Over the closed season Jackie Mahon will be posting a pattern per week for fishing on Irish Lough’s. This will include flies for Brown Trout, Seatrout and Salmon. This week’s tying is two variants of the Gorgeous George…
This week’s fly is another famous Irish pattern called the Gorgeous George, created by Cork angler Paul Cantillon and by using Cork fly tier Tony O’Sullivan’s unique colours, the Gorgeous George was born.
This pattern has caught a lot of fish over the years from Brown Trout, Seatrout and Salmon on Irish Loughs. It can be tied in a range of colours from Clarets to Fiery Brown and they all work. This can be fished from the start of the season to the end of the season and will constantly catch fish. I always carry a selection in my own fly box and my guiding box for my clients to try out.
On my last podcast for Ireland on the fly, I spoke to Tom “Doc” Sullivan and Daire briefly about the Gorgeous George and the range of colours it comes in. Tom mentioned how he won the Vintners competition in the deeps of Lough Mask on one of my Gorgeous George patterns.
Two versions that work quite well for me over the season are the Denis the Menace George and the Picric Olive George.
Denis the Menace George
Geogeous George – Denis the Menace
Dressing for the Denis the Menace George:
– Hook: B130 size 10 Kamasan.
– Thread: Uni 8/0 Black.
– Tail: Red wool dyed by myself.
– Rib: Red Wire.
– Fritz: Red, Black UV.
– Body Hackle: Black Cock.
– Legs: Knotted Black Legs.
– Head Hackle: Black Hen.
– 2 Jungle Cock cheeks
Picric Olive George
Picric Olive George
Dressing for the Picric Olive George:
– Hook: Kamasan B130 size 10.
– Thread: Red Uni 8/0.
– Butt: No 4 Globrite.
– Tail: Chartreuse Wool.
– Rib: Gold Wire.
– Dubbing: Honey Olive.
– Body Hackle: Picric Olive Light.
– Legs: Knotted Natural Pheasant.
– Front Hackle: Darker Picric Olive.
– 2 Jungle Cock cheeks
Go fishing…
You can purchase some of my patterns in the new Fulling Mills brochure for 2023 which will be out soon.
Notes: Provides guiding on Lough Arrow, Melvin, Glencar Lake & Lough Gill .
Clients from all over the world from England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Usa and South Africa. Total C&R on Jackie’s boat while guiding.
Flies for sale
2023 started off for me with an email from Fulling Mill to say that my fly patterns have just arrived in the UK and are up on the Fulling Mill website. The range consists of wet Mayfly, Spent, Stimulators and Daddies. The patterns have been working the last number of seasons throughout Ireland, the United States and the UK with great success. I will also be working closely with Fulling Mill on some new products which will be launched soon, so keep an eye on my page for updates.
Cork Sea Angling Club fished their President’s Cup competition at the weekend. Kevin McGowan reports…
Wow wow and wow again. We fished our final Cork Sea Angling Club competition today at Long Strand, it was for the President Cup. On the way down the weather was perfect not a breeze but as we walked across the sand dunes we could hear the madness. The waves were smashing the shore and all I could think about was how the hell am I putting up the tent in this and how many bass will we get.
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Casting into the foam
Peg 9 on Long Strand
Surf's up on Long Strand
I fished peg number nine, end peg, next to Eric Gosnell and I imagined being here 50 years ago for the Munster Open when he fished it with Andy Corbett for the same cup. As the whistle blew I casted a 3 hook flapper size 4 hooks loaded with week old razor fish about 40 yards and left it for about 20 minutes. There was no point looking for bites. As I reeled in I felt a knock and my brain went eeeeeeekkkk! As I reeled I felt another pull I knew I had something – 35cm flounder. Delighted!
I had a sneaky look down the beach to Mark Gargan and Noel Cashman we were fighting for 3rd place. After I caught the flounder Pawel Kurowski had a 27cm flounder. Then Eric Gosnell reel in a 33cm one. I had another at 34cm and then Brendan Mack landed his 33cm flounder.
