Eddy and Ivan from Belgium who are regular anglers to Melview Fishing Lodge Longford were over once again for their annual Pike fishing trip. Host Kevin said that they were faced with very high water levels on their arrival which slightly hampered their normal preferred fishing spots. They have been here many times before and they were determined not to let this spoil their fishing, so they sat it out using various dead baits and managed some cracking Pike to 105 cm.
Nice Pike For Eddy
It was the last three days that really paid off for them, I said that the water levels have started to drop and the fish will now start to feed. And this turned out to be the case for them, for the three days they had left they managed lots of pike over the meter and many Pike in the 90cm+ range. A great time had by all and they are already looking forward to their next trip in April 2022. Well done guys and look forward to seeing you next year.
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.
I was unlucky enough to break my elbow a couple of weeks ago which has put a stop to my fishing for a while… but fortunately for me, it gave me a bit of time to read through a new book by well known Irish angler David Dennis. The blurb from the book says:
“David Dennis is a dedicated angling enthusiast and has represented Ireland at the World Lure Championships on eight occasions. Here he relates a light hearted collection of short fishing stories including a wealth of knowledge gained from a lifetime spent fishing, sometimes venturing into the darker side of the angler’s psyche, and includes some of fishing’s best kept secrets.”
Having had plenty of time to read the book from cover to cover, there’s no doubting the enthusiasm David has for all forms of angling, and he takes a ‘no notions’, no-nonsense approach to telling the tales of a lifetime’s fishing adventures. Even if you are long time angler like myself, there are enough tips and tricks in there to keep you turning the pages. With Christmas just around the corner, anybody looking for an angling themed present won’t go too far wrong with this book.
The book is available in various tackle shops: Duo Hook Drogheda. Sword’s angling Center. Angler’s world Navan. Southside angling Dublin. Freeney’s tackle Galway and also in Waterstones shops nationwide.
Simon Gibson of Guided Predator Angling recently ran a raffle for a day’s guided pike fishing. He has made a short video of the day’s fishing with raffle winner Benny and his brother Gary in which they manage to boat three nice pike while fishing L. Erne.
It’s late in the year, and many charter boats have gone into dry dock for the winter, but on the east coast, Wicklow Boat Charters are still pulling quality fish out with amazing regularity. Whether it’s Spurs & Bull Huss out deep, or Tope closer in, there’s plenty of fish still around, with some to specimen size. It’s strange to see anglers charter boat fishing in their t-shirts in mid-November but the fish seem to be loving the mild spell!
Specimen sized spurdogT-shirt weather in November!
Some of the other quality fish
1 of 9
Fine tope for Wicklow Boats Angler
Go Fishing
Angling Charters are offered on a full-day, half-day and evening trip basis and can be tailored to suit your needs. Two boats available – Lisin and Castle Maiden. All levels of anglers are catered for. Anglers will benefit from your skipper’s angling experience and local knowledge with advice and guidance on-hand at all times.
SPECIALIST ANGLING CHARTERS
Specialist Angling Charters are offered for those who wish to target specific species, specimen fish or try new methods of angling.
ANGLING COACHING
Whether you’re a Club, Individual, School or Junior you can have an angling coaching session or programme tailored to suit your needs.
The Munster Closed Shore competition was held over last weekend in the Youghal area. One of the most prestigious competitions on the Irish competition circuit, the event was organised this year by West Cork & District SAC. Club member Pete Davis took part, and wrote a great account of the weekend. Take it away, Pete!
2021 Munster Closed Shore
The 2021 Munster Closed Shore competition was held over 3 sessions in Youghal over the weekend. Friday night was Redbarn, Saturday morning we were to head for the Slob bank and finally wrapping things up on Youghal beach itself on Saturday night.
Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail
The week leading up to the event itself was one of frantic bait gathering and trace tying with maddies and fresh peeler crab being sought after. Its unfortunate that this year we are in a tide cycle whereby rising tides into darkness over a weekend are all on the smaller neaps and not on springs as would be way more preferable. Anglers had to be prepared for what could be fairly slow fishing as in general, beach angling on neaps isn’t anywhere near as productive so covering all the bases from mini bashing to the hoped for bigger fish was going to be necessary.
The event itself was being organised and hosted by West Cork and District Sea Angling Club and credit where its due, they did a fantastic job. Special mention in particular to Stephen O’Donovan and Mark O’Sullivan with JP Molloy and Barry O’Rourke stepping in to assist pegging the beaches also. Peg draw, card return and result organising were flawless and the information provided in the lead up was also appreciated.
Session 1
Match 1 at Redbarn was a scratchy affair. There were some nice painted Ray and a few dogfish caught but by and large the bigger fish just didn’t materialise and the ability to put together a bag of mixed bits and pieces on the night was key to building a score. It was a frustrating start for some but that’s match fishing for you, you can only catch what’s in front of you! Still, for anyone who had fish, it was only the end of session 1 and there was still all to play for.
Night fishing during the Munster Closed
Aidan O’Halloran had the best fish of the evening with a painted Ray, Darren Ryan with a 56cm Strap Conger took the evenings biggest round fish prize. Zone winners on the night were JP Molloy, Stephen O’Donovan and Darren Ryan.
