One of many fly-caught pike for Daniel from Dublin
Bodo Funke of Angling Services Ireland reports great flyfishing for pike for his day guest Daniel Konecny from Dublin. No Monsters but good a stream of hard fighting pike all day.
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.
Mature male pink salmon with characteristic humpback and spotted tail (photo credit: Eva Thorstad, NINA)
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI), the state agency responsible for the conservation and protection of freshwater fish and habitats, is issuing an alert for reports of any sightings of Pacific pink salmon.
At the recently held North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) meeting, serious concerns were raised that pink salmon may spread to and establish in rivers throughout the wider Atlantic region. These concerns are raised after an explosive growth in their stocks was observed in northernmost Norwegian rivers in 2021.
In some rivers there, pink salmon now appear to outnumber co-existing native Atlantic salmon stocks despite having persisted at relatively low levels for many decades prior to this. Stocking programmes undertaken in rivers in the adjacent far northwest of Russia since the 1950s until 2001 are believed to be responsible for the initial spread of pink salmon to the region. Since 2017, the fish has been increasingly detected in unprecedented numbers in river systems and coastal areas of the North Atlantic, including Ireland, albeit at relatively low levels here to date.
Also known as humpback salmon, pink salmon are a migratory species of salmon, native to river systems in the northern Pacific Ocean and nearby regions of the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean. Although a single specimen was first recorded in Ireland in 1973, until 2017 individuals have been rarely encountered here. As pink salmon predominantly have a two-year lifecycle, there is potential for the species to reappear in Irish rivers again in 2023 and every second so called ‘odd’ year thereafter. However, they can also turn up in ‘even’ years and a single specimen was reported in the River Suir in 2018.
Members of NASCO, of which Ireland is an active participant under the auspices of the European Union, have now agreed to cooperate to better understand the threats posed to native Atlantic salmon stocks and consider appropriate mitigation measures to address this increasingly concerning issue.
Inland Fisheries Ireland is appealing to anglers to report catches of pink salmon to Inland Fisheries Ireland’s 24-hour confidential hotline number – 0818 34 74 24 or 0818 FISH 24. As these fish die after spawning, some dead specimens could also be encountered along Irish rivers. Anyone who catches a pink salmon is asked to:
Keep the fish and do not release it back into the water (even in rivers only open for catch and release angling)
Record the date & location of capture, and the length and weight of the fish
Report it to any IFI office or via the 24-hour confidential hotline number – 0818 34 74 24 or 0818 FISH 24
Tag the fish and present it to Inland Fisheries Ireland and a new tag will be issued to replace the tag used
Take a photograph of the fish.
Inland Fisheries Ireland will then arrange collection of the fish for further examination. This will help establish the abundance and extent of distribution of the species in Irish waters.
Pink salmon are blue-green to steel blue on the back, with silver sides and a white underbelly. Pink salmon can be distinguished by a number of unique characteristics which are different to Atlantic salmon, notably:
Large black oval spots on the tail
11-19 rays on the anal fin
Very small scales– much smaller than a similarly-sized Atlantic Salmon
No dark spots on the gill cover
Upper jaw typically extending beyond the eye
Males develop a pronounced humpback on entering freshwater
Boats departing Gortnorabbey harbour on Saturday 4th June. (Drone footage courtesy of Aoife Walsh, Cloghans)
Kevin O’Boyle reports from Loughs Conn & Cullin…
There were favourable conditions on the lakes for most of the week until the weekend when some bright and warm sunshine made the fishing more difficult. Overall the lakes are not fishing well, with little or no fly life hatching. Shallow bays are still fishing better than deeper water. Best flies over the week included, dry Mayfly patterns, Mayfly nymphs, dry Olives, Bumbles, Dabblers,Wolffs and Olive emergers.
A few parties fished out of Murphy’s Boat Hire in Massbrook over the week with some reasonable trout fishing. While most anglers encountered a lot of small and undersized fish, still a few keepable fish were reported caught.
A party of 4 anglers from Kildare fished Lough Conn over the June Bank Holiday weekend going out from Murphy’sBoat Hire and despite tough conditions they managed to catch a number of trout including a nice 16 inch fish for group member Dermot Preston. Dermot’s trout took a wet mayfly attractor.
Dermot Preston with a nice Lough Conn brownie
A group of 6 anglers from Wicklow, averaged 3 keepable trout each over 3 days,on Lough Conn. All these fish were released.
Bob Alias and 5 friends from Manchester had some good fishing at Coleman Shallows and averaged 3 trout each, best fish was 1.5 lbs, all caught on Mayfly patterns.
Jim Martin and Gary Piggott from Belfast, along with Dave Norton and Dave Cawley from Dublin reported a lot of small fish to the boat. All fish were released including some trout for around 1.25 lbs.
In North Conn, Stephen Byrne and Andrew Black from Dublin had some good fishing along the islands near Castle Island, with a good few fish to the boat, best weighing 1.5 lbs.
