The All-Ireland Open Shore competition was held in Renvyle, Connemara on the 24th September. Fishign for the prestigious Jimmy Smith (senior) and Maurice Dalton (junior) trophies has always been fiercely competitive, and so it proved again this year.
A beautiful evening saw lines in at 6pm, with the last 3 hours of the competition in darkness. Fishing was in two zones, Renvyle and Glassilaun beaches due to the large entry, with the better fishing definitely to be had on Glassilaun. That’s the luck of the draw, and your correspondent drew… poorly! A last cast dogfish saved the blank here!
Anglers on Renvyle beach during the All-Ireland Open Shore Competition, 24 September 2022
Th competition this year was organised, and well-run by Galway Bay SAC. The club put together a little video of the evening, which can be viewed on their Facebook page, or just click the image below to go there.
Click the pic to view video on Facebook
Results
Zone A (Renvyle) was won by Stephen O’Donovan with 4 fish for 177 points, a great result on a tough evening. Zone B (Glassilaun) was won by Sean Ivory, with 7 fish for 338 points. The overall winner, however, with a fantastic catch of 17 fish for 559 points, was Tim O’Sullivan from Galway Bay SAC. An incredible performance that left everyone else for dust!
In the junior section, the bronze medal went to Ailbhe Hartnett. Sanny Harty took the silver, and the gold medal, and Mauyrice Dalton trophy went to Liam Davis from West Cork SAC. Liam has featured in reports several times this year, and is rapidly making a name for himself as a top match angler, beating many senior anglers regularly.
Winners! Liam Davis (left) with the Maurice Dalton cup, and Tim O’Sullivan with the Jimmy Smith trophy.
Congratulations to both winners, and well done to Brian Reidy, Colin Harty and Gary Miskell for a well-run competition.
Anglers on Renvyle beach during the All-Ireland Open Shore Competition, 24 eptember 2022
John Fleming had a group out from Howth SAC last week, who enjoyed some of the great fishing the west coast has to offer.
“Well despite the very dodgy forecast from the north we managed to hit the inshore reefs with the Howth Sac, got some lovely pollock gilling sandeels, a whopper of a pouting, most of which were taken on baited feathers, with the weather worsening we headed further inshore in search of some wrasse, we had some nice ballans and a couple of cuckoos, along with mackerel and the other usual suspects”.
Pollack
Pollack
Ballan wrasse
Pouting
Pollack
Ballan wrasse
Go fishing…
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
October can be a blustery month, meaning fewer days on the water, but sea temperatures are still quite warm, so fishing can be excellent if conditions allow. Sean Maguire, skipper of the Lady Gwen II, has been out a bit lately and the fish have been obliging when they have been able to get offshore.
Twin engine 10 meter Lochin 333 Skipper:Séan Maguire Licence:1629 Base: Carrigaholt Operational Area:15 miles from Kilbaha, Carrigaholt, and Kilrush
Notes: Whether you want to go to the Atlantic Ocean for a large selection of species, including different types of shark, or fish the estuary for ray conger tope etc, Fishing Adventures will cater for whatever fishing you desire. With state of the art electronics, quality fishing gear, and large deck space, the Lady Gwen II is a stable and comfortable boat to fish.
Donavin Brinklow reports from the Erriff as the season came to an end.
September ended the dry summer on the Erriff, with a couple of small floods early in the month, followed by another dry spell, and bookended by better water towards the end of the month. A -storm on the last day rendered the river unfishable by mid-morning with a flood of 2.4m.
The rod catch for the month was 32 fish.
John O’Halloran landed the first fish of the month on the 4th, a 2.5lbs salmon in the Garden Pool on a Cascade. The same day Osgur Grieve landed a 3.5lbs salmon in the Falls Pool on a Posh Tosh on Beat 9.
The following day Willie Cotter landed a 5lbs salmon off the Falls Pool, and Arthur Muckian landed a 5.5lbs salmon in the Yellow Banks pool on Beat 5.
Paddy Donegan with one of his fish
On the 6th, John Geary landed two sea trout and a 6lbs salmon on the Falls Pool using a Cascade. The nest day Roger Stephen landed a 4lbs salmon from the Falls Pool on a red shrimp pattern, and Margaret Downs landed a 3lbs salmon in the Garden Pool on Beat 9.Margaret landed another 3lbs salmon from the Garden Pool on the 8th fishing a Cascade, and Lucy Downs also landed a 3lbs salmon in the Garden Pool on a Cascade.