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Flounder for Kevin McGowan
Flounder for Brendan Mack
Weever
Noel Cashman presenting the president cup to Kevin McGowan
There were 9 anglers fishing and we had 5 flounders, 3 or 4 weevers a few under size flounders. Martin Fitzgerald had a lovely 46cm sea trout which went back safe and sound. Winners were…
1st Kevin McGowan
2nd Eric Gosnell and Brendan Mack
4th Pawel Kurowski
Next competition is Saturday 26th of November: Cork Sea Angling Club v Dublin Sea Angler’s in Waterford looking forward it!
Go fishing…
Join the 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
We have had an unseasonably mild run of weather in the last few weeks, with daytime temperatures hitting the mid-teens on occasion. In the week gone, those mean air temperatures dipped a little, but remained between 9°C to 12°C – which is still between 2°C and 4°C above average for the time of year. The week ahead will be much cooler, with expected mean air temperatures of 4°C to 10°C – that’s 1°C to 3°C below average for most places – so wrap up well if you plan to tackle some winter whiting or codling from the beaches, walk the banks of gravelly streams in search of the first signs of spawning salmonids or cast a deadbait for a big pike in a deep lough…
High water at Inny Bridge, Nov 4th
We start this week’s angling report with a big pike from a deep lough and it was on Lough Erne that guests of Guided Predator Angling managed to catch the same big pike twice in less than a week. This pike, which is our Catch of the Week, is proof that careful catch and release fishing can help to sustain our fish stocks. On Lough Derg, guests of Anglers’ Paradise had to work hard to hit it big and a day that started slow came good in the end with fish up to 105cm caught to both lures and the troll. On the competition scene, twenty two of the Leinster Pike Anglers travelled to a lough venue where high water made things tougher than they had hoped; it wasn’t too bad for the winner on the day though, who caught twelve pike to top the table.
The weather has disrupted the charter fishing for our fleet in the last number of weeks, especially those tuna boats whose bluefin season closed last Saturday. All in all, the season wasn’t too bad, although some of the skippers who had hoped to finish the season with a flourish had no choice but to spend the last weeks sitting in hope of a window of opportunity to get out. When opportunities for charter fishing came this week, some good fishing was had by offshore anglers, like some double figure pollock in Donegal.
Inland Fisheries Ireland is working on a new Customer Charter and Action Plan for 2023 to 2025. Customer Charters are short statements, describing the level of service that you can expect from a State agency. We are now conducting a quality assurance review of our existing customer charter and we would welcome your feedback and suggestions – for more info, check out our corporate website.
And now the weather…
Friday night will start cold, dry and clear with just a few mist patches. Frost will develop with temperatures between -1°C and +3°C.
Saturday will start off dry and bright in the east, with rain in the west spreading to all parts by evening and turning heavy at times. Strong and gusty southerly winds will develop, easing later. Highs of 6°C to 11°C.
Sunday will be bright and breezy – highs of 6°C to 11°C with sunshine and scattered showers. Clear and cold to start overnight with heavy rain moving in by Monday morning.
For early next week the outlook is cool and unsettled with further spells of wet and windy weather possible.
It may not be the most polished editing, but we’re loving this recent video from Tomas Janicek. Tomas enjoyed a day fishing in north Clare, starting before dawn at a known bass and pollack mark. He knows this mark intimately, having dived it previously, and local knowledge paid off. Despite a big swell soaking him a few times, he winkled out some nice bass and pollack here. Showing us the lures used and discussing tactics, the video is very informative about targeting these fish.
Tomas moves to another rock mark, where he catches pollack and mackerel, then the video finishes up with a nice LRF (light rock fishing) session at a local pier. Fishing much more sheltered water with much smaller lures, he catches a variety of fish, including some beautiful tub gurnard.
