Johnny Baily of Loch Mahon Fisheries was in touch to tell us about a new competition he is running on the fishery over the coming months. It’s called the Last Man Standing. There are 16 anglers fishing, with the first round taking place in April, and it’s a 1-on-1 knockout.
Each winner advances to the next round until only two anglers remain. The two anglers drawn together can fish the first round any time in April, they just organise it between themselves.
There’s a lovely big cup for first and 2nd with €900 in cash, all money paid out.
All places are sold for this year, and the draw is done with some very interesting matches to keep an eye on.
Ideal for families, beginners, kids, adults and experienced anglers.
Fly fishing for Trout, match and family fishing for Carp, Rudd, Roach and Tench and specimen Carp fishing for common, mirror and grass Carp up to 25lbs.
Loch Mahon Lakes are located outside of the village of Adamstown in Co Wexford. Set in a secluded valley, Loch Mahon has three freshwater fishing lakes.
Rainbow trout
One lake, dedicated to fly fishing only, is regularly stocked with quality rainbow trout and brown trout up to 15lbs.
Carp and Coarse fish
The other two lakes are stocked with coarse fish. The Match lake is well stocked with Carp, Rudd, Roach and Tench up to 10lbs. The Specimen lake has Carp from 6lbs to 18lbs with specimens over 20lbs
Facililties
3 springfed lakes, private free car park, bait and tackle shop, rod hire, picnic/bbq area, tea, coffee, snacks, toilet and shower, fishing lessons by request, wheelchair access.
Tackle and Bait shop
Tackle from major suppliers include Fox, Matrix, Avid, Korum and Preston. Bait from Dynamite, CC Mooore, Crafty catcher, Sonubaits, Fjuku, Match pro and Traper.
Angling guide and instructor Dan O’Neill reports on the opening day 2026 on the Nore and Kings River.
So at last it arrived, the 2026 season. What a wonderful day it was. I have been tying flies on my Facebook, Instagram and TikTok pages over the past few weeks. It was mainly patterns that I use quite a lot in the early season. Nice buggy looking patterns making them look a worthwhile and substantial meal for any Brown Trout. The Nore itself was at about 1.3m, so I was limited to which pools I could visit. The Kings River, however, offered me several pools to fish. My chosen methods were dry dropper and streamer fishing. These are mostly what I fish early season, and I also enjoy it too. The tight quarters of the Kings makes the casting challenging, and you really have to think on the spot. Strolling to the entrance of the Kings brought me back to the same time last year as I had a face full of sleet and the noise it made hitting my waterproofs. This year, however, there was no sleet but a brisk wind, we can deal with that 🙂
Getting to the river, it was as beautiful as I remembered, looking up the river at its many glides and currents almost called you up there, although I stayed focused and took my time along the river. My first technique was dry dropper where I was using a klink tied by Marco Bonneto, which supported my 2.5mm nymph. It didn’t take too long to meet my first trout of the season. It wasn’t a big fish, but the twisting and turning, along with light gold flashes just under the surface, was a sight that was very welcome.
I did have a few more little trout as I made my way up the run. Fish were mostly at the tail end to mid sections of the runs.
I fished the Nore itself for an hour and again had some small trout on the same methods, mostly around George’s wall, very exciting watching the trout let their guard down and chase the streamer right to the edge, even more so when they grab it in front of you.
Getting out of the water and having a cup of coffee with half an Easter egg was my little reward, and I enjoyed it as I watched the river pass by with time. Some of my senses woke up and I got the feeling I was being watched, I did expect to perhaps look up and see another angler but as I looks around I noticed I was being watched by 3 deer, there’s something majestic and connecting about being out in nature and of course being watched by it to, sitting on the bank with a cup of coffee with a now half eaten Easter egg made me aware it wasn’t just the fishing and the trout that I missed. Sometimes, very simple things can be called “things” rather than privileges, which is exactly what they are.
I do hope you all enjoyed the opening day and have a very enjoyable 2026 season. I look forward to seeing you at the upcoming shows and events and of course on the riverbank too. Be sure to bring an Easter egg, and I will swap it for the secret pattern.
Dan has been guiding on the River Nore from the age of 14. He holds a wealth of knowledge in many different techniques. Dan provides guiding for Trout, Salmon and coarse fish.
All levels from beginner to experienced are welcome.
Available for guided trout and salmon fishing in the South East
Fly Casting Instruction
Dan is a APGAI Ireland qualified single handed fly casting instructor. All levels from beginner to experienced are welcome.
Dan also holds regular fly fishing classes on the River Nore for groups and individuals.
