Home Blog Page 371

Opening Day on the Galway Fishery

By
IFI Staff
-
The magnificent fish now on display.

High water meant there was very little angling done on the Galway Fishery on opening day, but anglers and friends from near and far gathered to mark the start of the 2023 season.

The absence of old friends who have passed away recently was marked, in particular former fishery manager Ned Cusack, who passed away last year at 103 years old. Ned was still catching salmon at the fishery the summer before he passed!

Ned Cusack as we like to remember him. Aged 102 with two fresh salmon, accompanied by his son Eamon.

Giant Salmon On Display

This year saw two new arrivals at the Galway Fishery. Eminent (and recently retired) fishery scientist and former fishery manager Dr. Paddy Gargan presented a cast of a 69lbs salmon that was taken in a draft net on the fishery in 1866. This fish was featured in Fred Buller’s book “The Domesday Book of Giant Salmon” and an original cast of the fish is also on display in University College Galway. The actual fish was sent to Billingsgate Market in London, where it fetched a price of £12 3s, a huge amount in those days. The cast is incredibly detailed, and can only be appreciated by viewing it in person – it truly is magnificent!

Dr. Paddy Gargan with the salmon cast he presented to the Galway Fishery.
The magnificent fish now on display.

Fly Collection

The Ballyshannon Collection is now also on permanent  display at the Galway Fishery angling lodge. This collection of 15 renowned flytyers version of the Ballyshannon Fly was commissioned by well-known author and flytyer EJ (Ted) Malone (RIP) and will be of great interest to flytying aficionados, particularly fully dressed salmon flies.

The Ballyshannon Collection

 

Refreshments and food were very welcome on the day, and I’m sure some of the participants adjourned to a nearby hostelry to continue the deliberations and look forward to the season ahead!

First Salmon Of 2023 Caught On The Blackwater

By
IFI Staff
-
Ray O'Dwyer with the first salmon of 2023
Ray O'Dwyer with the first salmon of 2023

The River Blackwater only opened for salmon fishing this morning, and already the first salmon of the year has been caught. Mr. Ray O’Dwyer from Lismore, Co. Waterford was fishing Careysville Fishery near Fermoy, with the river running slightly below normal level for the time of year, when he hooked a fish just after noon. The fish took a tube fly, and was fresh in from the sea, with sea lice still attached. Weighing 6.25lbs, this is the first salmon (that we know of) in Ireland this year.

Well done to Ray on landing the first salmon. Hopefully this is a sign of a good season to come on the Blackwater, and around the country!

Go Fishing

This large and broad river has a lot of fine salmon fishing spread among many private and club fisheries. They are all easily accessible and most welcome visiting anglers. Spring run improving in recent years. The best grilse fishing is towards the end of the season. For more information see:

Cork Blackwater

Guided fishing, clubs, private fisheries etc

Blackwater Salmon Fishery

Blackwater Salmon Fishery has 3 beats downstream of the weir and 2 upstream of the weir. Blackwater Salmon Fishery offers fishing on approximately 5 miles of the river Blackwater. The fishing is spread throughout the middle section of the river to offer good sport throughout the fishing season. Due to the location of the beats, fishing can still usually be offered in low or high water.
Contact Glenda Powell: Lismore, Co Waterford,
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +353 (0) 872351260 Telephone: +353 (0) 5853929
Web: www.blackwatersalmonfishery.com

Fortwilliam Fishery & Self-Catering Cottages

Fortwilliam Fishery offers two miles of double bank salmon and trout fishing over five beats on the river Blackwater.
Our salmon include – Springers, May Salmon, Grilse, Back End Salmon, and in Summer sea trout.
Our beats provide a wide variety of water, suitable for both beginners and the more experienced fishermen.
Fortwilliam Fishery, Glencairn, Lismore, Co. Waterford, Ireland
Web: www.fortwilliamfishing.ie Email: [email protected]
Tel: (00353) 87 8292077 or 058 75299

Blackwater Salmon and Trout Fishery

Blackwater Salmon and Trout Fishery control a number of beats of the Munster Blackwater. The Ballyduff Bridge beat is almost a mile long offering a huge variety of water and is particularly suited to fly fishing. Upstream near the village of Ballyhooley (a few miles outside the town of Fermoy, Cork) we have two beats. The Ballincurrig Beat is one of the most beautiful locations along the river and has an excellent piece of fly water flowing into a deep pool. Just downstream on the opposite bank we have a short but productive beat, called Magners. This beat fishes also well in high water.

Contact  Jason Corcoran:
Ballyduff, Co. Waterford.