Lough Conn and Cullin Anglers held their annual Whit Weekend trout fly fishing competition for the Tolan Traynor Cup. 92 anglers fished over 2 sunny days. 14 trout were weighed in the first day and 13 trout for the second day. A 13 inch limit was applied. Mr. Padraig Traynor was the overall winner with 2 trout caught in Kents Pool, on a Mayfly Emerger for just over 3.5 lbs. Padraig won a Sheelin Boat for his efforts. Second place went to John O’ Neill with 2 fish and third place was claimed by Micheal O’ Toole with 2 fish. There were numerous other prize winners.
Padraig Traynor with a trout just over 2.5 lbs, caught on a Mayfly Emerger in Kents Pool, helping him to win the boat and heaviest fish prize in the Lough Conn and Cullin Anglers Whit Weekend Competition
Elsewhere, Simon Leonard from Ballina, had 2 nice trout, fishing along Kents Pool and Inishlea Point.
A party of Polish anglers had a few trout and some perch while fishing Tolans Bay and Longford Bay on dry Olives one evening.
Regulars Peter Roche and Gary Binley reported some fish caught in Cloghans Bay and outside mostly caught on Green Wulffs. The best fish to the boat weighed 1.5 lbs and all fish were released.
Reports from Lough Conn say that 10 salmon (grilse) were caught, 7 trolling spoons and 3 on the fly, 2 of these released.
Mark Gannon from Courtmacsherry Angling reports that there was good charter fishing last week while the winds allowed.
His anglers had plenty of spurdogs to specimen size, good sized pollack, cod, coalfish and common skate.
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A skate is tagged and ready for release
Pollack
Specimen spurdog were a welcome catch
Go Fishing
Lady Louise
Aquastar 38′. 370 HP Caterpillar Skipper: Mark Gannon Licence: 818 Base: Courtmacsherry Operational Area: 30 miles out from Courtmacsherry
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.
Maura Hughes of Church View Guest House in Belturbet tells us there were some good catches of tench over the last week. On one day Lee from the UK had over 100lbs of tench all caught and released.
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Steve with a nice bream
Lee with one of his Tench
Big tench
And it’s not just the coarse fish that are biting. French anglers have had some really big pike too.
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Bruno with over 1metre long pike
Greg from France with a nice pike
Church View Guest House
It’s a great time to book your stay at Church View Guest House in Belturbet.
Pre booking for fishing Guide is essential as he’s extremely busy
Boats hire available
Local bait farm
Rods and Reels for purchase or hire locally.
Fishing equipment storage tackle shed & walk in cold room
Bait available 7 days a week must be pre booked.
Fishing tackle shop local with lures and dead bait available.
Well known Father and Son combination, Adrian Browne and Youth International, John Browne recently won the NCFFI Commercial Pairs Championships fished at Oaklands.
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John and Adrain Browne
Carp
John and Adrain Browne
A good bag of carp
Commercial Championships
Congratulations to all the winners who received trophies and tackle prizes from Garbolino UK and Gown & Bradshaw.
The awesome Oaklands lake is a unique fishery accessible to all and hosting many events and novice angling days.
Upcoming events
South East Classic
The New South East Classic is fast approaching (June 25th, 26th, 27th). 3 different fishing venues, many different fishing methods.
St Mullins ( Tidal River)
Ballyshunnock ( Natural Reservoir)
Oakland’s ( Commercial Fishery )
Places still available if anyone is interested; € 90 enter per angler.
Cash & tackle prizes.
Sponsored by Browning and Wexford County Council.
For further details contact
Michael 0871206160
Adrian 0877811042.
NCFFI METHOD FEEDER CHAMPIONSHIPS
NEXT UP is the NCFFI METHOD FEEDER CHAMPIONSHIPS on 28th of August. Due to its popularity, it will now be necessary to qualify for a place, and is now served by two qualifiers to be held on Gaulmoylestown on 25th June and Oaklands on 16th July.
Oakland’s Coarse Angling Club is open to new members. The club based in Co. Wexford welcomes senior, ladies and junior members to league and open matches throughout the year fished on a variety of venues.
The club is centred around it’s own water, the magnificent Oaklands lake at New Ross; the 4.5 acre lake stocked with carp, tench, bream and rudd has great facilities including 60 stands which are all wheelchair friendly. This superb facility plays and important role in the introduction to angling for newcomers. Popular events include the NCFFI All-Ireland Commercial Pairs and the Dunbrody Festival.
Recently announced is the Oaklands Sensas Summer League offering fabulous cash
Cian O’Boyle about to release a salmon (approx. 8 lbs) on the Ridge Pool
Kevin O’Boyle reports from the River Moy…
River Moy Angling Report w/e 05/06/2022
190 salmon were reported caught for the week in the Moy catchment of which 180 were caught on the River Moy itself. Water levels recorded at Ballylahan Bridge were 0.336m on the Monday morning and after some showers during the week, rose to 0.375m and levelled back again during the week to 0.304m by Sunday night. Water temperatures ranged from 10.2˚Celsius to 10.5 ˚Celsius throughout the system.
