticket sellers, and to everyone who gave so generously to this very worthy charity. We all enjoyed a great evening in The Mayfly.
Results:
1. Mark Deavin 6.07 lbs
2. Phil Brown 3.6 lbs
3. Eddie Harte 3.2 lbs
4. Ken Murray 2.62 lbs
5. Oliver Dillon 2.60 lbs
Angler of the Year Points:
1. Mark Deavin 44
2. Ken Murray 34
3. Paul Colreavy 33
4. Gerry Martin 28
5. Eddie Harte 28
Roll on season 2024 – hoping for many more tight lines and bent rods!
The settled weather over the last weekend provided members of Killybegs Mariners SAC with the opportunity to fish some Donegal shore marks. The results were excellent with big sea trout, decent bass, turbot, flounder, plaice and some coleys.
Charter boats fishing Donegal Bay made use of the settled weather targeting some more bluefin tuna.
Killybegs Fishing Trips had a great day out recently with two nice lively tuna to the boat including two first ever tuna for anglers aboard the MV Fiona Tee.
First ever BFT for Kim
Adrian Molloy of tuna.ie also reported of good bluefin fishing for his clients as did Ewings Sea Angling and Boat Charters fishing out of Rosses Point, Co. Sligo. Eight hits resulted in 5 fish to the boat with incredible wildlife including humpback and minke whales and loads of dolphins as a bonus!
Dan O’Neill, fishery manager at Mount Juliet reports on the switch from river to lake fishing as Autumn gets under way and the game season ends…
With Autumn well and truly underway the transition from river angler to lake and course angler takes place for me. I am almost anxious this time of year wondering how I will get my “fix” of fishing in. It’s not long before I am reminded that there are plenty of opportunities to get out and do some fishing over the autumn and winter months. An upcoming trip for my apprentice and I with Irish pike fishing guides in October and plenty of perch and pike on the River Barrow. Come to think of it reading back on this piece I think the transition has just occurred.
On the estate fishing is still quite popular amongst guests on the estate lakes and I have had some groups out over the past couple of weeks. One stuck with me and that was a booking made by Mari Teising from the USA. Mari was with her Husband Scott and two other couples and wanted to try fishing for the first time. Great news as this was my chance to introduce this wonderful sport to some new enthusiasts. The group got on very well and caught many roach on what was a slightly foggy morning. It was very clear there was a special bond between these people, and I found it fascinating when I heard their story. Scott Teisling, Bob Knight and Jim Reynolds have been friends since they met at the US Military academy at west point. They entered in 1976, graduated in 1980. They were posted all over the world yet stayed in touch in a spirited way. After some time Scott and Bob went to ranger school. Scott retired as a captain, Jim as captain and Bob as Colonel. The reason I told this story briefly was the bond they shared was absolutely admirable. They had spoken for many years about getting together and going for a fishing trip and I was lucky enough to have been able to take them and hear their stories. More so the fact I was able to show them something new and something that they now are hopefully going to pursue.
Mari, Scott , Paula , Bob, Barb , James
I also made a trip to southern county and guided for 3 people, we had some lovely Rainbows all of which were in typical southern county shape. Apps bloodworm on a slow retrieve worked quite well. Had some great fun on fast retrieve also, watching the fish follow and decide whether or not to commit to taking was quite exciting.
Finally, last weekend was the start of my free tuition weekend. I had Anglers Paul Byrne and Shane O Reilly out with me. We covered some knots, leader set ups and overhead cast. Both anglers done very well, and Paul managed to get a cast in on the lake a catch a roach on the dry fly. Both anglers done very well with Paul gaining bragging rights this time round.
Paul Byrne with roach
The Irish fly fair is getting close now and there are regular updates on the Irish fly fair Facebook page and also on my own Facebook page. This event is huge with many top exhibitors in fly tying and fly casting with a great line up of trade stands. Tickets are now available.
Mount Juliet House is set on a large estate, which offers private fishing on 2.5 miles of the middle to lower reaches of the River Nore. Mount Juliet Estate offers fishing of the highest quality, just a short stroll away from the Manor House. There is a fishing room on site in the Manor House for your convenience i.e. for storage and drying of fishing equipment. Mount Juliet Estate can also provide the necessary equipment on site if needed.
Dan O’Neill is the Fishery Manager and is an avid fly angler with great enthusiasm and passion for his sport. He has a wealth of experience of fishing on the fabulous River Nore. Dan can arrange salmon and trout fishing trips and can offer great advice and local knowledge to anglers wishing to visit the Nore and other rivers in the south east.
Fly Casting Instruction
Dan is an AGPAI Ireland qualified single handed casting instructor. He will be happy to arrange casting lessons on the fishery.
Tackle Hire
Fishing equipment and flies/bait can all be supplied.
Dan is also an accomplished fly tyer and has a number of patterns of his own which regularly bring him success which he would be happy to share with you.
Over the 1 meter...great catch for Mark from Michigan
Chris Barry of Go Fishing Ireland was in touch to let us know about a recent guiding trip:
Sheridan Tongue and Mark Blauvelt from Michigan, USA were visiting Co Meath this week and teamed up with Chris Barry for an afternoon’s pike fishing on a nearby lake.
