Fishing pressure during August was very low due to several factors. Water levels were very low but water temperature peaked at 24 degrees C. at one stage and this caused the fishery to close for a week.
As a consequence, a lot of anglers stopped fishing due to these conditions as fish would not survive too well after being played out. Fortunately, the weir helped to keep the oxygen content on the high side which definitely helped fish survival.
A total of 12 fish (8 on the fly and 2 on shrimp with an average weight of 4.5 lbs.) were caught for the month with only 2 released.
Neil Spellacy landed two for 4.5lbs on the fly at the beginning of the month and sportingly released both.
Michael Barry caught a nice fresh fish of 3.5lbs, while Michael Brown from Clare had a fish on the shrimp of 4.5 lbs.
Niall Lynch fished for 3 days and landed a fish each day with an average weight of 4lbs all on fly.
Robert Bradley had a fish for 3.5lbs on the fly and last but not least, Paddy Gargan landed a lovely 9 lbs fish on a switch rod on the fly.
Galway Bay SAC report that Brian Reidy won the final leg and overall master angler prize for the second consecutive year! The club also report a very strong field of young anglers coming through the ranks – good news for them.
Brian collecting his GBSAC prizes
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As well as his club master angler prize, Brian recently also added another feather to his cap on winning the Connaught Closed Gold to captain the team in next year’s interprovincial so he must be doing something right!
Joining Brian on the Connacht interprovincial team are Shane Gilvarry, Sean Ivory, Joe Chambers and Colin Harty – well done to them.
The Killala Boat Club organised a very well run Ray Toner Cup and Connaught Closed Gold medal event and, over the 3 days, the biggest flat was Sean Ivory and biggest round was split between Brian Reidy, Joe Chambers and Peter Coyne.
August was a poor fishing month with very low water and high temperatures.
01 August
Peter Coyne landed a 4lbs salmon in Altomont’s Dam on beat 6 using a Willie Gun. Gerry Merick had a 6lbs fish on beat 9 on a Posh Tosh.
02 August
Jake Delaney caught a 5lbs salmon in the Falls Pool on a Posh Tosh. Billy Moylan had a 5lbs salmon in the Garden Pool using a Cascade pattern, while Patrick Seigne landed a 5lbs salmon on beat 3 and a 4lbs salmon on beat 9 also on a Cascade. Peter Coyne had a fish at 6lbs on beat 8 in the Holly Pool using a Silver Stoat and Seamus O’Neill landed a 6lbs salmon on beat 5. Gerry Merick had a 3lbs and a 4lbs salmon on beat 9 on a Colly Dog.
03 August
Jurgen Mantel caught a 7lbs salmon on beat 9 in the Garden Pool on a Collie Dog.
04 August
Peter Coyne had a 6.5 lbs salmon on beat 9.
05 August
John Ryan landed a 3lbs salmon on beat 9 in the Bridge Pool on a Cascade and a 5lbs salmon in the Garden Pool.
06 August
John O’Brian caught a 7lbs salmon in the Falls Pool, while Gerry O’Brian landed a 5lbs and a 6lbs fish also in the Falls Pool. All fish took a Woolly Bugger.
07 August
Eabha Jones landed a 5lbs salmon in the Falls Pool.
09 August
Ken Mills had a 4 lbs salmon from the Sea Pool on beat 9 and John Phelan landed one at 6lbs in the Falls Pool.
21 August
James O’Neill caught a fine a 12lbs salmon in the Coronation Pool on beat 8.
23 August
Bill Kean landed a 5 lbs salmon in the Gauge Pool on beat 9 using a Bann Special. Pat Errity had a 4lbs salmon also from the Gauge Pool, while Shaun McManiman landed a six pounder on beat 9. Both fish took a “Monkey”.
John Fleming of Blue Shark Angling Galway got some nice fishing again throughout last weekend, with some good tope taken on the Brazen Hussy II over the two days, the best of which fell to Maria’s rod – and a fine fish it was too.
