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Some rough days on Lough Currane but a few salmon caught

By
IFI Staff
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Lough Currane
A wild day on Lough Currane

Vincent Appleby reports on the fishing and catches on Lough Currane…

23/3/2023 The wild SW wind was still in control of the Currane anglers manipulations and as Brod’s Dad Jack would say, another day for the high stool. Wind as already stated, followed heavy hail showers. Amount of rain fall yesterday was 6.8 mm.

24/3/2023 Another rough day on Lough Currane, rough or not, it did not stop local Gillie Mr. Dominic McGillicuddy/the flyman of www.fishingwithdom.com from manipulating his skills, when I asked him any good? he replied, Wind SW veered West and very rough and as you would say all quiet on the SW front. Wind as already stated and followed heavy showers. Just for the record the Flyman was the only boat out.

Darragh Cierans with his first salmon, an 11lb fish
Darragh Cierans with his first salmon, an 11lb fish

25/3/2023 Great to see six boats manipulating their skills in all departments, but there was only one Currane angler who takes all the headlines and that is Mr. Darragh Cierans, who caught his first 11 lbs. Salmon on the troll while fishing with his good friend Jack, so congratulations to Darragh on catching his first Salmon, may it be the first of many. For the rest of the Currane anglers it was quiet. Wind was all over the place from the SW to SSW the SE in the afternoon and overcast followed by light rain.

26/3/2023 Currane angler Mr. Brent Tall of Germany, while fishing with his gillie Mr. Dominic McGillicuddy of www.fishingwithdom.com caught a 11 lbs. Salmon on the troll and for the rest of the Currane anglers were all quiet in all departments. Wind NNW light with reasonable cloud cover at times.

Benard Rall back on Lough Currane in 2023
Benard Rall back on Lough Currane in 2023

27/3/2023 It’s the fly and great sportsmanship that takes all the headlines, so straight to the action, Great to see German Currane angler Mr. Benard Rall back in action on Lough Currane after the Covid lockdown and I can tell you it wasn’t long before Rall was in a lockdown with a cracker of a 9lb salmon while flyfishing with his Gillie Mr. Dominic McGillicuddy of www.fishingwithdom.com

Michael Roden and his Currane salmon
Michael Roden and his Currane salmon

Now we head for sportsmanship at it’s best. So it’s over to our Chairman Mr. Michael Roden and his Gillie Mr. Tom O’Shea of www.flyfishingatloughcurrane.com So the stage is all yours Michael.  “9lbs on the fly in the mouth of the river with Tom O Shea. I would like to thank Dominic McGillicuddy and his client because sportingly after netting his salmon he invited us to fish the current and twenty minutes later we struck silver!”.  Wind SE veered South fresh and overcast.

28/3/2023 All quiet today after yesterday’s fly manipulations. The Flyman of www.fishingwithdom.com was telling me that and it was rough out there today, followed by fresh to strong SSW wind. Just for the record there were five boats out today and Lough Currane is still on the dirty side after the big floods in the last few days.

29/3/2023 All the Currane anglers be it their flies or lures were all quiet today and as the saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Just for the record there was three boats out today, wind SSW fresh to strong and variable, followed by good cloud cover.

Vincent Appleby
Eureka Lodge, Caherdaniel West, Co. Kerry.
Telephone: +353 (0) 87 207 4882
E-mail:[email protected]
Web: www.salmonandseatrout.com

Sea Trout – Catch and release only

Inland Fisheries Ireland wishes to remind anglers that the Conservation of Sea Trout (No.7 or Kerry District) Waterville Area Bye-Law No. 971 of 2019 remains in effect. This Bye-law prohibits the retention and possession of any sea trout (Salmo trutta L.) taken by any fishing engine or by rod and line in the Waterville area i.e. that part of the sea eastward of a line drawn from the most westerly point of Bolus Head to the most westerly point of Lamb’s Head and to all the waters discharging in to it.

