This report from the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland on the All Ireland Feeder Club championships – the winners and runners up of which will represent Ireland at the World Championships to be held in Ireland in 2023:
Nine teams representing five clubs competed over the weekend to be the 2022 Feeder Club Champions and to establish the top three Irish feeder anglers. Additionally. three clubs CM Lakelands Feeder Club , Browning Fishing Ireland and Lurgan Coarse Angling Club sent forward a number of teams to battle it out over the two club places available for the World Championships to be held in Ireland in 2023. Lough Muckno was the venue with sections including Black Island, Concra Wood (2 sections), Yellow Island and Lower Concra.
Congratulations to CM Lakelands Feeder Club Team Blue who are the 2022 All Ireland Feeder Club Championships. The Blue team members Michael Buchwalder, James O’Doherty, Darren Fairhurst, Rimantas Kondrackas and Robertas Zilaitis finished the championships in first position with 22pts to qualify the club for the World Championships in 2023.
Championship results
Congratulations also go to the second qualifying team from Lurgan Coarse Angling Club whose Blue team members Johnny Keith, Johnny McKinley, Philip Jackson, Jim McAllister and Kevin Maguire closed the gap scoring 15 points today to finish in second place with 31pts securing a place for Lurgan at the World Championships.
It was very close for the top three individuals of the championships who came from the two qualifying teams;
1st James O’Doherty 15.500kg
2nd Michael Buchwalder 15.425kg
3rd Philip Jackson 15.030kg
Well done to everyone who took part this weekend, positions as follows;
The NCFFI would like to thank everyone who participated and to the Feeder Team Manager, Brenton Sweeney for running the event this weekend on Lough Muckno.
The Game Angling Instructor’s Association was at the Irish Spring Angling Fair at the weekend where they were flat out teaching kids and novices of all ages how to cast a fly…
It was a great two days at the Irish Spring Angling Fair with loads of youngsters dropping by our casting area and stand. All caught fish and for many, it was their first time catching a fish!
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Delighted to say that two of those attending achieved the standard to gain a casting proficiency Award, Bobby Quilty took a Bronze award and James Hope did exceptionally well to take a Gold award. We are delighted to hear that he now wants to start his journey as a casting instructor. One to watch for the future for sure.
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Bobby Quilty got his bronze award
James Hope and his father pose with his Gold Award
We weren’t the only group working with kids and doing demonstrations on the lakes over at the Fair. There were coarse, pike and sea anglers from Ireland and further afield all teaching and inspiring kids to get out and go fishing. A great show – can’t wait for next year!
Learn to cast a fly
A GAIA accredited instructor has a proven ability to teach and iron out problems for anyone wishing to start fly fishing.
Whether you are a total beginner, someone who has been fly fishing for years but wants to master new methods or someone who want to perfect every cast in the book there is a GAIA instructor who can guide you to where you want to be.
If you’re interested in learning to fly fish or improve your casting contact the GAIA instructors in Ireland using the details here: https://gameanglinginstructors.co.uk/
Lough Sheelin Angling Report April 25th – May 1st 2022
‘The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns. The pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose’.
Khalil Gibran
April angst
It has been swings and roundabouts on Lough Sheelin over the past week. There were days when this lake crushed its anglers, breaking hearts and pushing even the most resilient to the edge of despair and then there were times of absolute spotted glory, 4,5 and 6lb captures – such is Lough Sheelin.
Nature turned the dial up this week and this was reflected by the presence of huge hatches of olives and buzzers particularly in Goreport, Bog Bay, Rusheen and Corru and with these hatches came the appearance of those previously elusive trout. Easterly winds predominated on most days but only presented a problem when they increased in strength and temperatures dipped having the immediate effect of causing the hatches to disappear and driving the trout downwards. Monday saw enormous hatches of olives and balling buzzers with trout smashing them but Tuesday saw a different kind of cold with a pick-up of wind resulting in very poor fishing. The best fishing days of the week were Thursday and Friday.
Sheelin’s lake olive
As the week moved into the weekend and despite the chilling effect of the rain, you could still feel an imperceptible change in the air – a pushing onwards towards summer, a softness in the daytime temperature which the winter and stark harshness of March and April had previously robbed us of, it seems everything is at a new beginning and for the anglers, the most coveted time in the fishing calendar is in sight – the mayfly season.
Rolling return
Regardless of persistent nightly frosts and swaths of cold morning fogs, water temperature rose slightly to 12.27 degrees at 0.5m and 11.7 degrees at 12.5m. Great trout were caught with the heaviest weighing in at a hefty 7lbs 2 caught by Michael Dunboyne, Dublin on a nymph setup. A number of four and five+ pounders were there in the returns along with a few six-pounders.
