Last weekend IFPAC ran their Interclub competition where teams of four anglers representing different angling clubs around the country competed against each other for the trophy. The event was run on four lakes in the Co. Monaghan area and one member of each team fished one of the four lakes. Dun na Ri anglers came out on top with a winning weight of 91lb 12oz. The rest of the results are as follows:
The Irish climate is well suited to sport angling. It is temperate and kind to the angler with moderate summers, mild winters and adequate rainfall throughout the year. The warm waters of the North Atlantic Drift lap the south and west coasts, giving us a milder climate than our geographical location would indicate.
The result is a fabulous mixture of cold and warm water fish species, capable of exciting the specialist or casual angler on the annual family holiday. In fresh water, they range from carp, more attuned to warm waters, to the Atlantic Salmon, which is a north Atlantic species. The marine species range from the cold water Cod and Coalfish to the Mediterranean loving gilthead bream and Bass to the mid Atlantic Blue Shark. Many Irish people enjoy fishing but we are happy to share our “riches” with our fellow anglers from all over the world.
Few of us, however, fish for coarse fish (freshwater species other than the salmon and trout family) which means that our magnificent pike, bream, tench, roach, and rudd are largely left to the tourist, as is much of the sea angling, particularly along the south and west coasts.
Lakes, rivers and coastal stretches are surveyed and mapped, fisheries are managed and stocked, while banks and access routes to the waters edge are developed to ensure the visitor gets directly and easily to the hotspots.
Most of the angling is organised around recognised angling centres which specialise in catering for the angling tourist. Salmon and trout fisheries are usually the property of an individual, club, organisation or the state and permission to fish is generally required except in the case of the state owned lakes, such as the Great Western Loughs and the Lakes of Killarney.
Some waters have seldom, if ever seen a rod and line but exploration is always an enjoyable part of an fishing holiday, so do not be afraid to “have a go”, it might well result in the fish of a lifetime.
John and his friend James who are regulars to Melview Fishing Lodge in Longford were up once again for a few days Pike fishing with host Kevin. John and James visit Kevin several times a year for both coarse and Pike fishing making them no strangers to the waters around Longford. The most productive method for them was dead bait fishing, using various dead baits they managed to catch Pike to just over the meter along with plenty of fish in the 90 cm mark.
John gets off the mark.
Kevin said, ‘I had the pleasure of their company and the chance to fish with them for a day during their visit and it was a great day had by all with plenty of fun and laughter going on which took our minds off the cold weather conditions. Thanks for a great time guys, see you again soon.’
Kevin has over 30 years of experience 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.
The Irish Federation of Sea Anglers held the Shore Master Angler competition over the weekend. The prestigious Master Angler title is keenly contested, with the top anglers from clubs up and down the country vying for the title, and the chance to captain Ireland at a World Championships. Places in the men’s “fish-offs” – the qualifier to make the Irish team are also up for grabs. The top 5 in the ladies event would qualify by right.
A busy scene on the beach
This year the event was based in Northern Ireland, with sessions fished at Benone and Whiterocks beaches. The weather proved challenging at times, with a big swell and tides making for tricky fishing.
Tracey Whelan with a double shot
Some anglers were doing very well after one or two sessions only to see everything come crashing down with one bad result. Consistency was definitely the key to success.
Watching the rod tip and waiting for a bite is Joe Chambers from Corrane SAC
Great job Glengormley!
Northern club Glengormley & District SAC were definitely winners on the weekend, taking both main titles home.
Lisa Gormley was the Ladies Master Angler for 2021, with a first, second and third placing in the 3 sessions giving her a comfortable win on 27 points. Tracey Whelan (Tramore/Waterford SAC) was second on 23 points, with Rosaleene Murphy (Tralee Bay SAC) third, also on 23 points. Also qualifying for the Irish team were Linda Manton (Lisdoonvarna/Fanore SAC) and Linda Snoddy (Glengormley).
