Belmullet Sea Angling Club held a two-day festival over last weekend, with anglers travelling from all over Connacht, and a contingent from the very active Killybegs Mariners journeying south for the weekend too.
Fishing on Day 1 was at Srah (Shraigh) beach facing out into Blacksod Bay. Visiting angler Daragh McGuinness from the Killybegs club took top honours with 8 counting fish. Weed was an issue for many anglers, so to winkle out 8 fish was a great achievement.
Weed left on the beach as the tide dropped
Day 2 was held on Cross beach, facing the open Atlantic. Plenty of flounder, turbot and weaver fish were coming in, along with a couple of nice sea trout.
Cross beachJohn Cunningham with a nice sea troutMind those spikes! The lesser weaver packs quite a venomous punch if not handled correctly.
Stefan Martin with a fine flounder of 36cm
Brian Reidy from Galway Bay SAC might have been a bit despondent after not featuring on Day 1, but drawing the end peg gave him a great start on Day 2, and he made the most of it, catching 19 fish to overhaul the field and take first prize.
Brian receiving his first prize.
In joint second were Daragh McGuinness and Shane Gilvarry.
Joint second – Daragh McGuinness and Shane Gilvarry
And top junior rod was another Gilvarry – well done to Sally Gilvarry on her win!
A future angling star – Sally Gilvarry with her top junior prize.
By all acounts the weekend was a great success, with many of the visiting anglers making a night of it in Belmullet and enjoying plenty of hospitality! Well done to Belmullet SAC on a fantastic festival.
Martin Scott was in touch with a great photo of his son Sean, who was fishing for pike on Lough Derg on Sunday last. 9 year old Sean from Ardcroney, Co. Tipperary was trolling for pike with big lures when he landed a fantastic trout of 60cm. As Martin says,
“Not bad for a first trout and the smile speaks for itself. Released safely to fight another day.”
We love those smiles too! If you have similar reports of young anglers having a great time and catching nice fish, feel free to send them in to us here at [email protected]
9 year old Sean Scott is clearly delighted with a catch that most of us older anglers would be thrilled with too!
East Mayo Anglers’ association, the largest and most extensive club located on the famous River Moy, held a Youth Angling event last Saturday 20th Aug at our disabled Anglers facility at Crillaun, Straide.
It ran from 10am-2pm with volunteers showing the children Fly, Worm and Spinning casting.
We also had Dr Bryan Kennedy, Entomologist who demonstrated what lies beneath the waters which proved very popular with the children.
Afterwards they were treated to some tasty food.
East Mayo Anglers Committee would like to thank all who gave of their time and made the day so special.
James Quinn reports on fishing for the month of July in Galway.
After a great month of June, July was a bit slower but still saw 115 salmon landed, with many more hooked and lost.
Fly accounted for 75 fish, with shrimp accounting for 40, averaging ~4.5lbs. There was no spinning due to only 1 gate open. The catch included 3 springers, averaging 9.37lbs.
Heaviest fish was 10.10lbs on shrimp, caught by one of the best anglers on the river, Michael Leonard.
Laurence Flood on his annual pilgrimage from across the pond had 4 fish over a couple of days on both fly and shrimp between 3 to 4.5lbs.
Louis Brennan from Tuam ha a nice brace on the 7th ,3&4lbs. on shrimp.
Conor Quinn had 3 fish on the fly on the 10th and released 2 and kept one for the pot. 4.5,4 and 3.5 lbs. Son of that famous angler who taught him everything he knows!!!! Shows he still has the touch since he caught his first salmon on the weir when he was 11, that was 17 years ago.
International golfer Mark O’Meara had 2 fish for an afternoon on the fly along with Sean McManmon, who would not be outdone and caught a brace as well.
Phil Donoghue had 2 nice grilse on the 15th on the fly of 5 and 3lbs.
Aidan Spooner had 2 fish for 6.5 and 2.5lbs on shrimp.
Kieran Clancy landed and released a 10lb fish on the fly.
Go Fishing
To enquire about availability, contact the fishery at 091 562388 or email [email protected]
No. 3 was hug-worthy! A nice porbeagle shark for Detlef
Skipper Luke Aston reports that a change of tactics saw anglers having a great time fishing with light tackle. Spinning with shads produced great sport and plenty of action on the light lure rods. There are plenty of mackerel about and lots of spurdog on some of the ground.
Fishing can be great fun with light tackleEspecially two at a time!And two more for this angler
A day offshore at shark fishing saw Detlef catch 3 species of shark. Luke has christened him “Four Sharks” as Detlef also claimed a dogfish as a shark too. We think he has a point!
