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Change of venue proves a lucky break for South Shore SAC

South Shore SAC was forced to change the venue for their latest leg of the Leinster League as the chosen venue, Ballinoulart, was blown out by high winds. The only real choice left to them was Wicklow North beach,m which had fished badly on their last outing there so expectations were not high…

All revved up and ready to go…

However, from first cast, it was obvious that the beach was on fire with doggies and whiting hitting the baits hard and treble shots were being hauled in along the beach! For a full report see the South Shore SAC Facebook page.

Results as follows:

Hitting the horizon

Storms subside and Spurs put in a show for Wicklow Boat Charters

Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters has had a frustrating couple of months as the storms and blustery conditions have meant plenty of cancelled trips and a general lack of fishing. However, the recent settled spell allowed him 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.

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.

SPECIALIST ANGLING CHARTERS

Specialist Angling Charters are offered for those who wish to target specific species, specimen fish or try new angling methods.

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.

Kit Dunne
Wicklow Boat Charters

Telephone: +353 (0)87 6832179 +353 (0)404 67031
Email: dunnekit@gmail.com Website: www.wicklowboatcharters.ie

PB’s all round for pike anglers on L. Derg

Pike angling guide Damien Culliney had a great day out recently fishing with a couple of friends, Neil and Alan. It was a fantastic warm spring day to be out on the water, and it seemed to spark the pike into action with nine fish to the boat, including PB’s for both anglers. Alan had never fished before but is now firmly hooked, while Alan now has a 24 pounder as his new PB.

Damian Culliney
Anglers Paradise Ireland

Go fishing…

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.

Tel Mobile: +353 86 060 2718
Web: www.anglersparadise.ie
Web: facebook.com/Anglersparadiseireland/
Email damien@anglersparadise.ie

Warm spell and dropping water brings the fish on the take on the Nore

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Dan O’Neill, fishery manager at Mount Juliet, reports that conditions are coming right for some good fishing on the Nore:

Glorious weather found the river banks and walkways quite busy over the past few days.  Watching brown trout slowly glide away from the bank as I walked by brought me back to early summer mornings last season. The water is slowly dropping, reading at .67 Saturday, so there is a little more to go before my favourite seams and creases are fully visible. It was great to look into the river over the weekend and see such an abundance of happy healthy trout.

I did manage a cast or two early morning, which resulted in some great fun. Wet fly was my choice this weekend and seemed to be the right one. Plenty of takes with some nice trout to the net, with the Greenwell’s Glory being the most successful fly for me but I also had some trout on spiders. The weather certainly pushed the fish into being more active giving us hopefully a taste of what’s to come over the spring and summer months.

There are also quite a lot of little hungry and inquisitive smolts on the move. I did move areas once or twice as they seemed to be holding up a little to, whenever I did hook one I was very careful in unhooking them making sure not to injure them in any way. Great to see these little fellows around a good sign for the future.

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.

For further information or to make a booking please contact

Dan O’Neill, Fishery Manager, Mount Juliet Estate, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, Ireland

Telephone: +353 85 7652751

Emailoneilld020@gmail.com

Websitehttps://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://www.fishinginireland.info/salmon/south/nore.htm

Ireland’s Feeder King – Qualifier 1

Off to the Chocolate Factory

The first qualifier for the newly formed Ireland’s Feeder King competition took place at the weekend on the River Bann at Portglenone. Fishing was very hard in every zone with odd bigger stamp roach being caught.

A typical Bann roach

James O’Doherty won the match on Zone A with over 3kg. There will be eight qualifiers in total with three golden ticket winners at each qualifier and they go through to a mega money final at lough sillan in late September.

GOLDEN TICKET WINNERS QUALIFIER 1:

  • Zone A James O’Doherty 3.225kg
  • Zone B Jim McAllister 2.900kg
  • Zone C Tommy Dowd 2.250kg
Off to the Chocolate Factory

Well done to the ticket winners, Qualifier 2 will be in two weeks time on Gowna.

The first five qualifiers, held on the Bann, Lough Gowna, the Erne, the Suck and Lough Muckno have all sold out, but there are a handful of tickets left for the three remaining qualifiers – interested anglers should contact the CM Lakelands Feeder Club.

  • Q6 – 3 TICKETS LEFT 3RD JULY, GARADICE/GULLADOO/ROCKFIELD
  • Q7 – 4 TICKETS LEFT 20TH AUGUST, MUCKNO
  • Q8 – 5 TICKETS LEFT 3RD SEPTEMBER, LOUGH SILLAN/NAMACHREE.