Tel: +353 (0)586 0146
Mobile: +353 (0)87 720 5690
Web: www.blackwatertroutandsalmon.ie

Careysville Fishery

Careysville Fishery offers some of the best salmon fly fishing in Ireland and includes 26 named pools. It is considered by many to be one of premier beats for salmon fishing in Ireland. Wading is excellent and among the numerous streams, pools and glides there is a great variety of fly fishing to suit both complete novice and challenge the most competent of fly casters.

Careysville, Clondulane, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland
Email:  [email protected] Mobile: +353 (0)86 2378788
Web: http://careysville.com/careysville-fishery/

Lismore Castle Fishery

At Lismore Castle & Golf Course Fishery, we offer nearly two miles of two inter-linked beats, the Castle Beat & the Golf Course Beat.

The legendary Castle Beat consistently ranks as one of the top Salmon beats on the River Blackwater, for the number of Atlantic Salmon caught per rod. The Golf Course Beat offers about 1.5 miles of fishable water through meandering majestic countryside. The Golf Course beat offers a number of bewildering pools suitable for unmatched spinning and bait fishing.

For bookings contact Joe Willoughby on Mobile no. 00353 87 8295449 or Email: [email protected]

Website: www.lismorecastlefishery.com

Blackwater Salmon Anglers, Mallow

We provide Day Tickets for some prime Salmon fishing in Mallow Co. Cork. We have excellent fly water, shrimping worming and spinning also. We also have very competitive Day rates and we have very recently upgraded our fishing.

Tickets available from “The Bridge House” and “Vincent Downes Menswear” Mallow.

Facebook: Blackwater Salmon Anglers

Upper Bridgetown Salmon Fishery

Located on the Munster Blackwater in the south of Ireland. Situated mid river between the towns of Fermoy and Mallow. A productive left bank beat in stunning surroundings.

For bookings contact Conor Arnold: +353 87 755 4682

Facebook: Upper Bridgetown Salmon Fishery

Loungueville House Salmon Fishery

For details on availability and conditions of fishing for salmon and trout on the Longueville House waters please contact them at
Contact : Longueville House Hotel, William O’Callaghan
Address : Mallow, Co. Cork.
Telephone : 00 353 22 47156
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.longuevillehouse.ie

No fear! First offshore run of 2023 for Skua

By
IFI Staff
-

Jim Clohessy of topfisher.eu couldn’t let the first month of 2023 pass without a trip offshore aboard Skua to stretch his fishing legs and blow away the slow-season cobwebs.

Jim had had a couple of goes inshore already in January, but with calm conditions and a 10°C reading on the thermometer, it was time to test the throttle and venture further afield in search of pollack and codling. There is always the ‘fear’ that something won’t work on a boat after the winter break and the only way to make sure that things are functioning is to put them to the test; thankfully, Skua got a clean bill of health.

In terms of the fishing – a fairly slow start gave way to a steady flow of pollack, big wrasse and even a few codling for Jim and crew – all taken on soft plastic lures and 60g jig heads. They had to work to find the fish, with only bits and pieces showing up on the sounder, but work they did and it paid off in the end.

All told, a January day well spent and great to get into some fish so early in the year!

 

Irish Angling Update – 27 January 2023

By
IFI Staff
-

As we reach the last week of January, the relatively dry spell has continued, giving waters a chance to recede and hopefully opening up more fishing opportunities for anglers. Most areas of the country recorded less than 10mm of rainfall, well below average for the time of year. We have also had some nice bright days with little wind, a welcome break after some very blowy months. And all this seems to have spurred anglers on, as we are starting to see more reports filter in, and some good fish being caught.

So, we begin with pike angling, and the Limerick County Pike Anglers were back on the banks last week for their first competition of 2023. The are a very active club, holding regular competitions and welcoming anglers from beyond the county to their events. And it was one of those travelling anglers that performed a smash and grab, as Kevin Flanagan caught a 15lb + pike followed a little later by a whopping 25lb + pike to make it two pike for over 40 pounds. Needless to say, he walked away with the competition and set a high bar for his fellow club members to aim at for the rest of the year. Kevin wins this week’s Catch of the Week for his exploits.

A new PB of 25lb + and a great start to the year!

In other pike angling news, Carafin Lodge welcomed their first angling group of the new year last week. The weather was against them for their week, with hard frosts and high water levels making fishing tricky, but the lads knuckled down to it and landed plenty of pike, with a couple of decent trout thrown in too, all on deadbait. To the midlands next, and Mick ‘the fish’ Flanagan was testing his home waters around Mullingar during the week. He opted for a bit of drop shotting, which attracted plenty of perch, along with a well-stuffed pike. To round up our pike angling news, the Romanian Catch & Release Angling Club are another active club with plenty of events throughout the year across various angling disciplines. They are putting the word out there to invite new club members for the year, all nationalities welcome!

To sea angling now, and the ever-active Killybegs Mariners were out for a few sessions during the week. They had one competition for the longest flattie, but found the flatties hard to find until the evening was drawing to a close. Some of them also tried a few shore marks during the week, landing a nice mix of fish, including a fine double-figure conger.

