Ian Turner with a beautifui Corrib ferox caught on opening day of the 2023 season
For many fishermen, today marks the end of winter, and the first day of spring. It is Opening Day on the big western loughs, and anglers are emerging from hibernation, blinking in the light of a new season, and hoping this will be a memorable one!
It is already memorable for one angler, Ian Turner, who was out with his friend, fishing guide Jasper Mathews of Wild Atlantic Angling Experiences. Trolling plugs, Ian hooked and boated a fine 9,8lbs ferox trout, a beautiful Corrib fish. The fish was quickly photographed before being returned to the water. Well done Ian and Jasper!
Ian Turner with a beautifui Corrib ferox caught on opening day of the 2023 season
The lads are back out on the lake again after the traditional island lunch, and I’m sure have been joined by many more. We hope to bring you more reports from the lough as we get them, and will be delighted to hear from you if you were out.
Speaking of lunch on the island, the Cornamona Anglers did it in style, check out the pics below. (Warning: Don’t scroll down if you’re hungry!)
Tom Doc on the grill
Mouthwatering…
Mmm!
It’s not all about the fishing! A shared meal and good craic makes opening day memories too.
Go Fishing
Jasper runs Wild Atlantic Angling Experiences, providing bespoke guided fishing for salmon, trout or saltwater species. To book a guiding trip with Jasper you can give him a call on 087 6031975, or check out the new website: wildatlanticangling.com
Last Sunday, South Shore SAC headed to the north beach in Wicklow for the second round of their master anglers series. Weather was good, with a southerly wind that made conditions nice, well, for all bar those anglers in the downwind vicinity of Wicklow sewage works…
In fact, it turned out that conditions were ‘too good’ for the time of year, as the quiet seas meant that the whiting were bite shy, and big numbers were not going to feature. Many anglers struggled to catch anything of countable size, but Des Farrelly, fishing in Zone A, managed to winkle them out when many others fell short, and he landed 12 to come top of the rankings on the day.
Small whiting were the order of the day
Ian Daly, fishing in Zone B, also managed to outfish those around him, landing 8 fish to win his zone, while Evan Mason won the junior section with 4 fish. Full report on the South Shore SAC Facebook page.
Castleconnell is one of the famous old salmon fisheries in Ireland, but last week it was opened up for the Limerick County Pike Anglers to hold the second leg of their league. Anglers were eager to make the most of this rare opportunity, with many arriving well before first cast to find the water levels to be perfect and the weather to be just right.
It took half an hour for the first shout to go around that anglers were starting to catch and catches remained consistent for the rest of the day. There were no big bruisers landed, but plenty of smaller pike kept the anglers interested and, in the end, Tommy Coffee topped the table with a bag of 23lb 14oz.
LCPAA are a very active club and have decided to open their doors to new members for 2023, with both adults and juniors welcome. Anyone interested should get in touch via their Facebook page.
The Munster Fly Fishing Fair is a fly fishing & fly tying event being held at Clonanav Fly Fishing in Co Waterford on the 15 & 16 of April. There will be lots to see including fly fishing and fly tying demonstrations from World renowned anglers and fly tyers.
Casting demos from some of the World’s leading experts! Come an see casters like Jan Erik Granbo, Paul Procter, Steve Peterson, Jim Curry and many more! This is a great FREE event.
Come and meet some of the top industry experts from top brands including SIMMS, HARDY, GUIDELINE, SAGE, PATRIDGE and many more!
World class fly tyers from the UK & Ireland will be tying at the weekend. See the latest trout, salmon and saltwater patterns being tied by experts.
This is a free event, but it will be ticketed as space is limited – so make sure to book in if you’re going to go.
We’ve been told that there’s more to be announced in the coming weeks so keep an eye out for updates on what’s sure to be a great weekend.
Cork Sea Angling Club had their first competition of the year at the weekend. We also started our Club species hunt tonight and had over 12 different species caught which was brilliant. The event was fished in Cobh and 16 Anglers turned out for a fantastic evening. Weather was perfect, not too cold and the walkway was quite busy with walkers.
The competition was fished from 16:00 to 21:00 on an incoming tide. It was a tough night, not many fish biting but over all with the species hunts it was great fun with over 55 fish caught.
Over all winner was Eric Gosnell with 3 fish, 2 whiting and 1 dog. 2nd was Kevin Mcg with 3 whiting. 3rd Colin O’Sullivan with two whiting. 4th Chris O Connell with 1 whiting. 5th Alan O’Dowling, 1 whiting and 6th was Darren Keane with 1 whiting.
