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ontinuing their focus on spring salmon fishing, this week’s Ireland on the Fly podcast turns its attention to the Upper Caragh Fishery in county Kerry.
Daire and Tom speak to Mike O’Shea, the fishery manager, to find out about the salmon run on the system from the early season springers to the summer grilse.
Listen & follow the podcast on Apple or Spotify:
Killybegs Mariners report…
Big tides this week along with a polar air system on the shore fishing trips for the mariners gang but some lovely fish going mostly round fish with the flatties there in spurts.
A few fine bass on the Donegal beaches and the usual flurry of trout always nice to see.
Malte and his four friends from Dusseldorf in Germany decided to spend their recent semester break in Ireland. A number of them were angling novices, but it seems they soon enough got to grips with things as they landed some impressive pike. Malte sent in the photo below of his brother Kilian breaking his PB with a fish measuring 107cm, which was caught using a lure while targeting perch on Lough Allen.
But things were to get even better for the group later in the week as they smashed their previous best with a cracking fish of 120cm. Not at all bad for novice anglers!
Pike can be a funny fish to target. Sometimes when everything feels right, the pike are just switched off and refuse to take any interest in anything you throw at them. Other times they just seem to switch on for no apparent reason, and if you are lucky enough to be out on one of those days, you can have a real bonanza.
Well, a few of the Newbridge District Pike Anglers had just such a bonanza recently as they took a 4am start to travel to a river venue. With rods out before dawn, things started to get active, with a couple of jacks coming in quick and fast. Then the real fun started when a super fish of 21.3lb came to the net, which was very quickly followed by another fish of exactly the same size. Two twenties in 20 minutes; that’s exciting fishing.
But things were to get even better as a 21.9lb fish was the next lunker to be landed before things started to get a little quiet. The lads decided that a move of swim was in order, and that decision proved inspirational, as another two twenties were netted along with plenty of smaller fish, including one 16lb pike that had a 3lb tench in its throat.
At the end of the day the lads had 23 fish, including five twenties and two doubles, to make it a session they will never forget. See their full report here.
Keith McDonnell, of Impact Fly Fishing, loves to target trout with streamers and he has devised a number of innovative patterns that have brought him success in Ireland and abroad. With the clock ticking down to the opening of many of our trout rivers, he has put together a number of tips that will aid you in the pursuit of early-season trout and has published them in this article.
The article includes advice on the following
It’s a great read and sure to whet the appetite of any river trout angler – New Season Spring Streamer Fishing Tips
Vincent Appleby reports on another quiet week for anglers fishing Lough Currane…
2/3/2023 Mr. Dominic McGillicuddy of www.fishingwithdom.com reports that there were five boats out today and all was quiet on the Southwest front. Wind East come afternoon veered ESE followed by reasonable cloud cover.
3/3/2023 There were a few boats out manipulating their skills today but there was only one Currane angler that came up Trumps, no its not false news, but the one and only Mr. Dominic McGillicuddy of www.fishingwithdom.com while fishing with his client caught a fine 8lb Salmon on the troll, Dominic also mentioned that it was very cold out there this morning, but it soon warmed up when their reel sang the Wild Atlantic Salmon Way. Wind light and variable, East and veered Southeast come lunchtime, veered again into the Northwest, and veered again into the SW.
4/3/2023 There were six boats out today and all of the Currane angler’s lines were slack. On the weather front, wind light to calm and variable from the East to the SW into the NW and overcast and cold.
5/3/2023 The Currane anglers were all quiet this day and as I say that there was two UK Currane anglers caught their best catch of their lives yesterday and for good reason, Wedding bells were ringing loud as you can see by the picture, Hampshire Hog Angler, Mr. Trevor Dewberry got Married to his beautiful bride Laura yesterday, so on behalf of all the Currane anglers and the good People of Waterville we wish you both all the Happiness in the World.
6/3/2023 Lough Currane anglers were all quiet on all fronts this day. Now we head for the celebration department and for good reason because one Lough Currane angler was celebrating his birthday today, so on behalf of all the Currane anglers we would like to wish the Flyman Mr. Dominic McGillicuddy of www.fishingwithdom.com a very Happy Birthday. Wind NW light followed by reasonable cloud cover.
