The Romanian C&R Angling Association held the 4th edition of their Lough Derg Predator Challange 2023 on Sunday 28th of May on Lough Derg. A total of 70 anglers turned out for the event where anglers aimed to catch a Pike, Perch and Trout, with the longest of each species caught making up the final total.
The anglers caught and released 117 fish on the day, which was good going considering the bright sunny weather we have been having in recent weeks.
Dominic McGowan holding the trout that won him joint 2nd place in the President’s Cup
Steve Schreck reports from Loughs Conn & Cullin…
Angling Report week ending 28/05/2023
Fishing on the lakes didn’t improve compared to the week before last. Very little fly life was being recorded and fishing was a tough nut to crack, to say the least. There were no big hatches of Mayflies and if trout could be tempted they were mostly below the size limit.
Peter Roche ventured out on Monday, fishing Rinmore Point and Brackwansha. He recorded a localised hatch at Rinmore Point in the morning and caught a few small trout on a Cock Robin Dabbler.
On Sunday, Foxford Angling Club competed for the President’s Cup. Billy Murphy won the competition and joint second place went to Dominic McGowan and Bryan Kennedy. Pete Ramsden was third. Thirteen anglers returned 7 trout over 13 inches. Conditions were tough with a north wind and bright sunshine.
Chairman of Foxford Angling Club Michael Tiernan presenting the Presidents Cup to winner Billy Murphy
There seems to be plenty of tope in the Wicklow area judging by the reports from Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters. The O’Brien clan had numerous tope, including two to specimen size on their recent trip with Kit. There were plenty of hounds around too when they went for them and they also came across a decent thornback.
1 of 6
There was plenty of good fishing the previous week too, including this super specimen-sized tope measuring 165cm Length X 69cm girth for Gary Walsh.
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.
Cian O’Boyle with a magnificent 14 lbs salmon caught on the Ridge Pool (released)
Steve Schreck reports from the River Moy…
Angling Report week ending 28/05/2023
Even though conditions in the Moy catchment were challenging last week, catch numbers increased significantly yet again and 122 salmon were reported caught. A considerable number of those salmon were spring fish, but the odd grilse was among them. Sunny days and no rain at all meant that Ballylahan Bridge water levels did not reach a desirable height all week long.
The Moy Fishery reported 13 salmon caught for the week of which 6 were released. Ten of the fish were caught in the Ridge Pool while the Cathedral Beat produced 3 salmon. Overall, 5 of these were double figure fish, with the best one weighing 14lbs.
May Bonner with a nice 10 lbs springer caught on the Ridge Pool of the Moy FisheryGarrett Ruigrok about to release a beautiful 12 lbs springer at the Ridge Pool
Mount Falcon reported 1 salmon of 7.5 lbs. Angling pressure during the week was very low.
Coolcronan Fishery recorded 1 salmon weighing 8 lbs caught on the worm.
Armstrong Fishery recorded 9 salmon for the week, with the best one weighing 10 lbs. Six fish were caught on the prawn and 3 were caught on the worm.
Gannon’s Fishery reported 16 fish, weighing between 6 lbs and 11 lbs. Saturday was a particularly good day when 8 salmon were caught.
The Foxford Fishery recorded 41 fish, mostly springers, except for 4 grilse. The biggest fish of 12 lbs was caught on the prawn.
Foxford Salmon Anglers reported 21 fish for the week of which 9 were caught in Rinanney and 12 in Baker’s.
Two salmon were reported caught in the Foxford town area.
CloongeeFishery recorded 7 salmon on the fly of which 3 were released. The biggest fish weighed 11.5 lbs.
East Mayo Anglers recorded 11 salmon for the week (3 released). 7 fish on the fly and 5 on the worm. Two of those salmon were double figure fish weighing 10 lbs.
The victorious Ulster team with the Inter-Provincial trophy
The Findlater and Inter-Provincial Boat Angling competitions took place last week, and we have a great report from the Irish Federation of Sea Anglers on the event.
Findlater and Inter-Provincial Competition
Mullaghmore – May 20th & 21st 2023
Two competitions took place this weekend. The Inter-Provincial saw the 4 Provincial Teams competing on Saturday, and the 2023 Findlater Competition had 28 anglers competing over the Saturday and Sunday. Weather conditions were very promising with calm seas and only light rain on the Saturday. The baits were 60 rag per angler and mackerel.
4 boats headed out on Saturday and the first 3 hours was on the drift. Fish were coming in steadily with Pollack, Ballan and Cuckoo Wrasse being the main species. Mackerel showed up in numbers and at times were hard to get through. The 2nd three hours were on anchor, and while this started off well, the fishing got tougher with way fewer fish being caught.
At the end of the day, having counted up the scores, Ulster were the champions beating Munster by 7.69%, Leinster were 3rd and Connaught 4th. The scores were Ulster 337.58%, Munster 329.89%, Leinster 294.36% and Connaught 229.14%. Many congrats to David McCormick, Uel Moore, Mark Devir, Aidy Herrity and Marc O’Connor.
The victorious Ulster team with the Inter-Provincial trophy
In the Findlater Competition there were 4 people with boat wins and 100% each. The fish scores determined the 1st to 4th positions, so after day 1, lying 1st for John Dennehy, 2nd Stephen Hurley, 3rd Piotrek Nowakowski and 4th Mark Devir.
Tails were up for day 2 with all to play for. There was a good swell on the sea, and the skippers decided to anchor for the first 3 hours and drift for the last 3. The fishing from the first drop was nice and steady and all enjoyed the fishing.