Master Angler Lisa Gormley with a nice flounder
Also representing Glengormley brilliantly was Raymond McCann, Mr. Consistency with three second-place finishes to top the table on 72 points. Jordan Muir from the BASS club was second on 70 points. David Farrelly from South Shore SAC finished third on 67 points. Well done to all!
Glengormley & District SAC winners. Master Anglers Raymond McCann and Lisa Gormley with their trophies. Also receiving prizes were Tommy Carnegie and Linda Snoddy who both finished 5th, with Linda making the Irish team that Lisa will captain.
All photos courtesy of Neil Coulter who kindly made them available to us. You can check out his photography here.
Alison OSullivan with one of her fish on BenoneWading out for another cast
Coarse angler JP Molloy, fresh from his win in the Munster Closed, trying to convince the stewards of the merits of coarse fishing.
Get Involved
The IFSA has clubs up and down the country, all of whom welcome new members. Most clubs will have introductory sessions for new anglers. While competition fishing is the lifeblood of many clubs, it is not all about competition – there is plenty of enjoyable fishing and good craic to be had with new friends. Find your local sea angling club on www.ifsa.ie
David Norman of West Cork Bass reports that wrasse fishing can extended well into November and even December, when the conditions allow…
At this time of year, if the conditions remain calm, we often get really nice deep water Wrasse here in beautiful West Cork as you can see from today’s photo.
Wrasse will often take a lure out of aggression
They’ll attack lures intended for much bigger prey out of pure aggression in this case the Pirate Lures Teaser 15 and give a really good account of themselves in the process!
If you consider there’s a strong chance of encountering them along with Codling, Coalfish and pretty much a guarantee of Pollock, all of which can be caught on fly as well as lure, that’s got to be a good target list for the saltwater angler in late November and into December…
When you see photos of anglers fishing on charter boats in their t-shirts in mid-November, it’s a sure sign that we are experiencing a prolonged mild spell this autumn, and mean air temperatures over the past week have been up to 3.5 degrees above average. The rain has been holding off too, with most places recording a drier than average week, particularly along the east coast. The dry weather is set to continue over the next week, but colder weather will take hold over the weekend, so today would be a great day to be out chasing a few pike, as they are well known to become active ahead of a cold front coming in…
And pike anglers were pretty active over the past week as angling clubs have been continuing their competitions, and guides have been getting some nice fish for themselves and their clients. Last weekend, Keady & District Angling Club took a trip to Lough Muckno with anglers travelling from far afield to fish in their Fergal Donnelly Memorial Cup. Fishing was patchy during the day, but there were some decent fish caught, including one of 18lb 10oz for Dominic McClosky, which won the day for him.
Dominic’s winning fish of 18lb 10oz
Kevin Lyons of Melview Lodge welcomed some regulars back to Longford during the week. Initially, they were faced with higher than expected water levels, meaning some of their usual spots were unfishable. But Eddy and Ivan stuck at it, and over the last three days of their trip the water levels started to drop, the pike came on the feed, and they bagged some quality fish up to 105cm. They are already looking forward to their next trip in April 2022. Bodo Funke of Angling Services Ireland took a break between guiding sessions last week, and decided to target some pike on the fly. Paying attention to the fish finder allowed him to zone in on the likely spots, and it paid off as he landed a pike of 105cm, a cracking fish on a fly rod.
Great pike on the fly for Bodo Funke
Simon Gibson from Guided predator Angling held a raffle recently with the prize of a day’s guided angling for the winners. Benny McGuinness won the raffle and brought his brother Gary along for the day. It seems their luck didn’t stop at winning the raffle as the guys made the most of their day out, managing to land three pike for three meters along with plenty of smaller ones. The epic day was captured on video and wins this weeks Catch of the Week.
Many coarse angling clubs are busy holding winter leagues at the moment, and the C/M Lakelands Feeder Club were up on L. Muckno last week. It seems the mild weather had the fish in a hungry mood, and there were some hefty bags with the top spot going to Robert Ziltas with a super bag of 10.77kg. Up on the River Erne, the Erne Anglers continued their winter league as 34 anglers turned out to fish a fast and clear running river. The top spot on the day went to Paul Smith, who won the match for the second week in a row, using a 6-meter whip to land 9.9kg.
