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Rain in Waterville sees salmon on the Inny and juniors on Currane

By
Myles Kelly
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A view of Lough Currane
Lough Currane, 14 September 2021

Vincent Appleby reports from Lough Currane…

10/9/2021 The Currane Anglers were all quiet on the Western front this day. Wind NW light with reasonable cloud cover.

11/9/2021 I think Currane anglers were concentrating more on the All Ireland Final than manipulating flies and lures this day as they watched the Red hands of Tyrone made sure the so called curse of Mayo continues as they went down by 2-14 to Mayo’s 0-15 if this was a Currane fishing result there would be a good few Currane Anglers smiling. Wind NW light with reasonable cloud cover.

12/9/2021 All quiet in all departments so on that note we will head for an article on  escapes well worth clicking. Wind ENE light and variable and overcast.

13/9/2021 The Currane anglers were all quiet on all fronts. Wind ESE light to fresh and variable, followed by light and heavy rain throughout the day.

A view of Lough Currane
Lough Currane, 14 September 2021

14/9/2021 Straight to today’s facts, firstly there was a good flood last night, so one doesn’t need be a rocket engineer to know the C&R Inny anglers were manipulating their skills this day and here is some of today’s C&R Inny action, there were four Salmon caught on the fly and one on the spin.

Now we head for Lough Currane, there were 5 boats out and there was a mixture of Juniors and Brown Trout caught on the drift. Wind light to calm NNW with reasonable cloud cover in the morning as you can see by the picture but come early afternoon their was a fair bit of bright sunshine.

Vincent Appleby
www.salmonandseatrout.com

Go fishing…

Vincent Appleby

Eureka Lodge, Caherdaniel West, Co. Kerry.
Telephone: +353 (0) 87 207 4882
E-mail:salmonandseatrout@gmail.com
Web: www.salmonandseatrout.com

Find out more about Lough Currane…

The rivers and lakes of Waterville drain a large catchment and are regarded by many as the foremost Salmon and Sea-Trout fishery in the country. The lake system is well developed with access to boats and guides being readily available to the tourist angler. The Sea-Trout caught here are renowned for their size and quantity. For more details see

Irish Feedermasters final success for Philip Jackson on Muckno

By
Paul O'Reilly
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The Irish Feedermasters final was held last Sunday, Sept 12th, on the Concra Wood section of Lough Muckno in County Monaghan.

Practice sessions earlier in the week saw all weights in excess of 14kgs with a number in the 17kgs and 18kgs bracket, so prospects were good for the participating anglers. Having analysed end peg trends in recent matches, organisers decided to negate that element by placing ‘blockers’ at either end of the competing anglers, so volunteers Peter Walsh and Andy Chapman acted as the blockers on pegs 48 and 93.

Peg 50 was not well fancied peg, known for being quite rocky, but that is where formidable angler Philip Jackson ground out a winning weight of just under 13kgs made up of 165 fish and topped up by some decent skimmers in the last hour.

Jacko and his winning haul
Damien Foltyn was just grams adrift and inaugural winner Rory Dunne also finished just short from the most difficult area on the stretch. A strong showing from Piotr Horbinski saw him capture 4th place, followed closely by Nigel Houldsworth in 5th, while the final Podium place went to Arthur Craznoski.
What a venue
Well done to all the winners on truly deserved wins, following some very tightly contested qualifiers. The presentation was held in the open air at the car park opposite Old Coach Inn in Castleblaney.

Polish duo collect top prize at historic Lough Ree pike event

By
Paul O'Reilly
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Lanesborough/Ballyleague was the starting point for the  annual Lough Ree International Pike Classic on Saturday the 11th and Sunday 12th of September. This angling competition was held with the support of the Camlin and District Angling Club and Lough Ree/Lanesborough Angling Hub and made history with the presence of two anglers with disability in a boat for the first time.

This event has grown in popularity over the past five years and this year had 78 boats and 158 anglers coming from all over the country and abroad to take part, but this year the presence of wheelchair users Dorothy Coyle and Joe Donlon was the headline.

Lough Ree and the Shannon River is an excellent venue for this competition giving the anglers a large area in which to fish and offers a wide range of deep areas and shallow bays giving anglers lots of choice and suits a variety of angling methods. Both the weather and fishing conditions were good over the weekend and as expected a lot of fish were caught with all boats registering catches.