Wet, wet, wet… the story of the week. A change in the jet stream steered a few depressions in over Ireland this week, with wet and windy weather dominating the week. Many rivers and lakes are very high, making for difficult fishing conditions, and we don’t have a huge amount of fishing to report on. This weekend traditionally sees angling activity start to pick up, with St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday, and hopefully the weather starts to improve for everyone.
Trout
The big lakes are all open now, and early season sport was reasonably good on Corrib, where trolling produced most fish, but wet fly and streamers also caught trout. The duckfly hatch should get underway in the next week or so, and a lot more anglers will be out for that. Katie Molloy was out with angling guide dad Kevin, and her trout wins our Catch of the Week.
Katie Mpolloy enjoyed her day out with Dad Kevin on Corrib
Senan Stanley took himself off to Cavan for his first visit to Lough Sheelin, where he fished lures and landed some cracking trout. Check out the report and video here.
The Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association have issued a call for entries for their first national team qualifier at Emy Lough, Co. Monaghan on April 11th. More details here.
To salmon fishing now. Many rivers have simply been too high to fish, but David McEvoy reports from Delphi, where a few spring salmon have been caught in the last week, hopefully heralding a good run of fish.
The Dromore Anglers found it much tougher on Lough Erne, but conditions were against them, and a 5lbs fish for Simon McLarnon was enough to take the win.
Coarse
Coarse angling reports are thin on the ground this week, but Lough Muckno is fishing well at the moment. The latest round of the CM Lakelands Winter League saw 17 anglers competing, and a fine catch of 9.200kg took the win for Piotr Horbiński.
Sea
It’s been a rough week weather wise, but skipper Kit Dunne managed to take advantage of a weather window on Sunday to get out, and his guests had spurdog to 102cm, along with whiting and dogfish. No tope on this trip, but they will be starting to show soon.
Shore clubs are getting into full swing with competitions now, and Richard Dodd provided an entertaining report of a match on South Beach, Arklow for Borough SAC, where a quiet start was followed by a hectic finish and plenty of fish for everyone.
Rinnashark SAC were also out at Cheekpoint Strand, although the fishing was decidedly slow for the nice conditions they enjoyed, and Alan Mulcahy took the win.
Spring has (allegedly) sprung, and a lot of anglers will be going afloat in the coming weeks, on inland lakes and on the sea. Now is a good time to make sure your boat and engine are safe and serviced, that oars, ropes, chains, anchors etc are in good condition. And very importantly, make sure your lifejacket is serviced – it is illegal to go afloat in a small vessel without a lifejacket, and legalities aside, it could save your life!
And while you’re checking your gear, check out these tips for a personal biosecurity kit, that could help stop the risk of spreading invasive species.
And now the weather
Cold today with sunny spells and showers, some wintry, merging to give longer spells of rain or sleet for a time. Brightening up towards evening and showers will become confined to Atlantic coastal counties. Highest temperatures of 5 to 8C, with moderate to fresh westerly winds.
Saturday will start off mainly dry with bright or sunny spells, best in the east. Scattered showers will extend eastwards through the morning and afternoon, gradually dying out in the evening. Highest temps of 7 to 9C in light to moderate W/SW breezes. Sunday will be a cool, breezy day with sunny spells and scattered blustery showers, some turning wintry with a chance of hail or sleet, mainly in the north. Afternoon highs of 5 to 10 degrees in fresh to strong westerly winds.
Monday and Tuesday look unsettled, with rain, showers and breezy S/SW winds, but the signals are for drier, brighter weather for the latter half of the week.
Don’t forget to double-check the forecast before heading off, and if you’re going to sea, check the tides.
A new byelaw was recently signed which updates the regulations on the River Dodder. The new regulations apply to the part of the river from Clonskeagh Road bridge to the River Liffey at Ringsend.
Fly only fishing
River Dodder Bye-law No. 1021 of 2025 provides for fly fishing only, single barbless hook from Clonskeagh Road bridge to the River Liffey at Ringsend during the period 01 June to 30 September in any year. All legitimate methods are allowed at other times (subject to salmon regulations).
Catch and release
River Dodder Bye-law No. 1021 of 2025 provides for catch and release for all fish species downstream of the Clonskeagh Road bridge to the River Liffey at Ringsend during the period 01 June to 30 September in any year.
No salmon, or seatrout over 40cm
A person shall not have in his or her possession any wild salmon or sea trout (over 40cm).
Angling Limitation River Dodder Bye-law No. 1021 of 2025
Lough Muckno was in good form on Sunday for the last round of the CM Lakelands Muckno Winter League, with 17 anglers competing.