Double figure conger for Killybegs Mariner

Angling guide Richie Ryan was out chasing some early season mullet this week, and managed to bag one on the fly. These notoriously shy fish are hard to tempt at the best of times, so to get one on the fly this early in the season is a real feat. And, in a strange coincidence, he realised that the first mullet reported for 2022 was caught on the same date, Jan 22nd. Is it a coincidence or is there an interesting trend there…? The Irish Federation of Sea Anglers are holding a couple of shore angling sessions for anglers between the ages of 16 and 21 who want to brush up on their skills. There’s always loads more to learn about fishing, and it helps to get shown the ropes from expert anglers, so any young angler looking to up their skills should apply.

On the salmon front, a few hardy anglers are venturing out on Lough Currane in search of the first salmon of the season. There have been some kelts and brown trout landed, but that first bar of silver remains elusive… Elsewhere, the draw has taken place for the first round of brown tags for the River Lee. Anglers who participated can check to see if they have the winning numbers here.

To trout fishing now, and while we have no reports to share, we do have a couple of social media titbits that might interest you. The Ireland on the Fly team have been busy again, this week chatting with one of Ireland’s top fly tiers, Ryan Houston and questioning whether the art of fly tying improves your angling. In another post, Jackie Mahon looks forward to the 2023 season and decides that April is the month to get the best fishing on Lough Arrow.

This was one of a couple of nice trout landed by anglers fishing for pike at Carafin Lodge

We wrap upthis week’s angling reports with a single coarse angling report, where Munster Coarse Anglers revisited O’Briensbridge, which resembled a battlefield the last time they were at the venue. Luckily order had been restored and the banks were back to normal. Fishing was patchy, but some anglers managed a bit of consistency, and 11lb was the top weight. Staying in Co. Clare, Tulla and District Coarse Angling Club are holding their AGM in the Court House, Tulla tonight at 7.30 and new members are welcome.

Obriensbridge
A decent haul from O’Briensbridge

In other news, the Irish Specimen Fish Committee have announced that their awards ceremony will be held on 11th March at the Clayton Hotel Leopardstown. Please note the change of venue to Leopardstown and not the Clayton Airport, where the event was held in recent years. Finally, it’s been great to see and report on the return of bluefin tuna to Irish waters in recent years. It’s really been a rare good news story, and that story is well told by Dr. William Roche, in the latest episode of Tommy’s Outdoors podcast.

And now the weather…

Friday will have some bright sunny spells, particularly across the east and southeast, but some outbreaks of rain will spread from the northwest overnight, and it will be a chilly night, with temperatures between 0 and 5 degrees. Saturday will see bright spells in the west, but it will be duller in the east as cloud and mist linger. It will remain cold on Saturday night, and some rain will affect Connacht and Ulster on Sunday, with the rest of the country mostly dry. This mix of sunny spells mingled with light rain in places will extend into Monday before more blustery conditions arrive on Tuesday.

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

Pike Fishing Reports

Sea Angling Reports

Salmon Fishing Reports

Trout Fishing Reports

Coarse Angling Reports

    Other News

    Early mullet for Richie and on a fly to boot

    By
    IFI Staff
    -

    The Eire Bass guide Richie Ryan has again been successful in his early year goal of catching mullet on the fly. this is the first reported mullet here this year.

    mullet

    Richie tells us he informed his fellow guide David Norman of West Cork Bass fame about his good fortune. David replied by text “Great! I have in my Calendar that the first Mullet of 2022 arrived on today’s date, so they are punctual!”

    Is this a coincidence or is there something more complex here?

    Go fishing

    If you want to book Richie for a days fishing use the details below.

    Eire Bass

    Address Cobh Cork Ireland Mobile Phone: +353 86 1940744 Website: corkbass.com
    More information
    Find on Map | Return to top.

    Sea angling from Clonakilty to Glandore Harbour

    Did you apply for a River Lee brown tag? Draw results here

    By
    Myles Kelly
    -
    kingsley weir

    On Friday 27 January 2023, a draw took place to allocate an initial 45 Brown Tags for the taking of salmon on the Lower Lee. The requirement to hold a brown tag is set out in Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (Amendment) Regulations, recently signed into law by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, T.D.

    A total of 218 valid entries were received from salmon rod licence holders. Each was assigned a number in advance of the draw.

    55 numbers were randomly generated. The first 45 successful entrants will be issued a brown tag today. The final 10 numbers are reserved in case an angler declines or returns the tag allocated to them.

    The draw was observed by Sean Long (RBD Director), John Twomey (Fisheries Inspector),  Chris Scanlan (Fisheries Officer) and Myles Kelly (Angling Advisor).