There were also some very fine pollock on the move, coalies, loads of pouting, mackerel and lots of sandeels, not to mention the odd squid!
Some of the catches...
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Brazen Hussy ll
Skipper: John Fleming Licence:1011 (11 passengers and 1 crew) Base: Rosaveal, Spiddal, Galway (Depending on species) Operational area: Rosaveal, Spiddal and Galway up to
20 miles to sea
Notes: A regular day is between 9am- 6pm from either
Rosaveel, 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 addrenaline rush with these hard
fighting blue and porbeagle sharks all being tagged and release safely.
Package deals available
Courtmacsherry was certainly the place to be for some quality blue shark fishing over the past week as the Cork venue threw up plenty of cracking shark alongside a nice range of other species.
First up, a group of Belgian anglers out with Courtmacsherry Angling had a day to remember with 10 blues boated, including three over the 100lb mark.
It takes two to tango with a whopper blue shark
And it wasn’t only blues that were providing the sport, as a group from the UK had some great fishing for skate, managing 9 between them. The shark and skate were all tagged and released as part of the Marine Sportfish Tagging Programme.
Super skate for UK angler fishing with Courtmacsherry Angling
Also fishing out of Courtmacsherry, anglers with West Cork Charters had a similar blues bonanza, as two Dutch anglers landed a whopping 16 blues, including one to specimen size. Earlier in the week, a different group landed 10 blues, including two over the 100lb mark. As per above, all shark were tagged and released.
Two more anglers with a quality blue onboard West Cork Charters
And it wasn’t only blue shark action for those lads either, as they managed a good haul of other species, including some rarer ones such as Stone Bass, Megrim and Blue Whiting.
A nice Stone Basse adds to the species mix
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Courtmacsherry Angling
Aquastar 38′. 370 HP Caterpillar Skipper: Mark Gannon Licence: 818 Base: Courtmacsherry Operational Area: 30 miles out from Courtmacsherry
Authorised blue fin tuna boat
Notes: Mark has two Aquastar 38’s, Lady Patricia and
Lady Louise. Specialising in wreck fishing, Mark’s boats have consistently provided specimen fish over the years. Shark, reef and general inshore angling also on offer.
West Cork Charters operates the Silver Dawn, a 41′ Rodman 1250 with twin 430 HP Engines out of Courtmacsherry. The range of fishing found within close range of Courtmacsherry is superb, with trips producing anything between 6 and 15 different species as a norm and in excess of 20 is possible if anglers are prepared to change methods and use different baits and lures throughout their trip. As a rule mackerel, pollock, cod and ling are usually encountered but several species of wrasse along with whiting, pouting, coalfish, bull huss, conger and many more are often added to the catch.
If you do choose to head offshore to sample the superb shark fishing available within 10 miles of Courtmacsherry, there is a very strong chance of encountering blue sharks and an increasing chance of bringing a porbeagle shark to the boat.
Liverpool-based anglers scoop top prize with two Irish boats taking second and third spots
The Liverpool-based boat, ‘Nirvana,’ has won the top prize at the 35th Rosslare Small Boats Festival in Wexford, competing head-to-head with 30 other boats to catch the greatest number of fish species last week.
Fishing from Kilmore Quay harbour on September 3rd and 8th, ‘Shamrock’ and ‘Katie B’, both representing Howth Sea Angling Club in Dublin, took second and third places respectively.
Rosslare 35th Small Boats Festival Winners and Organisers group photo
Sponsored by Inland Fisheries Ireland, DAIWA, Navionics and supported by Saltwater Boat magazine, the festival couldn’t go ahead in 2020 or 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions. This year however, it attracted more than 90 anglers from Wales, Scotland, Isle of Wight, Ireland, Manchester, Liverpool and Portsmouth. This top-class competition combined with a quality angling product, continues to attract the best boat anglers in Great Britain and Ireland in one of the most prestigious small boat fishing competitions in Europe, according to organisers.