A Lough Ree classic

The organisers operate a strict catch and release policy with minimal disturbance to the fish. The angers photograph their catch on specially designed measuring boards and the fish are released immediately in the same area they were caught. The adjudicators then view the photographs with the anglers having the longest five fish over the two days deemed the winners.

Fishing aside, this was the first competition the Camlin Anglers have helped organise since before the Covid 19 pandemic called a halt to everything. It was fantastic to meet up with old friends again and it added an extra buzz to the whole experience.

Phil Gordon of the Lough Ree Angling hub said the festival could not have taken place without the sponsorship and support of Inland Fisheries Ireland and Roscommon county council. “This was a red letter couple of days for our hub” he said, “it’s the first time we have had two competitors in their wheelchairs and they thoroughly enjoyed it. This is equality at last for people with disability and we would like to thank the crew of the Lough Ree Access For All boat for their help and cancelling their weekend sailings.”

Dorothy Coyle and Joe Donlon aboard the Lough Ree Access For All Boat with skipper and crew

The prize fund over the two days was €10,000 and overall winners of the event, Lukasz Sankiewicz and Peter Kaczmarek, collected the first prize of €2,500 euro for the 2nd time in the history of the event. The pair are regular participants at festivals here and paid tribute to the fishery’s performance over the last ten years.

Winners Lukasz and Peter with Aaron Carr – chairman of the Camlin Angling Club and member of the Lough Ree Angling hub

For further information please contact Philip Gordon, loughreeanglinghub@gmail.com

 

Uncommonly audacious nature fanatics have best day of their lives

By
Myles Kelly
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sea scorpion
1 tremendously handsome long-spined sea scorpion

Alek Nowak reports on the antics of Jonasz and Miłosz, nature fanatics turned fishing fanatics and their last sea fishing trip…

Last Saturday we’ve ventured out to Dun Laoghaire Harbour for a mini species hunt. Armed in two light pole rods (with tiny float rigs) and a humble dropshot set up, me and my two sons, Jonasz (9) and Miłosz (6), managed to catch (and release) six different species in one afternoon sitting:

  • 2 Ballan wrasses
  • 9 picturesque corkwing wrasses
  • 8 uncommonly audacious common blennies
  • 1 tremendously handsome long-spined sea scorpion
  • 5 ubiquitous whitings and
  • 3 very pretty, yet surprisingly brave poor cods

There was also a by-catch of quite massive velvet crab, hooked by mistake by one of his joints, and unluckily landed a bit too hard on the concrete. Stunned and missing one leg, yet still deadly dangerous (by the look of his eyes at least) was quickly sent back home.

When we ran out of ragworm, the hunt continued thanks to limpet slivers with an almost equal success rate.

Apart from being frowned upon due to the misjudged amount of bait, I was told by the two intrepid fish hunters to reconsider our supply of different sized hooks – as removing a deeply placed 10 sized barbless from a boisterous blenny, trying to nip my hand like a feral mongrel, was entirely impossible and we sadly had to cut the line leaving the hook to rust and wishing the little fighter all the best.

The boys had stars in their eyes starting from the first fish they landed, and after two days they’re undoubtedly still there… It will be a very long school week for them until we can set out for another best day in their lives!

Well done to Jonasz and Miłosz worthy Catch of the Week winners. We look forward to hearing more of your adventure in the future

Lucky 13 for Harley’s pike and perch adventure

By
Myles Kelly
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Birthday fishing
Lucky 13 - Harley with his PB pike

Steven Powell of Lure Guides reports on his weekend’s adventures…

Some say 13 is an unlucky number – not for Harley who just turned 13.

He marked his birthday with some impressive milestones; PB pike, PB perch and Greatest amount of perch ever.

Birthday fishing
Lucky 13 – Harley with his PB pike

It was a pleasure to introduce Harely and his dad to some excellent sports fishing with finesse gear and it wasn’t long before they cracked the method and started putting pike and perch on the boat nearly all day constantly.

Who says 13 is an unlucky number – make your own luck 🍀.

Hope you had a great day and this one l think will stick in the memory for a while

Go Fishing

Come fish with us for big predators in Ireland on Lough Erne in Northern Ireland, a stunning waterway with many many specimen pike perch and trout. Come visit and catch your dream. Fish with us using lures for predators such as pike perch and trout.