Piotr Horbiński won this final round from Yellow Island with a fantastic weight of 9.200 kg of roach and hybrids caught at around 30 metres.
Piotr also won the league outright with an incredible 5 pts, winning 5 sections. This performance was on another level for Lough Muckno, considering the attendance of the matches and the calibre of the anglers fishing the league.
Irish international feeder boss Brenton Sweeney was 2nd overall, again on Yellow Island, weighing 7.660 kg; Brenton fished at 45 metres to catch a mixture of hybrids and roach.
3rd overall was Mariusz Kilian, who was on the next peg down from Brenton. Mariusz caught a lot of small hybrids, skimmers and roach to weigh 6.380kg.
SECTIONS
Alan Larkin (Yellow) 6.200kg
Yevhen Kuslyvyi (Black) 4.900kg
Damian Foltyn (South Lodge) 3.820kg
TOP 6 OF WINTER LEAGUE (24 anglers took part)
1st Piotr Horbiński 5pts €500
2nd Steven Whyte 7.5pts €350
3rd Rimantas Kondrackas €300
4th Brenton Sweeney 12pts (weight) €250
5th Mariusz Kilian 12pts €200
6th Damien Foltyn 13pts €150
TOTAL = €1,750
All the action from the matches
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The club held another match at the same time on Houghton’s Shore, Lough Garadice, with 8 anglers competing.
1st overall was Irish feeder international and match organiser Charlie Richards with another impressive performance on Houghton’s Shore.
Charlie caught some nice skimmers and some roach and hybrids to weigh 7.200 kg.
2nd overall was Irish under-25 feeder international Brian Clark with another good weight of 5.320 kg of skimmers and roach.
Making up 3rd position was Francis McGoldrick, who had a mixed bag of fish to weigh 4.030 kg.
Richard Dodd is back with another entertaining report on Borough SAC’s latest competition…
South Beach, Arklow – Saturday 7th March Where Is Everyone?
South Beach, Arklow one of the most fished venues on the east coast. A place where, on any given weekend, you’d expect more tripods than tourists and more headlamps than stars.
So imagine the shock when the Borough SAC crew arrived and found Absolutely nobody. Not a sinner. Not a rod. Not even a dog walker pretending to be interested.
The whispers began immediately: “This isn’t a good sign. If no one else is fishing it, what do they know that we don’t? Is the beach closed? Cursed? Haunted by undersized whiting?”
But anglers are eternal optimists or stubborn so with the beach pegged, 11 brave souls took their places, muttering things like “Sure look, you never know” and “It can’t be that bad can it?”
At 6pm, lines were cast seaward with more hope than conviction. The weather was dry, a bit cloudy, and the easterly breeze added a bite that made everyone question their life choices. The tide was dropping and due to rise again, with full tide around 11pm perfect on paper, but paper doesn’t catch fish.
The first hour was slow. Painfully slow. Watching paint dry but the paint is also ignoring you. Eventually, a few tiny whiting appeared, all undersized, all smug about it. Anglers began to suspect the empty beach was no coincidence.
As night settled in, the fishing continued in the same heroic-but-hopeless fashion .More small fish. More undersized whiting. More muttering about how “the other clubs definitely knew something.”
But then in the last two hours the sea finally woke up. Whiting got bigger (well less small).The biggest of the night hit a mighty 25cm, which technically counts as “bigger” if you squint. And suddenly the beach came alive: Whiting, Flounder, Dabs, Rockling, Dogfish, Small spurdog and, yes, smooth hound. In March. Because why not? The sea likes to keep things interesting.
By the end, rods were bending, anglers were busy, and the earlier doom-and-gloom was replaced with the sweet sound of fish being measured and released .Against all expectations, the night turned into a cracker: Total fish caught & released: 133. Not bad for a session that started like a funeral for optimism.
The Moral of the Story – Never trust an empty beach. Never underestimate undersized whiting. And never, ever assume a quiet venue means a quiet night.
South Beach delivered in the end and the Borough SAC anglers proved once again that hope, persistence, and a bit of madness are all part of the sport.
The Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association (ILFA) will be hosting the 1st trial of their 2026 League at Emy Lough in Co Monaghan on Saturday 11th April 2026.
This annual league is an important fixture for members of the ILFA as it determines the team to represent Ireland the following year at the International Ladies Flyfishing Championships fished against teams from England, Scotland and Wales.
ILFA trials at Holy Lake, 2025
The 2026 League will be used to select the team to represent Ireland in Scotland in 2027. Over the year there will be a trial in each of the 4 provinces.