The Bye-Law mainly affects seatrout fishing on :-

  • the river Inny (Knockmoyle) and its tributaries
  • the waters of the Waterville system, including the Waterville River, Lough Currane, the Cummeragh River and all their tributary rivers and lakes
  • the waters of Ballinskelligs Bay

FLEKSI

A new online survey has been developed by IFI for the Currane catchment to gather anglers’ knowledge – the survey method called FLEKSI was developed by IFI to help give an insight into the status of the fishery. Currane Anglers are needed for Citizen Science survey to examine fish stocks

Go fishing…

Find out more about Lough Currane…

The rivers and lakes of Waterville drain a large catchment and are regarded by many as the foremost Salmon and Sea-Trout fishery in the country. The lake system is well developed with access to boats and guides being readily available to the tourist angler. The Sea-Trout caught here are renowned for their size and quantity. For more details see:

Waterville lakes and river system

Guides and boat hire

Fishing with Dom

Address Spunkane Waterville Kerry Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 87 2051515 Website: https://fishingwithdom.com/
More information
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Fly Fishing on Lough Currane

Address Termons Waterville Kerry Ireland Mobile Phone: +353(0) 87 922 8659 Phone: +353(0) 66 9474146 Website: flyfishingatloughcurrane.com
More information
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Lakelands Farm

Address Lake Road Waterville Kerry Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 87 4160200 Website: lakelandshouse.com
More information
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Neil O’Shea

Address Caherbarna Waterville Kerry Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 87 9942792 Phone: +353 66 9474527 Website: oshealoughcurrane.com
More information
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Old Daly’s Supermarket & Filling Station

Address Murreigh Waterville V23 X459 Ireland Mobile Phone: +353669474842 Website: dalysfoodstore.ie
Find on Map | Return to top.

Salmon & Sea Trout Fishing

Address Eureka Lodge Caherdaniel West Waterville Kerry V23 XD63 Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 87 2074882 Website: salmonandseatrout.com
More information
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Waterville Boats

Address Spunkane Waterville Kerry Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 (0)87 2202355 Phone: +353 (0)66 9474800
Find on Map | Return to top.

Connemara in the sunshine – the fishing was ok too!

By
IFI Staff
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Galway Bay Sac held the third leg of their club Master Angler competition on Lettergesh beach at the weekend. A good swouthwesterly blow the previous day made for a welcome change from easterlies for the previous competitions. Despite the blow, the surf was smaller than expected and thankfully weed-free for the most part. After a shower at check-in, the day stayed fair, with long sunny spells and mild temperatures – a beautiful day on the beach for all those fishing!

Waiting for a bite
Unfortunately the fine day didn’t bring in the fish in numbers. Colin Harty won the competition with 4 flats, which all arrived in the first hour.

 

Colin with one of his winning catch, a nice flounder
Gary Harty took 2nd with a third flat on the last cast. Brian Reidy was 3rd with 2 flats early doors. Conor Murray found a dogfish on an otherwise quiet day.
Mila Harty took first for the juniors with Danny Harty in 2nd.
No blanks for the juniors at another competition.

 

Hopefully the next leg in Glassilaun will see the flats back in numbers with the april sea water temp rising.

 

Sunshine on Lettergesh beach

 

Fishing on Lettergesh beach

Go Fishing

Galway Bay Sea Angling Club is a progressive club based in Galway, but fishing competitions along the west coast. New members are always welcome, and every level of experience is catered for, with social outings right up to competitions held throughout the year. If you’re looking to get into sea angling in the west, check them out here 

Sandeel and a calm spell bring Connemara pollack on the feed

By
IFI Staff
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West coast lure fishing guide Vinny Corrigan is, alas, moving to Australia in a few months. He is still fishing away, however, and sent in this report from a trip with a client over the weekend.

Fishing aConnemara rock mark from 7-11am with a 4.8m high tide at 9am and a gentle NW wind. Finally some flat seas after a few rough weeks of weather and just before another huge swell heading our way. My client Bernard from Chicago and I headed across some very water logged fields to a deep water mark..