7/3/2023 All quiet on the SW front as the Currane Boats were all laid up on this freezing cold day and just for the record the temperature at 9.30 this morning was 4c in Waterville, plus there forecasting snow late tonight, early morning. Wind East and variable light and overcast.
8/3/2023 Mr. Dominic McGillicuddy of www.fishingwithdom.com reports that he was the only Currane angler out on Lough Currane today and the only thing he could report was that it was very cold out there which isn’t surprising considering the air temperature didn’t go above 3c and if you take the wind chill into consideration it would feel like -2c Wind East light to fresh and overcast all day.
Eureka Lodge, Caherdaniel West, Co. Kerry.
Telephone: +353 (0) 87 207 4882
E-mail:[email protected]
Web: www.salmonandseatrout.com
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 :-
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
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:
Munster Council Coarse Angling reports on the second round of the Munster Teams League fished at Oaklands…
There was some very good fishing at the deeper end of the lake and it got harder as you went up the lake to the shallow end. The biggest bag went to Pat Barry with a very impressive 51.960kg. Pat’s score wasn’t enough to get Fermoy into the top 3 in what was a very tightly contested match, where home advantage counted for a lot.
The Munster Coarse Angling Council is a provincial council of the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland, NCFFI – the NGB for coarse and predator angling in Ireland. www.ncffi.ie
Rebel SAC fished Ballycrenan Beach last week. Shane Olden reports…
Sunday – funday
Last minute decision to head out for a 3/4 hour session on Ballycrenane beach for 4 of the lads. Mainly out just to break the week before all go back to work and as usual there’s always a few species to add to our species hunt list.
Conditions were tough but not as tough as it would have being on most other beaches. We were sheltered from the bitter easterly wind by the lay of the land to our left thank God. The first casts were made in daylight and Jacob caught a lovely ray early on. And I got a nice shiny bass to get things going. It wasn’t hectic by any means but once we found a way with the conditions we were all starting to pick away at the fish and Jason and Noah soon found form as well. As I said, we weren’t out for long, just until past dusk, but it wasn’t to be snuffed at on a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon.
In the mix on the day were bass, ray, flounder, bullhuss and plenty of dogfish to keep us interested. Baits used were maddie’s, black lug, crab, razor and sandeel, with sandeel doing most of the damage. Not bad for quick burst.
Looking forward to our next scheduled club competition at this venue. Fingers crossed it will be on form on the day as it will be our last comp of the year until June when we fish our smoothound competition as usual.
In the mean time we will keep you posted on any fishing trips as the REBEL’S continue through the summer months on our club species hunt which always throws up something good.
Our lines of contact will always be open throughout the year for new members or anyone looking to get into the sport
CATCH YE ON THE NEXT ONE – UP THE REBELS
Rebels SAC are based in Cork and are are always happy to welcome new members.
Get in touch via their Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/rebelcountyseaanglingclub/
Lough Sheelin March 1st – March 5th 2023
‘Believe you can and you’re halfway there’
Theodore Roosevelt
Lough Sheelin opened its waters to a brand-new fishing season on Wednesday March 1st. Early season fishing is never for the faint hearted and 2023 didn’t disappoint, testing the metal of its anglers with near Baltic conditions hovering around 3°C early morning and seldom rising to double figures. A thin east wind prevailed for those first few days, an unpopular wind direction with the reputation of putting fish down. The water remains cold at just over 6°C, from top to bottom and levels are low compared to last year.
March 1st – meteorological spring didn’t feel much like spring with a dead chill, grey skies and the promise of sudden stratification with a blast from the Arctic promised. Regardless of what the weather throws at us there are always those anglers that are chomping at the bit to get out on the water and really nothing will stop them.
The first day saw sixteen boats out on the lake and there was some good fishing to be had for some. Thomas Doherty from Kells landed four trout, heaviest at 3lbs using a Humungus and Peter Ross Dabbler set up and there were several other nice trout recorded. It all seemed to be taking off and the stir of excitement among the Sheelin angling fraternity was palpable. However, Sheelin is Sheelin and as the days passed the bubble burst somewhat and angling catches became more sporadic. Fishing on Lough Sheelin follows an all too familiar pattern where soon the words ‘hard’, ‘difficult’ and ‘punishing’ start to sneak into the vocabulary. Evo Smyth caught a lovely trout around mid-day on the first day, but this was after four hours of hard slog and so Sheelin starts as it means to go on, taking no prisoners and making its anglers work hard for their piscatorial gold.
