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.
Members of Killybegs Mariners SAC enjoyed some great night fishing for smooth-hound and bass during the week. John Heath got a smooth-hound plus a bass while Cormac Burke also had a bass to add to his species hunt which moves him onto 53 species for the year so far.
Night smoothie for John Heath
Talking about species hunting…Mariners member John Cunningham had a spectacular few days fishing in the “Kingdom” bringing his species total for the year so far to 52. Some really hard to get species on this trip included an Irish specimen spurdog, a ballions wrasse, a stingray, red mouth goby, sand smelt and bull huss.
Father and son Richard and James from the UK were over at Melview Fishing Lodge for the first time. They have been to Ireland many times in the past so know how to fish the waters in Ireland. However, the changing weather conditions did not make the fishing easy for them but there experience and effort paid off producing a few enjoyable days for them. Prebaiting their venues the night before produced lots of hybrids, roach and rudd.
Nice tench for Richard
The bream did start to feed in the end along with some bonus tench. Richard and James got there in the end even though the bream didn’t show in their normal numbers. Thanks guys and hope to see you again soon!
Kevin has over 30 years experience of fishing in Ireland and is happy to offer a guided tour on your arrival, and to advise where the on-form waters in the area are. We can arrange your bait order so it’s here when you arrive. Melview offers free use of 17ft lake boats with engines to our guests (pay fuel only) and Kevin is happy to assist with any pre-baiting requests. Maps and other information regarding fishing are also available.
Jean-Pierre along with son Nick and friend Alain who are regular anglers to Melview Fishing Lodge were here once again for a spot of coarse and pike fishing. J.P concentrated on the pike fishing while Nick and Alain coarse fished. It started with some preparation of swims for Nick and Alain along with some prebaiting while some big bream were rolling on top of the water in the calm conditions.
The following day produced lots of hybrids and big roach but the bream seemed to be put off by the hot and bright conditions, and because of all the activity from catching the hybrids and roach the pike moved in to make it less likely for the big bream to feed.
J.P. with one of his pike
However, Jean-Pierre took advantage of this catching some nice pike from the swim. Fishing a couple of other venues seemed to be the same but did produce a few bream and a nice tench for Nick and some more pike for J.P. Strill some great fishing considering the weather. Nick and Alain have already made plans to return in October. Thanks guys!
Kevin has over 30 years experience of fishing in Ireland and is happy to offer a guided tour on your arrival, and to advise where the on-form waters in the area are. We can arrange your bait order so it’s here when you arrive. Melview offers free use of 17ft lake boats with engines to our guests (pay fuel only) and Kevin is happy to assist with any pre-baiting requests. Maps and other information regarding fishing are also available.
Only 40 salmon were reported caught in the Moy catchment for the last week. Water levels were extremely low and water temperatures were rising to critical levels as well. Water levels at Ballylahan Bridge on Monday morning were recorded at 0.267m and dropping slowly through the week to 0.192m by Sunday night. As a consequence, some fisheries (including the Moy Fishery and Cloongee) stopped angling temporarily due to high water temperatures.
However, we received a great video from Randy Lewis when he visited the Moy Fishery earlier this year in May. Randy runs a number of social media channels (RANDADDY’S “A Real Taste of Adventure”) and his River Moy Salmon Fishing Experience can be watched here.
Randy getting expert advice from Fisheries Officer Philip Thornton
The Moy Fishery recorded one salmon for the week caught on a Cascade variant.
Jonathan Smith with the last fish from the Moy Fishery before it closed temporarily on Friday 12th due to high water temperatures
Ballina Salmon Anglers reported 20 grilse from 2-5 lbs mostly caught on the worm.
Mount Falcon Fishery report 2 grilse from its waters for the week.
Coolcronan Fishery had 3 grilse for the week, caught on the prawn and spinning.
Armstrong’s Fishery reported one salmon for the week.
Gannon’s Fishery had 3 salmon for the week, all on the bubble and fly.
The Foxford Fishery reported 3 grilse, all caught on bubble and fly.
Foxford Salmon Anglers reported 2 from their waters in Rinanney stretch.
Cloongee Fishery reported one grilse for the week.
East Mayo Anglers recorded 4 salmon for the week, with 3 released. Three caught on the fly and one on a copper spoon.