With nothing at the first ledge after 30 minutes we moved a stone’s throw away to the next mark. Within a few minutes a few bites and we had a decent pollock on a 4” Gulp Swimming Mullet on a 21g Shad Head for Bernard… bouncing slowly along the bottom with a steady retrieve.

A nice Connemara pollack taken on lure

The bite seemed to go dead until some large rafts of weeds came in with the approaching high tide.. what we first thought was raindrops (without a cloud in sight) turned out to be thousands of sandeels about 5” long with a few greater sandeels / lance of 12” mixed in. We could also see pollock coming up and attacking but we weren’t hooking up with the Gulp of metal lures.

We quickly changed to an Irish made EvoBass Lures Sabre 130 in Goblin Colour.. a nice green and silver soft plastic and rigged it up on a 4/0 7g weedless twistlock hook. Essentially matching the hatch. With the slower presentation and Bernard was soon into a slightly smaller but harder fighting fish.

Small but full of fight!

Not long after was the best hit of the morning with this cracking 5lb pollock..

A fine 5lbs pollack to finish the session

All fish returned to fight another day.

My bookings are wrapping up with just a few dates left for May and June before the family makes the big move to Melbourne.

It’s been a true joy moving here 19 years ago and experiencing this amazing fishery off the South Connemara rocks. I am still discovering new marks and learning to my very last day.

We’re going to miss Vinny and his great reports, and I’m certainly going to miss his expertise, advice and friendship! Hopefully before he makes the big move we’ll hear from him a few more times on these pages.

Go Fishing – Wild Atlantic Lure Fishing

Vincent will be offering one on one guided rock fishing from summer, mainly for wrasse and pollack, and all within 1 hour of Galway city. I have fished with him myself, and can vouch for his knowledge of tackle, tactics and species.

Contact www.lurefishing.ie to book or for more info.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wildatlanticlurefishing
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildatlanticlurefishing/
Youtube: Wild Atlantic Lure Fishing – Ireland – YouTube

Case study- Promoting sustainable angling

By
Sadhbh O'Neill
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More anglers than golfers in Ireland

Dominic-O-Morain-Chair-of-Great-Fishing-Houses-of-Ireland
Dominic Ó Moráin Chair of Great Fishing Houses of Ireland

“There’s a real energy in the place when an angling group is staying,” says Dominic Ó Moráin. “The whole community buzzes off their passion.” Dominic is Chair of the Great Fishing Houses of Ireland, a group of some of the finest establishments in Ireland, ranging from homely guesthouses to mansions. They cater in particular for anglers, who can be defined as those who catch fish as a sport or as a hobby. It might surprise you to learn there are more anglers in Ireland than golfers. Anglers are the eyes and ears on fish and habitats. They are stewards of this important resource, protecting and advocating for Ireland’s natural environment.

Why is Ireland a great place for angling?

Markus Muller Angling Advisor with Inland Fisheries Ireland2
Markus Muller Angling Advisor with Inland Fisheries Ireland

Anglers come for our wonderful fish and scenery, of course, and to visit our renowned fisheries. They come to be taught by our ‘ghillies’ or guides and to soak up the knowledge of the local anglers. “Often in other countries the fish are stocked, so for many of our international visitors this is their first time catching wild fish in wild places,” says Markus Müller, Angling Advisor at Inland Fisheries Ireland. That’s not all they come for, however. “The thing visitors tell me over and over,” continues Markus, “is that in Ireland they get the complete package. Yes, they have a great time on the water, but they also have wonderful places to stay, great food, great pubs, live music, and the craic. It’s an experience that’s unique to Ireland.”

In promoting angling, a multiplier effect boosts not only the angling industry, but our economy as a whole. 

Why is angling great for Ireland?