As part of our annual IFI Sponsorship Programme, Inland Fisheries Ireland are proud to sponsor sustainable angling events like this one.

Barrow Perch Bonanza takes place near Athy

This report on the Barrow Perch Bonanza came to us from the Romanian Catch and Release Angling Association:

Sixteen anglers from all over Ireland gathered near Athy last Sunday, March 27th, for the second edition of the River Barrow Perch Bonanza.

The weather was absolutely fantastic for barbecuing and sun bathing, but not so good for perch fishing. Having said that, all of the anglers were happy to be out there enjoying the competition. At 9am the competitors spread out along the river and did their best to hook into some perch and land them safely. The day started promising in the first couple of minutes with some nice specimens being caught. But then the sun made his appearance, and after this the fishing was was very tough for everyone.

A good number of perch were caught but not long enough to score on the FishChamp app. (minimum 25cm), although almost everyone managed to catch some!
At the end of a tough day we had congratulate the best anglers of the day who were:
  • First Place: Pawel Adamkiewicz
  • Second Place: Ben Moore
  • Third place: Adam Bartosik
  • Longest perch: Adam Bartosik (39cm)
For this second edition of Barrow Perch Bonanza Inland Fisheries Ireland sponsored a prize and this prize was given to the angler who caught the highest number of perch (minimum size 25cm) so congratulations to Pawel Adamkiewicz!
Congratulations to all Winners! All fish caught were safely released!
We would like to thank to all participants at this event and hope they all had a good and enjoyable time spent on this competition.
Special thanks to Inland Fisheries Ireland and Baracuda fishing tackle shop for their help and tackle!

Lures still rule on Sheelin, but hatches bring hope

Lough Sheelin Angling Report – March 21st – March 27th, 2022

‘Some people dream of success… while others wake up and work hard at it’

‘I thank whatever god may be for my unconquerable soul’ Invictus, William Ernest Henley

It has been another punishing week for the anglers fishing Lough Sheelin. The weather which had temperatures on par with Spain, hit day-time highs of 18°C plummeting to sub-zero after dark. The water was flat calm on most days and when the wind did pick up a little, it was all easterly in direction which didn’t do the already taxing fishing conditions any favours. Water temperatures have risen to 8.2°C for the surface to 7.9°C on the bottom of the lake (readings courtesy of IFI’s Data Buoy). Water levels are dropping leaving a rope of broken reeds on the lake shore with that washed out faded hemline effect along the perimeter of the water, edged with a generous scattering of bleached stones.

Lough Sheelin’s easterly winds

Cold water, patches of discolouration, flat calm and lethargic fish makes early season trout fishing here no walk in the park and certainly not for the faint hearted but still our anglers battle on. Boats were sparse during the week, but angling numbers did pick up at the weekend particularly Sunday. Wednesday was the pick of the days with some trout of over 5lbs being caught on lures and a few on attractor patterns. The Rambler fly was responsible for a lovely three pounder over at Ross. The best areas for producing fish was the Southern side of the lake from Curry point round to the Sailors Garden. The best time to fish was between 3 and 5pm.

Sheelin perfection

The water is still cold and because of this trout and everything they feed on moves in slow-motion. Most feeding is occurring within inches from the bottom. Trout are moving to a maximum of 30cm to a lure or attractor and then going straight back down again, at speed, therefore keeping the fly or lure in the strike zone and moving at the right speed are the only ingredients for success.

Back to you

Lough Sheelin is dominated by the fly-fishing fraternity so giving space to write about large lures is perhaps an unpopular thing to be doing but the fact is that it is the lures that are predominantly doing the business here. Early season has always been about those large patterns – Zonkers, Minkies, Humungous, Snakes, Cats Whiskers, Streamers, Wooly Buggers, Panthers and Rooster Tails. Because of the cold the trout want to get value for movement so they will strike at something they think is a substantial snack – effort for exertion. Fry are small and fat and fast, so it makes sense from an angler’s point of view that the lure retrieve imitates this – fast. Conventional retrieves like a figure-of -eight or short foot-long pulls, simply aren’t swift enough to make the fry pattern look real. Lures like Zonker, Snake and Minkie are made of fur which is soft and wavy, so with each pull, the fly flattens as it is brought forward and then it blooms upwards when it stops, causing an enticing pulsating motion which is hard to resist for the trout. Fur and Feather imitations are the way to go.

The Snake

There were a few flies caught on teams of wets – buzzer and duck fly patterns but most of the catches for now, at the end of this first month of the season, has been on the lures.