It is said that trout fishing can be simple if you get a handle on what the fish are eating, once you have that, then you are supposedly halfway there to catch a spotted quarry.
The favoured areas were the shallows. Freshwater shrimp and hog louse are the main invertebrates for March and shrimp in particular are found amongst the rocks and stones in shallow water. Hog louse like the shallows too but they can also be found in slightly deeper areas alongside rock features and reed beds. Other bottom-feeding organisms such as chironomid larvae, snails and caddis will also be on the menu. The bigger trout, of course, will be on a mission to regain condition after the rigours of spawning so more than likely will be after fry – a big meal with little effort. Catches of trout reflected this in that it was the lures that worked best rather than the traditional wet fly set ups. Humungus and Minkies featured heavily and scored the highest successes for this first week into the season. The best was to fish only one fly with the length of the leader at a maximum of two meters. The other most successful patterns were without a doubt the Dabblers in Claret, Olive, Fiery Brown, Golden Olive, Peter Ross or Silver.
The best areas for fishing were Merry pt., Gaffney’s Bay, Inchacup, Derrysheridan and from Chambers Bay up to Crover.
Insect life is almost non existent although there were some buzzer hatches outside Orangefield but nothing substantial enough to tempt the trout upwards.
On Sunday, March 5th, The Lithuanian Fishing Club in Ireland – ‘GoandCatch’ held their first competition of the year on Sheelin. This competition attracted forty anglers from all over Ireland and despite cold conditions forty eight trout over 48cm were caught and released.
Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 949 which strictly prohibits from June 14th, 2017 onwards:
Lough Sheelin Guiding Services (www.loughsheelinguidingservices.com) 087 1245927
Christopher Defillon
[email protected] (+33685964369) evasionpecheirlande.net
https://m.facebook.com/christopher.defillon?refid=0&fref=seaperch#
Michael Farrell @ 087 4194156Telephone: +353 43 6681298 Email: [email protected]
Grey Duster Guiding
Kenneth O’Keeffe
Tel: 086 8984172 Email: [email protected]
John Mulvany [email protected] 086 2490076
Please remember All anglers are required to have a Fishery Permit to fish Lough Sheelin which must be purchased BEFORE going out on the lake.
Competitions
The Kilroy Cup will be fished on Friday, March 17th from Kilnahard pier from 11am to 5.00pm. Prizes will be for the heaviest fish and entry is €30. This competition has been set at a 16 inch size limit with a 2 fish bag limit. There will be no permits available for sale on the pier on the morning so please buy your permit online beforehand or from the IFI office at Kilnahard on the morning. Contact Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033
Recorded catches : 78
Heaviest trout was caught (and released) by Svjatoslavs Gucevics weighing in at almost 6lbs and 60cm in length
Selection of catches
Thomas Doherty, Kells – 4 trout, heaviest at 3lbs caught on a humungous and Peter Ross Dabbler. March 1st.
Craig Newsome, Wicklow – 2 trout, heaviest at 3lbs on lures.
Lionginas Kscenavicius, Dublin – March 4th, on lures, 1 trout at 2.5lbs.
Andris Donoskevics, Cavan – 1 trout at 48cm on lures.
Andrius Bikelus with fishing friend Audrius – March 5th, 6 trout with a total length of 274 cm.
Arnoldas and Kamil – 5 trout with a total length of 230cm on lures.
Philip Thornton reports from the River Moy…
MOY CATCHMENT ANGLING REPORT
Week ending 05/03/2023
February 1st saw many anglers awake from winter hibernation to below average water conditions. The opening day saw levels of 0.7m which gave slight encouragement. Few anglers ventured out in search of the first salmon of the season due to weather conditions which saw the first month pass without the news we had all been waiting for. March sprung and on the 3rd of the month with water levels at 0.5m the first River Moy salmon was caught by Ballina native Nigel Lackey on the Ballina Salmon Anglers waters. The fish was caught on the worm and was landed on “The Flag” just upstream of the Ballina Salmon Weir. Ballina Salmon Anglers also reported two fish lost.
There were no other reports of salmon caught from any of the other fisheries on the Moy.
Boat Hire
Salmon and Sea-Trout fishing Guide