As well as anglers helping safeguard Ireland’s fish and habitats, they also bring us clear socio-economic benefits. The numbers say it all. Over 327,000 people aged 16+ living in Ireland like to go angling, spending €633m a year between 2018 and 2020, according to calculations by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). Pre-pandemic figures for between 2014 and 2018 record 150,000 overseas anglers coming to Ireland annually, contributing over €200 million to the economy each year. Combined, domestic and overseas anglers amount to close to half a million people a year.

All in all, it is estimated that angling in Ireland supports 13,000 jobs and brings in close to €1 billion to the economy each year.

Through his years in specialist fishing hospitality, Dominic has noted that anglers differ from other visitors: “Anglers spend more than other visitors, stay for longer, and repeat visit far more often than the average tourist visiting Ireland.” There is a multiplier effect too. Not only does the hospitality sector get a boost, but this trickles down to the guides, ghillies and instructors, retailers of equipment and clothing, charter boats and hire cars, the purchase of licences, and to revenue for the local café and the local gift shop. The whole community benefits from the extra footfall and the significant purchasing power of the average angler.

Lough Inagh Lodge - member of Great Fishing Houses
Lough Inagh Lodge – member of Great Fishing Houses

How can Ireland grow as a sustainable angling destination?

It is clear why one of Inland Fisheries Ireland’s key roles – and one of their greatest privileges – is to promote sustainable angling to a domestic and international base. Ireland faces stiff competition from other destinations, and so considerable marketing effort is needed, promoting not just the seasoned locations, but also the lesser known. Although the theme of environmentalstewardship, including reminders about angling regulations, is common across all communications, the target audience for angling is extremely diverse, with a huge range of specialist areas of interest, across salmon, trout, pike, coarse and sea angling. Inland Fisheries Ireland’s promotional activities are therefore varied and multi-channel:

  • The fishinginireland.info website and Facebook pages are published in English, Dutch, French, German and Italian, all of which are updated at least weekly with fishing reports, blogs and more. They carry extensive information for different types of anglers, along with links to buy licences, practical advice and listings on hiring boats, guides and equipment.
  • More than a dozen specialist angling guides have been produced recently (making a total of over 60 angling publications in total).
  • Their weekly ezine boasts a circulation of 15,000, showcasing individual anglers along withother providers such as boat charters.
  • Dedicated articles and advertorials are published in the angling press.
  • Dedicated media visits and familiarisation trips are organised and hosted.
  • A considerable library of high-quality images and video footage – including that taken by a newly purchased drone – is used in Inland Fisheries Ireland’s materials, and at times by other organisations.
  • Sponsorship of a range of activities takes place: from large-scale angling festivals to club coaching courses. These engage new and seasoned anglers from all walks of life, including women anglers, youth groups, Scouts, members of the Travelling community and the LGBTQ+ community
  • The somethingfishy.ie website is a great educational resource for children and teachers on water, the environment, fish and angling.
  • Up-to-date angling regulations are communicated via Inland Fisheries Ireland’s
    websites and Facebook pages, press releases, brochures and ezine, as well as through a dedicated publication about Irish angling regulations available online and in print.

Attracting international anglers to Ireland

Inland Fisheries Ireland has previously promoted angling by ‘flying the flag’ at international angling expos and trade shows. At these, not only did Angling Advisors sell Ireland to anglers face to face, but critically they also developed relationships with influencers and other media, who could amplify and endorse their message through their own channels.

The payback from connecting with influencers face to face at trade shows has been immense. Markus cites an example: “Through nurturing two key US influencers via attendance at angling expos and in other ways, and bringing them to Ireland on a week-long angling trip, they have now listed Ireland – with extensive details – on a hugely influential US flyfishing website among the crème de la crème of worldwide angling destinations. This is as well as being featured in an industry-leading US magazine.”

Inland Fisheries Ireland is currently not attending international angling expos or trade shows. Since COVID-19, its focus has turned to seeking innovative ways of connecting with international anglers and media online.

These activities happen alongside significant collaboration with the other players in the field, including organisations such as Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. They regularly work together to promote sustainable angling in Ireland, thus acting collectively as an interface to support smaller providers: accommodation providers, tackle shops, guides, ghillies and others.