A handful of happiness
Anglers that favoured the lures are starting to struggle and catches using this method of fishing are noticeably dwindling with the fly anglers moving into top position as the season moves forward. Nymphs and wet fly setups saw the best results but dry flies are starting to feature as well with Northern Ireland angler, Paul McMenamin catching a lovely 5lb 9oz fish on a single dry olive in Sailors Garden on Wednesday. The weather as always dictated the angling successes, with the trout sinking deep in cold winds and rising to feed mainly sub-surface in warmer conditions.
Rods at the ready
Anglers this week basically divided their fishing escapades into two categories – buzzers and olives which encompassed all stages of the lifecycles depending on the diktat of the weather. There was, however, a wild card thrown in there on Tuesday in the Bog Bay area, where despite prolific buzzer hatches, the trout chose to feed on snails, 3ft down in the water. Patterns that work for snail feeding trout are peacock herl varnished over, peacock and black spider, a dark coloured Klinkhammer and the Coch-y-bonddu. As well as being a bit of a mouthful to pronounce and new to me, the Coch-y-bonddu is a very old traditional wet fly originating sometime in the 1700s as the Shorn fly. Like most vintage flies, the same basic pattern goes by many different names and recipes, having been replicated, modified, and plagiarized by generations of anglers.
Sub surface successShadowy solitude
Similar patterns over the years were named the Welshman’s Button (a favourite on Sheelin), Hazel Fly, Fern Web, Bracken Clock and Marlow Buzz among others. This interesting tongue-twisting little fly with its soft hackle, plump body and splash of sparkle can resemble an aquatic or drowned beetle but it also looks a lot like many sub-surface insects as well. Its inherent bugginess and long history of success makes the Coch-y-Bonddu an all-purpose subsurface wingless wet and it is working well for our snail-eating trout. Buzzer hatches were substantial from late morning into the late evening, concentrated around the siltier areas of the lake – Sailors, Bog Bay, Corru, Rusheen and Goreport. Balling Buzzers attracted good rises of heavier trout. The phenomenon of ‘balling buzzers’ happens when a female buzzer is ready to mate and up to 50 males will gather around her and form clumps, which in turn attracts hungry trout, mainly the big ones. Most of the regulars to Sheelin assure me that the balling buzzer is as good as the mayfly fishing with a very real chance of catching a trout in the double figures.
Sheelin olive
Sheelin experienced some tremendous hatches of olives this week and although this fishing too is affected by the weather, it is less so than for the buzzer fishing. The intensity of olive hatches is such that they can pull the trout off the buzzers during the day, olives hatched mainly from mid-day to early evening. The olive gives the angler the first real opportunity in the new season to dry fly fish and although a few good trout were caught on single dries, the use of olive nymph patterns proved to be more successful as Susan Byrne’s from Edenderry verified with her beautiful trout of over 6lbs.
Susan Byrne with her magnificent Sheelin trout caught on a nymph
Nymph fishing is often considered challenging or difficult as it is a natural approach. Leaders consisting of multiple; small flies, with little movement and casting out in a huge expanse of water. Nymph fishing worked very well for a number of anglers this week but is often dismissed by those that lack patience, with one angler confessing that ‘he would rather lick the N52 from top to bottom than try it’.
Silver torpedo
Large numbers of trout were feeding in Bog Bay, Goreport, Corru and Sailors Garden. Although trout were making themselves very visible, they weren’t giving themselves up easily and anglers patience was tested to the last in their attempts to tempt the pernickety trout. ‘Anger is one letter away from danger’ so it is important to be mindful not to let frustration build into something close to this noun.
One in a millionCrover, Lough Sheelin
Flies that worked best were the Bits-type patterns in claret, fiery brown, black, ginger, orange, hare’s ear, olive and grey, the Klinkhammer, Grey Duster, Nymphs – Pheasant Tail, Diawl Bach, Hare’s Ear and Olive in sizes 12 and 14, Mini Muddler as a top dropper, Epoxy Buzzer, Shipmans Buzzer, Flashback Buzzers, Black & Peacock Spiders (good snail imitation), CDC Emergers, Greenwell’s Glory, Bibios and Dabblers.
This survey is easy to do, takes a maximum of 10 minutes (unless you want to add extra in on the comments section) and is important. We are asking anglers to have their say by taking the time to complete this survey. The link is included in this report and if contact details are submitted that person will be automatically entered into a draw for angling tackle (one voucher at €200 and two for €100) but this is entirely optional. If anglers are having difficulties with the online version please contact IFI where the local staff at Sheelin are more than willing to help out.
