The Irish Federation of Pike Anglers held another qualifier last weekend, this time on the Annalee River in Co. Cavan. Fishing was slow in cold conditions and a total of 48 fish were caught by the 26 competing anglers.
David Norman of West Cork Bass shares some insights from a recent fishing trip targeting mullet with the fly rod and bread fly:
People may tell you that catching thick lipped mullet on a bread fly is easy, I would say it’s one of the easiest of the mullet fly options by far, along with the maggot fly if you can find somewhere to make it work, but it’s still not EASY! Especially early in the year when conditions rarely settle for long.
During the four-hour session that produced this fine fish I got precisely one half chance – Which I missed and one other chance that came more as a gift from the mullet gods rather than anything I had much control over, but the mullet gods sometimes choose to reward a tryer…
I’d had real problems with the wind direction swinging back and forth through as much as 180 degrees and varying in strength from a gentle breeze from behind to a much stronger wind in my face, the stroke of luck came with a brief window of side wind which perfectly held my floating line arrow straight and in place just long enough for this fish, estimated at around 5lbs, to come up out of the depths and suck down my bread fly more like a carp would do, rather than the usual nibbling – which our thick lipped mullet are frustratingly good at doing! So one decent fish landed photographed quickly, released strong and in perfect condition and honour was restored. It’s amazing how one decent fish in tough conditions can make us happy for a good few days after.
On a final note these much under rated, slow growing fish (about the same growth rate as bass so 20 years to get to 10lbs which they almost never do these days) I’m told only spawn biannually and not for the first 3 or 4 years. None of our three inshore mullet species (thick lipped, thin lipped & golden grey) are protected by law in any way and are extremely vulnerable from a host of threats. With some good news last week about the introduction of protection for basking sharks one can only hope that our humble mullet might one day enjoy similar protection, they certainly are an underrated sport fish in my opinion and are available to us early in the year when not much else is possible fishing wise at the coast.
Lough Sheelin Angling Report March 1st – March 6th 2022
‘Just ‘cause things are different, don’t mean anything has changed
And I know the world’s on fire, but there’s beauty in the flame’
Picture This
Lough Sheelin opened its waters to a brand new fishing season on Tuesday, March 1st, sharing this date with the start of meteorological spring. It feels good to be shaking off the shackles of a winter that seems to have clung on for far too long, its dreariness exacerbated by the tenacious and unstoppable Covid variant, Omicron.
I remember reading somewhere that there are three things that can ground a person mentally, make them strong as such – religion, their past and nature. Whatever about the first two, nature is always available to us and from November to February the Sheelin trout were mentally uplifting as they spawned impressively in almost all the rivers feeding into this wild lake, producing over 1,500 recorded spawning redds (and most likely many more not recorded). For the uninitiated, redds are mounds of gravel covering trout eggs, and Lough Sheelin’s piscatorial future.
Three successive storms, like the three witches that gave prophecies to MacBeth – Eunice, Dudley and Franklin churned Sheelin’s waters in the weeks preceding our kick off date. Franklin had the biggest impact causing water levels to rise and substantial waves to crash along the Crover shoreline.
Shipwreck – the wrath of Franklin
IFI installed a data buoy in 2021, which sits like a regal ‘yellow man’ in the deepest part of the lake (13 – 14 metres). This buoy will constantly monitor water temperature throughout the Sheelin water column and will allow IFI scientists to examine how the lake responds during climatic events such as heatwaves, droughts, storms and floods and the effects these have on fish thermal habitat. Interestingly, to date, it is showing us that there is very little temperature difference between the surface layers and the bottom layer, registering for February at 6.17°C at the top and 6.14°C at the bottom (12.5 metres). This lack of stratification would probably be down to the fact that Sheelin is a shallow lake and winds are obviously stirring the waters up a great deal.
Lough Sheelin’s Data Buoy
Conditions on the first day of the season started off cold, at a chilly 3°C, progressing on to blue skies and bright sunshine with temperatures climbing to 10°C triggering off a scattering of buzzer and duck fly hatches in some sheltered bays – Chambers, Crover and Rusheen. Early season trout fishing can be rigorous when the weather doesn’t cooperate and for this first week with nightly dips of -2°C and bright cold days, Sheelin took no prisoners and fishing was extremely challenging.
