Damien Culliney of Anglers Paradise sent in the below report of 3 x PB’s broken on a recent trip:
Had good friends Natasha and Bobby out for a days fishing. Both Natasha and Bobby had never caught a pike before. We started trolling during some flat calm conditions and soon had a few fish on board, including a first-ever pike for both Natasha & Bobby. Then gave Bobby a light set-up for casting for trout as his PB was 32cm and I knew there was a good chance of breaking that. In fact, he smashed it, with a new PB of 72.5 cm wild brown trout caught on a Castaic lure. Smashing his PB by a whole 40.5 cm. What a fish mate well done.
Damien at #Castaiclures www.anglersparadise.ie
First-ever pike for Natasha72.5 cm trout on light spinning gear
Anglers Paradise Ireland
Trout and Pike Guide
Anglers Paradise Ireland is owned and managed by Damien Culliney, a well known angler and chef in the Clare region and a man passionate about the inland waterways and natural history of County Clare. At Angler’s Paradise, we love the thrill of Game fishing and Pike fishing in equal measure and can take our clients to some of Europe’s most unspoilt rivers and lakes in search of trophy predators and the realisation of their angling dreams.
Gary McKiernan’s ‘North Star’ a 64cm Sheelin classic was the biggest trout on Sheelin this week
This was a consistently cold week on Lough Sheelin. As temperatures dropped to lows of minus three, so too did the spirits of many an angler who ventured out. Boats dwindled to two or three per day with the predictable rise at the weekend by those released from the constraints of work. Trout catches seemed like mini miracles rather than just rewards from a hard day’s flogging these temperamental waters. During the week, the winds, when they happened, blew from an easterly direction changing to northerly at the weekend. Despite bright sunshine, there was an underlying bitter chill courtesy of a blast of biting polar air drifting down from Scandinavia. Scattered showers of hail mixed with harsh sunshine did nothing to improve the status quo of the fishing during the week where reports ranged from ‘total blanks’ to ‘the odd one’ to ‘a surprise hook up in the flat calm’.
Saturday was the pick of the week with good trout of up to 6lbs being taken on lures. Despite nightly frosts, plummeting evening temperatures and lingering morning fogs the water temperature increased to 9 degrees for the surface with the bottom being marginally cooler at 8.8.
Holding Gold – Lough Sheelin, Saturday April 2nd
Huge hatches of buzzers and duck fly occurred outside Chambers Bay and in other more sheltered coves and bays of Tonagh, Bog Bay and Crover but no fish answered the call.
It’s time for some blue-sky thinking here for anglers who love fly fishing but who are becoming frustrated at their inability to break their duck egg for this new season and catch a trout.
It is time for some practical change, and that involves moving to the dark side i.e. lures and large attractor patterns, at least for the next few weeks. There are good buzzer hatches but the trout are just not interested in feeding on either the pupa or emerger stages because there is simply too much easier food to be had on the bottom of the lake, the larder is full there so why use up energy searching elsewhere. The trout are still feeding predominantly on hog louse, freshwater shrimp and snails. A few fish were got on teams of wets and there were a few rises in the heat of the day, fishing around the shallows of Stony Island, at the back of Church Island, Merry Pt, Inchacup, Chambers Bay and from Kilnahard down to Crover but in general, it was poor and laborious – many hours of fishing with not much encouragement from our piscatorial friends.
Piscatorial pleasure
Fishing large flashy lures are what is working well at the moment – Zonkers and Minkies fished on a glass or sinker, Cats Whiskers, Humungus fished on a sinking line with a slow pull, black & gold for bright conditions, black and silver when it’s dull, Snakes, Boobys, Muddlers, Streamers and Wooly Buggers. Lures allow anglers to cover a lot of water at different depths and this is what is the most productive for early season, as trout are actively feeding to regain condition. With the right movement and presentation lures cover the depths, mimic the forage and can trigger off an aggressive territorial take. They tick all the boxes. Trout are predictably efficient. They rarely expend more energy than necessary. Looking for easy meals, they maximize their motion, for the highest calorie return. This is instinct and not a thought process. For now, with the exception of a few sub-surface takes, the trout are getting their snacks down in the deep.
Chilly calm
The flies that were used this week were the Dabblers – Silver, Pearly, Green, Sooty, Hare’s Ear and Fiery Brown. A size 6 Claret Dabbler fished as a top dropper using a di5 landed a 2 plus fish at the weekend. The Fiery Brown Dabbler is a very versatile fly representing freshwater shrimp in the early season.
Owen Pickersgill with his late March trout, caught on a lure
Duckfly fly patterns include: Black Pennell, Connemara Black, Blae & Black, Watson’s Fancy, Bibio, Mallard & Claret, Duck fly and Sooty Olive. Other flies were the Cock Olive, Peter Ross, Fiery Brown, Claret Dabbler and Golden Dabbler, Hog lice patterns, Coch-y-Bondhu, Silver Invicta, Glister Ollie, Duck fly Pupa and Emergers. Sizes 10-14.