Mark is a keen angler back home and set his sights on a big Irish fish. Despite the short session, he managed to land a 101cm beauty. A new personal best, by some distance.
A new PB 101cm pike for Mike from Michigan
Sheridan, not to be outdone, landed two fish. Not quite as big as Mark’s, but his first ever pike, which is always a special occasion. Well done to both. A great start to their Ireland vacation.
Jim Clohessy is back on the water again in this great report from the Cork coastline…
Autumn is a strange time for boat anglers- Too much to do and not enough time to do it- could sum it up, especially this year. So, when a weather window opens up the choosing of a plan for the day can be a head wrecker. It’s a good time for bass, offshore the wrecks offer potential, and you might not get another window, sharks should be on a downward trend so good to get a last run at them, skate have been tricky all year….
It was an incredibly foggy start with viz down to a few metres at times. We feared that our plans would be scuppered.
We opted for the offshore run. Not for sharks mind, more for “normal” fish.
The worry was always going to be fog and sure enough we were greeted with pea soup in the morning as we searched out bait. We eventually decided to head out and were delighted to see the fog had cleared outside the harbour. Game On!
We weren’t the only ones heading out. the fog had lifted outside the harbour.
Our first stop was at a wreck and we hit it with lures first and had some cracking pollack. Paul was doing exceptionally well on metals. I had a handy ling so I decided to try bait on the next pass. After a couple of drifts I hit into a good fish – A decent ling. We varied between baits and lures for a while before the wreck seemed to go quiet and we headed to try for some haddock and whiting. This was the quietest part of the day with only a few fish. The place was teeming with life. Hundreds of dolphins about and loads of birdlife. Saw one whale in the distance too.
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Paul with a lovely gnarly wreck pollack... A decent chunky fish.
Always nice to get a ling on a lure.
This one took a Strike Pro Tumbler shad from Dennett Outdoor Ltd on a V2 Jig Head 120g
This was a fine chunky ling on bait. Standard wrecking trace, single paternoster baited with a small mackerel flapper... Irresistible for ling!
Haddock were scarce but i was chuffed with this one. Store bought Dennett Outdoor Ltd muppet rig is a super scratching trace for whiting and haddock ground.
I had been saving this big Black Minnow 200mm 120g... It lead a happy but brief life on a wreck. You could hear my crying in Falmouth I'd say!
All told it was a great autumn day on that water. There was an incredible radio phenomenon going on yesterday. From the outset in the harbour we were picking up Southampton VTS on our harbour ops channel 12- I was wondering where Cork Ops had gotten the English dude from. Offshore we were picking up all the east coast Irish VHF stations, Falmouth, Bristol pilots, Holyhead and even a French Coastguard channel.
It was a day of incredible life about. Many dolphins seems chilled out and checking us out. they must have full bellies!
So, while not the best day we’ve had on the water from a fishing perspective, a superb day out nonetheless. We wait for another window.
After a long wait, Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters recently took delivery of his superb new charter boat. Christened ‘Manannan‘, she’s an 11.4 x 4.4m Swiftcat Catamaran designed for speed, stability & comfort. With 2 x 420Hp engines, she cruises at 18-20 knots, has a top speed of 28 knots and has all the modern electronic & safety equipment you would expect. So we wish Kit well in this new venture and may she bring great fishing to every angler who boards her.
New boat afloat!
While the vessel may be new, the quality of the fishing hasn’t changed much, as Kit showed a group of Dutch anglers the best of what the Irish east coast has to offer last week. They travelled to Ireland looking for tope, and Wicklow didn’t disappoint, as, despite a few hairy days which tested the new boat to the limit, they all managed to land good numbers of tope, with a few decent ones thrown in. They were delighted to get a few huss too, a species they don’t see too often off the Dutch coast, and all returned to Holland with smiles on their faces.
Tons of tope @ Wicklow
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Super tope off the Wicklow coast
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.
You may have seen the disgraceful stories in recent weeks about the terrible pollution of Lough Neagh that has been occurring unabated and which has been poisonous for humans and animals, since May.
Lough Neagh is the largest freshwater lake in Ireland or the UK and due to an overload of nutrients, with agriculture mainly responsible, scientists are saying it could take 20-30 years for the lake to recover.
On this week’s Ireland on the Fly, Tom and Daire find out how this was allowed to happen, how it can be stopped and what it has meant for local anglers as well as local communities around the lake.
They’re joined by Dr. Les Gornall who did his Phd with Prof. R.B. Wood on Lough Neagh and by Seamus Donnelly who is Secretary of the Moyola Angling Club, and while Lough Neagh would not be known for its angling, Seamus has caught fish on it fly fishing from a drifting boat.
Seamus tells of his experience of the thick algae bloom that is suffocating the water while Les gives the scientific background as to why this is happening and how it can be stopped.
Lough Neagh will be an open sewer if nothing is done, Les tells them in stark terms.