At this early stage, I share angling author, Tom Rosenbauer’s distrust of fishermen who mouth the platitude “I don’t care if I catch any fish or not, it’s just nice to get out there”, sure if it’s a balmy day but this is early March and it is cold, so anglers who flog Sheelin’s mercurial waters for hours on end in freezing conditions are out to catch trout. These are the anglers who were attracted to Sheelin over the past days – doggedly determined individuals, in search of trout, not fresh air.
Early season magic
Four to six boats were out each day during the week with an increase into the double figures at the weekend. Anglers reported that, in general, fish were hard to locate and it was even harder to find anything that worked. Di7 replaced the favoured Di3 and 5. Traditionally early season is a time to fish close to the shore where trout will be feeding on their preferred meals of shrimps and hog louse and where the sheltered coves might bring on a hatch of buzzer or duck fly but for this week at least things appeared a bit different from the norm in that the trout seemed to prefer the deep and although anglers did report trout surfacing, this happened much further out in the lake than is usual for March. No area favoured another for catches and returns reported were literally ‘here and there’ all over the lake.
Early season successes always favour the large lures – minkies, humungous, woolly buggers, snakes etc. and this week was no exception with the biggest trout being caught on the biggest and more colourful lures and generally fished in the deep.
Trout were notoriously hard to locate but with the absence of surface fly life there was little to attract them up. Our ‘absent’ trout are presumably glued to the bottom of the lake for their food and Sheelin has a full larder for them there in the form of freshwater shrimp and louse and bottom-feeding organisms such as chironomid (buzzer) larvae, snails and caddis. As one angler put it to me ‘sure it’s an anchor fly you have to use at this time of the year’.
I would like to be able to talk about successes on teams of wet flies and the occasion dry fly, old familiar and comfort blanket names like the Sooty Olive, Black Pennell and Connemara Black but this wasn’t a week for the purist fly angler and although a few smaller fish were caught by anglers using di3 and di5 lines and sticking to the shallows, rocky shores and around the lake’s bay results were poor. Traditionally shallow water and along shorelines and in around the islands are the areas that are most attractive to the trout in search of food, typically freshwater shrimp and louse. The best place to target fish is to work the edges of the shallows just at that point where it drops to the deep, also anywhere with stones as this is where the most trout prey hang out but as yet this really hasn’t happened but it will. This location advice will come into play soon but for the first week of this season these weren’t the places to go.
Things will get better and as the weeks move on the traditional fly angler will have plenty of chances. To quote the first two lines from Dermot Kennedy’s song Better Days – ‘Better days are coming, if no one told you’.
1 of 9
Stormy waters
Measuring up before release
Lying in wait
Dabblers
Piscatorial magic
Storm Eunice, Lough Sheelin
Storm Dudley, Tonagh Lough Sheelin
Connemara Black
The Humungus is an excellent lure to use on this lake in early season. This one is a beefed up version of the Lough Leven classic, the Black & Silver; the colour combination has caught a lot of fish, and add in the long marabou tail and the chain bead eyes as well as body hackle and you have a very versatile and mobile pattern. A slow figure of eight retrieve will bring results if the fish are in the vicinity.
The Humungus
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), Minkie’s in grey, silver, black and white, black and green Snakes, Boobys and Zonkers.
A few trout and that is literally a few as in two fish were caught on teams of wets, the most popular set- ups included Black Pennell’s, Connemara Black (size 8), Sooty Olives, Claret Bibios, Golden Olive Bumble, Silver Butcher, March Brown and the Glister Ollie.
Making it look easy – Christopher Defillon
Competitions
The Kilroy Cup will be fished on Saturday 18th of March from Kilnahard pier from 11am to 5.00pm. Prizes will be for the heaviest fish and entry is €20. This competition has been set at a 16 inch size limit with a 2 fish bag limit. There will be no permits available for sale on the pier on the morning so please buy your permit online beforehand or from the IFI office at Kilnahard on the morning.
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.
The stormy conditions of late have given away to a lot more settled weather this week with afternoon temperatures occasionally rising to the low teens and fair amounts of sunshine in places. However, this hasn’t really been reflected in increased angling activity which is probably no wonder as many waters still need time to settle after the recent run of storms and heavy rain.