Fast forward to the 11th and Peter Coyne landed a 3lbs salmon, and Charley O’Connor landed a 4lbs salmon on beat 9.
On the 12th, Francois Calvar landed a 3.5lbs salmon and two sea trout weighing 1lbs and 2lbs on Beat 2 using a Black Pennell. Albert Caffrey landed a 3.5lbs salmon in the Garden Pool on Beat 9. Levi Caffrey landed a 4lbs salmon on Beat 9 and Donal Chambers landed a 4lbs salmon in the Falls Pool.
Albert Caffrey with a grilse from the Garden Pool
The 13th was another good day, when Paddy Donegan landed a 4lbs and a 3lbs salmon in the Garden Pool using a small Sunray. Levi Caffrey landed a 0.5lbs sea trout and a 3.5lbs salmon in the Falls Pool. Francois Calvar landed two sea trout around a 1lb, and a 3lbs salmon on Beat 9 using a Black Pennell and Leroy Pierre landed 5 sea trout and a 3lbs salmon on beat 9, also on a Black Pennell.
Levi Caffrey with a nice grilse #CatchPhotoRelease
On the 14th J. Pilkington landed a 2.5lbs salmon on beat 2, and the following day Paddy Donegan landed 4 salmon to 4.5lbs in the Falls Pool using a small Sunray. Donal Chambers landed a 6.5lbs salmon, also in the Falls Pool.
Donal Chambers with a nice fish
Albert Caffrey landed a 5.5lbs salmon on beat 9 on the 17th, and Paddy Donegan landed a 2.5lbs salmon on a micro tube Sunray on Beat 9.
Rain on the 22nd saw an improvement, and Sam McMenamin landed a 4lbs salmon on Beat 4 using a lemon shrimp pattern. Peter Coyne landed a 4lbs salmon in the Sea Pool, a 3lbs salmon in the Gauge pool and a 4lbs salmon in the Garden Pool, all on a green butt Cascade. Two days later Kieran Hannigan landed a 5lbs salmon in the Coronation Pool on Beat 8.
A Chip Off The Old Block
The 25th was a great day for young Matthew Brinklow, who landed a 4lbs salmon in the Garden Pool and a 3lbs salmon in the Falls Pool on Beat 9 using a green butt Cascade. Ian Ferris landed a 3lbs salmon in the Lower Garden Pool on a Cascade and a 6lbs salmon in the Falls Pool.
11-year-old Matthew Brinklow shows dad how to do it. Well done young man!
On the 26th Luke Cameron landed a 5lbs salmon in the Schoolhouse Run on Beat3 on a black and red shrimp pattern. The next day Kevin McNamara landed a 5lbs salmon on Beat 9.
On the 29th Osgur Grieve landed a 7lbs salmon on Beat 3 using a green butt Cascade and John Geary landed a 5lbs salmon on Beat 6 using a Foxford Shrimp. The last salmon of the season was caught in the storm on the last day by Ian Ferris – a 3.5lbs salmon off the Bridge Pool on Beat 9.
A last-day catch for Ian Ferris in a big rising flood
2022 Season
Overall it was a disappointing season on the Erriff, not helpled by the long dry spell in the summer, with very high water temperatures. The spring run was encouraging, with 58 fish landed by the end of June, but there were just 98 recorded thereafter to the end of the season. The total catch was 156 wild salmon, 45 Ranched salmon and 53 sea trout.
The heaviest fish was Mark Helmore’s fish on June 30th, estimated at 20lbs, followed by John Foley on the 9th July with a fish of 14lbs.
The top fly pattern for the season was the Sunray Shadow, followed by the ever-popular Cascade, then the Willie Gunn.
The 2022 season wasn’t as restricted with covid as the 2021 season but we had the challenge of a really hot and dry summer with low water condition making it nearly impossible to fish. We all still enjoyed our time out on the river doing what we love .