There is hope appearing on the horizon for the fly angling purist as spirals of buzzer and duck fly hatches pivoted into the air when mid-day temperatures soared to an unseasonable 17°C and 18°C. There were a few olives coming off the water but there are still no major hatches yet to entice our selective trout to move upwards. Once the water temperature rises to that magical piscatorial number of 10°C all that nutritious forage of nymphs, insect larvae, water boatmen and adult chironomids will start moving and with them our elusive trout.

The lures that worked this week were the Humungus (in black with a thread of silver, gold and rainbow with a bit of red mixed through the black marabou tail), Minkies in grey, silver, black and white, black and green Snakes, Boobys, Blue Flash Damsels, Cat’s Whiskers, Titanic Bug Black, Woolly Buggers and Zonkers.

Bloody Butcher (K.Sheridan)

Duckfly fly patterns include: Black Pennell, Connemara Black, Blae & Black, Watson’s Fancy, Bibio, Mallard & Claret, Duckfly, Sooty Olive, Cock Olive, Peter Ross, Fiery Brown, Claret Dabbler and Golden Dabbler, Hoglice patterns, Coch-y-Bondhu, Duckfly Pupa and Emergers. Sizes 10-14.

Buzzer pupae & duck fly patterns

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.


A catch & release policy is always actively encouraged on the lake

Catch & Release

Please remember All anglers are required to have a Fishery Permit to fish Lough Sheelin which must be purchased BEFORE going out on the lake.

The biggest fish for the week was a 7.2 lb trout caught by Mullingar angler Ciaran Newman on a Minkie

Total number of trout recorded: 15

Selection of Catches             

  • John Brady, Cavan – 1 trout at 3lbs using a lure at Ross
  • Andree Nazilk, Maynooth – 1 trout at 5lbs using a Minkie at Church.
  • Laimis Pavilionis, Navan – 2 trout at 3lbs and 4.5lbs using Snakes and Zonkers.
  • Vincent Campbell, Wexford – 1 trout at 2lbs on a Woolly Bugger at the back of Church Island.
Gerard McCreesh’s Sheelin

 

Irish angling Update 🎣 25 March 2022

It has been much drier than normal throughout the country over the past 7 days and mean air temperatures have been well above normal for much of the country. Many places stayed dry all week with no shortage of sunshine and though it was cool at times temperatures broke 17°C in the last few days. Given the weather and few days off it’s no surprise that St Patrick’s long weekend saw so many anglers making a break to the water. Conditions were windy at times but there were still plenty of places for anglers to make a cast or two…

Spring salmon hold a special place for many anglers and the last week saw some great sport at a number of fisheries. Starting in Donegal the Drowes has 5 fish landed on the 12th and another of 8.5lb on the 17th. Earlier this week Rocky Moran from Castlebar caught the first salmon of the new season on Lough Beltra. The 9.5 lbs. spring fish took a Green Peter fished on a sinking line. The River Moy also saw its first salmon of the 2022 season caught. The 10lb spring salmon was landed on Friday by Mairt Devers.

A beauty from the Upper Caragh Fishery

Lough Currane has been quiet with just one salmon landed in the last couple of weeks, but not too far away the Upper Caragh Fishery has seen some great fishing with lightening fresh salmon from a few of the beats there. Moving along to county Cork the Bandon is another river that opened its account recently and a couple of fresh fish have been caught in the last week. Finally the Munster Blackwater is also producing a few fish, particularly on those fisheries downstream of Fermoy.

Trout anglers report that duck fly is up in a few places. On Conn and  Cullin anglers enjoyed catching trout on mix of traditional patterns, but lures were also employed to good effect. The Connacht Predator Anglers held a trout competition on Corrib at the weekend and good numbers of trout to 57cm were caught and released.

trout
Measuring up – a lovely early season Sheelin trout

Over on Sheelin the winds played havoc on the lake  for the week ending 20 March with waves hitting 5′ at times. Overall it was a cool week on the lake and anglers worked hard for every trout they rose, making some of the bigger fish landed all the more special. River anglers were out in force too. We’ve a lovely report from the Kings river, a tributary of the Nore, where a mix of wet fly and nymphs made for a couple of hours well spent.