We get about on a competition spec polarkraft aluminium 16.5ft with good deck and casting area design – powered by super reliable 40hp Yamaha getting about won’t take long traveling at high speed on open water.

www.lureguides.com

Irish Angling Update 10 September 2021

By
Markus Muller
-

The early part of the week saw a continuation of the calm and warm conditions which have dominated our weather for quite some time. These dry conditions continued to impact on the majority of trout and salmon fisheries around the country with many rivers running extremely low and very few signs of fly life on the loughs. As a consequence, trout fishing reports were still very scarce this week with anglers on Lough Conn finding conditions extremely difficult. However, after the recent heavy rains, mainly in the northern and western half of the country, there is growing hope among game anglers that the next few weeks could provide much better fishing and a “happy end” to the remainder of this year’s trout and salmon season.

Salmon fishing was equally slow on the Blackwater and many other salmon fisheries in the southwest with the exception of the Ilen and Cohmolla rivers where decent fishing has been reported. Low water levels and warm water temperatures also made angling difficult on the Moy, while a report received for the River Boyne suggests that there were some nice catches of salmon and grilse between Drogheda and Navan during August.

A nice 12lb salmon from the Boyne
Pat O’Toole caught & released a fine  12lbs. salmon on the Boyne during the week

Over to coarse angling, where tough conditions with average daily temperatures of 25 degrees plus baking sunshine and not a breath of wind made it difficult for competitors of the first annual Strokestown Autumn Angling Festival. However, after three difficult days, Andrew Burnett scooped 1st price with a total weight of 92lbs. 13oz keeping him clear of the chasing pack.

A happy Andrew Burnett winning the 1st annual Strokestown Autumn Angling Festival

Staying in the Midlands, Belmont Anglers reported on another successful competition held on the Grand Canal with good numbers of tench recorded.

Grand canal tench
Grand Canal tench

Pike anglers were equally quiet, with just one report received by Steven Powell of Lure Guides from the Erne which is probably no wonder as many of Ireland’s top predator anglers took part in this year’s Lough Ree Predator Challenge which was fished by a total of 24 teams and won by Tomy Kurman and Jacek Gorny known as the “Disco Team”.

Pike
The Lough Ree Predator Challenge saw great catches of pike
Winners
The “Disco Team” receiving their trophy

When warm and calm weather impacts on freshwater fishing, sea angling is usually at its best. So it is no wonder that sea angling news is dominating the Irish Angling Update again this week! In Co. Cork, a number of authorised bluefin tuna boats had their first fish of the season in the last few days, while their colleagues in the northwest continued to catch fair numbers of good size tuna during the week.

bluefin tuna
Tony Santry poses with the first Cork bluefin of the season

Clare based skipper Luke Aston has been having some great mixed fishing including some nice spurs and fair-sized cod. Fellow Clare skipper, Sean Maguire, on the Lady Gwen II has also been providing some great fishing opportunities to guests lately. Our Catch of the Week also comes from County Clare where young angler Denis Foster had a fantastic sea angling debut on the Shannon Estuary. Well done Denis! Read the full report here!

Dan Foster with a fine Shannon Estuary tope

Further north, in Galway Bay the red tide seems to have cleared allowing shark fishing to resume again. John Fleming managed to put some of his guests over some blue shark as soon as he could. Also in Galway Bay, Kevin MacGabhann, skipper of the Maighdean Mara, has been out targeting whitefish, with some fine fish coming aboard.

Nice Galway Bay cod

Other news

Inland Fisheries Ireland recorded an increase in illegal fishing activity last year.

As a result, the agency initiated 119 prosecutions for fisheries-related offences in 2020, compared with 67 prosecutions in 2019. It also seized 1,287 illegal fishing items last year, up from 788 items the year before. Officers issued 240 fixed charge penalty notices last year, compared with 158 in 2019 and gave 756 cautions, up from 425 cautions in 2019. Read the full press release here.

Types & numbers of patrols carried out by Inland Fisheries Ireland in 2020

And now the weather…

Tomorrow, Saturday, will be a fresher day with a mix of cloud and bright spells. There will be well scattered light showers over the northern part of the country, with more isolated showers to the south. Highest temperatures of 15 to 19 degrees, coolest in the northwest, in a moderate west to northwest breeze. The outlook is for more changeable weather with heavy rain possible in places  Sunday and on Monday. However, early indications for the second half of the week are for a fair amount of dry weather mainly in the west and southwest.