1 of 6
Philopotamus
Resting up - Duck fly
A selection of Epoxy Buzzers
Drowned Hopper, size 8
Blood red Epoxy Buzzer (Carringdoun flies)
Olive Quill body Buzzers (Kevin Sheridan)
Successful lures were large and bright – Snakes, Humungus, Muddlers, Blue Flash Damsels, Titanic Bug Black, Cats Whisker, Boobys, Minkies and Zonkers. The ubiquitous Wooly Bugger, which always sounds like a curse word, did well and was responsible for a few nice fish of over 4lbs.
Spring 2022 began on Sunday, March 20th. This date marked the spring equinox and the astronomical first day of spring around the Northern Hemisphere. Before we even try to balance that egg of what is the spring equinox and what happens on this day, all anglers need to know is that after this date, the Northern Hemisphere begins to be tilted more towards the sun, resulting in increasing daylight hours and warming temperatures. There is hope on the horizon, we are moving in the right direction – long bright evenings, an increase in temperatures, lots of insects and a lake full of trout, what more could an angler ask for.
A Dabbler trout
1 of 4
Takes two to tango
2lb plus fish caught in the flat calm (Garnet Orange)
Ross, Lough Sheelin, April 2nd
On the board
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.
Water conditions were coming right for some time on the River Boyne and the lower Kells Blackwater. Anglers were hoping that there might some early fish around. As it turns out they were spot on. Over the last couple of weeks some good sized spring fish were reported from the Boyne and Blackwater. Unfortunately, no photos were sourced but at least we have some info on the fishing.
On the lower Blackwater 2 salmon were reported. One weighed 12lb and was caught on the shrimp, The second of the fish was 10lb was taken on the fly.
On the main channel of the Boyne at Navan between Sophies Island and the bend 2 more salmon were reported caught. One super fish of 14lb was taken on the fly and the biggest of the fish reported to date weighed in at a whopping 18lb.
We hope to have further news for you over the coming weeks. Well done to all of the successful anglers.
Brendan Sharkey from PredatorFishingIreland has been out fishing recently and recorded some great catches with his French clients.
Brendan reports “It was great to have my friend Jules and his friend Bal visiting from France again. The conditions were very difficult with very strong winds every day with the exception of one day. But despite this the boys never gave up and kept going the whole time and in the end this paid off for them.
The boys had caught a lot of pike but not a lot of big ones. That is until the last day when Jules got a new personal best a 117cm, 29lb 5oz very fat fish.
This was a new personal best for Jules and the best fish I had caught as a fishing guide. In addition, it is the best fish for the new boat, to date!!. Days like this are what makes me love guiding.
Previous outing
In the previous weeks Brendan had some great fish for his clients including this great fish below.
Another cracking fish for this happy angler with PredatorFishingIreland
Go fishing
If you want a great fishing experience with the opportunity to hook up with big pike and trout why not contact Brendan. Contact details below.
Bodo Funke of Angling Services Ireland was guiding for pike on the fly this week. Please read his report below…
“The plan was to catch some hungry post-spawn pike on the fly…Avid fly angler Stephen had booked with me for the second time this year. The day was planned well in advance. This time, he brought along Northern Ireland based pike fly fishing guide and well known fly-tyer Pike On The Fly Guide Stuart Wylie.
The day started with action straight away, but more missed takes and plucks than landed fish to begin with. Nevertheless, a few nice fish came to the boat and after trying several favourite drifts we went back to where I had marked some good fish on the Solix earlier. Three drifts later, Stuart hooked into a serious lady which gave some serious battle and turned out to be a new PB for Stuart with 110cm and 22lbs.90z.
Was an absolute pleasure to have Stuart and Stephen out today. Not often you get to guide the guide and even better when it’s Mr. Pikeontheflyguide aka Stuart Wylie himself. Great fun in the boat and some very skilful pike fly angling all around, with a cracking Top Fish at the end”
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.
Spring salmon fishing on Carrowmore Lake continued to be excellent. On Monday 4th April, Sean Moogan from Westport who was fishing with his boat partner Gareth Lloyd was amongst the lucky anglers. Sean managed to land a fine 12 lbs. springer in Paradise Bay. The fish came to a size 8 Green Peter variant fished on a sinking line.
With a fair stock of fish in the system, the good spring fishing should continue throughout April and May. However, the windy conditions of late could slow down things for a few days.
Please note that Carrowmore Lake is a Brown Tag Fishery! For fishing on Carrowmore Lake contact Seamus Henry on +353 (0)97 83487 or visit www.bangorerrisangling.com.
What a week this has been! The weather saw temperatures on par with the Mediterranean, with day-time highs of almost 20°C dropping to sub-zero in places during nights. Winds were generally light, but when the wind picked up, it was mainly easterly in direction, which usually never helps with fishing.
