Cold dry weather with light south easterly winds prevailed all week with a little hint of Spring starting to kick in. Only a few anglers were out and about as a result of the 5 km Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The second salmon of the season was caught on the River Moy on Friday morning 5th March by Noel Maloney on the Moy Fishery’s Freshwater Beat. The salmon weighed 9 lbs. and was caught on a worm. