Kevin Lyons reports in from Melview Lodge in Co. Longford on some great fishing for French visitors.
A great finish for Arnuaud Landrieu
French anglers Etienne, Arnaud, Michel and Alain finished up their holiday with 195 Pike despite some poor weather conditions and very high water levels. Casting / Jerking both hard and soft lures they managed some cracking pike fishing during their stay here at Melview Fishing Lodge.
Michel with a nice fish from the flooded margins
High Water
Water levels continued to rise throughout the week as the land waters drained off into the Lakes and Rivers. The guys taking into account the constant changes made changes of their own tracking down the fish as they moved out of the ever increasing flows and to more calm sheltered places to lay up, but there was no hiding from these guys. In some cases the guys were catching from where there would normally be a grassy bank, the water was that high.
Alain fishing the margins in high water
Host Kevin said, in these conditions this was Pike fishing anglers at their best. Well done guys, you put the work and knowledge in to your fishing and deserved great result at the end. And this was all rounded off with a couple of nights of good old Irish hospitality in the town, a great time had by all.
Kevin has over 30 years experience of 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.
Specimen Spurdog on Saturday for John Mcloughlin, well deserved indeed. 17.5lb 117cm long
Kit Dunne had a some more great fishing off the Wicklow coast at the weekend…
OCT 30 Spurs, Huss and Specimen Tope for Darren Maxwell crew. We went out deep for the spurs and bullhuss. It was a fresh sea but the lads stuck at it. They had spurdogs to 8lb and Huss to 10lb but no big ones. We headed inshore then for 2 hours at tope. There was a fine 46lb, 156cm specimen for Ryan Maxwell followed by a 153cm for his Dad, Darren. Great group, great fishing lads, great result.
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OCT 29 Great fishing today with a great bunch of lads. A few new ones and a few good old friends. Out deep first for Spur and Huss we managed at least 50 Spur from 1lb to 17.5lb and maybe 5 Huss to 10lb or so. There was a Irish Specimen Spur for John Mcloughlin at 17.5lb in the last minute before a move inshore, a well spotted good bite kept us waiting to haul with the engine running. Niall Burke bagged about 13 Spur and his favourite a fine Huss. He also had a run like a train inshore, which was definitely a big tope that didn’t connect in the end.
All in all a great day with great people.
Specimen Spurdog on Saturday for John Mcloughlin, well deserved indeed. 17.5lb 117cm long
Go Fishing
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Conor McMahon is hoping our readers may be able to shed some light (neon) on this strangely coloured pike. Conor tells us this was not the only pike of this colouring to come from the midlands lake he was fishing at the weekend, but it certainly was the most spectacular.
We’ve seen photos of pike like this before, but have not done any specific testing to establish what might be causing this. Certainly it does not seem to disadvantage the pike, they have always seemed healthy and fit.
There are a few theories as to what may cause this. Some say it is just the chromatophores, the special cells in the a pike’s skin that help to create the colours and patterns they typically exhibit, and perhaps something in the lake made them want to blend in to a different background.
Others think that there may be genetic reasons, similar to the response to increases in ultraviolet radiation shown by walleye in North America.
What do you think?
Have you seen pike with this sort of colouration before?
While the fishing definitely slows as the temperatures fall, it doesn’t mean that good fishing should stop altogether.
Alan Walsh of the Leinster Perch Anglers was out for a couple of sessions recently, visiting canal, river and lake in search of perch. The recent heavy rain left the river very high and dirty, the canal coloured and the lake well above normal levels.
Despite having all of the odds stacked against him, Alan got over a hundred perch across the three different fisheries and still left disappointed not to get the big one. Not bad for a few cold and wet days in Autumn all the same.
This October has been a mild one, with average temperatures well above the norm, and this has kept some fish more catchable than they might typically be at this time of year. The last few days have, of course, been wet and windy everywhere. Over the past week, rainfall amounts varied across the country, with the wettest conditions across the south and northwest (up to 162% of normal). Meanwhile, it was drier than usual elsewhere (between 37 and 106 % of normal rainfall). The driest weather was, of course, in Dublin, where rainfall only tallied to 6mm up to Wednesday evening. Temperatures are due to drop in the coming week, falling to low single digits overnight, so wrap up well if you are heading out for a cast or two.
As we would expect at this time of year, most of our reports came from the pike fishing community this week. Kevin Lyons of Melview Fishing Lodge has made up for lost time this year, with numerous groups of happy overseas anglers passing through his doors. Satisfied guests this week included Steve from the UK and French visitors Etienne and his pals.
A couple of coarse festivals took place at either end of the country last week and over the weekend. The long-delayed FeederFest event, which was cancelled in 2020, took place on Inniscarra Reservoir in Cork; Tony Hopkins was head and shoulders above the other 59 competing anglers there. In Monaghan, a scaled-down Halloween Festival took place on Muckno, and Rory O’Neill came out top of the pile.
The Irish Federation of Sea Anglers had a busy bank holiday weekend. The senior boat anglers held their fish-offs in Cork to decide which five would compete at next year’s world championships in Portugal. Meanwhile, the IFSA Youths and Juniors put up with a sand blasting on Mullaghmore Strand in Sligo during their shore Interprovincials. Our Catch of the Week this week goes to the Youths, Juniors and their mentors who were battered by the elements but kept at it until their last casts were reeled in on Sunday evening.
Brian Reidy and the future of Irish sea angling
Things are winding down for the charter boats now, and this is the time of year for dry docking, engine repairs and much-needed paint jobs. However, Ewings Sea Angling and Boat Charters did manage to sneak out to one of their regular haunts in search of Halloween pollack. Skipper Daryl reckons that the unseasonal warmth has kept the fish active, and his anglers had some great fishing.
While the season for wild trout fishing has ended for 2021, there is still excellent trout fishing to be had on some of the stocked lakes, like Annagh Lake Rainbow Trout Fishery in Co. Cavan. The Annagh Lake Fishing Club has done some wonderful work to improve the facilities at the fishery in recent times. With the fishery remaining open until November 30th, they are welcoming visitors to swing by and try their luck.
Easy access via the jetty
In salmon news, the East Mayo Anglers are proud to announce that a club initiative has led to an increase in the number of salmon caught and released by club members and day ticket holders this season past. Nearly 43% of all fish caught by club members and visiting anglers – some 406 fish in total – were released to hopefully spawn this winter in the upper reaches of the catchment.
In other news…
A further reminder to salmon and sea trout anglers that logbooks must be returned now that the season is over.
Inland Fisheries Ireland has launched a public consultation seeking anglers views on how to improve the Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme.
Salmon Watch Ireland have announced details of their annual conference on November 6th, with the theme of the conference this year focusing on barriers to migration. This should be an interesting and informative session.
And now the weather
Scattered showers will continue Friday night, clearing to become chilly, temps falling to between 3°C and 7°C. Patches of mist and fog will develop too in a light southerly breeze.
Sunny spells and showers on Saturday, drier in the east, cool with highs of 10°C to 13°C in light to moderate south to southwest breezes. Wet and windy overnight, lows of 4°C to 8°C.
Rain continuing into the east and north on Sunday, with sunny spells and heavy showers elsewhere. Breezy with highs of 10°C to 13°C. Rain will linger overnight in the west and south, with a good deal of dry and clear weather across the centre of the country. It will be colder as temps are expected to fall to between 1°C and 4°C. The outlook is for cooler conditions with sunny spells and showers into midweek.
The angling club at Annagh Rainbow Trout Lake has been in touch to let us know about some superb new amenities that they have just installed on the lakeshore.
Annagh Lake is a 100-acre crystal clear spring-fed lake, located 2km from Butlersbridge village and 7km from Cavan Town. The lake is within easy reach of both Dublin (1.5hrs) and Belfast (1.5hrs), and attracts anglers from all parts of the country.It is stocked with quality fighting-fit triploid rainbow trout and stocking takes place four times annually.
Recently the club has built a superb log cabin on the lakeshore, and all anglers have access to this facility. They have also installed a unisex compost toilet, and both the cabin and toilet are accessible by wheelchair.
The new cabinUnisex compost toilet
The lake itself has been made accessible via a 60ft floating jetty, which has an attached ladder fitting for ease of entry and exit. There is a separate boat and access area for disabled users. There are 8 club boats on the lake which are available to hire.
Easy access via the jetty
The fishery remains open until the 30th of November so it’s still an option for anyone who is looking to cast at a trout or two. If you are interested in fishing the lake, IFI has worked with the club to produce a brochure with information on the fishery and it is available to download here.
Steve Gilbey was over from the UK for a spot of pike fishing and this time decided to use Melview Fishing Lodge in Longford as his base, Steve said that during his past trips to Ireland he has managed to catch pike, but not managed anything much more than 14lb.
Host Kevin had to try and do something about that and set off to show Steve a few places to fish, starting off from the shore line first of all. Steve managed to catch a few pike, but nothing to top that 14lb mark. So host Kevin arranged a couple of days out on the boat and it proved to be the right move, Steve managed some nice fish, the biggest being 18lb 4oz, so well done Steve.
Steve Gilbey with one of his Pike caught during his stay
On a final note, host Kevin said, ‘we have already been talking about another trip so I’m sure it will not be long before we see Steve back in Ireland, thanks Steve, enjoyed your company during your stay’.
Kevin has over 30 years experience of 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.
Regular French visitor Etienne was over once again to stay with host Kevin Lyons at Melview Fishing Lodge, this time Etienne was joined by friends Arnaud, Alann and Michel.
Michel braves the weather conditions
It’s been a long awaited trip after the lock downs and travel restrictions, but Kevin said the guys made up for lost time, getting off to a great first few days with some cracking fish being caught – some of them over the 100cm mark.
Great fish for Arnaud
The rain and water levels have slowed down the fishing a bit; however, they have still managed to catch some good fish. We will let you know how they finish their fishing holiday with a full report and pictures soon.
Alann is off the mark.
Alann (pictured above) had some difficulty putting on his lifejacket as he’s not used to boat fishing – if you’re not sure how to put on your liffejacket, you can view a useful video on the correct way to put on a lifejacket here.
Kevin has over 30 years experience of 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.
It being close to Halloween, they decided to visit one of their more reliable regular haunts, there they found some exceptional pollack fishing on light gear. The mild October has kept the water temperatures high and that has kept the fish active – so fish were taken on nearly every cast. As well as numerous pollack, anglers caught big wrasse, ling, coalie, pouting and several big shots of mackerel.
Go fishing…
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.
Team Ireland for the World Boat Championships in Portugal 2022 has been finalised following the Irish Federation of Sea Anglers’ fish offs last weekend. Padraic Clear, Pat Condon, Dan Lynch, Pio Enright and Brian Whelan will join team captain Steven Hurley on the plane, so congratulations to them.
The fish-offs were held over Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th fishing out of Crosshaven and twenty three of Ireland’s finest boat anglers took part – full results below.