Thank You
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the IFI Ballinakill staff who assisted with the smooth running and protection of the fishery during the year. Also we would like to thank the land owners along the fishery as well as the Community Scheme staff for all their hard work with maintenance and angling access to the fishery during the year. Finally, the anglers who visited the fishery, thanks to all anglers following our catch and release program to ensure a healthier river for the coming years and look forward to seeing you all again in 2023.
Cootehill Tourism Association celebrated a milestone with the running of the 40th CooteHill Angling Festival from the 26th to 30th of September. Five venues were fished in rotation. Annagheerin, Baird’s Shore, Mullanarry, Sillan Upper and Sillan Lower. Ninety one anglers participated, the majority being regular competitors from the UK. A very enjoyable presentation night was held at the Errigal Country House Hotel where members of C.T.A. presented prizes to the following.
The top six places were:
Garry Whalley 75kg 200grms
Kevin Johnson 55kg 350grms
Paul Boothby 53kg 150grms
Stephen White 48kg 950grms
Darren Fairhurst 48kg 800grms
Tony Hopkins 48kg 550grms & Willie Wheeler 48kg 550grms
Winning team Garry Whalley, Mark Brush & Mark Pollard
Damien Culliney from Anglers Paradise had a couple of friends fishing with him in Clare last week as part of a hunting trip to Ireland.
They were targeting perch and pike in some of the local lakes and had success on both counts, with a couple of 100cm+ pike, some decent perch to 30cm+ and plenty of smaller pike to keep them occupied.
Go fishing…
Anglers Paradise Ireland
Trout and Pike Guide
Anglers Paradise Ireland is owned and managed by Damien Culliney, a well known angler and chef in the Clare region and a man passionate about the inland waterways and natural history of County Clare. At Angler’s Paradise, we love the thrill of Game fishing and Pike fishing in equal measure and can take our clients to some of Europe’s most unspoilt rivers and lakes in search of trophy predators and the realisation of their angling dreams.
A team of Irish pike anglers travelled across the water to England recently to compete in the yearly international match held between Ireland and Great Britain. Team Ireland flew out of the blocks on day one of the competition, knocking up a total of over 114lb, led in fine style by Ian Church, whose 9 fish made up 30lb of that total. With the British team only managing 69lb, they were up against it at the close of day 1.
Ready for the off
Things were much closer on day two, with the British team managing to win out on the day with a weight of 33lb, while Ireland fell a bit short of that with 25lb. But their huge winning margin from day one was enough to see Ireland comfortably hold the top spot and bring the trophy back to Ireland.
Members of the Limerick County Pike Anglers Association LCPAA made the short trip up the M18 to Galway recently to partake in the John Daly memorial, and they had their own club competition at the venue at the same time. 18 anglers turned out on the day, and while some anglers opted to patrol the banks searching out their fish, others opted to stay put and hoped a big one would come to them.
Fish were active right from the off as a couple of pike were landed in the first five minutes. The deeper holes were the most productive areas for those anglers who could find them, and there were a total of 52 pike caught on the day, with 23lb being the winning bag, while 9lb 3oz was the biggest fish on the day.
The members of South Shore SAC hit Morriscastle Beach last week for the latest round of their master angler competition. They were targeting flounder, and anglers were hopeful their draw would put them on a decent mark as the fishing can be very dependent on your position on the beach.
The weather was nice on the day for a change, with sunshine and light winds making it an easy day on the beach. The flounder proved to be active enough, with many anglers doing well as the tide flooded, but bites began to slow as soon as the tide started to ebb. However, Eamon Bermingham, who had struggled up to this point, suddenly hit a winning streak, landing 23 flounder in the space of half an hour to shoot to the top of the leaderboard.
Luke must have used his 'Spidey Sense' to hone in on the perch
Young angler Luke MacGabhann made light of some tough angling conditions to land his first-ever perch last week. Fishing on Templehouse Lake in Co. Sligo, the weather was pretty horrendous, and a couple of days of torrential rain had caused a lot of floodwater to enter the lake making the fishing conditions very tricky. But 5-year-old Luke wasn’t going to let any of this get in the way of his fishing, and using a soft plastic paddle tail lure, managed to catch, land and release a couple of nice perch all on his own.
Luke is only getting started on his fishing journey, and hopefully we will hear more of his angling exploits in the future as he has plans to target pike over the winter months.
Isle of Aran