Angling sustainably and sustainable tourism

Markus Muller Angling Advisor with Inland Fisheries Irelan
Markus Muller Angling Advisor with Inland Fisheries Ireland

Inland Fisheries Ireland promotes sustainable angling at every opportunity. ‘Catch and release’ – whereby fish are caught then carefully released – is standard practice. Other aspects of angling, for example the type of tackle used, also place a sharp focus on protecting the fish and their habitats. Most anglers are proud to spend the day on the water and champion the “leave no trace” ethos.

The promotion of sustainable angling is guided by Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media’s Actions to Promote Sustainable Tourism Practices. This involves supporting economic growth in communities throughout the country, with a greater spread of demand across the year. It’s also about protecting our natural landscape and water bodies and our historic and cultural assets for the next generation.

The future of angling in Ireland

Ireland is a bucket-list destination for many anglers. By promoting Ireland at home and overseas, Inland Fisheries Ireland is striving to encourage more anglers to convert their dream of visiting Ireland into reality. With the right promotion, in collaboration with industry partners, the opportunities for our country are manifest: anglers can continue to be stewards of our fish and our habitats, while supporting and boosting not only the angling industry, but our communities and economy as a whole. Let’s get more anglers out revelling in all that our waters have to offer.

Anglers enjoying their time in Ireland
Anglers enjoying their time in Ireland

 

Irish Angling Update – 24 March 2023

By
Shane O'Reilly
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When St. Patrick’s Day rolls around, it signifies a change in pace for the angling year. Greater sunshine and longer days mean that water temperatures should be starting to rise, making fish that bit more active; and then there’s more daylight for anglers to make the most of a day’s fishing. But, while mean temperatures were slightly higher than average for the past week, the heavy rainfall and generally dull weather meant that it didn’t always feel that way.

St. Patrick’s Day is also the first Bank Holiday of the year when it’s possible to fish for a wide range of species across much of the country. While sea, pike and coarse angling are available to us year-round, trout and salmon fishing is restricted to specific ‘open seasons’, and our national holiday is the day that a number of these trout and salmon fisheries open for business. It’s also the day lough anglers earmark as the start of the period where you can reasonably expect to see the first big hatches of fly, the fabled ‘duckfly’. So for anglers, St. Patrick’s weekend is often about a lot more than parades and pubs…

So it was in Dublin, where St. Patrick’s Day marked the opening of the season on two of the capital’s trout rivers: the Tolka and the Dodder. There has always been a great buzz about the opening days on these fisheries, and the angling clubs work hard to get the rivers in shape for the early-season anglers to enjoy a bit of sport. It was great to see a number of junior anglers out on the banks and a particular well done to young Tolka angler Jacob O’Leary who won the junior competition with a trout of 2lb 5oz.

Dublin delight, an early-season wild brownie from the River Dodder

In the west of Ireland, the Screebe fishery has seen some fantastic fishing for trout recently. Its proximity to the sea means that the trout are actively feeding earlier than on other fisheries and there have been plenty of fish over 3lb, with even better fish of 7lb and 8lb also coming to the net. Unfortunately, Dan O’Neill of Mount Juliet found that the recent rainfall made a mess of his plans for some opening day fishing on the River Nore. Luckily Dan had a trick up his sleeve and made a beeline for the King’s River, where, despite the river looking a bit on the brown side, he managed to prise a fish or two, to open his account for the season. Meanwhile, anglers up in Cong have a fine new facility, including a sheltered mooring for boats and a safe car park, that should give them every opportunity to make the most of fishing the Corrib this season.

