Frank Maunsell reports from the Owenmore Fishery in Kerry, where perfect water has seen some great fishing:
4th August 2022
We had some terrific fishing at the start of the week. We had a good number of grisle and seatrout caught and released. Even though the water level is a perfect height things started to slow down yesterday. Fish were still taking but we’re only holding on to the fly for a short while and letting it go. The water level will still be high enough for fishing tomorrow but with high pressure forecast for the weekend and fine weather for the rest of the week that will curb the fishing until we get the next rain.
Map showing Great Western Lakes included in public consultation process
Plan covers Lough Corrib, Lough Mask, Lough Carra, Lough Conn, Lough Cullin, Lough Arrow, and Lough Sheelin.
A public consultation on the long-term management of the Great Western Lakes has gotten underway this week and Inland Fisheries Ireland is urging the public, especially the angling community, to make a submission.
Covering Lough Corrib, Lough Mask, Lough Carra, Lough Conn, Lough Cullin,Lough Arrow and Lough Sheelin, the draft plan aims to address some of the many factors that impact on the ecological wellbeing and status of native fish stocks.
The draft plan is available from the Inland Fisheries Ireland website at www.fisheriesireland.ie/westernlakesplan or by visiting Inland Fisheries Ireland’s offices in Galway, Ballina or Limerick. The deadline for making a submission is 5pm on Tuesday, September 20th and those wishing to make a submission are being encouraged to use the online questionnaire which will guide them through the headings of the plan. Unfortunately, any submissions received after the deadline has passed cannot be considered.
During the consultation period, a series of open evenings will take place where members of the public can discuss, seek clarification and ask questions on the draft plan with Inland Fisheries Ireland representatives.
Last week we brought you news of the Irish U20s team, who IFI are proud to have sponsored to participate in the Coarse Angling Youth World Championships in Slovenia. Well this week we are privileged to be able to bring you the news that our very own Charlie Richards came out on top of all of the competing anglers to win the individual Gold Medal! This report from the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland who organise and support Irish teams competing in FIPsed angling championships:
Young angler Charlie Richards returned home from Slovenia yesterday a World Champion in coarse fishing sport.
Team Ireland travelled to the River Sava in Slovenia to fish against youth anglers from 14 world nations. The Under 20 team consisting of seasoned juniors Rhys Walsh and John Browne along with Charlie also included two young anglers Brian Clarke and Donagh McSherry making their first appearance on the international circuit.
Team Ireland 22. Front: Coach James O’Doherty, Rhys Walsh, John Browne. Rear: Nick Richards (parent of Charlie), Donagh McSherry, Brian Clarke, Charlie Richards
The team did well during the practice week catching the bonus fish required to fish against those teams experienced in catching small fish, mainly bleak with small vimba and chub. Yet it was Charlie who during the competition weekend was able to hold his own in the small fish race, netting small carp of 70 to 90g the equivalent to 10-12 bleak. Third in his section on day one Charlie finished first in section with 6kg 48g on day two to finishing with 8kg 512g. This helped to stretch his advantage as he finished an equal 4 points with England’s Callum Jennings 7kg 791g and Slovenian Kemen Rožič Šoštar securing the gold medal on weight.
World Champ Charlie
The 17-year-old from County Leitrim first made his debut on the world stage with the Under 15 squad at the Youth World Championships in Inniscarra in 2017, and has now made history for Irish coarse angling as the first youth medalist.
Team Ireland ranked 12th at the 35th World Coarse Angling Championships for the Under 20’s organised by the world freshwater sport fishing body, FIPSed Fédération Internationale de la Pêche Sportive en Eau Douce. The squad led by Manager Gavin Walsh was supported by coach James O’Doherty and the parents of those participating were assisted with funding from the federation and Inland Fisheries Ireland, with their groundbait sponsored by Sensas.
Charlie takes the plunge to celebrate his success
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The NCFFI’s Youth Team Manager Gavin Walsh who previously led a junior squad to a gold medal team win at the Celtic Cup in 2011, says: – ‘I am extremely proud of all the team and delighted to see the passion and hard work from Charlie come good for him as an individual. I hope this gold medal will revitalise the dreams and ambitions of young anglers across the island and keep coarse angling sport relevant’.
The Gold Medal
The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland, NCFFI is a not for profit, non-funded NGB has represented coarse and predator angling across the island since 1963. The federation presents up to nine teams on the world stage annually and supporting coarse and predator at home has hosted six world championships since 2013, including the World Youth Angling Championships of 2017 on Inniscarra Lake in County Cork.
The fourth and final draw of 2022 took place earlier today (August 8th 2022) to issue the remaining 38 brown tags for salmon angling on the Lower River Lee.
The measures are included in the Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (Amendment) Regulations, signed into law by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, T.D.