Shark species no. 1 – Bull hussNo. 2 – SpurdogNo. 3 was hug-worthy! A nice porbeagle shark for Detlef
Go fishing…
Clare Dragoon
Clare Dragoon is a LOCHIN 366 powered by 650HP engine, skippered by Luke Aston and operating out of Carrigaholt Co. Clare…
I have some offers up on my web site www.fishandstay.com and if anybody is interested in putting a trip together please do get in touch. Also I Twitter from the boat on @fishandstay and try to update my face book page www.facebook.com/CarrigaholtSeaAngling fairly often!To experience some of the best deep sea fishing available in Ireland contact Luke. Telephone: +353 65 9058209 or +353 87 6367544 Email:[email protected]Web:www.fishandstay.com
Skipper John Fleming reports that shark fishing slowed down during the warm spell, with the slack winds not helping matters. Shark were still caught, including a nice couple of blues.
A nice blue sharkIt’s behind you!
Making up for the slower shark action was the mixed and reef fishing, which John described as “on fire”! Check out some photos below…
A full house of pollack!A nice codA fine 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
While this week saw an end to the “heat wave” and some more unsettled and cooler weather approaching from the Atlantic, low water situations persisted on most lakes and river systems in the country. With the exception of the southeast where severe flash flooding occurred earlier in the week, rainfall levels remained generally low throughout the week and most game, coarse and pike anglers took a voluntary break.
River such as the River Deel in Co. Mayo are still suffering from the drought conditions
However, plenty of angling action took place along the coast and at sea…and what spectacular sea angling there was this week!
If it wasn’t for young Ella, it would have been quite a difficult task to award this week’s “Catch of the Week” as there was such brilliant sea angling enjoyed by Irish and visiting anglers alike. However, future charter skipper Ella made our decision quite easy and she definitely deserves to win the “Catch of the Week”. Read her full story here!
David and Liz Sanford from USA had pike to 111cm on Lough Derg
As mentioned already, there was very little trout and salmon angling reported for the week due to low water levels and warm temperatures, and the reports we received from Lough Currane in the southwest and Lough Conn in the northwest are more or less representative for the rest of the country as far as game fishing is concerned these days. However, we received a great video from RANDADDY’S “A real Taste of Adventure” featuring Randy Lewis’ River Moy Salmon Fishing Experience when he visited Ballina earlier this year in May when conditions were a lot more suitable for salmon fishing but unfortunately not for catching…
Randy getting expert advice on the Moy Fishery
In other news…
Public Consultations
Great Western Lakes Management Plan
Last week Inland Fisheries Ireland launched a 6-week public consultation on the Draft Great Western Lakes Management Plan. Loughs Corrib, Mask, Carra, Conn, Cullin, Arrow and Sheelin are some of the best wild brown trout fisheries in Europe and are collectively known as the Great Western Lakes. Inland Fisheries Ireland wishes to develop a long term management plan for these lakes to address many of the factors currently impacting on the ecological wellbeing of native fish stocks in their catchments.
For more information, including the draft plan, a comprehensive list of Frequently Asked Questions, “open evenings” and how to participate in the public consultation and have your voice heard, check out the web page here: Western Lakes Plan
The first of a number of open evenings will take place on:
Wednesday 24th August: McDermott’s Bar & Restaurant, Bellanagarrigeeny, Castlebaldwin, Co Sligo F52 FN24
Thursday 25th August: Great National Hotel, Rathnaconeen, Ballina, Co Mayo F26 X5P3
Annacotty Fish Passage Project
The Annacotty Fish Passage Project is underway and to create greater awareness, Inland Fisheries Ireland is hosting a Public Information Meeting on Tuesday, August 23rd 2022 at 6pm. The venue is the Castletroy Park Hotel on the Dublin Road in Limerick.
Annacotty Weir, Mulkear River, Limerick
The M.C. on the night will be Noel Davidson of The Entrepreneurs Academy and there will be presentations from the project team at Inland Fisheries Ireland followed by a ‘Questions & Answers’ segment with the audience.
Scattered showers gradually becoming more isolated with improving sunny spells for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow will see a drier start over the south of the country though with just isolated showers and a few sunny spells. The band of rain will track over the south of the country later in the afternoon turning light and patchy. Drier and sunnier weather will follow into northern areas later. Highest temperatures will range from a cool 15 degrees in the northwest up to 22 degrees in the southeast, in moderate to fresh westerly winds, easing later. The outlook for next week is for more unsettled weather with rain and showers and temperatures generally in the high teens to low twenties.
