The Keady & District Angling Club held their annual Fergal Donnelly Memorial Cup Open Pike event on Lough Muckno last weekend. With anglers travelling from as far afield as Derry, it was an early start for some and all were eager to get casting once the horn sounded at 10 AM. Most anglers opted for static deadbaits with a couple of younger anglers trying lures and wobbled deadbaits.
Some of the catches
1 of 3
At 3 PM all the lucky anglers that had caught submitted their cards and the top prize of the day went to Dominic McClosky with a nice pike of 18lb 10oz. In the junior section, young angler Niamh took the top prize with a pike of 7lb 14oz. See the full report on the Keady & District Angling Club Facebook Page.
Where better to start this week than at the end, and today, Friday November 12th, is the end of another fishing season – this time for the bluefin tuna. The tuna fleet have had a tough season in 2021 compared with the highs and successes of 2020 when 685 giants were caught, tagged and released back into Irish waters under the Tuna CHART tagging programme.
Fewer fish will have been tagged this year under the programme, as skippers found the fishing to have been much more difficult. Still, it’s a learning curve for most of them and no time afloat is wasted when there are lessons to be learnt. Thankfully, there were a couple of weather windows in the past week that let some of the skippers tag their last giants of the season and three of them managed to do just that.
In search of smaller sea species was David Norman of West Cork Bass, who is still having good success with pollock around the West Cork coast. Sea temperatures are still hanging on in double digits, keeping the fish within reach of his kayak. Also out kayaking were members of the Irish Kayak Angling Club, who shared one last cast with one of their own, Pat Gill, before he heads off to sunnier climes. On what may be his last ever outing in Irish waters, Pat caught his first ever triggerfish – a fitting end to his Irish fishing. Pat wins our Catch of the Week for this – his first (and possibly last) Irish triggerfish!
From the shore, the Galway Bay SAC found an abundance of flatfish while fishing the final leg of their Master Angler 2021 league; Brian Reidy was a well deserving and popular winner of their Master Angler trophy after many years of trying. The Irish Federation of Sea Anglers are inviting their next generation of Master Anglers to Woodstown Beach, Co. Waterford, on December 4th to try and hone their skills as part of a Youth and Junior Training Day. Training will be given under the IFSA CAST coaching programme and all are welcome to register and attend.
John Cunningham (previous winner) presents Brian Reidy with the Galway Bay SAC Master Angler trophy.
In freshwater, this is the time of year that green, predatory fish feature prominently in anglers’ catches and we have some stunning pike and perch to report this week. The Leinster Perch Anglers have been busy targeting some plump, fin perfect perch at various locations in the east of the country; some fine fish of up to 35cm falling to small lures on light tackle for them.
While the salmon and trout seasons are long since finished for 2021, we do have season reports from two of our south eastern rivers; the River Nore had a very good run of salmon, probably the best in recent years, while the Slaney had decent salmon runs but the sea trout that the river is so famous for were less abundant than usual.
While on the topic of salmon, a quick reminder that Inland Fisheries Ireland has launched a public consultation seeking the views of anglers, licence distributors and commercial fishermen on how to improve the Wild Salmon and Sea Trout Tagging Scheme and a further reminder to salmon and sea trout anglers that logbooks must be returned now that the season is over.
The handbook has been designed as the ultimate ‘go to’ guide for any young angler starting out on their own fishing journey, from fishing for freshwater fish at a nearby river or lake to going on an exciting sea angling trip in search of saltwater species. The free guide is now available to download on the Inland Fisheries Ireland and Scouting Ireland websites.
Since 2016, more than €5 million in grants have been awarded to over 250 projects throughout Ireland under funds administered by Inland Fisheries Ireland and, this week, we launched a new funding call of up to €1 million which will support vital conservation projects around the country.
Eligible angling clubs, fishery owners and other stakeholders are invited to apply for funding to support fisheries conservation projects in their local areas through the 2022 ‘Habitats and Conservation’ scheme.
And now the weather…
Largely dry Friday night with a mix of cloud and clear spells with just isolated showers. Some mist patches will form. Lows of 5°C to 9°C.
Bright or sunny intervals over the eastern half of the country on Saturday with cloudy conditions further west. Rain and drizzle in the west from late morning, moving east through the day. Highs of 12°C to 15°C with light breezes. Cloudy Saturday night, with patchy light rain and drizzle. Mist will develop in light southerly breezes, fresher near western coasts. Lows of 8°C to 13°C, coolest in the east.
