Top sport afloat off the west Clare coast

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May 4, 2022

West Clare has been fishing well again this week, with two local charter boats producing great sport for their guests.

Clare Dragoon

Skipper Luke Aston has been back on the water after a big engine refit, with the Clare Dragoon firing on all cylinders again. Mackerel have been showing up off Loop Head, providing welcome bait, with good pollack fishing on the drift. Fishing was slow at anchor, but a thornback ray and a big tub gurnard were welcome.

On Sunday they had a fine catch of coalies, with some big pollack among them when they got a chance at the bait. Baitfish aplenty in the water were providing food for thousands of guillemots and fulmars – an amazing sight!

Light winds on Monday meant a slower drift, but they had some fine ling and big wrasse, as well as pollack and coalfish.

Lady Gwen II

Skipper Sean Maguire has also been out and enjoying great sport. Excellent pollack fishing, with lots of coalies, wrasse and some cod.

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: lukeaston@eircom.net Web: www.fishandstay.com

Lady Gwen II

Fishing Adventures on Séan Maguire’s Lady Gwen II, a Lochin 33 M265Ti Perkins charterboat which operates 15 miles from Kilbaha, Carrigaholt, and Kilrush.

Whether you want to go to the Atlantic Ocean for a large selection of species, including different types of shark, or fish the estuary for ray conger tope etc, Fishing Adventures will cater for whatever fishing you desire.
Telephone: +353 (0) 877508758 or +353 (0) 894431182
Email: fishadven@gmail.com Web: www.fishingadventures.ie

More great fishing in Galway Bay

By

Kevin Crowley

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May 4, 2022

Brazen Hussy Coalie May 2 2022 — Coalfish

The good pollack fishing continues in Galway Bay. Guests of John Fleming enjoyed excellent fishing over the bank holiday weekend, with pollack, coalies and wrasse coming abord the Brazen Hussy in numbers, and some lovely fish among them.

John says he has some availability this coming Sunday, and the following Sunday the boat is free for a full charter, so get booking if you fancy some top sport afloat.

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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

Address: Baile an tSagairt, Spiddal, Co. Galway.
Telephone: +353 (0)87 7571320
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BlueSharkAngling

Blue Shark Angling Galway,
Phone John Fleming : +353 (0)87 7571320

Good spring salmon fishing in Galway

By

Kevin Crowley

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May 4, 2022

It has been a good April on the Galway Fishery, according to James Quinn. Water levels have been suitable for angling, and anglers have been enjoying good sport in the spring weather. The first fish was landed by local angler Fergal Cormican on March 23rd, and followed that up with 2 fish on April 5th, both on fly. One was 11.5lbs and the other 9lbs, one released. Michael Barry also had a 12lbs fish on the same day, also on fly.

On the 12^th Damien Lawless from Dublin had 2 for 8 and 10lbs, one released, both on fly, and Martin Kiely had a fine 14.5lbs fish on fly.

On the 16^th Paul Whelan (Waterford) released a 14lbs fish on fly. Eoin Warner also had an 11.5lbs fish on fly. Check out the lovely video of Paul’s fish going back safely.

On the 20th Sean O’Toole and John McCarthy had fish of 9lbs and 8.5lbs on shrimp. The following day Henry Cosgrove fished the fly and landed a 9.5lbs fish.

On the 22nd Paul Wymes landed a 14.5lbs fish on shrimp, and on the 25th Paddy Murray took a fish of 11lbs on shrimp.

On the 29^th John Ryan (Tipperary) landed a 9.5lbs fish on fly, and the same day Craig Ireland from Northern Ireland had a fine 16.5lbs salmon on shrimp.

Ovwr the period there were 25 fish landed for an average weight of 10.22lbs, with 16 of those fish coming to the fly, a great number no doubt due to the perfect water conditions allowing anglers to wade the river, not always possible in springtime!

Paul Whelan with his lovely 14lbs springer, just before release.