While there is great bluefin tuna fishing reported from Donegal Bay there is also some great mixed fishing to be enjoyed at present.
Killybegs Fishing Trips report excellent mixed species fishing including a number of fine John Dory together with some big pollack, lots of big ling and the odd good cod.
Soaire Mara Charters operating out of Kingcasslagh also had great fishing with a rare run of spurdog, the heaviest weighing 9.5lbs. Other species to the boat included mackerel, scad, coalie, cod, ling, whiting, cuckoo wrasse, red gurnard, grey gurnard, poor cod, pouting, dogfish and some good size pollock on the peaks.
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.
Vigilante 33, 350hp Caterpillar Skipper: Paul McGonagle Licence: 1194 Base: KincasslaghOperational area: 30 mile radius from Kincasslagh
Notes: Kincasslagh is ideally located for deep sea angling with various types of fishing grounds with many species only a short distance from the harbour.
Caitlin Marie is a fast modern charter boat licensed to carry up to 12 passengers. Facilities include sheltered seating with table for 4 in heated cabin, complimentary tea and coffee, microwave oven, spacious deck with filleting table, rod holders and toilet access.
The excellent bluefin fishing continued in the Northwest for another week with many boats catching good numbers of tuna.
Kiwi Girl fishing out of Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo had another four successful trips with 11 more bluefins to the boat, while Ewings Sea Angling and Boat Charters based in Rosses Point also enjoyed some great tuna action. But there was also some excellent mixed fishing to be had including cod to 15lbs, plenty of ling and many other species.
Into a bluefin on Kiwi GirlSmiling faces onboard Sarah MarieBesides the tuna there was also some great mixed fishing to be enjoyed
A little further north, TunaMick had another successful trip with Barry Mc Donnell and a gang from Mayo and Armagh with two bluefin tuna of approx. 290 lbs and 410lbs.
Bluefin for TunaMick
Go Fishing…
Kiwi Girl
From Mullaghmore Harbour, our Sea Fishing Ireland experience aboard the M.V. Kiwi Girl will bring you to some of the best inshore fishing grounds in Europe. We offer a wide range of Sea Fishing Ireland Boat Trips to suit both novice and expert, from Short 2 Hr Sea Fishing Boat Trips to Big Game Options.
Kiwi Girl is a Fastcatch Kingfisher 31′ with a 420 HP Caterpillar engine.
Skipper: Adrian Molloy Base: Killybegs Operational area: Up to a 30 mile radius from the point of departure.
Authorised bluefin tuna boat
Notes:We can also offer you some of the finest Sea Angling in Ireland, inshore and offshore on the best boats and with the best skippers.
Whatever your angling interests from ultra light tackle and fly fishing for big reef pollack to trolling and stand-up tackle for fast fighting Tuna – we aim to please ! Dolphin and whale watching, scenic tours and wildlife trips available along some of the most spectacular scenery in Ireland. Shark fishing! Skate fishing! Tuna fishing! Donegal has it all.
Sligo Boat Charters are based in Rosses Point, Sligo (10 mins from Sligo town on local bus route). Services available include deep sea angling, reef fishing, shark fishing (August-October) and eco tourism cruises. Trips can be tailor made to suit anglers and include modest half day, full day and evening trip rates for groups, individuals, and children. Rods and tackle are available for hire on board and skipper can arrange accommodation if contacted in time. Gift vouchers are also available. Sight seeing tours for non anglers.
Tuna CHART (CatcHand Release Tagging) utilises authorised vessels to catch, tag and release Atlantic Bluefin Tuna for data collection purposes off the Irish coast. The programme, developed by Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Marine Institute in partnership with the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department for Environment, Climate and Communications, operated on a pilot basis in 2019 and 2020.
The Irish Marine Recreational Angling (IMREC) Diary has seen a great uptake by sea anglers over the summer months, providing vital information on fishing effort and catches of marine species in our coastal waters. To date, there has been over 3,500 fish recorded across 50+ species. Thanks again to all anglers volunteering their trip information, it is greatly appreciated.
If you are a sea angler (shore, boat, kayak, spear) and you would like get involved the IMREC Diary, just email “IMREC Diary Sign Up” with your full name to [email protected] and we will get you set up. Every month we run a prize draw for a €50 voucher for a tackle shop of your choice. To be in with a chance of winning, just log a fishing session (even if you blank) and you will be added to the draw for that month. Several diarists have already received a tackle voucher for taking part so don’t miss out on your chance to win.