Overcast for much of Sunday, with light drizzle in the west but mostly dry in the east. Highs of 13°C to 15°C in light to moderate south to southwest breezes, fresher near western coasts. More drizzle overnight on Sunday, clearing by morning. Lows of 6°C to 11°C, coolest in the northwest. Cloudier elsewhere with mist developing in light to moderate southwesterly winds.
The outlook is mild for the time of year with a good deal of dry weather into early next week. Turning more unsettled from midweek.
The ‘Introduction to Angling’ handbook aims to encourage more young people in Ireland to give fishing a try.
Inland Fisheries Ireland is teaming up with Scouting Ireland to launch a new handbook to cover all the essentials of angling, such as: how to get started, water safety, the different types of fish species in Ireland and the types of habitats they live in.
The handbook has been designed as the ultimate ‘go to’ guide for any young angler starting out on their own fishing journey, from fishing for freshwater fish at a nearby river or lake to going on an exciting sea angling trip in search of a maritime species.
The free guide is now available to download on the Inland Fisheries Ireland and Scouting Ireland websites and includes:
What to wear when going on a fishing trip
Water safety
Fishing rods, bait and gear
Species of fish (including both freshwater and saltwater).
Food webs and fish habitats.
Invasive species – what are they
The ‘how to’ of reels, casting, knots, and rig set ups.
Fishing ethics with a multitude of fishing resources.
Lorraine O’Donnell Education and Outreach Officer with Inland Fisheries Ireland highlighted the many health and wellbeing benefits of angling, saying: “Fishing gives young people exciting experiences out in a natural environment while learning about animals, birds, insects, plants and the wider world around us. This new comprehensive guide will give young anglers, parents and group leaders all the knowledge they need to prepare safely for their next fishing trip.”
Colm Kavanagh, Programme Manager, Scouting Ireland said: “Scouting Ireland is delighted to be involved in the creation of this resource. The outdoors is our play and educational space where young people can discover the many wonders of nature. Introducing young people to the skill of fishing opens up many more possibilities and perhaps a lifelong hobby. In today’s world, conservation and knowledge of the natural world, is becoming very important to young people. We look forward to increased interest by Scouts and the wider population of young people in fishing and an understanding of the interconnectedness of all life on the planet.”
(Photographs: our thanks to the 31st Cork Lissarda Scouts, who helped us promote the new “Getting Hooked” booklet in association with Scouting Ireland under the Dormant Accounts Funding. The pictures were taken at the Coachford greenway in Co. Cork).
Leinster Perch Anglers Craig Murphy, Alan Walsh and Ciaran Bowers have all been on the perch hunt this week with some stunning perch to show for their efforts. Using light tackle and mini soft plastics fished slow, the lads have each had super fishing.
Craig got out for a half day session and hit tons of well conditioned fish. As he says himself, Irish perch don’t go huge, but what they lack in size they make up for in beauty! Perch are in peak condition at this time of year and while Craig didn’t land any monsters, he got some really good perch up to 35cm.
Craig and one of his perch
Alan fished a 3″ Keitech Live Impact on the dropshot and, despite only getting out for an hour, managed to land some stunning, fin perfect fish.
Fin perfect
Ciaran struggled for his first hour, but it was just a matter of finding the fish; once he did, he almost had a fish a cast. Plenty of 25cm+ fish fell to his 2″ Easy Shiner before a much bigger mouth engulfed it. At 35cm and about 1.5lb, this was Ciaran’s best perch yet – nice work!
Ciaran’s PB @ 35cm
Perch can provide great sport in our rivers, lakes and canals at this time of the year. Fishing for them with light tackle and small jigs or lures can be great fun – especially for younger anglers and beginners.
David Norman from West Cork Bass is still getting some great fishing in Clonakilty Bay and other hotspots in West Cork. The sea temperature in the area is now at 10.5c – so just about holding in double figures – and David has been catching quality pollock from the kayak on Lures & Slow Pitch-Jigs.
It is a tricky time of year for this kind of fishing, with longer periods of unsettled, blustery weather and sunsets getting earlier by the day. David expects the good fishing to continue for a while yet though, once he gets the windows of calmer conditions that will allow him out.
Skippers from the bluefin tuna CHART programme will have had their last opportunities to tag a giant this week, as the short season draws to a close this Friday, November 12th. As is often the case in angling, once you think you have cracked it, the fishing proves you wrong and following the highs of the 2020 season, the 2021 edition was a much more difficult affair.