– 1st place Nirvana (left to right) – Mark Phillips, Richie Stead and Keith Pemberton
Although weather conditions were very challenging, with strong south easterly winds, the crew on board ‘Nirvana’ still managed to catch 26 different species of fish over two days, with a combined weight of 8.84kgs. Team members, Richie Stead, Keith Pemberton and Mark Phillips, are from the Wirral Boat Club outside Liverpool and 2022 is the fifth year that ‘Nirvana’ has clinched top spot.
In second place was ‘Shamrock’ (Martin Kennedy, Dave Godwin, Arthur Beechey and Dan Lynch) from Howth Sea Angling Club in Dublin with 25 species for a combined weight of 13.17 kilos.
In third place was ‘Katie B’ (Siert Shultz, Thomas Markey and Joe McPeake) from Howth Sea Angling Club with 23 species for a combined weight of 8.20 kilos.
There were four specimen fish caught during the week, including a three-bearded rockling, two cuckoo wrasse and a tope. The largest of these was a Cuckoo Wrasse of 0.60 kilos caught by Sean Óg McShane from Cork, aboard the Irish boat ‘Fin Chaser’. McShane picked up the ‘best specimen of the festival’ award as a result.
The Conningbeg trophy for the longest bass of 59cm was won by Terry Wallworth from the boat ‘Life of Riley’. Meanwhile, the Ken Evason Memorial trophy for the biggest cod caught, which was 3.20 kilos, was won by the boat ‘Shamrock’.
– Juvenile – Scott McShane, Councillor Jim Moore, Josie Mahon, IFI and John Belger (festival organiser UK)
Scott McShane won the best juvenile angler of the competition aboard the boat ‘2JDs’, which had 19 species with a combined weight of 8.82 kilos. Sue Tait on ‘Predator II’ caught 20 species and Joan Bimpson from ‘Silverback’ caught 12 species and both won awards for best female anglers in the competition.
Saury fish- new species for the festival records
Overall, more than 40 different fish species were recorded during the competition, including smoothound, conger, dab, gurnards, mackerel, mullet, pouting, gilthead bream, red mullet and many mini species such as dragonet and gobies. This year a Saury fish was recorded by the Irish boat ‘Shamrock’ which is a species normally found in the Pacific Ocean and was added to the species list for the festival. A butterfly blenny was also identified, these new species, adding to the excitement of the competition.
Red gurnard – Josie Mahon (IFI), Mike Woods, Mark Rogan, Darren Leatherbarrow from the boat ‘Rogie’s Girl’
The awards ceremony took place in the Coast Rosslare Strand Hotel and the €30,000 prize-fund included fishing equipment, cash prizes and engraved trophies.
Staff from Inland Fisheries Ireland assisted organisers with boat launches and fish species identification and the competition also received very welcome support from the Kilmore Quay harbour master and staff from Wexford County Council.
Longest bass (l-r) – John Belger (UK festival organiser), Des Chew (IFI), Terry Wallworth, Councillor Jim Moore
Last weekend saw the start of the Killybegs Mariners‘ winter league. Read their report below…
A kaleidoscope of colour splashed across the Rossnowlagh sky on Friday night as 20 mariners lined the beach to enjoy an evening’s fishing and the first of 12 league outings.
The first leg of this season’s winter league in full swing
A warm night with some fine fish landed although not in big numbers as we chased the full moon ebb down the beach and hampered with weed there was a few flounder breaking the 30cm mark and the biggest going 38cm for Sean Harte. A total of 4 species were caught including flounders, trout, turbot and weevers.
Sea trout off the beach
Longest flatter prize of €60 was won with a 31cm flounder for John Cunningham. 2nd overall €60 was won by Sean Harte and 1st on the night €120 was won by Brian Smith with 5 flounder and 2 weever along with some undersize turbot.
Well done to all out enjoying the fishing!
Winner on the night Brian Smith
Meanwhile, some Mariners members added a few more species to their record list including new club records for ballion’s wrasse for Sean Harte and tub gurnard for Cormac Burke.