Safe fishing to all and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.

Markus Müller


Catch, Photo, Release

If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update please send it to reports@fisheriesireland.ie.

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Tuna action continues in Donegal Bay

By
Markus Muller
-

Bluefin boats based in the northwest enjoyed another exciting week with a few nice tuna caught. Adrian Molloy of tuna.ie reported that numbers are still down on 2020 but size and quality of fish so far this season are better than last year.

Happy faces onboard Deep Blue

Wildatlanticwayangling fishing out of Killygbegs and Kiwi Girl based in Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo also reported good tuna action during the week. Check out some exciting video footage here and on tuna.ie

Great tuna for Wildatlanticwayangling

Go Fishing…

Kiwi Girl

From Mullaghmore Harbour, our Sea Fishing Ireland experience aboard the M.V. Kiwi Girl will bring you to some of the best inshore fishing grounds in Europe. We offer a wide range of Sea Fishing Ireland Boat Trips to suit both novice and expert, from Short 2 Hr Sea Fishing Boat Trips to Big Game Options.

Kiwi Girl is a Fastcatch Kingfisher 31′ with a 420 HP Caterpillar engine.

The Pier, Mullaghmore, Co. Sligo, Ireland

Telephone: +353 (0)87 6100111
Email: mail@offshore.ie Web: www.offshore.ie

Leah C

11m BW Seacat Catamaran
Skipper: Michael Callaghan
Base: Killybegs Operational area: Up to a 30 mile radius from the point of departure.

Authorised bluefin tuna boat

Notes: Top charter angling business based in the beautiful Donegal Bay and in the heart of the Ireland’s stunning “Wild Atlantic Way”.

We run general charters for all species and are especially interested in taking anglers out targeting as many species as possible in a day.

Address: Kiliybegs, County Donegal
Telephone: +353 (0)87 237 3808
Email: wildatlanticwayangling@gmail.com Web: https://www.facebook.com/TUNAMICK/

Deep Blue

Skipper: Adrian Molloy
Base: Killybegs Operational area: Up to a 30 mile radius from the point of departure.

Authorised bluefin tuna boat

Notes:We can also offer you some of the finest Sea Angling in Ireland, inshore and offshore on the best boats and with the best skippers.

Whatever your angling interests from ultra light tackle and fly fishing for big reef pollack to trolling and stand-up tackle for fast fighting Tuna – we aim to please ! Dolphin and whale watching, scenic tours and wildlife trips  available along some of the most spectacular scenery in  Ireland. Shark fishing! Skate fishing! Tuna fishing!  Donegal has it all.

Address: Kilcar, County Donegal, Ireland,
Telephone: +353 (0)85 8567460
Email: adrian@tuna.ie Web: http://tuna.ie/

Tuna CHART

Tuna CHART (CatcH and 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.

 

Fishing still slow on Loughs Conn & Cullin

By
Markus Muller
-
Brendan Murphy’s trout for 1.25 lbs caught on a Green Peter Hopper

Kevin O’Boyle reports from Loughs Conn & Cullin…

Because of the weather conditions, trout angling has been very quiet on the lakes. Very little fly life with the odd small sedge and large daddy were evident on the water.

Gary Binley from Foxford with two American friends caught a trout each and moved a few more along Brackwansha Shore and Cormorant Rocks on Lough Conn.  Chris Meadows caught two trout and released both which were caught on silver daddies.

Pat Mc Nulty, Crossmolina, had three trout on dry sedges, while fishing partner Colm Mc Andrew had one trout on a Dabbler in Castlehill Bay.

Brendan Murphy fishing with his brother Cormac Murphy from Cloghans caught a trout for just over 1.25 lbs. on a Green Peter Hopper that he tied himself, outside Cloghans Bay. Well done!

Brendan Murphy’s Green Peter Hopper that he tied himself

 

Increase in illegal fishing activity recorded during Covid-19

By
Sadhbh O'Neill
-

Over 33,000 patrols undertaken by Inland Fisheries Ireland officers in 2020, as illegal fishing activity rose during Covid-19 last year

Patrol drones and surveillance equipment become increasingly important to detect illegal fishing in hard-to-reach areas

Inland Fisheries Ireland, the state agency with responsibility for the protection and conservation of freshwater fish and habitats, recorded an increase in illegal fishing activity last year.