In the species hunt we had Donal Domney, Alan O’Dowling and Pawel Kurowski both ending the night on 5 species.
1 of 5
Cobh
We also welcomed a few of our new members to our club, Anthony Ozzie Austin, George O’Hara, Darren Keane and also Jason Santry. Hope to see you at the next competition Jason.
Looking forward to the next competition on the 25th of February in Garyvoe Beach.
Go fishing…
Join the Club
Find out more about Cork Sea Angling Club and their upcoming events at Cork Sea Angling Club
Cork Sea Angling Club are now taking new members to join their great club for 2023. If you’re interested please contact Kevin McGowan on 0852493550
David Norman of Angling Adventures West Cork managed to get out during a break in the weather for a very productive Mullet Fly session, which produced five hard fighting West Cork Mullet the largest of which was estimated at 6lb+ and took his bread fly presented on a 5wt setup.
David has been lure then fly fishing since the mid noughties with some of the best guides and anglers in Ireland and abroad.
Kayak fishing by lure & fly now takes him and his guiding guests beyond the shore to target Pollock, Bass or Wrasse with the chance of other species such as Codling, Coalfish, Mackerel or Garfish.
Shore fishing at night is also a very special experience.
So much of our fishing depends on the weather and, weather-wise, it has been a fairly quiet picture of late. January was mild, with temperatures and sunshine totals above their long term averages for the month. For the first week in February it was much drier than usual, with mean air and soil temperatures 2°C or 3°C higher than normal around the country. The coming seven days will continue in much the same vein, with rainfall amounts expected to be well below normal, air temperatures to be 2°C or 3°C higher than normal and soil temperatures on the rise.
With next week’s opening of the season for lough trout fishing, will the mild weather bring fish into the shallows on the feed, or early hatches of fly? Goodness knows, but what we do know is that if you are planning to head out next week after a trout but are unsure of the best tactics to tempt those early season fish, this week’s Ireland on the Fly podcast is a must listen. On the show this week is well known trout catcher Mike Keady and he will be discussing early season tactics for Corrib trout and the duckfly hatch that really kicks off the surface action.
While we await the opening of the trout fishing, the salmon fishing is well underway and while Lough Currane hasn’t given up any more of her precious spring salmon to the anglers in south Kerry, the anglers in south Donegal (or north Leitrim) did manage to break the duck on the Drowes. It was there that Ronnie McMorris scooped the Drowes Perpetual Cup for the first salmon of the 2023 season and also the Thomas Gallagher Conservation Cup for returning his fish to the water unharmed. Ronnie wins our fish of the week this week for his catch (and release). With the 2022 salmon season a distant memory, Andrew McGall brought some of his best 2022 memories back with some footage of his best takes from the season gone, well worth a watch.
Ronnie with the Drowes Perpetual Cup and the Thomas Gallagher Conservation Cup
After the success of the first Irish Spring Angling Fair in 2022, Ned Maher of Ardaire Springs Angling Centre, Mooncoin, County Kilkenny has just announced that he will once again host the IRISH SPRING ANGLING FAIR. Taking place on the May Bank Holiday Weekend, the Fair will open to angling enthusiasts on Saturday 29th April and Sunday the 30th of April 2023.
Inland Fisheries Ireland are currently recruiting Seasonal Fisheries Officers who will join teams over the summer months to help protect, conserve and develop fisheries resources working in and around Ireland’s lakes, rivers and coastlines.
Christine Meehan Fisheries Officer
Those interested in applying for a six-month Seasonal Fisheries Officer role can apply on-line at www.fisheriesireland.ie/careers, before the deadline of Tuesday, 21st of February 2023.
And now the weather…
Cloudy on Friday with occasional sunny spells, dry for most areas, highs of 10°C to 12°C in moderate southwesterly winds.
Similar conditions this weekend, both days will be mainly dry and rather cloudy, with patchy drizzle at times and sunshine breaking through. Highs of 9°C or 10°C in light to moderate southerly breezes, between 3°C and 6°C overnight.
Monday looks like a sunnier day in the east and current indications suggest no significant change for the midweek period, perhaps a little breezier on Tuesday.
Got our first full days fishing trip of the year today, started very well with loads of mackerel and herring in the harbour, but then the pollock let us down big time, with only 1 pollock to show for a few hours, but thankfully they came on strong for the last couple of hours, and some very good sized pollock at that.