What usually impacts negatively on the loughs can be a game changer on the rivers where the first warm days in spring can entice trout to become more active and respond well to wets, nymphs and the occasional dry fly. The River Nore for instance is such a river. So it was no big surprise that the recent warm spell and dropping water levels brought the trout on the take on one of the “Three Sisters”.
Pike anglers, however, achieved great results throughout the country. Up north, the river Erne was “on fire” for fishing guide Gerard Smyth and one of his clients, while Pike angling guide Damien Culliney had a great day out recently on Lough Derg fishing with a couple of friends. The warm spring day seemed to spark the pike into action with nine fish to the boat, including PBs for both anglers which makes our Catch of the Week.
While game angling largely laboured under the bright calm conditions, some charter boats made use of the mild weather. The recent settled spell allowed Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters to get back out on the water again and he was delighted to find that the spurdogs were on form with some specimen fish showing. Charter skippers in the northwest also ventured out after months of “winter hibernation” recording some nice catches of mainly pollack.
Fine spur for Wicklow Boat Charters
Killybegs Mariners were active as ever, reporting good numbers of beach sea trout up to 53cm while enjoying stunning Sahara dust sunsets over Donegal Bay.
What a stunning sunset over Donegal Bay!
In contrast, South Shore SAC was forced to change the venue for their latest leg of the Leinster League as the chosen venue, was blown out by high winds. Menapia SAC were also greeted by high winds on arrival at their venue near Kilmore along the south coast, but with fish showing from the first cast, the winds were soon forgotten as anglers concentrated on bagging up. Lastly, we received a report of a surprise mullet from Jeremy Smith while targeting bass on Inchydoney Beach in Co. Cork.
Great surf at Dunworly, Co. Cork
Other News
Ireland on the Fly Podcast
The latest episode of the Ireland on the Fly podcast will be online on Friday 1st April and it features an interview with Tipperary’s, George McGrath, of Gundog & Fly YouTube fame.
Primary school students around the country are being asked to design a poster that encourages greater conservation of Ireland’s native fish. To enter, primary school students are being asked to create a poster with the ‘catch, photo and release’ message, take a photograph of it and then submit it by email before the closing date of Friday, April 15th 2022. For more information see Primary school artists wanted for conservation campaign
And now the weather
The mild and sunny weather of late will unfortunately come to a drastic end. Tomorrow morning will be cold and frosty with sunny spells. However, cloud will increase from the north through the day and outbreaks of rain will develop in Ulster and north Leinster during the afternoon and evening. On Friday night outbreaks of rain will affect east and northeast counties and may turn to sleet at times over higher ground, becoming more widespread towards morning. Lowest temperatures of zero to plus 2 degrees, coldest in Munster where under clearer skies there may be a touch of frost locally. Current indications suggest westerly winds will bring a more unsettled spell of weather with rain or showers at times and temperatures closer to the seasonal average of 11 or 12 degrees.
Angling effort was relatively low last week due to the bright sun and light wind conditions. Despite these conditions regular anglers Peter Roche and Gary Binley fished south Conn and had one fish each on two separate days best fish estimated at 1lb. and 1.5lbs. respectively. Flies that were doing the business were Fiery Brown Dabbler and Cock Robin, with some interest from smaller fish to a Watson’s Fancy.
Given the bright sunny conditions at time of writing anglers are seeing some fish starting to move to buzzers on Lough Conn.
Reports of decent hatches of Duckfly have been seen on Lough Cullin in the last few days which should improve angling in the coming weeks.
The latest episode of Ireland on the Fly will be online on Friday 1st April and it features an interview with Tipperary’s, George McGrath, of Gundog & Fly YouTube fame.
George talks about his fifty years fishing on the River Suir, gives an insight into what works for him on the water as well as recounting magical spinner falls in the summer and he laments how wet fly fishing has fallen out of vogue in recent years in favour of a culture of instant gratification. Plus George and co-presenter, Tom Doc Sullivan, spend a few minutes discussing as gaeilge their love of fly fishing and the Irish language.
Listen and follow the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts from. See IrelandontheFly.com for more.
Decent pollack for anglers aboard Sarah MarieGood pollack for Killybegs Fishing Trips
Go fishing…
Sarah Marie
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.
33′ Interceptor. 300HP Caterpillar Skipper: Michael McGettigan Licence: 961 Base: Mullaghmore Operational area: Donegal Bay. Within 30 miles of land.
Notes: With over 40 years experience in Sea Angling in Donegal Bay, we bring you to the best locations and guarantee the best that angling in Donegal Bay has to offer. The MV Fiona Tee is equipped with all the latest technology ensuring all our fishing charters are monitored and offer real time tracking. We are also fully equipped with the latest in onboard safety equipment.
The day started with action straight away, but more missed takes and plucks than landed fish to begin with. Nevertheless, a few nice fish came to the boat and after trying several favourite drifts we went back to where I had marked some good fish on the Solix earlier. Three drifts later, Stuart hooked into a serious lady which gave some serious battle and turned out to be a new PB for Stuart with 110cm and 22lbs.90z.