Adrian Molloy of Tuna.ie managed an incredible 250 fish in 2020, but this week three more tuna, including number 85, of a much slower season were brought alongside Deep Blue for tagging. It must be said though, that 85 tuna in a four month season would still be pretty good anywhere else in the world. Bluefin number 85 for Tuna.ie in 2020, caught by Joe Foley on Wednesday, was a super 250cm fish.
Tag in, fish away
Tuna Mick managed to get a couple of fish in Donegal Bay last Friday, Nov 5th. A weather window of a few hours in the morning was enough for the Leah C to get out and a nice 520lber followed by a smaller version of 400lb+ were the rewards.
Down south, Dave Edwards of West Cork Charters wasn’t willing to let the season slip away without one last roll of the dice aboard the Silver Dawn. With so few fish around he wasn’t really expecting to hook up, but that he did, and following a 25 minute battle that proved to Dave just how unfit he is, a 200kg beauty was tagged and released. Dave also managed a single fish last Friday fishing out of Baltimore.
Silver Dawn and Radiance reflecting on the season gone
Irish Deep Sea Charters failed to tag a tuna on their last trip out – but only because the 80incher they played to the side of the Chloe Jay managed to wriggle free of the lip hook before the tag could be inserted! Skipper Adrian reckons that the area is full of dolphins, whales and, of course, the bait fish that they are all after at the moment.
We’ll hopefully bring you a 2021 season round up from the whole fleet in the coming weeks – once all the data is gathered and the numbers are crunched.
Tuna CHART
Tuna CHART (CatcHand Release Tagging) utilises authorised vessels to catch, tag and release Atlantic Bluefin Tuna for data collection purposes off the Irish coast. The programme, developed by Inland Fisheries Ireland and the Marine Institute in partnership with the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Department for Environment, Climate and Communications, operated on a pilot basis in 2019 and 2020.
The 2021 season opened on the 1st July and closes on the 12th November 2021.
Authorised Vessels
Anglers wishing to engage in this fishery must only do so on a sea angling vessel specifically authorised to participate in the programme. Any person engaging in this fishery on any vessel which is not appropriately authorised will be in breach of the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction (Bluefin Tuna) Regulations.
A full list of authorised skippers can be found below:
It was his first time fishing that spot in along time, so he can't say if it has produced fish lately - but it produced for Paul!
Paul Sylvester was fishing in Longford last week and he did alright for himself. He hadn’t been at that particular venue for a while so he can’t say if it has been producing but he certainly found what he was looking for there, a fine pike of 16lbs and 102cm.
It was a dull cloudy day with the odd break of sunshine and light southwesterly winds. This was his only fish of the day though he did miss one not long after landing this pike. Paul was fishing a running leger with the bait, a 6 inch mackerel, popped up off the bottom. The fish was caught about 10.30 in the morning and after a couple of photos was swimming free again a couple of minutes later.
It was his first time fishing that spot in along time, so he can’t say if it has produced fish lately – but it produced for Paul!
TJ from TJ’s Angling Centre at the bottom of Lough Derg has let us know there is a slight change to his shop’s opening hours for the few months of the winter. For the next while the shop opens from 8 am to 8.30 pm Monday to Friday and 8 am to 8 pm Saturday and Sunday.
On the fishing front TJ was telling us that a regular guest of his all the way from Boston really enjoyed his fishing last week getting six pike for his day on the water.
Ken from Boston with his best pike of the trip
Go fishing…
TJ’s Angling Centre
TJ’s Angling centre arranges trips and offers support to anglers visiting the Lough Derg area. All our guides are local anglers with a detailed knowledge of Lough Derg and its surrounds. All equipment needed can be supplied or if you prefer to use your own, our guides will be happy to offer advice on methods and baits to use, full or half day trips are available, contact us for prices and available dates.
Peter Horbinski won the recent open match on Lough Muckno which was held last Sunday, Nov 7th. Peter had 19 lbs of pole caught fish on Yellow Island and was followed closely by D Fairhurst and J McKinley just grams behind. The draw for the match was held at the Old Coach House as usual at 8.30am and the match was held on Yellow Island pegs 195 upwards on a two in, one out, basis.
The good fishing augers well for the impending Winter league events on the ever productive Lough Muckno – for more info keep an eye on their Facebook page.
Barring the barren month of May when the Roach exit to spawn, Lough Muckno once again yielded super weights all through this year, capped by highs of up to 30 kgs per man, in five hour matches.
Top Weights can and do come off all pegs on all sections, amounting to 250 park beside pegs, and fall to all methods, depending on ability and venue knowledge.
