Jim Clohessy had a couple of trips out in Cork Harbour recently. First up was a sharking day which was mad difficult by the lack of mackerel. After searching all the usual holding areas and landing only one mackerel they had to make do with that. Still they put it to good use and managed to get a blue, and then moved on to fish the reefs for pollack.
The solitary mackerel was put to good use!
Later in the week he was back at it, this time focusing on the pollack. He headed for a reef that he hadn’t fished before and when the fish finder showed a ball of fish on the reef, in went the lures. It wasn’t long before some fat pollack were coming up from the deeps…
The NCFFI report that the second and final round of qualifiers for the All Ireland Method Feeder Championship took place on Oaklands Lake last weekend. Conditions were not ideal due to rising temperatures, but the fishing was good and fish safety paramount. The match was won by Donatas Zemaitis with 32.050kg from peg 28. On the next peg was runner-up Aidas Zilinkas with 26.430, and in third place was Youth International John Browne with 26.020kg. Well done to all who took part and to Adrian Browne and Oaklands lake for facilitating the event.
24 anglers from the two qualifiers will fish for the championship on 28th August. Well done to all.
Kit Dunne has been having some fantastic fishing despite some engine trouble down in Wicklow. His boat Castle Maiden developed a turbo problem, meaning he had to send his anglers down to Kilmore Quay for a day while he borrowed another boat for a few days. His clients weren’t badly affected, though and they had good wreck fishing for pollock to 9lb and specimen tope.
One of many fine pollock for the ‘Euro Crew’
Once the turbo issue was sorted, normal service was resumed, Kit was back at it again on the Castle Maiden fishing some spring tides and the usual hauls of huss, hounds and tope with a good few to specimen size.
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.
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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.
If you’ve read Kingsmill Moore’s A Man May Fish you’ll get some idea of just how magical and plentiful the sea trout fishing in Connemara once was.
So for this latest episode of Ireland on the Fly, Daire and Tom wanted to find out more about that time, what made it so special and just why it all collapsed so dramatically in the late 1980s and they spoke to Joe Creane, a lifelong Connemara fly fisherman who is now a guide on Lough Inagh.
Don’t forget to rate, review and follow the Ireland on the Fly podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts from. Plus you can keep up to date on IrelandontheFly.com as well as on Instagram.com/IrelandontheFly.”
This update from the Lough Muckno festival organisers:
Sunday sees the 4th Qualifier of the Irish Feedermasters at Lough Muckno and with the Roach now showing it promises to be a very competitive and enjoyable affair.
Please note that a section is being separately reserved for travelling anglers from the UK participating in the July Festival.
Registration and Draw Old Coach Inn at 8.30am concluding at 9am.
Monday kicks off the first of five days on the July Festival which promises to be a brilliant fish catching event. Registration Monday morning at 8.30 am Old Coach Inn and draw at 9am.
Due to changes in Health and safety protocols on some sections we have to adhere to some minor adjustments surrounding, signage, entry, traffic coordination and speed etc.
Hence fishing on day one will be 12pm to 5pm with an option (competitors choice) to revert to 11.30 to 4.30 on the following days.
Van draw available
Pegging will be on an Alternate peg basis (one in one out)
***The NCFFI regret to announce that due to a number of our committee members currently with Covid we are unable to facilitate the championships this Sunday. A new date will be announced in due course***
We apologise for the disappointment and inconvenience this may cause. We will be in contact with those booked in individually.
Running for over 60 years, the All Ireland Championship is the flagship coarse angling event on the island of Ireland.
This year’s event will once again be played out on the lakes and rivers of the Shannon-Erne Waterway in and around Ballinamore in County Leitrim. The event, dependent on entries, will feature a section for our female anglers so they may get together on the bank to fish for the Women’s Cup.
A van draw will be available and also a draw for those with genuine mobility issues notified at the time of booking who may wish to avail of parking-behind-your-peg venues at Lough Garadice.
Tickets are available in advance on-line only at www.ncffi.ie/all-ireland22. Ticket prices include a €5 administration fee.
Please meet at the Courtyard beside Shortt’s Heritage Bar on the main street in Ballinamore for registration from 8am. The draw will take place at 9am, with fishing from 12 to 5pm. A presentation will take place after the match.