You have to be organised for these multi event competitions and there was a rapid exit off the beach with anglers keen to check their gear and get rid of any mess ready for number 2. Whilst the fishing hadn’t been explosive, anglers willing to push hard and follow through on their plans had certainly got results.
Chris O’Sullivan with a fine painted ray
Session 2
Match 2, Saturday morning was on the (in)famous Slob Bank or Dog Egg alley as it should be called. Woe betide the unwary walker here! Another scratchy affair ensued with anglers willing to adapt to what was in front of them rather than persisting with trying to catch what wasn’t there doing well.
The Slob Bank at Youghal
Expected numbers of small codling, coalies or other round fish just didn’t materialise. There were however some lovely big flounders caught along with an odd middling size bass and numbers of small Whiting. That man JP Molloy, once he had managed to park his gardeners world wheel barrow somehow managed to pull out a surprise dogfish, the lads unreal, he’d pull a doggie out of the Lough in Togher if you gave him long enough! Fishing in general was slow once again but the tiny tides and beautifully unseasonal weather made it a pleasant enough morning.
JP Molloy, better known recently as a coarse match angler, with a surprise dogfish from the Slob Bank
Chris O’Sullivan with a double shot of flounder
Alan O’Dowling took the biggest round fish prize in this session with a 48cm Bass with the fish of the session (No JP, its not your doggie!) falling to Gearoid McCarthy with a fine 43cm flounder. Zone winners were Kevin Hayden, David O’Sullivan and Troy Francis.
If the fishing on the Slob Bank was mildly disappointing, it was nothing compared to the disappointment experienced for a horde of hungry anglers descending on the Roma Grill in town only to find out it didn’t open until 3pm… They will never know what they missed, it would have been something akin to the last days of Rome! Sustenance was obtained elsewhere before thoughts and attention turned to the final match of the series on Youghal beach that evening.
Session 3
Chances were it was going to be another fairly scratchy affair and so it proved to be. Troy Francis got off to an absolute flier in Zone C with some fine angling and walked his Zone win in the first hour or so before the fish at distance dried up. Runs of small fish in close turned up late on if you went looking for them, managing to land 6 fish in a 20 minute period myself just towards the end of the match. Whilst there hadn’t been huge numbers of fish caught, it had been a full on couple of days and there were some tired men coming off the beach when the call for lines up was made.
A magnificent bass of 76cm for Sean Og McShane
Chris O’Sullivan scooped the pool for the biggest flatfish on the night with a 33cm flounder. The fish of the night, and to be fair, far and away the fish of the weekend however went to Sean Og McShane, an angler more used to flying the flag for Ireland on the World Boat Team, with a superb 76cm bass. Well done that man, that fish will take some matching! Zone winners on the night were Troy Francis, Alan O’Dowling and Richard Gormley.
Winner Winner
With all the scores in, the small matter of the Gold medal and also the Munster Team for next years Interprovincial competition were announced the following day. JP Molloy finished in top spot with a zone win and 2 second places to take the title to put the Munster Closed shore Trophy alongside the Munster Open trophy he also currently holds. A really solid, consistent display from JP once again. The Munster team will be made up of JP Molloy, Alan O’Dowling, Troy Francis, Stephen O’Donovan and Richie Gormley. To be fair, it’s a team that’s well able to take on all comers and we wish them well in the Inter Pros next year.
Winner JP Molloy with the trophy
It’s been a long time since I fished the Munsters and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. There is a great sense of camaraderie at these events with acquaintances being made and renewed over the weekend. There was some lively banter on occasion and a lot of fun had regardless as to how results had gone. There is a large contingent of us travelling up North to Benone and Portrush beaches this weekend for the eagerly anticipated Master Angler competition. I would like to take this opportunity to wish safe travels to all heading up, look forward to seeing everyone up there and raising a damp glass or two in the process.
Our next outing with the Westies is in the Garryvoe area on September 11th, if you are interested in joining and coming fishing with us, please don’t hesitate to drop us a message through our FB page.
The club was formed on march 19th 2009, in the small picturesque harbour town of Kinsale County Cork. We’re an inclusive club, this can be seen in our membership profile; from anglers who are new to match fishing all the way up to members of the Irish World Shore Team 2010, two of which are in the club! The club holds circa 10 competitions per year, members are encouraged to practice a catch and release policy in the interests of conservation. Anybody wishing to join our club is always welcome, just use the contact us page and we will give prospective members full details. Web:http://westcorkanddistrict.webs.com/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Cork-and-District-SAC/201776589958897
The Erne Anglers continued their winter league last weekend as 34 anglers turned up to fish on the River Erne in the unseasonable, but very welcome, mild weather. The river was running fast and clear and the fish were obliging, particularly for Paul Smith who won the match for the second week in a row using a 6-metre whip.
1 of 3
Nice bag including a late season tench from the Erne
The C/M Lakelands Feeder Club ran the opening leg of their winter league last weekend on L. Muckno. Luckily, the fish were in fine fettle on the day and there were some nice bags, particularly from the Yellow Island area. The overall winner on the day was Robert Ziltas with a cracking bag of 10.77 kg. Let’s hope the rest of the league fishes as well for them.
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).