This has been the case for Lough Conn where trout anglers, after a fairly promising opening day, have been struggling over the past few weeks. The situation on Lough Corrib is similar with fly hatches not yet underway, and trolling or lure fishing still the methods of choice for most anglers. Nonetheless, Tomi Kurman of Tomi Guided Fishing had a guest out on Corrib for only his third day trying for ferox so far, and what a day they had with 5 takes and 4 trout landed, all between 64 and 78cm. This surely deserves our Catch of the Week!
A stunning ferox trout for Tomi’s guest
Many midland anglers, like Mick Flanagan, put the pike rods back in the shed for a while this week as trout fishing began on the midland loughs. Mick reported good fishing from Lough Lene where rainbows and over-wintered browns were the target.
Mick Flanagan with a nice Lough Lene rainbow
Salmon fishing has also been on the slow side with only a few fisheries producing fish since the start of the season. On the Moy, anglers are still waiting for the first salmon of the new season, while boats on Lough Currane also drew a blank for the week. Further north on the River Drowes, however, dropping water levels after the recent floods resulted in much better angling conditions, and anglers were rewarded with some good catches, some of them into double-figures.
12 lbs. spring salmon from the Drowes ready for release
Not only salmon anglers will be delighted to hear that Inland Fisheries Ireland has published a new book on historic salmon flies. This new book featuring the ‘1902 Cork Collection of Salmon Flies’ will bring a “long-lost treasure” of Irish angling to new generations around the world. The wonderfully illustrated publication is available online in different formats.
The manager of the project Shane O’Reilly of Inland Fisheries Ireland with the “1902 Cork Collection of Salmon Flies”
It is hoped to put the collection on display once more and members of the public are being encouraged to contact IFI with any suggestions they may have.
One of over 380 patterns from the “1902 Cork Collection of Salmon Flies”
Over to pike fishing, which has also been affected by high water levels. We received a number of competition reports from around the country. O’Casey’s Pike Club held their 2nd heat of the 2022 league last weekend on a lake in Co. Monaghan, while Limerick County Pike Anglers were out and about last weekend as they continued their winter competitions. Leinster Pike Anglers also held their first competition of 2022 last week on three lakes in Cavan.
Waist deep wading produced results for the hardy Leinster Pike Anglers
Coarse anglers have also been engaged in various matches during the past week including the Leinster Coarse Anglers who were back on the banks for round four of their winter league. Elsewhere, C/M Lakelands held a feeder only club match at the weekend which was won by Brenton Sweeney with a nice bag of skimmers.
Decent bags for anglers at the C/M Lakelands feeder only club match
Finally over to sea angling, where reports have been scarce for quite some time due to the three storms which pounded the country in short succession. However, members of Killybegs Mariners SAC were out again and managed to catch some more mini-species and a few decent pollack and coalies from a number of rock marks in Donegal.
Mini-species fishing is becoming more and more popular. Here: a rock goby.
In Other News
The Irish Specimen Fish Committee would like to update anglers on progress with the 2021 Annual Report and Awards Day. The report is being finalised now with a view to being published in April. The usual Awards Day event held in February every year was postponed due to the COVID-19 situation, but it is planned to have an event at some stage in 2022. There are also some new Specimen fish rules for 2022. Further information is available here.
Inland Fisheries Ireland in conjunction with Blackrock Education Centre would like to invite primary school students around the country to design a poster that encourages greater conservation of Ireland’s native fish. This national poster competition is part of the ‘Something Fishy’ educational programme and officially kicks off this month. Free resources with further details about the competition are available from www.somethingfishy.ie
“Something Fishy” poster competition for primary schools
And now the weather
It will remain generally dry and clear tonight with widespread frost and icy patches forming as temperatures fall back to between minus 3 and zero degrees. The weekend will stay mostly dry and sunny with afternoon temperatures ranging between 7 and 10 degrees in light to moderate northeasterly winds. The start of the week, however, will see cloud building up with patches of rain or drizzle, chiefly affecting southern and western counties. Current indications suggest Wednesday and Thursday will turn increasingly windy with outbreaks of rain likely.