West Cork Fisher, Jeremy Smith, had some great fishing on the gilthead bream recently with 5 fish landed and 2 lost in a quick half hour of reel emptying action. Using a baitrunner set to very light, at one stage whilst playing a nice 4lb fish, his other rod got whacked over. Unfortunately, he did not get to it in time and the rod fell to the floor… fish gone… Jeremy was using a size 1 hook..running ledger..all things small and dark so as not to spook them.
David Norman of West Cork Bass had a great kayak trip recently with Neill McCay from NI. Plans changed a good few times due to a changing forecast, but they found a weather window, pushed the button and got it done in style with a first Bass for Neill (Explosive topwater take) along with a few more with a bigger fish lost at the net…
Dave Edwards of West Cork Charters reports on the recent fishing onboard his boat the Silver Dawn:
The last two weeks have seen a mix of distant wreck and shark fishing, and the last four days we have had families out amongst the fish. Henry O’Flynn caught some fine Pollack out with his parents, and Katie and James Lynn got amongst the shark with their dad Sean.
Henry and mum with fine Pollack
Our best fish this week was undoubtedly Conor Ward’s 130lb + specimen Blue was the stand-out fish, with brother Sean and dad Nick also getting amongst the shark.
Sean and dad Nick with Sean’s first sharkConor Ward’s Specimen BlueFine sized LingAnother good one
Go fishing…
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.
Just as most of us were giving up hope, the cloud, cold and wind all departed for more northerly climes last week, leaving Ireland basking in mostly warm, dry and sunny weather for a prolonged period. This is the first spell of settled weather we have had all summer, and it looks set to continue with temperatures forecast to rise over the weekend and into next week.
Settled weather systems are a boon to the charter fleet & small boat operators, as the calmer conditions allow them to get out to sea more often, and to travel further afield to less fished marks. The influence of this settled spell can be seen in the sharp pick-up in reports of good fishing from all around our shores, so it’s no surprise they make the bulk of this week’s update.
Further again up the west coast, Newport SAC were delighted to host the 2022 National Junior Competition / Daniel Peacock Memorial on Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd of July. A total of 33 junior anglers competed for the trophy, and judging by the smiles in the photos, all had a super time on the water. Coming out on top, with a total of 37 fish which earned her 185 points was local angler, Holly McGee. Congratulations to all who took part, and we hope to see you feature in these pages again as you continue your angling journey. And to mark Holly’s great achievement, she wins this week’s Catch of the Week award.
To wrap up the sea angling report, there was some great news last week as the Irish team pulled off a brilliant win in the Home Nations Shore Championships held in Weymouth. It’s always difficult to win on foreign soil as the local knowledge of the home team usually helps them prevail. But in a hard-fought and tight competition, the Irish lads just pipped the English team to the title. The junior team went pretty close too, making it a great weekends work for the Irish.
The Irish Senior Men’s Team with the Home Nations trophy
The bright sunny weather that can work wonders for sea angling generally has the opposite effect on fishing in freshwater, as fish shy away from the intense light and become more lethargic due to lower oxygen levels. Anglers fishing over the coming days should bear that in mind, as all fish will be that bit more vulnerable during the hot weather we are promised. Coarse anglers, in particular, should consider whether they need to use a keepnet, as a lot of fish crowded together can mean some fish will struggle to survive. Anglers, too, should take care under a hot sun, and I’ve seen plenty of red faces and farmers’ tans in photos of anglers who were out in the sunny spell last week…
So, to coarse angling, and anglers up in Belturbet were doing some reconnaissance fishing ahead of their festival later in the year. They were looking for new venues and decided to try an old spot that had not been used in years. Well, the fallow period seems to have worked wonders as they hit into some impressive bream fishing, with one angler, Roger Baker, landing 9 bream for 45lb in addition to plenty of roach and hybrids.
Trout fishing tends to be tough in bright hot weather, particularly if fishing on the loughs. However, anglers venturing out on Lough Conn last week were pleasantly surprised to find the trout quite active. There were smatterings of mayfly hatching off, and the trout responded well, and any angler that ventured out reported good fishing.
Paul Caslin released this good trout outside Gallaghers Bay, Lough Conn, caught on an Invicta.
Friday afternoon will see sunny spells with temperatures between 18°C and 24°C. It will remain dry overnight and into Saturday, with temperatures rising to 26°C in places during the day. Sunday will be very warm and dry, with temperatures reaching the high twenties in places, and it will remain warm on Sunday night and into Monday, where temperatures could reach 30°C. Tuesday will begin in the same fashion, but the weather will break during the day as heavy thunder showers spread northwards during the day.