Go Fishing

To enquire about availability, contact the fishery at 091 562388 or email seamus.hartigan@fisheriesireland.ie

Olives wets working well on Nore at weekend

By

Myles Kelly

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May 4, 2022

Dan O’Neill, fishery manager at Mount Juliet, reports on the Nore:

Weather at the weekend was certainly damp to say the least, but full of enthusiasm my clients headed strongly for the river. The river was rising by the time we got there, slowly but surely. I noticed the temperatures peaking a little higher at the weekend and it did show with a lot of surface activity between 12.30 and 2pm.

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Using wet fly and dry fly this weekend we had plenty of trout to the net with some just under a pound making for good fun in the strong current. Olive wet variations worked best and a fly called the “Duck Arsed Dunn” (that I managed to copy whilst having a peak in a very secretive fly box during last week) also did well. An interesting weekend as most are with angling.

Water Level and Temperature at time of fishing
Water Level .42 cm
Water Temp 11.9°C

Fishing classes

Holding introduction to fly fishing classes May and June, 2 people can participate in each class, classes will cover, water safety when fly fishing, handling and releasing fish, wading,wading aids, equipment needed for chosen method, casting , water craft , fly selection.

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

Telephone: +353 85 7652751
Email: oneilld020@gmail.com
Website: https://www.mountjuliet.ie/fishing-on-the-estate.html

General Information

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. The Nore gets a good run of Atlantic salmon and the river which is currently open for angling on a catch and release basis produced 563 salmon in 2015 and 599 salmon in 2016. Salmon fishing is available on a number of stretches including the Mount Juliet Fishery which is located just outside Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, approximately mid-way between Kilkenny City and New Ross.

For further information on the Nore please visit

https://fishinginireland.info/salmon/south/nore.htm

90 pike to over 100cm for French anglers in Cavan

By

Myles Kelly

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May 4, 2022

Maura Hughes of Church View Guest House in Belturbet tells us the last few weeks have been great for Pike Fishing on the River Erne. Maura has had guests staying at Church View Guest House B&B from France, Belgium & Switzerland fishing on the River Erne.

Phillipe Fay from France & a couple of friends caught 90 pike over a few days. There was a couple of pike over 1 metre long. Maura’s anglers are very focused on fish welfare. With the help of Maura’s French fishing guide Bruno Duboul they play the fish fast, land them safely, measure their fish on a board and if it looks heavy weigh it. After that they take a quick photo and return it safely back into the water, all within a minute. They had a great stay and are planning their trip for next year.

Also visiting recently were Dorian and Vanille Renard from Bordeaux. The highlight of their holiday was a super 94cm pike which weighed 17½lb.

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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.

Flexible any day arrival

Airport Transfer can be organised if necessary

Contact Maura Hughes +353499522358

Email: info@churchviewguesthouse.com

Web: churchviewguesthouse.com

Courtmacsherry anglers get good fishing on charterboats and selfdrives

By

Myles Kelly

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May 4, 2022

Mark Gannon from Courtmacsherry Angling reports from Courmacsherry where the small boat and charter fishing have been fishing well…

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Fishing last Saturday, 30th April, we fished in good conditions. Andy Hanley had brought a group down to give the wreck fishing a go. It was a trip worth making and the anglers had good results with 30 plus ling to 22lbs, an unusual catch of a spur dog and some good pollack on the reefs.

The previous day Andy’s group had tried the inshore grounds from the selfdrives and had a great mix of bass, pollack, cod and coalfish. Not a bad way to spend the long weekend!

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.

Address: Woodpoint Guest House, Courtmacsherry, Co. Cork.
Telephone: +353 (0)23 8846427 or +353 (0)86 8250905
Email: csal@iol.ie Web: www.courtmacsherryangling.ie

Salmon and shad in a single day for Barrow angler

By

Myles Kelly

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May 4, 2022

An early morning trip proved to be very productive for Levi Caffrey who had two migratory fish species from the same river system at the weekend.

Levi started out the day by catching and safely releasing a tide fresh male spring run Atlantic salmon of approximately 10lb. Not a man to sit on his laurels he then headed to St. Mullins where he managed to catch some tide fresh female Twaite Shad, which were all safely released.

A nice mornings fishing even with the relentless rain.

Twaite shad are a delicate species and it is no important that anyone who wants to fish for them has the correct gear to ensure they go back safely. Every anglers targeting shad should have a long handled landing net, an unhooking mat and tools like forceps etc. Moving to single barbless hooks also helps.