Coarse anglers looking to plan their competition calendar should take note of the following. After missing the last 2 years due to the Covid pandemic, Sensas Ireland have announced the return of The Sensas Float Pairs. The event will take place on the Bank Holiday weekend of Saturday April 30th and Sunday 1st of May on Inniscarra lake. In addition the The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland committee have reviewed and refreshed the national championship calendar. For the full calendar of club competitions and festivals visit www.ncffi.ie/competition

Catch of the Week goes to a lucky pike angler on Lough Derg who not only had some great fishing at the weekend with Damian Culliney, but also set herself a new PB with a 21.lb pike. Well done Anne Marie, a great Catch of the Week winner.

pike
PB smashed – hello 21.5lb pike

Other venues that reported some good pike fishing over the weekend were Lough Sillan and the river Inny.

Off to sea now and charter boat anglers on the Fiona Tee up in Donegal had some great pollack after a slow start. Some nice coalfish and strings of mackerel were also in the catches.

After a slow start pollack to over 70cm were caught

Lastly, John Marshall, Donegal, won the overall gold medal in the Connaught Open Shore Championships earlier this month, while his daughter Ava scooped 1st prize in the junior session completing the family victory. Congratulations on great family day out!

Other News

Cork Salmon Fly collection

Daire Whelan and Tom Doc Sullivan of the Ireland on The Fly podcast wanted to delve a bit deeper into the story to find out how the flies were rediscovered after over a hundred years and what is in the collection exactly and so they spoke to Shane O’Reilly from IFI who was involved in bringing the digital book together as well as Peter Kealey, a fly tier from Armagh, and friend of the late Ted Malone who was central to the Cork collection being recovered. Find out more at Ireland on the Fly: The Story Behind the 1902 Cork Salmon Flies Collection

River Lee brown tag draw

The next 38 ‘brown tags’ for the Lower River Lee will be issued on Monday, 11 April and the deadline to enter online lottery is midnight on Friday, April 8 2022. For more information see Details for second online lottery for ‘Brown Tags’ on Lower River Lee in Cork

Something Fishy poster competition

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

Mist and fog will clear tomorrow morning and it will be another dry and pleasant day with spells of sunshine. However, it is possible that fog will linger along some coasts through the day. Highest temperatures of 13°C to 17°C in a light breeze. Sunday will be much the same, and Monday too though a little cloudier with possible light showers at times. Tuesday cloudier again and temperatures will be down to 12°C to 14°C in a northerly breeze. A change is expected on Wednesday with cooler weather and more northerly winds. Make the most of this weekend!

Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland. If you’re heading to the coast, don’t forget to check the tides.

Myles Kelly
Catch, Photo, Release

If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update, please send it to reports@fisheriesireland.ie.


All the angling news

Salmon Fishing Reports

Trout Fishing Reports

Coarse Angling Reports

Pike Fishing Reports

Sea Angling Reports

Other News

Some lovely spring fishing on the Upper Caragh Fishery

A beauty from the Upper Caragh Fishery

Mike O’Shea of the Upper Caragh fishery in Kerry reported some great fishing last week with fabulous fresh springers caught on on a few different beats.

The best of the spring fishing on the river is from now to the end of March, so keep an eye on the water levels and get in touch with Mike to get on the river.

Go Fishing…

The Upper Caragh Fishery is a very well-developed fishery. It has fantastic access with stiles and footbridges along the full length of the fishery.  It has well maintained banks and anglers’ huts are provided on many of the beats. The Upper River Caragh can be fished from both boat and bank. Fishing is also available on Cloon Lough and the fishery provides access for anglers with reduced mobility. Boats for hire and guide services are available at the fishery.

Facebook: facebook.com/glencarsalmonfishing
Email:
 uppercaraghmanager@msn.com
Tel: +353 (0)87 221 3835

Details for second online lottery for ‘Brown Tags’ on Lower River Lee in Cork

River Lee, Cork

38 ‘brown tags’ for the Lower River Lee will be issued on Monday, 11th April and the deadline to enter online lottery is midnight on Friday, April 8th 2022.

Background

To boost conservation efforts, anglers who wish to catch and keep wild salmon from the Lower River Lee in Cork this year, are being reminded by Inland Fisheries Ireland that ‘brown tag’ regulations are in force until the season closes on 30th September, 2022.

The measures are included in the Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme (Amendment) Regulations, signed into law by the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Eamon Ryan, T.D.

Under brown tag regulations, an angler who wishes to ‘harvest’ a wild salmon i.e., take or keep it, must attach a brown tag as well as a standard blue tag to the fish. To help conserve stocks of wild salmon within the Lower River Lee, No. 5 or Cork District, a total of 152 brown tags will be available for the season and will be distributed to anglers with a valid 2022 rod licence through a series of four online lotteries.

