Irish Angling Update 🎣 24 Feb 2022
There was a lot of huffing and puffing last week, so much so that it felt a bit like a fairy tale as we faced three separate barrages of wind in the guise of storms Dudly, Eunice and Franklin. Each pounded the country in short succession, bringing high winds and plenty of rain, with 30mm to 60mm falling in most areas, sending most of our waterways into a sustained flood. Overall, the sheer nastiness of the weather will have limited fishing opportunities for many of us this past week, and the knock-on effect is that there are few enough angling reports to highlight in this week’s update.
It’s fair to say that anyone who did venture out in those conditions deserved to be rewarded, and so it was for lucky Newbridge Pike Angler Brendan Jarvis. Braving the winds and sheets of rain to fish a Newbridge Pike Anglers club competition, Brendan ended a 17-year wait to beat his PB, and he did it in style by landing a super pike of 30lb 1oz, which also broke the club record. After waiting that long for a pike that size, it’s only fair to award Brendan this week’s Catch of the Week.
Another pike angler has had a few memorable moments recently as angling guide Gerard from Borderfishing pulled out some remarkable results for his clients. In the space of a week, he managed to boat 47 pike for his clients, with plenty over the 20lb mark and one tipping 115cm. Meanwhile, in the midlands area, Mick ‘the Fish’ Flanagan ventured out to the Roal canal between storms last week and created his own ‘Yellow Warning’ with one of his favourite pike lures.
The storms didn’t only favour the pike anglers, as Menapia Sea Anglers found out during their competition last weekend. A late change of venue to escape the worst of the blast ended up being quite fortunate, as bumper bags were had by all anglers, with treble-shots of fish being the rule rather than the exception.
For any youngsters looking to learn about sea angling, the Irish Federation of Sea Anglers will host a training day on 26th March in Kilmuckerudge, Co. Wexford. The training day will see experienced coaches give the lowdown on sea angling tips, tricks and techniques and will be a great learning experience for any youths, juniors or ladies that might be interested in having a go.
We had another fishery register its first salmon of the year last week; this time, it was the Upper Caragh fishery in Kerry. Mike O’Shea, the fishery manager, landed a lovely fresh salmon of 6lb, which was quickly released back to the water. The next five weeks will see the best of the spring fishing on the system, so anybody interested should give Mike a call. And there was another first of the season down in Kerry during the week as Lough Currane registered its first fly-caught salmon of the year. With boats confined to harbours for most of the week, local angler Dominic McGillicuddy slipped out between storms Eunice and Frankilin to land a beauty of 12lb, which was also returned to the water.
One thing that many of us have missed over the past two years is meeting up with like-minded anglers at the various expos, shows and fairs that are usually on our calendar. It’s great to see a few of them making a post-restriction comeback, and one that has recently been announced is the free demo weekend at Clonanav Fly Fishing. Taking place on the 2/3 of April, there will be an impressive roster of fly angling related demonstrations by well-known angling personalities.
While we have no coarse angling reports in this week, we do have news of a few festivals you might want to pencil into your calendar. Both Clones Coarse Angling Club and the Cootehill Angling Festival have announced details of their events taking place later in 2022.
And now the weather
Showers of rain, hail and sleet will continue through Thursday in blustery winds that will turn strong in the west and north-west. It will turn cold overnight with temperatures around freezing and frost and ice are a possibility. Friday will be mostly dry and bright, with milder temperatures from 7 to 10 degrees. This milder weather will continue into the weekend with a band of rain crossing the country on Saturday night accompanied by gusty winds. The unsettled spell will continue through Sunday and into the early part of next week.
Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.
Shane O’Reilly
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
Pike Fishing Reports
- New Club Record Wins the Dubs cup 2022 for Newbridge Pike Angler
- Over 40 pike in a week for clients of Borderfishing
- Yellow warning for pike in the midlands
Sea Angling Reports
- Perfect storm sees catches soar for Menapia Sea Anglers
- IFSA Cast Programme – Kilmuckridge, March 26th
Salmon Fishing Reports
- In between storms…first fly-caught salmon of the season reported from Lough Currane
- Upper Caragh Fishery off the mark for 2022