Under brown tag regulations, an angler who wishes to ‘harvest’ a wild salmon, i.e. to take or keep it, must attach a brown tag as well as a standard blue tag to the fish.
Thank you to everyone who entered the draws throughout the year.
Those entrants with a winning number will receive their brown tag in the post from Inland Fisheries Ireland in the coming days. The winning numbers were as follows:
401
403
406
408
409
414
416
422
430
438
439
441
442
443
445
446
449
452
453
454
457
459
463
464
471
474
475
477
479
480
481
486
489
490
493
498
499
502
In addition, 5 reserve numbers were selected, in case the offer of a brown tag is not taken up by those with a ‘winning’ number on the original list of 38.
Reserve 1. 503
Reserve 2. 505
Reserve 3. 507
Reserve 4. 508
Reserve 5. 511
Salmon Anglers – Lower River Lee, No. 5 or Cork District: Brown Tags Required
Salmon anglers not in possession of a Brown Tag must fish using Catch and Release methods i.e., single or double barbless hooks. Use of worms is not permitted. A Salmon cannot be taken unless the angler is in possession of a Brown Tag. If a Salmon is taken both a Blue and Brown Tag must be affixed to the fish. Failure to do so may result in penalties. Catch details must be recorded on the Anglers Logbook promptly.
A wise angler once told me that this might be one of the coolest summers we ever have, and looking back at the month that’s gone, July was warm and dry, with temperatures above average everywhere and rainfall below average everywhere. Record maximum temperatures for any month since records began were clocked at no less than nine official weather stations around the country – with the Phoenix Park recording a temperature of 33.0°C on Monday, July 18th (the station’s highest daily maximum temperature ever recorded from records going back to 1881).
Having said all of that, sunshine totals were lower than their long term averages nearly everywhere and winds were not particularly strong, with no gales or storms recorded at all during the month. Light winds mixed with warm, dull, dry weather sound like the perfect conditions for chartering a boat to tackle some of the saltwater species around our shores, and that is where we start this week, as the CHART bluefin tuna fleet tagged several monsters in the interest of scientific research. After a couple of boats recorded their first fish on or around July 26th in Donegal Bay, the rest of the boats in the area got in on the act and fish have been coming thick and fast ever since. Some fish have also been sighted off the south coast, so hopefully it won’t be long before the rest of the CHART fleet can get some action.
All smiles aboard Leah-C
Other charter boats have been doing well targeting mixed species, with Sioux getting good results on the hunt for ling and conger in Kerry, blue shark fighting hard in West Cork and hounds, huss and tope making up the numbers in Wicklow. Also in Wicklow, Greystones Ridge AC are calling all tope anglers to participate in their Monster Tope Festival on August 20th and 21st. It’s a mix of tope fishing with prizes for other species too (ray, bull huss, lesser spotted dogfish, spurdog and smooth hound), and there are great prizes on offer – contact [email protected] for more info. Speaking of species mixes, the Killybegs Mariners’ species hunt continues and club members have caught all creatures great and small from shore and boat there this week.
There was a drop of rain during the week that gave some rivers in the west and north a badly needed top-up, but in the east and south rivers remain low and, in some cases, quite overgrown with weeds and reeds – a topic of discussion on the Ireland on the Fly Podcast where River Suir Angler George McGrath chats with Ken Whelan, Daire, and Tom on the subject.
Joy unconfined for Michelle – our Catch of the Week!
The coarse angling festival calendar continues and we have results from both the Clones Angling Festival and the Lough Muckno July Festival, which unfortunately had to be fished with a much reduced field of anglers. In Fermanagh, a couple of pleasure anglers, Niall and Michelle, who were fishing for roach and perch got quite a surprise when they managed to land a tench or two from a local lake that they didn’t know contained tench! Michelle wins our Catch of the Week for the joy on her face at such a surprise! Further afield again, we wish the Irish U20 coarse fishing team the best of luck as they compete in the FIPSed Coarse Angling for Youth World Championship which is taking place on the River Sava in Slovenia.
Good luck to the Irish team competing on Slovenia
In other news…
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.
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.
Anyone with an interest in this project and all stakeholders are invited to come along. To find out more about the project or to register for the Public Information Meeting on August 23rd, please visit www.fisheriesireland.ie/annacotty
And now the weather…
Lowest temperatures of 6°C to 10°C overnight on Friday, some pockets of mist and fog will develop as winds fall light and variable.
Saturday morning will be dry and sunny in the south and east but drizzly in Connacht and Ulster, spreading to all parts. Drier again by evening with sunny spells. Highs 16°C to 21°C, warmest in the southeast in light westerly winds. Mostly dry overnight with clear spells, but patchy drizzle near northwest coasts. Lows of 9°C to 14°C, with a few mist and fog patches in a light westerly variable breeze.