The Moy Fishery recorded 18 salmon caught for the week of which 14 were caught in the Ridge Pool, 3 in the Cathedral Beat and 1 in the Weir Pool.
Cian O’Boyle about to release his second salmon caught on the Ridge Pool on 2nd June
Mount Falcon Fishery recorded 2 fish from its waters.
Coolcronan Fishery had 2 salmon, 1 caught spinning and 1 caught on the worm.
Armstrong’s Fishery reported 9 grilse caught, 7 on the prawn and 2 on the worm.
Gannon’s Fishery reported 2 salmon, 1 for 10 lbs on the worm and 1 for 16.5 lbs on the shrimp.
The Foxford Fishery reported 38 salmon for the week, the best fish weighing 13.5 lbs, caught by Paul O’ Malley from Navan, on bubble and fly.
Foxford Salmon Anglers reported 37 salmon caught for the week, the best weighing 14 lbs caught on a spoon.
At least 6 salmon were reported caught in Foxford town water. Michael Tiernan had a fish for 4 lbs on a fly.
Cloongee Fishery reported 9 salmon caught, 1 released. Most fish were caught spinning and on bubble and fly.
East Mayo Anglers recorded 35 salmon for the week, with 9 of these released. Lothar Deeg from Germany had two fish for 15 lbs and 12.5 lbs, both caught on the fly.
A reminder that permits are now available online for the Cloongee Fishery & Ballyvary Fishery. They can be purchased at the addresses below:
Dan O’Neill, fishery manager at Mount Juliet, reports from the River Nore…
With a promised few days of sunshine, I was hoping to bring clients dry fly fishing around evening time last weekend
The weather in the area was slightly inaccurate so I spent most of my time on the river peaking through the hood of my trusty wading jacket. I started wet fly and moved onto dry dropper eventually. There was no real steady rise, just an occasional fish that broke the surface as something caught its eye,
During the middle of last week heading towards the weekend the fish were feeding later in the evening which slowed them down during the daytime.
Spider patterns worked well early morning and just as the fish were beginning to start there evening feed. For nymphs I was using an olive nymph with a dark tungsten bead, I did use a hares ear for a short while and managed to pick up a few trout also.
Water Level and Temperature at time of fishing Water Level .32 cm
Water Temp 15°C
Guided fishing
Taking bookings now for guided trips on the River Nore. Anyone wishing to practice a particular technique for trout or learn more about leader setups etc. Full and Half days available, contact me for more information.
Dan O’Neill Mount Juliet
Go Fishing
Mount Juliet has trout and salmon fishing available on site over 2.5 miles of the river Nore. Classes also available for every skill level – learn or improve on your chosen technique. coarse fish ponds also available on the hotel grounds.
Dan O’Neill, Fishery Manager, Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Ireland
The river Nore is a beautiful river that meanders it way through counties Laois and Kilkenny before joining with its sister river the Barrow just upstream of New Ross on its way to the sea. For further information on the Nore please visit:
Inland Fisheries Ireland, the state agency responsible for the protection and conservation of freshwater fish and habitats, is investigating a serious fish kill incident at the River Rye Water in Leixlip, County Kildare. Environmental and Fisheries Officers from the Eastern River Basin District in Dublin were alerted to the incident on the evening of Wednesday, June 8th. Water and fish samples were taken from the scene and removed for scientific analysis at an independent laboratory. Inland Fisheries Ireland estimates that there could be in excess of 500 mortalities of Brown trout plus other fish species in the impacted 2km (approximately) of river.
Fish kill on the River Rye
Investigations are ongoing and Inland Fisheries Ireland is not in a position to comment on the cause of the fish kill at this stage, pending further analysis of samples taken. The River Rye Water is an important spawning river for Brown trout and a key spawning channel for a highly sensitive population of Atlantic salmon within the River Liffey catchment area.
To report fish kills, members of the public are encouraged to call Inland Fisheries Ireland’s confidential hotline number on 0818 34 74 24, which is open 24 hours a day.
Following co-operation between a number of bodies, it is planned to carry out 7.5km of river habitat restoration works in the Lough Ennell Catchment this summer. The driving force behind these efforts is the Lough Ennell Trout Preservation Association.
Inland Fisheries Ireland, Westmeath County Council, The Local Authorities Water Programme and the Office of Public Works have also contributed to these projects on the Tudenham, Kilpatrick and Dysert streams.
In a further effort to rally stakeholders to the cause of the management of the catchment, The Lough Ennell Trout Preservation Association are holding a Catchment Management Workshop in Mullingar on the 13th of June.