Bugs'n'Beasts
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Taking a tumble - hawthorn shield-bug
Sitting pretty - Sheelin's cow dung fly
Prince charming
Lady in waiting - Lough Sheelin's ladybird
Adling along - Sheelin's alder fly
A Speckled wood
Still waters run deep
Competitions
McDonald Cup 13th of August
LSTPA Stream enhancement competition 2nd of October
Interprovincial Championships 20th of August
Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 949 which strictly prohibits from June 14th, 2017 onwards:
The taking of any brown trout of less than 36 centimeters.
For a person to fish with more than 2 rods at any one time.
To fish with more than 4 rods at any one time when there is more than one person on board the boat concerned.
For a person to take more than 2 trout per day.
All trolling on the lake from March 1st to June 16th (inclusive).
To fish or to attempt to take or to fish for, fish of any kind other than during the period from March 1st to October 12th in any year.
David Norman of West Cork Bass was delighted to get his first bass of 2022 this week. The long awaited fish, which “gets the skunk off” as our American cousins say, was caught from a shore mark for a change (David is also a kayak specialist). The fish was caught during the afternoon on the surface using the bright green MrLabrax 20g TW (Top Water) lure in bright sunshine and crystal clear seas, just before the weather turned and messed up the conditions for a while.
Bodo Funke of Angling Services Ireland reports great pike fishing for German anglers. Bodo has been hosting two groups of German pike enthusiasts over the past weeks.
First time clients, Sascha, Frank & Christian were over the moon with the quality of pike angling in Ireland landing a number of decent predators, while regular visitors Michael & Rupert also showed their angling skills landing some great pike up 104cm.
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.
It’s been a very dry week across the country, with high pressure to the north and lows to the south pulling in dry easterly winds from Europe, rather than our usual moist Atlantic air. Indeed, gorse fires have been common this week, including this one close to my home in Co. Galway. This fire hit the Lough Corrib Special Area of Conservation in an area where the increasingly rare curlew nest, and will have impacted on this year’s nesting season.
While many of these fires are started illegally, the onus is on everyone to ensure we don’t start them accidentally. Anglers lighting fires to cook food or boil water should be extremely careful to make sure all fires are completely extinguished when they finish. Remember the guiding principles of Leave No Trace when you’re fishing!
A party of anglers from Luxembourg enjoyed great fly fishing for pike in Co, Longford, among other activities, but we are short on other pike reports this week. Pesky easterly winds!
The easterly winds may not help sea fishing either, but there was great pollack fishing reported from Galway Bay, and from west Clare this week. The water is starting to warm up and sea angling should really take off over the next few weeks.
Lovely weather and a fine pollack for this angler
Other News
Surveys & IMREC Sea Angling Diary
IFI has launched a new survey that will tap into the knowledge of trout anglers in Lough Sheelin and also a sea angling diary to help understand the health of fish stocks in our coastal waters.
Spotted Success
The Sheelin survey features questions for anglers about their trout catch and about different aspects of the fishery now compared with when they started fishing on the lake. Each participant also has the opportunity to enter into a prize draw for angling tackle, with one €200 voucher and two €100 vouchers to be won. If you fish for trout on Lough Sheelin you can find out more here.
The application also creates a handy personal dashboard for your own use and each logged diary session will be updated here. This gives you the user an opportunity to view when, where and what fish you have caught along with any other notes (tides, rigs etc), that you may have submitted. A summary is also provided to give you an insight into how your season is progressing.
Irish Spring Angling Fair – This Weekend!
Final reminder about the Irish Spring Angling Fair on the 30th of April and 1st of May – tomorrow and Sunday! The organisers promise that it’s going to be a fantastic weekend for all anglers, and they are looking forward to welcoming you all to the show. With demos, instruction, workshops and more on fly casting, coarse tactics, fly tying, sea angling as well as plenty of shopping to be done there really will be something for all anglers –Sea, Salmon, Trout, Pike and Coarse.
And now the weather
After the fine spell, we are due a break in the waeeather. Turning cloudy this evening, with some light drizzle along western coasts later. Generally cloudy tonight with outbreaks of rain and drizzle developing in many western parts by morning.
Saturday will be mostly cloudy day with outbreaks of rain or drizzle. Some persistent and heavy rain over Ulster, but parts of the southwest will have good dry periods. Highest temperatures of 11 to 15 degrees, with southwest winds; fresh in the north and light or moderate in southern parts.
Sunday will see rain or drizzle, but gradually turning drier later with a chance of some late sunny spells in the north. Light variable breezes. Highest temperatures of 13 to 17 degrees.
Bank Holiday Monday will bring a good deal of cloud and some bright or sunny intervals with some scattered light showers. Highs of 13 to a rather warm 17 degrees, in light breezes. Tuesday will be a little cooler with light northerly breezes bringing in a few light showers and variable cloud cover.
Current indications suggest it will turn a bit warmer again for Wednesday and Thursday with variable cloud cover, some nice sunny spells, just a few showers and very light winds.