The trial at Emy Lough will begin at 11am but all entrants must have registered by 10.15am on the shore. Further information and a booking form can be obtained from Maddy Kelly, PRO, ILFA on [email protected]
Linda Straghan, ILFA, Chair said
‘It’s fantastic to see the warm weather finally arriving and it will be great to meet up with members and friends from all over Ireland. Representing Ireland is a wonderful experience and I would urge all women flyfishers to consider trying out for the team.
If you are new to flyfishing, or have never fished before but would like to find out what is involved, there is a program of Introductory days for women planned for 2026. More information can be found on our website www.irishladiesflyfishing.com or by contacting Maddy Kelly [email protected]
ILFA trials at Lough Lene, 2024
Emy Lough, covering 136 acres (55ha) is located just outside Emyville which is on the N2 between Monaghan and Aughnacloy. It is a very scenic water with tree-lined banks, surrounded by gentle slopes and fed by Bragan Mountain stream. The lough itself is primarily a trout fishery with stocked rainbows but there are wild browns from the Bragan river some of which are a good size and stunning in colour. For more information about Emy Lough visit https://fishinginireland.info/emy-lough/
For more information about the Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association or to take part in this event please email Maddy Kelly PRO at [email protected]
Last weekend, Rinnashark SAC held their second club event of the year on Cheekpoint Strand, with fishing taking place from 13:30 to 17:30. While the weather was favourable, the fishing itself proved quite slow, with several anglers blanking and most catches limited to one or two fish. In total, 23 anglers took part, landing 40 fish between them, including dab, flounder, rockling, pollack and sea bass. Well done to all winners!
Results were as follows:
Master Angler: 1st – Alan Mulcahy 2nd – Bradley Kirwan 3rd – Adam O’Neill
Wicklow Boat Charters skipper Kit Dunne managed to get back out on the water, taking advantage of a short break in the weather. Check out his short report below…
Sunday felt like a summer’s day, and we finally managed to get out for a trip. The best catch was a spurdog measuring 102 cm, with plenty of smaller ones around, along with a few whiting and dogfish. We tried fishing with a fresh whiting for about an hour but had no takers from the tope this time…hopefully better luck on the next trip. Individual seats for March have now been released, with a few spaces still available on the 14th, 15th, 26th, 28th, and 29th.
East coast waters are home to some of the best fishing in Ireland, with Wicklow boasting record catches of Tope, Bull-Huss, Ray and Spurdog in recent years. Catch Gurnard, Pollock and Codling on the inshore rough patches or on the offshore banks. Target your Specimen Tope, Spurdog, and Bull-Huss with Kit your local experienced skipper and accomplished Irish International Angler.
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 – Manannan Mac Lir 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.
Rod and tackle hire available, coaching and Bait supply on request.
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.
Castle Maiden
Offshore 105, 370 Hp Iveco
Skipper: Kit Dunne Licence: P5 Base: Wicklow Harbour Operational area: Wicklow, Arklow, Bray, Dun Laoghaire, and Courtown – 30 miles from ports of departure.
Manannan Mac Lir
Swiftcat 11.4m, 2 x 420hp Iveco
The new vessel, called “Manannan” for short, is an 11.4m, (37.5’), x 4.4m, Swiftcat, a state-of-the-art Charter Boat with great speed, safety, stability & comfort. She has a very spacious flush deck with walk around wheelhouse giving ample flush deck space all-round. With today’s high level of design options, she is well fitted out with all mod cons. She is a twin-engine shaft driven Catamaran, fitted with 2 x 420hp Iveco FPT NEF67 engines, she cruises at 18-20 Knots, with a top speed of 28 knots.
Lough Sheelin may be best known for the mayfly fishing, and synonymous with fly fishing the spent gnat for big trout, but did you know that lure fishing with small hard lures can also be very productive, especially in early season? Senan Stanley shares some of his trout lure fishing secrets in his latest video, as he pays his first visit to the mighty Sheelin, and manages to tame some of it’s hard-fighting wild brown trout.
He also demonstrates impeccable fish handling and release skills, showing viewers how to handle and release fish safely.
Senan and buddy Vincent also catch a good few pike, so pike anglers will also enjoy the video.
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Check out the video below, and give him a follow while you’re at it.
Guided fishing for pike, trout and perch on Lough Derg. Fishing from a custom fitted Sheelin boat with all modern electronics including live scope, gps electric trolling motor etc
For enquiries and bookings get in touch via Facebook or Instagram.
Castle Maiden
Manannan Mac Lir