Lily Down with a fine Screebe Trout

Carrowmore Lake has probably been Ireland’s foremost spring salmon lough in recent years, and fishing there got off the mark for the season, with Barry Doocey catching and releasing the first salmon of the year on St. Patrick’s Day. Not to be outdone, its near neighbour, Lough Beltra, also got off the mark for the year with a salmon for Vincent McHugh. The Upper Caragh Fishery produced another salmon last week as fishery boss Ralph Doppler took a decent fish, and, also in Co. Kerry, anglers fishing Lough Currane felt the blessing of St. Patrick with a number of nice fish landed recently.

salmon release
One goes back on Currane

In other salmon angling news, results of the second round of the brown tag draw for the River Lee are now available. Over in Wicklow, a new ‘Harbours to Headwaters’ project was launched to increase awareness about the biodiversity in the Avoca area and the importance of restoring salmon and sea trout stocks in the catchment. Finally, in the latest Ireland on the Fly podcast, IFI’s Markus Muller chats about the salmon fishing scene and describes some of the diverse types of salmon fisheries we have in Ireland.

Coarse anglers seemed to get the bit between their teeth last week as some notable catches were reported from around the country. It has been a week to remember on Inniscarra Reservoir in Cork, where some consistently good fishing was experienced by anglers. Firstly, anglers fishing the St. Patrick’s Day festival on the lake averaged out at a cracking 19kg per angler, with the winner Adrian Bus bagging a whopping 41kg+. Matches have continued over the past week with individual catches consistently reaching the 20kg+ mark, including another super catch in the forties, this time, Niall McKitterick topping the scales with an immense 44.4kg.

Niall with his 44kg+ bag

Fishing wasn’t quite up to that standard for Tulla anglers, where the stamp of fish was certainly on the smaller side, in fact, one could say miniscule… as it took 90 fish to make a bag of 4lb 5oz from Scarrif Harbour. Anglers fishing in matches in Portumna fared a bit better, with a few bags topping 10lb, but nobody getting close to the high bar set by Bruce Pennell the previous week, where he landed a truly impressive 31lbs 12oz. Young Anthony O’Neill wasn’t deterred when finding his usual perch spot on the Barrow canals occupied by other anglers. Moving a bit further down the bank, he spotted a likely lie next to a sunken tree, and with a trusty worm under a float, it wasn’t long before he had a perch on the bank. Some visiting anglers from Texas showed similar adaptability as they were lucky to have the fallback of the coarse lakes in Mount Juliet. 10-year-old Christopher Flanagan had been expecting to target trout on the Nore, but with the river in flood, he had to change tack and rig up for coarse fish instead. But he proved himself adaptable, and quickly got into the swing of things with his float tackle, landing his first ever Irish roach.

roach
10-year-old Christopher Flanagan, well kitted out for St. Patricks Day, catches his first Irish fish

To pike angling now, and Senan Stanley went afloat on Lough Derg on St Patrick’s Day aiming to fish for trout and perch with small lures. He got a bit more than he bargained for though, as a couple of encounters with substantial pike proved rewarding and frustrating in equal measure. Targeting pike at this time of year can be tricky, as during the spawning period they can completely switch off the feed. But, as Artur Pike Seeker knows, patience pays off, and his persistence landed him a fine river pike of 111cm.

111cm pike
A super March pike for Artur

To sea angling now, and anglers fishing with Killybegs Fishing Trips had some real lunkers this week with numerous very chunky pollack on the go, one of which tipped the scales at a specimen sized 12lb. In the west of Ireland, Corrane SAC struggled with lots of weed as they fished a club competition at Whitestrand near Louisburgh. Fishing was slow as a result, with five flounder producing the top bag for Shane Gilvarry. In podcast news, the latest edition of The Lure Fishing Podcast features well known bass guide John Quinlan, who discusses his experiences running a bass guiding business in Kerry.

A lovely specimen-sized pollack on the Fiona Tee wins this week’s COTW

This week’s Catch of the Week was a real toughie… We had a 44kg+ bag from Inniscarra, fabulous photos of junior anglers with roach & trout, and a 111 cm pike from a river, all of which could have won COTW any other week. But this week’s prize goes to the specimen-sized pollack, as there’s only one or two of these caught per year, making it a pretty awesome fish.