After the recent run of storms and heavy rain, Lough Corrib is very high at the moment, although water temperatures are holding fairly steady. Fly hatches have not yet got going, and trolling or lure fishing are still the methods of choice for most anglers.
Tomi Kurman (Tomi Guided Fishing) had a guest out for only his third day trying for ferox so far, and they had a good day, with 5 takes and 4 trout landed, all between 64 and 78cm.
A stunning ferox trout for Tomi’s guest
Another nice ferox from CorribAnother impressive fish
A small (!) trout by Tomi’s standards
High pressure for a few days should see water levels start to drop, although frosty nights may keep water temps low, but we’re into March now and the duckfly is not far away, so we should see more reports appearing soon.
After getting his first ever Connemara clingfish two weeks ago, Cormac Walsh had to go and get another one last Friday and on the very next drop he got his first ever rock goby! Also a few fine pollack and coleys at the local pier mark for Gavin Dorrian.
Another clingfish for CormacFine pollack for Gavin
Mariners sea angling club Killybegs Co Donegal. The club runs a shore league and boat competitions and angling trips around Ireland doing the sport we love. Get in touch at www.facebook.com/mariner.sac
Dropping water levels after the recent floods resulted in much better angling conditions on the River Drowes. As a result, more anglers ventured out and were rewarded with some nice catches.
Last Sunday was the best day of the season so far with three fish reported. Fish were also reported last Friday. On March 1st, local angler Joe Broderick caught & released a fine fish estimated at 12 lbs. below Lennox’s. Two days later on the Blackwater Pool, Marty King caught & released two fish both estimated at approx. 10 lbs.
Fine 12 lbs. spring salmon from the Drowes caught & released by local angler Joe Broderick
With water levels continuing to drop (currently 0.75 meters) prospects for the coming days are looking good.
Make a booking
River Drowes
The Drowes Fishery is one of Ireland’s premier spring salmon and grilse fisheries. The river is some 5 miles in length, with over 70 named pools, flowing from Lough Melvin at Lareen Bay and entering the sea at Tullaghan, just outside Bundoran. The Drowes has a wide variety of water suitable for all fishing methods, including several miles of good fly water and deeper slower moving pools suitable for spinning and bait fishing.
For information and bookings on the Drowes Fishery & Lough Melvin see http://www.drowessalmonfishery.com Tel: +353 (0)71 9841055 (8am to 12 noon). Mob: +353 (0)87 8050806
Mohamad Djedi with a fine springer from the River Lennon in Donegal
Fly angler Mohamad Djedi fished the River Lennon in Co. Donegal on 28th February when during late afternoon at approx. 16.30 a solid spring fish took his size 8 Cascade variant. After a vigorous fight, Mohamad was fortunate enough to land a fine salmon which was estimated between 9 and 10 lbs. weight. After a quick photo the fish was safely returned, and went on its merry way.
The salmon season on the Lennon System runs from 1st January to September 30th and fishing is Catch & Release. Further info on the Lennon System is available here.
Water levels rose significantly over the last few weeks due to the severe storms, high rainfall, sleet and snow. Still, a few hardy anglers fished in the Ballina Club waters, mainly using 8-ounce lead on the worm, most days during the week, but to no avail.
Water levels at Ballylahan Bridge on Monday morning last were 3.254 m and by Sunday evening the levels had dropped down to 1.259 m. Water temperatures remained at an average 9˚Celsius.
Peter Roche releasing a trout in Cloghans Bay on Lough Conn on opening day
Kevin O’Boyle reports from Loughs Conn & Cullin…
The lakes opened on Tuesday February 15th, with a few anglers taking to the water. Conditions were very favourable on the day, with lower-than-normal water levels for the time of year.
While the fishing was hard going, Peter Roche from Cloghans, caught one trout for around 1.25 lbs on a Fiery Brown Dabbler, in Cloghans Bay.
Peter Roche’s first rise of the season
Michael Noone and Eamon Kelly had a trout each off Massbrook Point also on Dabblers. All trout were released.
In fact, opening day was the only day to fish on the lakes, as in the last few weeks, the lake has been bombarded with storms, heavy rain, sleet and snow, with water levels up at least 1 m to date.