    The numbers selected are:

    • a142
    • a208
    • a183
    • a146
    • a132
    • a199
    • a268
    • a161
    • a145
    • a241
    • a152
    • a153
    • a118
    • a293
    • a136
    • a157
    • a230
    • a123
    • a296
    • a105
    • a114
    • a256
    • a259
    • a277
    • a156
    • a109
    • a228
    • a158
    • a272
    • a200
    • a129
    • a267
    • a168
    • a117
    • a271
    • a180
    • a229
    • a255
    • a159
    • a216
    • a309
    • a253
    • a257
    • a224
    • a165

    The 10 reserve numbers are:

    • a195
    • a133
    • a243
    • a150
    • a151
    • a214
    • a275
    • a206
    • a108
    • a198

    The Brown Tags will be issued by post no later than Monday.  All anglers are asked to acknowledge receipt of their Brown Tag by email including the tag number to  [email protected]

    If you entered the lottery before the close date and did not receive a number or acknowledgement, please check your spam folder in the first instance.

    Double figure congers for Killybegs Mariners

    By
    IFI
    -
    Double figure conger for Killybegs Mariner

    Killybegs Mariners SAC enjoyed some great fishing during the past week. Read their report below…

    Snow capped hills but that didn’t stop Gavin and Cormac getting out and finding some good fish on the shore marks. Double figure congers, whiting, codling, rocklings, dabs, and poor cods.

    Earlier in the week, Mariners enjoyed a fun evening for the longest flattie competition. Surely it was a night of counting coleys hopping off the baits. With just a few flatties landed it was a late arrival to the beach for the last hour or so that found the longest so well done to Pat Byrne with a 32cm fish for 1st place and Cormac Duddy taking the 2nd place with a 24cm flounder.

    Please fish in a sustainable manner

    Calling Young Shore Competition Anglers

    By
    Kevin Crowley
    -

    The Irish Federation of Sea Anglers are holding two shore angling sessions for young (under 16 and under 21) anglers who wish to progress in their shore angling, and possibly represent Ireland on the international stage.

    This is part of the IFSA CAST programme, which aims to take novice anglers to accomplished sea anglers, and to reach the highest level they can if they choose competition fishing. Here’s a video from a couple of years ago which explains the CAST programme better.

    These are also qualifying competitions for the Irish teams (u16 and u21) which will travel to the World Championships in Holland later this year. There are two sessions, one in Leinster on the 25th of February, and one in Munster on the 25th of March.

    Check out the IFSA Facebook page here to register your interest in taking part, or contact the head coaches involved: Brian Cooke [email protected] and John Marshall [email protected]

    Best of luck to all the young anglers taking part, even if you don’t make the team we’re sure you will learn a huge amount to take back to club and provincial competitions.

    25+ pike smashes PB and sets a high bar for Limerick County Pike Anglers to aim for

    By
    IFI Staff
    -
    A new PB of 25lb + and a great start to the year!

    The Limerick County Pike Anglers held their first competition of the new year at the weekend, and it was a great start to the season, with a fish that will be hard to better coming to the net for one lucky angler. The pike were biting from early on, with one angler connecting with a fish on his first cast, only for it to come off a couple of minutes later. Not long after, Kevin Flanagan had another good tussle with a fish that he managed to bring ashore, this one tipping the scales at 15lb + and putting him in pole position on the day. But he was only getting warmed up… and a while later, a shout went out that a real beast had been hooked. And a beast it truly was, as Kevin brought a fine fish to the net that turned the scales at 25lb 12oz. So, two fish for 40lb+ easily put Kevin top of the pile on the day, and set a high bar for others to try and better for the rest of the year.

    Netsman at the ready
    A double for Sam Brown

    Ireland on the Fly podcast speaks to Ryan Houston

    By
    IFI Staff
    -
    Ryan Houston
    Fly tying v Fly fishing

    Ryan Houston on his fly tying & fly fishing career

    While the salmon season has officially begun, we’re still in the thick of it so to speak with the long nights still hanging over us and many of you are getting busy at the vice in anticipation of your own local waters opening in the coming weeks.

    Does fly tying make you a better fly angler?

    So for this week’s episode of Ireland on the Fly, Tom and Daire catch up with former international angler and renowned fly tyer, Ryan Houston, to find out about his fly fishing career, his fly tying obsession and also to get some fly tying secrets from one of the best on the island.

    Rate, review and follow the show to keep up to date with all the latest Ireland on the Fly episodes on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

    Plus you can sign up for the Ireland on the Fly newsletter on IrelandontheFly.com and get regular updates on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.

    Ryan Houston
    Fly tying v Fly fishing
    1...370371372...1,912Page 371 of 1,912
    Fishing in Ireland

    EVEN MORE NEWS

    POPULAR CATEGORY

    © Inland Fisheries Ireland