Fine tub gurnard
John Cunningham however, went from one of the smallest fish in the bay, a painted goby, to one of the largest, a bluefin tuna, aboard Donegal Bluefin Tuna and Angling Charters. This meant species number 56 and 57 for the year for him with one on a size 18 hook and one on an 11/0 hook.
Species 57 for the year for John Cunningham a bluefin tuna aboard Meridian
Some American steel worked wonders for Irish fish!
Seán Maguire of fishingadventures.ie in Kilbaha, West Clare, had some American friends from Mississippi out aboard Lady Gwen II for a couple of days recently in blustery conditions. The anglers had some great sport while fishing with very light tackle.
They had lots of species including a lot of codling, pollock, ling, gurnard and haddock – all great fun for the visitors who tried a lot of different rigs from back home to great effect.
Some of the catches
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Some American steel worked wonders for Irish fish!
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Lady Gwen II
Fishing Adventures on Séan Maguire’s Lady Gwen II, a Lochin 33 M265Ti Perkins charterboat which operates 15 miles from Kilbaha, Carrigaholt, and Kilrush.
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. Telephone: +353 (0) 877508758 or +353 (0) 894431182 Email:[email protected]Web:www.fishingadventures.ie
L/R Ronan Baggott Club Chairperson, presenting John Burke winner, Maloney/Keady Cup Michael McDermott.
Joe Fitzharris reports of some good fishing in Maloney/Keady Cup fished on Sunday 11-th September.
This annual event is kindly sponsored by Maloney/Keady Opticians Castlerea and attracted a reasonable entry in very wet but mostly good angling conditions.
L/R Ronan Baggott Club Chairperson, presenting John Burke winner, Maloney/Keady Cup Michael McDermott.
Some good fish were returned on the day in what was a heaviest fish competition. The popular winner on the day was well known much travelled International Angler John Burke with a cracking fish of 3-lb 04.4 oz.
Best flies on the day the much coveted Just Add Water, yellow dabblers, Silver daddies and muddler peter patterns.
L/R Ronan Baggott, John Gaffey Second place, Mike McDermott.
Results
1st place Maloney/Keady Cup Winner (2022) – John Burke (Foxford) – Fish – 3-lb-04.4 oz.
2nd John Gaffey – Fish – 2 -lb-14.0 oz.
3rd Ronan Baggott – Fish – 2 -lb-10.6 oz. (Longest)
4th Michael McDermott – Fish – 2 -lb-10.6 oz.
5th Joe Fitzharris – Fish – 2 -lb – 05.6.
L/R Daniel McDermott Club Secretary, Ronan Baggott Third place, Mike McDermott.
After the summer break, Bodo Funke of Angling Services Ireland reports a cracking start to the autumn season.
Regulars to the Boyle region, Bob and Bill from Massachusetts, US managed a number of good pike on lures including a fine 1m plus fish for Bob. Bill however, started the their trip on a high with a new PB measuring 112cm. This is Bill’s fourth trip to Boyle, while his brother Bob visits the are for the third time, and both are sure they will be back next year in quest of some more wild Irish pike.
All smiles for BillBrother Bob with another 1m plus fish
Earlier this months, a party of three Italian lure anglers also enjoyed great pike action on the waters around Boyle, with group member Ennio landing a fine 1m plus pike.
Ennio from Italy with a fine 1m plus pike
Go Fishing
Bodo Funke, Angling Services, Ireland
Pike, Game and Coarse fishing Guide
Notes: Angling Services Ireland provides the very best in angling and angling tourism. We are based in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, in the North-West of Ireland, an area with many superb angling opportunities.
The Proprietor Bodo Funke holds the Marine and Countryside Guiding Certificate (achieved with distinction) and his expertise and local knowledge will be to your avail when you go on a guided angling trip or angling holiday with Angling Services Ireland. Pike fishing, Fly-fishing for Pike, Game fishing for wild Brown Trout, Float- tubing, Coarse fishing. Salmon fishing and Sea-angling can be organised.