In other news, a new online angling magazine called Predator & Salt has just been launched, and the opening edition focuses on fishing in Ireland. The magazine covers all aspects of the sport and should make an interesting read for any angler. Finally, IFI has won a community engagement award from the Economic & Social Research Institute (ESRI) for their IMREC project. The IMREC project uses an angler diary web app to turn anglers into citizen scientists by enabling them to easily catalogue and share their catch data.

And now the weather

Friday will be windy, with sunshine and showers, some of which will be heavy and possibly thundery with highest temperatures of 8° to 12°C. The westerly winds will ease overnight, and the showers will become less frequent. Saturday will bring spells of sunshine with some showers but a band of heavier rain moving into the southwest in the evening. Sunday will continue in the pattern of sunny spells and showers before Monday brings a colder snap, with frost and ice possible on Monday morning. Tuesday will see a more widespread spell of rain, and the weather will remain unsettled into Wednesday.

Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.

IFI Staff
Catch, Photo, Release

If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to [email protected].

All the angling news

Salmon Fishing Reports

Trout Fishing Reports

Coarse Angling Reports

Pike Fishing Reports

Sea Angling Reports

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The Lure Fishing Podcast – John Quinlan

By
Shane O'Reilly
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In the latest episode of the Lure Fishing Podcast, Cormac Walshe talks with expert bass guide John Quinlan. John is based in Kerry in Ireland, and has been guiding for over 25 years and has a true wealth of knowledge not only about bass fishing but also trout and salmon fishing. In this episode he gives some great insights into his approach to bass fishing and passes on some excellent advice. This is a really good conversation, not to missed.

Great early season trout fishing at Screebe

By
IFI Staff
-
Lily Down with a fine Screebe Trout

Fishery manager Felix Sproll was in touch from Screebe Fishery to report on a great early season there for trout anglers.

Fishing for brown trout opened in the Screebe on the 1st Feb. Water levels were low to start off but have rising to winter highs in the last week with all the rain. It has been reasonably mild which has helped the fishing apart from a cold spell we got end of Feb/start of March. The fishing in the lower Screebe system is normally very good at the start of the year as it is influenced by sea water that is slightly warmer than the freshwater so the fish are feeding sooner than in the loughs.

The first trout of the season went to Trevor Down, the Head Chef at Screebe House with a lovely 2.5lbs fish on a Silver Dabbler. Since then, he has caught several nice fish over 3lbs with the biggest being caught on St. Patrick’s Day on a Rusty Rut fly pattern weighing 7.5lbs! There have also been 1 or 2 sea trout caught up to 1.5lbs. Other flies that are working well are Minkies, Humungus and Alexandra.

Trevor Down with a lovely Screebe trout

Felix was in touch again to say that Trevor had just exceeded the season best trout with another fish of 8lbs!

A chip off the old block! Lily Down with a fine trout too

Go Fishing

Screebe Fishery provides fly fishing for trout, sea trout and some salmon in beautiful Connemara. Day tickets can be bought from Screebe House Hotel (091 574 110) or by contacting the fisheries Manager Felix at [email protected] . Early season day tickets for trout are €30 for half day and €50 for full day. Salmon season in Screebe starts on the 1st of May -30th Sept.

For more information visit Screebe » Outdoor pursuits. Screebe House also does lunch, dinner and cold and hot drinks.

 

Club Spotlight: Cong Anglers welcome new members (and boats)

By
IFI Staff
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Cong and District Anglers Association are based at Cong on the shores of Lough Corrib. Last year they used funding from IFI to upgrade their boat mooring facilities, with a new boat quay, improved berths and enhanced facilities. The club now has space for 60 berths, sheltered from all winds, with private secure car parking adjacent. Anglers can access Lough Corrib quickly through Lisloughrey Bay, which is adjacent to Ashford Bay at the north eastern end of the lake. Berths are suitable for traditional lough boats only.

Check out the club video below of their upgraded facility.