Nice bag, including a late-season tench from the Erne
Sea angling clubs can also be busy at this time of year, with plenty of shore angling competitions being held on our beaches. Cobh SAC has announced the dates for the Munster Light Lines League 2021/22, and those that are interested better get their names in early as places are limited. One of the most prestigious competitions on the Irish circuit is the Munster Closed Shore competition which was held over three sessions at venues around Youghal last week. Fishing was tough, and anglers had to work hard and adapt to score well, but after three challenging and varied sessions, JP Molloy came out on top and landed the trophy.
It’s getting close to Christmas now, and we’ll all be wracking our brains to come up with presents for friends and family. For those with an angler in the family, fishing based gifts are always welcome but not always easy to choose. So it helps when David Dennis, a top Irish angler, brings out a book telling the story of his angling life, packed full of tips, tricks and tales of a life spent fishing in Ireland and abroad.
For all those that have an interest in forming communities to help develop our waterways, the Communities Caring for Water Conference 2021 is taking place virtually this weekend, with guest speakers talking of their experiences in becoming involved in projects to enhance our waterways.
Friday will be largely dry with a mixture of cloud and sunny spells and a few patches of drizzle in southern and western areas. It will remain predominantly dry overnight, but a band of rain will develop in the northwest, which will move across the country tomorrow, and this will be followed by clearer, colder conditions. Sunday will be cold, blustery and showery, and the outlook for the week is for temperatures to continue cool with some frost expected, but remaining mostly dry.
Now that the tuna season has come to a close, charter boats along the northwest coast have been concentrating on pollack, cod and mixed species fishing again. When weather conditions allowed to go out and as water temperatures are still quite high for the time of year results were pretty good. Customers of Killybegs Fishing Trips and Ewings Sea Angling & Boat Charters fishing out of Rosses Point enjoyed their outings catching some nice cod and good sized pollack.
Good sized pollack
Go fishing…
Fiona Tee
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.
Aquastar 33, 6 cyclinder 225hp turbo perkins Skipper: Daryl Ewing Licence: 829 Base: Rosses Point, Sligo (10 mins from Sligo town on local
bus route) Operational area: P5 12 passenger, Sligo and Donegal
Bay, 40 miles offshore
Authorised blue fin tuna boat
Notes: Angling available on board our recently acquired
newest boat, the M.V. Sarah Marie includes general deep sea, reef, sand angling (all inshore or offshore) and specialist game angling trips for tope, blue shark and skate whilst in season. Suitable for groups from families to professionals, we give free lessons to all those who need them. Top of the line rods and tackle are available for hire on board and the skipper can arrange accommodation if contacted in time. Gift vouchers are also available. Sightseeing, seal watch and eco-tourism tours for
non-anglers.
Recently, members of Killybegs Mariners SAC enjoyed some good fishing from the local shore marks as water temperatures are still quite high for the time of year. Species caught included thornback ray, dab, poor cod, dogfish and some nice flounders.
Thornback ray from the harbour for Mariners member StefanFlounder making 34cm
Elsewhere, an hour over high water on the local harbour marks produced a few nice fish on the lures. Creature lures and shads just fished in close under the white water found plenty of wrasse mostly small with a few hard fighting fish over the 40cm to 44cm mark giving a right scrap on the lure rod.
Nice wrasse
All images courtesy of Killybegs Mariners SAC.
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
Between guiding sessions, Bodo Funke of Angling Services Ireland found some time to have a few casts himself. He decided to grab his flyrod…arguably the best way to catch a pike ;-). However, it took Bodo a while to find some predators as bait fish are still well spread out at the moment. So it was really worth to pay close attention on the sonar. The result was a cracking wild Irish pike of 105cm!
Great pike on fly for Bodo Funke
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.
Communities Caring for Water Conference 2021 is a joint initiative between The Rivers Trust and the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO).
This year’s virtual conference will discuss forming new groups and actions we can take to make rivers projects successful. It is an opportunity for communities engaged with their local water environment to share their stories and learn from others.
