The Erne Anglers wrapped up their winter league last weekend as 32 anglers turned out for the final match. The river was running high and coloured but that wasn’t anything the anglers weren’t used to after battling it out in all sorts of conditions over the previous nine matches of the league. Paul Smith caught some nice bream to put himself at the top of the table on the day with a catch of just over 9kg.
But it was Mick Mahoney who was celebrating the league win, finishing up with 47 points. The top 18 in the league placings will be fishing the Winter League final next week, so let’s hope they get some good fishing.
Lough Sheelin angling report March 13th – March 26th 2023
‘I think, therefore I am’
Rene Descartes
The shimmer of Sheelin gold
Right now, it feels as if Spring and Winter are in a custody battle. The weather over these past two weeks has been full of meteorological contradictions as temperatures fluctuated madly between a minus 4 to a high of 16 degrees. Met Eireann have recorded 179.7 ml of rainfall for this month, over four times higher than for March 2022 (39ml). Heavy rain has caused lake levels inevitably to rise, making that washed out hemline look along our shoreline, which was in evidence for the first week, to disappear in a flood of reeds and foam. The term El Nino (Spanish for ‘the Christ Child’) was bandied about, basically this term refers to a warming of the ocean surface or above-average sea surface temperatures. The use of this term was due to the unseasonably high temperatures and would be associated with global warming.
Water temperatures have risen slightly to 8 degrees which is good news for trout movement as 7 is deemed to be that magic number to incentivise trout to move upwards.
Wicklow angler, Craig Newsome with some Sheelin magic
Lough Sheelin has been busy, with seldom a day blanking for boats. The lures – Humungous, Minkies and Snakes are still achieving the best results. Trout don’t seem to be stuck to the bottom regions as much, and anglers have reported some surface ‘tossing’ on the warmer days. Heat at mid-day and early afternoon produced small hatches of duckfly, twirling like little spinning tops above the surface. These welcome little chironomids are still not in big numbers and are mainly confined to the sheltered areas and shorelines. Old favourites like the Bumbles, Dabblers, Sooty Olives, Black Pennells and Wickhams Fancy are starting to reappear on lines.
The local angling club – The LSTPA hosted their first competition of the new season – the Kilroy cup on March 17th. Despite heavy rainfall, a great day was had by all. Forty-five anglers fished with an impressive nineteen fish landed, fourteen of which were over 3lbs. The winner was Sligo native – Trevor Goulden with a lovely trout of over 8lbs caught on a Colga Bumble, a fly which was originally invented for Lough Mask. Northern Ireland angler, Cathal Rush had an impressive day with a bag of two trout at over 4lbs each.
The weekends here were the busiest, with the past few weeks attracting over forty boats per day. Winds were predominantly southerly, with a few days where north easterlies crept in. Mostly the wind strengths were manageable, with gusty and strong glueing the anglers into the coves and sheltered areas. If the wind behaves itself, the best areas for results were Chambers Bay, Kilnahard and down along Merry Point, Walkers Bay and across to Stony Island. The shallows were the best place to fish. Shallow water warms the quickest and this is where the greatest abundance of trout food is – shrimp and hog louse. Some anglers reported catches carrying passengers of leeches which would indicate again that the predominance of fish are still flush with the lake bed. Trout are still after the big meal as small silver lures, imitating bait fish, were achieving the biggest successes.
Slab of gold
It would be remiss of me not to mention the death of Sheelin fishing legend John Murphy which occurred on March 12th. John lived most of his life on the shores of Lough Sheelin, down at Crover. There really wasn’t anything that he didn’t know about the ebb and flow of fishing and flies on this lake, and his passion and love of this place was inspiring. He used to dive in his younger days, with a trophy steering wheel retrieved from a ship wreck from one of his diving expeditions, displayed in his sitting room. He told me that women made better divers and then promptly burst my bubble by following on to say that this was because they have an extra layer of fat… He taught me how to fish, we walked our dogs together around the lake, and he will be forever associated with the early season Sooty Olive as this was the only one he managed to teach me how to tie. Requiesce in pace John.
Whether the weather
The quote at the beginning of this report by french philosopher Rene Descartes is a phrase seen as the first step towards attainment of knowledge, and there is no better place than Sheelin to test and increase our knowledge.
We are heading towards April – warmer days, lengthening daylight and increasing chironomid activity. The available food density is building up and the trout are switching from bottom feeding to the much easier, and freely available zone feeding on pupae. There’s a lot to look forward to.