Up to a quarter of the available number of brown tags can be issued at one time, under the Wild Salmon and Seatrout Tagging Scheme Regulations. In the first online lottery which took place in January this year, 38 brown tags were issued to anglers. On Monday, April 11th 22, a further 38 tags will be issued.

How to apply

Any anglers that are interested in entering the draw on Monday 11th April, 2022 are being asked to email their request to Inland Fisheries Ireland at: 2022corkleebrowntag@fisheriesireland.ie between Friday, March 25th 2022 and Friday, April 8th 2022 only.

Within this email, anglers must provide their name, contact address, contact telephone number and they must also quote their 2022 Salmon Licence number (including letter prefix). Only one entry is permitted per licence holder into the draw.

Anglers who received a tag in the last draw are only permitted to enter this draw if they have used their tag.  Evidence of using the tag must accompany the angler’s entry to this draw in the form of a photo of the salmon double tagged and evidence of the entry of the fish caught in their angler’s logbook.

Anglers with a 2022 rod licence who are not allocated a brown tag are only permitted to fish for salmon on a ‘catch and release’ basis on the Lower River Lee, where the salmon is returned safely to the same waterbody.

Further details are available from the Inland Fisheries Ireland’s website at www.fisheriesireland.ie or by phoning its Macroom office on (026) 41221.

****Full Notice****

Salmon Anglers – Lower River Lee, No. 5 or Cork District: Brown Tags Required

Salmon anglers are reminded that from 1st February 2022 to midnight of 30th September 2022, Brown Tag regulations will be in force on the Lower River Lee.

 

152 Brown Tags are available for the season and distribution of these brown tags will be by four electronic lotteries throughout the 2022 angling season.

 

The Wild Salmon and Seatrout Tagging Scheme Regulations permit a maximum of 25% of the available tags to be issued at one time. IFI will therefore select 38 anglers to receive a brown tag in the second draw of the season on Monday 11th April, 2022.

 

Any angler requesting a brown tag must be in possession of a valid 2022 Salmon Licence and must apply by email only to: 2022corkleebrowntag@fisheriesireland.ie by midnight on Friday, 8th April 2022.

 

Anglers must provide their Name, Contact Address, Telephone Number and 2022 Salmon Licence number including letter prefix (A, B or P). This is the only method to apply for a brown tag.  Anglers may only fish one brown tag over the full season. Multiple applications will disqualify. Salmon Licences are available online at: https://store.fishinginireland.info

 

Salmon anglers not in possession of a Brown Tag must fish using Catch and Release methods i.e., single or double barbless hooks. Use of worms is not permitted. A Salmon cannot be taken unless the angler is in possession of a Brown Tag. If a Salmon is taken both a Blue and Brown Tag must be affixed to the fish. Failure to do so may result in penalties.  Catch details must be recorded on the Anglers Logbook promptly.

IFI will send all applicants an entry number for the lottery by email during the course of Saturday, 9th April, 2022, before the draw which will take place at 09:30 on Monday 11th April,  2022. No personal information will be shared.  10 reserve licence numbers will be drawn in case the initial offer of a brown tag is not taken up. Tags will be issued to successful applicants by post.

Application may be made between Friday 25th March, 2022 and Friday 8th April 2022 to: 2022corkleebrowntag@fisheriesireland.ie  Late or early applications will be instantly excluded as well as incomplete applications being excluded.

For further information contact Inland Fisheries Ireland, Macroom on 026 41221.

Information about angling quotas

Quotas for how many fish an angler can catch and keep (harvested) are set by Fisheries Managers every year, on the basis of scientific advice.

These quotas reflect the ‘exploitable surplus’ in any river, as follows:

  1. In cases where the exploitable surplus cannot sustain angling, that particular fishery is closed for the season.
  1. Where it can sustain angling, but not exploitation (harvesting the fish for consumption), the river is opened on a ‘catch and release only’ basis where the fish is returned safely to the same waterbody.
  1. Where there is a modest harvestable surplus with a risk of over exploitation, a brown gill tag system is introduced where it is considered necessary in the interests of conserving stocks to closely monitor the angling quotas. This is to ensure that river-based quotas are not exceeded.  Where these restrictions apply, you must be in possession of a brown tag specific to that river to harvest salmon, to be used in conjunction with a blue tag.  Similar to blue tags, brown tags issued contain a unique serial number specific to that licence holder and are not transferable between licence holders.
  1. And finally, where there is an adequate exploitable surplus, the river is opened with the standard 10 tag allocation issued in lots of 3 or 4