Killybegs Fishing Trips were back general fishing yesterday now that the tuna season is closed. There were plenty of good pollock going for crew members, including a few nice ones in double figures.
They hope to keep afloat until the end of December and are taking bookings up to then, so get in touch and book a trip.
Big pollock in Donegal
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Go Fishing
Fiona Tee
33′ Interceptor. 300HP Caterpillar Skipper: Michael McGettigan Licence: 961 Base: Mullaghmore Operational area: Donegal Bay. Within 30 miles of land.
Notes: With over 40 years experience in Sea Angling in Donegal Bay, we bring you to the best locations and guarantee the best that angling in Donegal Bay has to offer. The MV Fiona Tee is equipped with all the latest technology ensuring all our fishing charters are monitored and offer real time tracking. We are also fully equipped with the latest in onboard safety equipment.
Thirty three anglers fished the fourth match of the Erne Anglers Winter League on a River Erne that was still running very high but clear. All the sections were again pegged in the town with the exception of one section at Bellanaleck Marina.
Winner of the match and the £192 first prize was Rap (Kevin) O’Pray on the QE ROAD peg 13 with 6.150Kgs. Runner up was Ewan Weed on peg 10 at Derrycharra 5.900Kgs. Third place was Rodney Topping on the Police Jetty peg 3 with 5.450Kgs.
Royal Enfield Angling Club are affiliated to the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland and are members of the Angling Council the National Governing Body for coarse and predator angling. www.ncffi.ie
Cork Sea Angling Club held their second last competition of the year at the weekend. Kevin McGowan reports…
There were 9 anglers fishing the second Cork Sea Angling Club competition of the the year. We held the match in Whiting Bay, near Youghal. With a lovely southerly breeze and a lot of surf it looked very promising. The whistle blew at 3 pm and first in with a 38 cm cod was Alan O’Dowling. Not long afterwards was Mark Gargan with a 46 cm bass. But despite the promising conditions the fishing became very slow.
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Peg 3
38 cm cod for Alan O'Dowling
Whiting Bay
Mark Gargan with a 46 cm bass
Eventually Alan reeled in a lovely painted ray 79cm – 1cm off a speicmen. Then it was Eric Gosnell’s turn with a beauty – an 81cm painted ray and at the same time Alan brought in another 40cm ray! Noel Cashman had a 67cm dogfish. Colin O’Sullivan had a 46cm bass and Kevin McGowan with a 43cm codling.
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79cm painted ray, just 1cm short of a specimen!
Painted ray - 40cm and a super 81cm fish
Kevin McGowan with a 43cm codling
Noel Cashman presents trophy to winner on the night, Alan Dowling
It wasn’t our best outing but with one more competition to go it’s getting exciting. There are 3 anglers; Noel Cashman, Kevin McGowan and Mark Gargan all fighting for a place in the master angler 2023. Best of luck!
Go fishing…
Join the 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
Pike angling guide Damien Culliney from Anglersparadise had his good friends Annemarie and Stephen out for a day on Lough Derg recently. It was a slow enough day to begin with, and the anglers had to work hard, trying a few different methods in order to get results. But that work paid off in the end, and a number of good pike came to the boat, both on the troll and by casting lures, with the best of the fish touching 105cm. Not too bad for a slow day!
South Shore SAC continued their winter league on Wicklow North beach last weekend, and anglers were thankful for the shelter provided by Wicklow Head as a southerly blow wracked the coastline. Sea conditions were good, with a nice bit of colour in the water, but the going was slow in the initial stages, as small whiting and ray proliferated on scorecards.
Small rays were a feature on the day
But as the evening wore on, dogfish began to move into range, and anglers started picking them up. Any angler that was able to capitalise on the influx of dogs was likely to be in with a shout, and Alby Allan seized his chance as his final few casts brought in a number of doggies and a decent whiting which saw him streak past his competitors to top the table. This was Alby’s second win in a row as he finished top of the field in last week’s Leinster League held in Wexford.