Mick McShane big flies for big fish size 6 Humungous variants for Sheelin
Kevin Coyne with his early catchTelling the tail
Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 949 which strictly prohibits from June 14th, 2017 onwards:
The taking of any brown trout of less than 36 centimeters.
For a person to fish with more than 2 rods at any one time.
To fish with more than 4 rods at any one time when there is more than one person on board the boat concerned.
For a person to take more than 2 trout per day.
All trolling on the lake from March 1st to June 16th (inclusive).
To fish or to attempt to take or to fish for, fish of any kind other than during the period from March 1st to October 12th in any year.
Luring the trout
1 of 18
Wullie Munn Epoxy Buzzer
Hedgehog
Crossing swords - Wullie Munn, buzzer patterns
Wullie Munn Shipman flavoured pattern
Wullie Munn - scruffy pattern
Mick McShane
Change from lures - Mick McShane
Wullie Munn for early season
Trout treats - Mick McShane
Half circle - Mick McShane
Trout temptation - Mick McShane
McShane flies
Wullie Munn- Owl Snatchers
Mick McShane's alternative to lures
Mick McShane - trout flies
Craig Barr's Damsel snatcher
Black Woolly Bugger by James Stripes
Wullie Munn buzzer style
Sitting pretty
Trevor Goulden with his winning trout of over 8lbs
The Ballinakill Angling Club brought their Winter League to a conclusion at the weekend. After seven matches where anglers endured everything the winter weather could throw at them, it was a dead heat at the top of the table, with Gary Leech and Fint Brennan both finishing on 9 points. So the title went down to total weight, and Gary Leech came out on top with a total weight of 54lb 2oz.
We posted previously about winter maintenance for charter skippers, and featured John Fleming who had his boat up on the hard for the last couple of months doing an extensive refit. The Brazen Hussy II is now back in the water and she looks a million dollars!
You could eat your dinner off that!
The Hussy sparkling in the sun as she is lifted back in.
The Brazen Hussy II is now back in her home waters in Galway Bay and ready for business. If you’re looking for a great charter trip with a knowledgeable skipper, look no further!
Leaca Rua
Another Galway boat in for a refit, and now under new ownership, is the Leaca Rua. This traditional wooden-built boat has had a new deck and caulking, new injectors and a lick of paint to have her looking good as new and performing better than ever. New skipper Julian Dusso is looking forward to the season ahead fishing the productive waters of Galway Bay.
The Leaca Rua
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
Visiting anglers from distant shores got to grips with some early-season trout fishing on the lakes of the Boyne Valley region.
Jaden and his wife Regina, recently arrived from Singapore, had never fished in Ireland before and were keen to learn how to catch our native species. They teamed up with Chris Barry of GoFishing Ireland.
Despite difficult high water conditions, Jaden hooked and landed a lovely 48cm brown trout. Regina also caught some nice fish too. They’re now hooked on fishing in Ireland and looking forward to trying some salmon fishing.
Arriving from the other side of the globe, Kyle and Susan from Florida, USA bore the brunt of some inhospitable March weather, but Kyle still managed to catch his first-ever Irish brown trout. He landed a few nice pike as well on the same trip, which more than made up for the drenching!
March can be tough going on an Irish lough but when that elusive first trout finally comes along, the clouds are quickly forgotten.
Contact Chris in Co. Meath for Fly fishing lessons, angling tuition and boat fishing trips in Ireland’s east. “Our mission is to get you fishing successfully and confidently. Learn all the essential skills and the watercraft needed to catch big fish regularly”.
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
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
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
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.
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 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:
Notes: Located at Lakelands House Bed and Breakfast and Self Catering Accommodation, on Ireland’s best sea trout lake, Lough Currane. Frank is a professional angling guide and boatman.
Sea angling can be arranged with local operators.
Boat Hire
Boats for hire. All boats and engines are moored on the farm, 300 metres from the house, with easy access from the road with car park and boat shed.
Notes: Having ghillied on Lough Currane for over 30 years Vincent is a great choice for those looking for a guided service or flyfishing instruction on the Lake. All ages are catered for and even experienced anglers will benefit from the watercraft and fly-lore unique to Lough Currane. All tackle is provided and accommodation can be organised if required.
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.
Colin Harty receiving his first prize from Brian Reidy
Mila Harty, winner of the Junior section
Danny Harty was 2nd in the juniors
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
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.
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 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
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
10-year-old Christopher Flanagan, well kitted out for St. Patricks Day, catches his first Irish fish
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.
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.
Boat Hire
Salmon and Sea-Trout fishing Guide