After a few tough days due to easterly winds, fishing on the Moy Estuary improved sharply this week. Clients of Judd Ruane enjoyed exceptional sea trout fishing all week!
Read what Judd has to say…“Mighty fishing every day and all fresh-run bars of silver. What really helps is the great condition of the water…crystal clear! I had two rods from Ann Arbor, Michigan out for a day. Mark, one of them, is big into steelhead and salmon over there. At the end of our day he told me he had his best day’s fishing ever. They landed 19 fish between 1 and 2.25 lbs.”
Notes: The angling boat Pegasus is equipped with the
latest technology, fishing tackle and safety equipment. Licenced for a
maximum of 4 rods skipper Judd Ruane specialises in catching sea trout
on the beautiful Moy Estuary. Daily charter departs Ballina Quay and booking
is essential. A salmon licence is required.
Jean-Luc, Fabian, Jean-Louis and Theo from Luxembourg enjoyed a nice week’s fly fishing for Pike at Melview Fishing Lodge. Host Kevin said it was their first stay here but not their first time in Ireland. Jean-Luc has been fishing here for the past 20 years so it was not all about the fishing for these guys as they also enjoyed a day out at a whiskey distillery and a night out with Kevin taking in the local hospitality. Very enjoyable week guys and we hope to see you back in Ireland 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.
Anglers departing Gortnorabbey harbour in the National Championships.
Kevin O’Boyle reports on a tough week’s fishing on Loughs Conn & Cullin:
Trout fishing was challenging to say the least on Loughs Conn and Cullin during the week. Very cool north and easterly light winds made for tough going through the week, with little or no fly life on the water. A few sparse hatches of Olives appeared in some shallow sheltered bays and a few early Mayfly were spotted over the weekend. Water levels are quite low on the Lakes with water temperatures remaining around 9˚celsius.
On Lough Cullin, two anglers from Belfast had a few trout each, all just around 11” mark to Dabblers and Olives, all were returned. John Molloy and Declan Heffron from Roscommon had 3 small trout along Garrison Island to Olives on intermediate lines, all returned.
Peter Roche from Cloghans releasing a trout in Bog Bay.
On Lough Conn fishing out of Murphy’s Boat hire in Massbrook, Cork Anglers John Healy and John O Sullivan both had a few trout to Dabblers too, all returned. John Burke, Foxford had a few small trout in Sand House Bay and along Massbrook shore all returned to Black Dabblers.
Peter Roche from Cloghans and Paul Colreavey from Lough Arrow, fished both North and South Conn and caught small trout up to 12.5”, all released. Best Flies were Bibios, fiery brown, Dabblers, and Olive patterns. Peter also fished with Tom Hipwell from Dublin, for 1 day and had a few small trout to Sootie Olive patterns in difficult conditions. Peter had a trout for 2 lbs later that evening to a Jungle Bunny also released.
The National Championships were held on Lough Conn on the Saturday in bright sunshine,17˚celsius with North Easterly winds. 126 anglers took part from every corner of Ireland with 27 trout weighed in. The heaviest fish was 2.25 lbs.
Lough Talt
A party of 3 Anglers, 2 French and 1 Roscommon Angler had a good few trout all up to a 1lb, and 5 perch up to 2 lbs on the bubble and fly from the Western shoreline all released again for a few hours fishing mainly little Olives and Bumbles.
Darragh Kerley with a 9 lb Salmon form the Foxford Fishery.
Kevin O’Boyle reports on the week’s fishing on the Moy system:
28 Salmon were caught throughout the Moy River this week. 4 more were caught on Lough Conn and one at the Lake River.
Water levels were generally low for the time of year with water levels recorded at Ballylahan Bridge on Monday morning were 0.833m. Heavy rain on Monday evening rose the water to 1.047 m and it levelled back to 0.44m by the weekend. Water temperatures averaged 9.4˚ Celsius.
Darragh Kerley with a 9 lb Salmon form the Foxford Fishery.
For most of the week, the water was very clear and suitable for all methods of angling. John Howley is back working as a ghillie on the Ridge Pool, and caught and released a 3 lb Seatrout on the Yellow Alley fly.
Ballina Salmon Anglers produced 6 springers from 8-12 lbs on worms and spinning. Armstrong Fishery produced 1 Salmon for 9lbs on a silver spoon by a Northern Ireland Angler. Foxford Fishery had 6 salmon for the week ranging from 8 to 12 lbs, mostly spinning. East Mayo Anglers recorded 12 salmon for the week, with 5 released.
Mark Corps from Northern Ireland had 2 salmon on the fly one for 7 lbs and the biggest of the week at 14 lbs, later released.
3 Salmon were caught at Carrigeen, Foxford Salmon Anglers water, all spinning.