 

The club has room for additional members and boats, and welcome new applications for membership. Anyone interested may contract one of the following committee members for application details:

John or Stephen Lydon, Lydons Lodge, Cong tel. 087 9761612

Niamh Fahy tel. 087 9888716

Dan O’Donovan 086 1238174

 

Go Fishing

Cong and District Anglers Association is an angling club with excellent facilities for boat mooring on Lough Corrib. They hold regular competitions and outings, and offer excellent value membership and boat mooring for the season. Contact a committee member above for information, or check out their Facebook page here

When the rains subside here’s where to target salmon in March/April

By
Shane O'Reilly
-
With all this rain the last while I’m sure many of you are still itching to get out fishing and for this week’s episode we’ve got some great insights and advice on where to fish for those early season salmon along the Atlantic seaboard from Markus Muller.

When the rains do finally subside and the waters come back into contention Markus pinpoints some of the most likely places where you have a high chance of landing a salmon.

Plus he also has some interesting points about the 2022 season and trends to look out for the 2023 season and beyond.

You can read more here:

https://www.fisheriesireland.ie/sites/default/files/2023-03/the-status-of-irish-salmon-stocks-in-2022-with-catch-advice-for-2023.pdf

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More big bags at Inniscarra St Patrick’s 3 day Festival

By
IFI Staff
-
Julian Kendrick
Julian Kendrick

Anglers fishing the 3 day St Patrick’s Festival on Inniscarra enjoyed some great fishing with many anglers bagging up in style. Fountains House, Turtle Bay and the Garden Centre were the chosen sections. Each section produced weights in excess of 10kg for at least one angler each day, with the Garden Centre fishing best. Day 2 saw some incredible catches with 16.990kg, 27.130kg and 29.730kg catches recorded.

At the end of Day 1 John Browne led on 24.810kg from the Garden Centre. John was closely followed by Duncan Lennox and Paddy O’Neil who also fished this productive section.

Day 2 saw some changes to the leader board as Marcin Bobka added to his day one catch of 15.670kg from Fountain House with a mighty 29.730kg from the Garden Centre. Paul McCaul jumped 12 places to 2nd with and equally impressive 27.130kg, also from the Garden Centre, while John Brown did enough at Turtle Bay to stay in the top 3.

The last day saw a slight reshuffle of the top 5, but there was no change for 1,2 and 3. Marcin had his turn at Turtle bay and his 7.110kg catch was enough to secure him 1st place. Paul did slightly better with 7.140kg which saw him hold second while John fishing at Fountain House held 3rd place with 4.780kg Julian and Kendrick and Peter Jones fished steadily through out to take 4th and 5th. While the top 2 were stand out winners, the middle of the table shows some very tight margins, as the top 12-6 all made between 30 and 33kg.

inniscarra Patricks Festical 2023

Inniscarra Festival keeps on rolling

After the success of the St Patricks 3 day Match what better than a 1 day match followed by another 3 day festival?

One Day Match

Julian Kendrick
Julian Kendrick

Tuesday’s 1 day Match winner was Julian Kendrick with an impressive 24.880kg.

A section was win by The Ronnie Goldwater! He had 16.880 – he is back on form.

B section was won with 11.720 by Neall McKitterick!

3 Day Match – part 2

Wednesday saw the second 3 day festival, sponsored by Trevs Tackle Ireland, kick off.

Fountain House produced the top 4 weights for on the first day. Neall McKitterick topped the scales with 44.4kg.

1st Neall McKitterick 44.4kg
2nd was Ronnie Goldwater with 41.8kg
3rd was Trev Platt with 39.530
4th was Gary Watson with 21.4kg.

The Garden Centre didn’t disappoint either and was won by Julian Kendrick with 17.1kg.

There are 2 more days to go with lines in to be called on Friday Afternoon. We’ll have an update for you when it’s all over.

Go fishing…

Dont forget – there is an open match on 25th March. This will mark the end of this year’s St Patrick’s festival !

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