Mostly dry with sunny spells and the odd shower on Sunday, highs of 17°C to 21°C in light breezes. Dry overnight with clear skies, lows of 9°C to 14°C. Warmer on Monday and Tuesday of next week, highs of 18°C to 23°C.
The species hunt is going very well with the Mariners out on the shore over the weekend and a few new species to add. Two new species for Cormac Walsh bringing his total to 47 for the year with a Portuguese or red blenny along with a rock cook or small mouth wrasse. Also a new record length tompot, cuckoo and red blenny. Gavin Dorrian also had a new record bluefin tuna (boat) and Sean Harte had plenty of species also added in along with a new porbeagle shark (boat) record and a boat record whiting of 38cm for Pat Cunningham.
The hounds are also in!!! Well done to David Mathhews, Sean Harte and John Higgins on getting the clubs first hounds of the year on Donegal Bay from the shore. Smooth-hounds to over 90cm setting the mark. A nice species to get around here!
Sean Harte with a smooth-hound
Mariners sea angling club Killybegs Co Donegal. The club runs a shore league and boat competitions and angling trips around Ireland doing the sport we love. Get in touch at www.facebook.com/mariner.sac
Skippers from the CHART Tuna fleet have followed up last week’s firsts of 2022 with some more solid tuna fishing this week. Reports are that Donegal bay is alive with bluefin, not to mention humpback and minke whales, dolphins, all manner of diving birds and masses of shearwaters.
Alongside Kiwi Girl
Kiwi Girl and Deep Blue kept their momentum up, with fish of up to 500lb landed, tagged and released for Deep Blue and good numbers of fish instead of big ones for Kiwi Girl. Declan Kilgannon, skipper of Kiwi Girl, was surprised at the numbers of fish he saw – hopefully something that bodes well for the season ahead. Adrian Molloy aboard Deep Blue thought that some of the fish he encountered looked a bit lean – something he expects to change now that the fish are in the rich feeding grounds off the Irish west coast.
A tuna.ie fish
Tuna Mick aboard the Leah-C managed four fish on his first tuna trip of 2022; the captured fish ranging from an estimated 320lb to 420lb.
All smiles aboard Leah-C
Sligo Boat Charters took advantage of a window of opportunity to chase some tuna too, their crew nabbed the first of 2022 for the Sarah Marie – a fine fish estimated to be around 350lb.
One for Ewing’s
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.
Siegy Grabher, skipper of Siouxout of Valentia Island reports some great fishing around the Skelligs and Valentia Island in the past week for his German guests from Wolfsburg.
The anglers targeted pollack on lures around the Skelligs early in the week landing some really good sized fish in spectacular surroundings. They then went after big ling and conger towards the end of the week and they weren’t disappointed, catching some real beasts.
Ling and conger
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Go fishing…
Sioux
The charter boat “Sioux” is an Offshore 105 equipped with a 300 hp Ford Sabre Turbo Diesel engine. The season for most species is from April to the end of September; cod, pollock, ling, coalfish, whiting, haddock, mackerel, garfish, pouting, plaice, ballan wrasse, cuckoo wrasse, grey and red gurnard, seabass, mullet, skate, ray-thornback, conger eel, dogfish, bullhuss and blueshark (July – September)
There have been some very big tope caught off Greystones in recent weeks, so it’s definitely a venue that’s on fire at the moment. So what better time to have a crack at them than this August 20th & 21st, when Greystones Ridge Angling Club will be hosting their Monster Tope Festival. It’s a mix of tope fishing and other animal species (ray, bull huss, lesser spotted dogfish, spurdog and smooth hound), and there are great prizes on offer. They have extended the closing date for entries, so any interested anglers should get in touch.
Wicklow Boat Charters clients have been getting the best of both worlds recently as both the inshore and offshore fishing has been exceptional. Inshore has seen some great ground fishing for hounds, huss and tope.
Specimen sized HoundSuper Huss
Meanwhile, 30Nm offshore, the wrecks are fishing very well with plenty of pollack to 9lb caught on lures.
Super pollock from a wreck
Go Fishing
Angling Charters are offered on a full-day, half-day and evening trip basis and can be tailored to suit your needs. Two boats are available – Lisin and Castle Maiden. All levels of anglers are catered for. Anglers will benefit from your skipper’s angling experience and local knowledge with advice and guidance on-hand at all times.
SPECIALIST ANGLING CHARTERS
Specialist Angling Charters are offered for those who wish to target specific species, specimen fish or try new angling methods.
ANGLING COACHING
Whether you’re a Club, Individual, School or Junior, you can have an angling coaching session or programme tailored to suit your needs.