As a result, the agency initiated 119 prosecutions for fisheries-related offences in 2020, compared with 67 prosecutions in 2019. It also seized 1,287 illegal fishing items last year, up from 788 items the year before. Officers issued 240 fixed charge penalty notices last year, compared with 158 in 2019 and gave 756 cautions, up from 425 cautions in 2019.

The way in which Inland Fisheries Ireland patrols the country’s rivers and lakes also changed during Covid-19, with unmanned drone patrols becoming increasingly important, especially for difficult-to-reach terrains.

In total, officers from Inland Fisheries Ireland undertook 33,051 patrols of different types last year, a substantial increase on the previous year (28,276) despite Covid-19 related work challenges faced by Officers. The agency also credits higher detection rates with the use of advanced surveillance equipment, such as night vision scopes, infra-red sensing scopes and enhanced optical surveillance scopes.

The most common methods for patrolling riverbanks, rivers, lakes and coastlines in 2020 were:

  1. Vehicle and foot patrols (30,882 patrols)
  2. Bicycle patrols (1,227 patrols)
  3. Boat patrols (573 patrols)
  4. Drone patrols (136 patrols)
  5. Kayak patrols (129 patrols)
  6. Personal watercraft patrols (56 patrols)
  7. Quad patrols (46 patrols)

Meanwhile, members of the public are being encouraged to report any suspicions of illegal fishing activity directly to Inland Fisheries Ireland by telephoning its 24-hour confidential hotline on 0818 34 74 24.

Fisheries Protection Review & Key Statistics 2020 (Source: Inland Fisheries Ireland)

Total number of patrols undertaken by Inland Fisheries Ireland: 33, 051 (2020) / 28, 276 (2019)

Patrol Methods in 2020 – v- 2019

Boat Patrols: 573 (2020) / 917 (2019)

Kayak Patrols: 129 (2020) / 154 (2019)

Personal Watercraft Patrols: 56 (2020) / 23 (2019)

Quad Patrols: 46 (2020) / 28 (2019)

Bicycle Patrols: 1, 227 (2020) / 1, 344 (2019)

Vehicle and Foot Patrols: 30, 882 (2020) / 25, 748 (2019)

Drone Patrols: 136 (2020) / 56 (2019)

Patrols with Irish Air Corps: 2 (2020) / 4 (2019)

 

Prosecutions/ Illegal items seized/ fixed charge penalty notices/cautions:

Prosecutions initiated for breaches of fisheries legislation: 119 (2020)/ 67 (2019)

Illegal items seized: 1, 287 (2020) / 788 (2019)

Fixed charge penalty notices issued: 240 (2020) / 158 (2019)

Cautions issued: 756 (2020) / 425 (2019)

 

 

 

Another rather quiet week on the Moy

By
Markus Muller
-

Kevin O’Boyle reports from the River Moy…

River Moy Angling Report – Week ending 05/09/21

Calm warm weather all over the Moy catchment resulted in very few anglers venturing out for the week. Low water levels and warm water temperatures made angling difficult. Water levels at Ballylahan Bridge on Monday morning read 0.307m and dropped off to 0.277m on Sunday night. Water temperatures remained at about 13˚Celsius. Ninety-five salmon were still recorded for the week with a good percentage released.

The Moy Fishery reported no fish caught for the week given the very low water levels.

Ballina Salmon Anglers reported 7 salmon caught for the week.

Mount Falcon Fishery reported 7 grilse for the week.

Knockmore Salmon Anglers produced 3 grilse for week.

Coolcronan Fishery reported 3 salmon caught during the week.

Byrne’s Fishery reported 11 grilse, the best fish weighing 6 lbs., all caught on the prawn.

Armstrong’s Fishery reported 3 salmon for the week.

Gannon’s Fishery produced 6 salmon for the week.

Foxford Fishery reported 16 salmon, the best weighing 7 lbs., mostly caught on the prawn.

Foxford Salmon Anglers reported 34 grilse with a good percentage released.

Cloongee Fishery reported one small grilse for the week, which was released.

East Mayo Anglers produced 3 small grilse with 2 released.

Trevor Sollis from the UK with a fresh grilse on the Foxford Fishery

The recent heavy rains, however, should see angling conditions improve once water levels will have dropped again. Prospects for the remainder of the season should be looking good.

Sea trout angling on the Moy Estuary remained a challenge, with mostly small trout caught and all released.

 

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