13 year record broken at Lough Ree International Pike Festival

By

Shane O'Reilly

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May 4, 2022

Around 200 top predator anglers from across Ireland and further afield converged on Lough Ree last week for the annual Lough Ree International Pike Festival. The festival is a three-day event, with teams of two anglers recording their longest pike on each day of the festival, to give a total combined score for the competition. All pike were measured in the boat and returned to the water without delay. Anglers used a range of different methods and fished from boats and engines of all shapes and sizes. It was great to see such an armada of boats heading out from Coosan each morning and the coverage the event got from RTE Radio.

There were plenty of big pike caught, with the top four teams averaging 100cm+ fish every day of the competition. When the final results were tallied, Krzysztof Sibiga & Marcin Gregorczyk came out on top with an impressive combined length of 314.5cm.

World Cup (Longest Pike from each day)

107.00cm + 102.00cm + 105.50cm = 314.50cm

1st 314.50cm – Krzysztof Sibiga & Marcin Gregorczyk – €1200

2nd 304.50cm – Brian Connaughton & Paul Martin – €800

3rd 303.00cm – Lukasz Znamiec & Krzystof Michonski – €500

4th 302.50cm – Tomasz Kurman & Jacek Gorny – €300

5th 298.50cm – Chris Barry & Damien Culliney – €200

But this year’s competition also saw the festival record broken with a fantastic pike boated by Danny Colleran which measured in at 119.75cm and won his team a respectable €1000

Danny Colleran with his new competition record pike of 119.75cm

Sensas Pairs a success on Inniscarra

By

Paul O'Reilly

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May 4, 2022

Innis14 — Andy Burnett is happy about something

Inniscarra Lake finally welcomed back the Sensas Float Pairs over the May bank holiday weekend after a two year break. A total 833kg of fish were caught by the 24 anglers from the Garden Centre and Graveyard sections. This was outstanding sport fishing with an average match weight per angler, per day of over 17kg.

Congratulations to the Munster angling pair, Tommy Lawton and Trevor Platt, who won with 5 points and 85.480kg.

Event organisers would like to thank to all who joined us in Coachford to take part in the competition, to O’Callaghans Bar & Guest House for their hospitality, Inniscarra Lake TDL, Trevs Tackle Ireland and Margaret and John and other landowners for allowing us access.

Some of the catches

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With a number of anglers staying on after the Sensas Pairs two day match, we decided to run an Open match today on the Garden Centre. This section had been fishing very well over the previous 3 days so a decision was made to run the match there. With big skimmers and bream making an appearance the previous day no one knew how it would fish but there definitely were some favoured pegs.

The match started with everyone catching well, some suffered with highly frustrating skimmers getting too excited over their groundbait and some were catching the favoured chunky hybrids and roach. First and second came from both end pegs, Alin having had a spell of catching some bream all on the whip, with one bream of 2kgs coming on a 4m whip.

On the other end peg Jon was catching quality hybrids and roach with a bonus bream. It was those fish that swung the match to Jon who weighed in just over 43kgs.

Jon Jurj wins the Sensas Ireland Pairs Weekend Monday Open with a very impressive 43.080kgs

Two anglers caught a very rare Inniscarra tench each today as well. These rarely if ever show in catches.

1st Jon Jurj. 43.080 kgs
2nd Alin Alphidean 35.900kgs
3rd Gavin Walsh 32.090kgs
4th Paul Mansfield. 26.500kgs
5th Adrian Bus. 25.120kgs
6th John Rocha. 23.840kgs
7th Trev Platt. 23.320kgs
8th Gary Doyle. 20.730kgs
9th Rhys Walsh. 19.930kgs
10th Patrick O’Neill. 19.250kgs

Coarse angling on Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid

L’ile Verte Pike Fishing Lodge – April Roundup

By

Paul O'Reilly

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May 4, 2022

Norbert Renaud of L’ile Verte Pike Fishing Lodge posted this update for a difficult April onto his YouTube channel. After a month of two halves, the second half of which brought the dreaded easterlies, Norbert expects a big improvement in May.