As the boats returned, all were trying to figure out who the top 6 were. With only one angler having 2 boat wins, Piotrek Nowakowski was the overall winner with 200%. Many congrats Piotrek, who will captain the Home Nations Team to represent Ireland in Weymouth in 2024. The other team members are Stephen Hurley with 198.2%, Mark Devir with 195.13%, Padraic Clear with 190.36%, Sean Og McShane with 193.94% and John Dennehy with 180.60%. A very strong team.
Piotrek Nowakowski with the Findlater Cup
Many thanks to all who participated, to Josie Barrett & the Connaught Council, to Brian Whelan, John Dennehy and all the National Boat Committee, to Fergie for the great quality rag, and of course to our 4 skippers who tried hard to put us on fish.
Thank you to Pat and Mark Shortt our national boat recorders for such a comprehensive report and photos.
The Daiwa Irish Pairs is a fantastyic sea angling festival that has been running for many years. Based in Dingle, it is held in September and attracts anglers from far and wide, including many from the UK.
This year the festival runs from Saturday 16th to Friday 22nd of September. The festival consists of several pegged matches on the beaches of the Dingle peninsula, and a specimen hunt is also held throughout the week, with prizes for the best fish of each eligible species. The main prizes are also worth chasing, with £1,500 on offer to the winning pair, and many more prizes down the placings.
Check out the poster below for details and how to enter. We’ve been to Dingle during the festival before, and the craic was mighty! We just might enter ourselves!
The Go & Catch Lithuanian Fishing Club spent the last Sunday of May fishing a pike competition on Lough Gowna. Fifty anglers turned out on a sunny day for a team competition to win the Skure Cup 2023. The competition ran for 7 hours, and the minimum target for each team was to catch five pike over 50cm. Each pike was measured, and the longest five pike for each team went to make the total score.
Results were as follows:
First place winners:
Mantas and Simas with 5 pikes in total length 441cm
Second place winners:
Kamil and Tomas with 5 pikes in total length 436cm
Third place winners:
Giedrius and Audrius with 5 pikes in total length 407cm
Skipper John Fleming likes to encourage his guests to fish as light as possible, to give the best sport. He has a number of great quality spinning rods available on board for lure fishing with metals and soft plastics which are proving very popular. And he says the weekend just gone proved their worth, with lure taking the best of the fish on a busy weekend that saw plenty coming aboard.
Nice pollack taken on lureDecent pollackFish on!
Skipper Julian Dosso on the Leaca Rua has also been busy, the suny weather and good fishing making for happy crews, like this one here.
Happy crew with everyone catchingA fine poutingThornback rayBallan wrasse
Go Fishing
Brazen Hussy II
To book fishing with John aboard the Brazen Hussy II, give him a call on 087 7571320
A regular day is between 9am- 6pm from either Rossaveal, Spiddal or Galway depending on species being sought after. Fishing on the inshore reefs for pollock, cod, ling, wrasse, conger eel and mackerel can be reached in 10 minutes from departure, while our offshore reef marks are within 45 minutes of departure. Our ground fishing for tope, spurdog, ray, bullhuss, turbot, plaice and the giant common skate can all be reached within the hour which ensures the most amount of time is spent fishing.
The shark season usually starts at the end of June and runs into late October, this is the ultimate angling adrenaline rush with these hard fighting blue and porbeagle sharks all being tagged and released safely.
Package deals available
Glorious weather this week has been great for deep sea angling, with boats making the most of it. In west Clare, skipper Luke Aston reports that coalfish are about in “plague” proportions at the moment, with fish being caught at 3 metres in 30 metres of water! Mackerel have disappeared for the moment, which may be related to the abundance of coalfish. A day spent trying for big huss produced some nice fish up to 13lbs, but no monsters.
A nice huss on the Clare Dragoon
On the Lady Gwen, skipper Sean Maguire also had a crew keen on huss, who fished the estuary for a day and landed some nice fish.
Shannon Estuary bull hussAnd another one
Further out in the Atlantic the following day, spur dogs were taking baits, with some big fish caught. There were plenty of pollack and coalies also, as well as conger.
Spur dogCongerAnother nice spur
Go Fishing
Lady Gwen II
Fishing Adventures on Séan Maguire’s Lady Gwen II, a Lochin 33 M265Ti Perkins charterboat which operates 15 miles from Kilbaha, Carrigaholt, and Kilrush.
Whether you want to go to the Atlantic Ocean for a large selection of species, including different types of shark, or fish the estuary for ray conger tope etc, Fishing Adventures will cater for whatever fishing you desire. Telephone: +353 (0) 877508758 or +353 (0) 894431182 Email:[email protected]Web:www.fishingadventures.ie
Clare Dragoon
Clare Dragoon is a LOCHIN 366 powered by 650HP engine, skippered by Luke Aston and operating out of Carrigaholt Co. Clare…
I have some offers up on my web site www.fishandstay.com and if anybody is interested in putting a trip together please do get in touch. Also I Twitter from the boat on @fishandstay and try to update my face book page www.facebook.com/CarrigaholtSeaAngling fairly often!To experience some of the best deep sea fishing available in Ireland contact Luke. Telephone: +353 65 9058209 or +353 87 6367544 Email:[email protected]Web:www.fishandstay.com
The Newbridge & District Pike Angling Club are a regular feature on these pages, usually walking and wading around riverbanks and lake shores. But last week, they swapped up their usual haunts for a boating excursion on a large midlands lake. Twenty-three anglers fished from eleven boats on a perfect fishing day, with Lough Ree Boat Rentals providing some well-equipped boats for the club.
Fishing was a bit slow, but 23 pike were caught on the day, with the largest being a fine fish of 22lb for Darren Dunne, which helped him to the top of the rankings at the final tally up. Full results were as follows:
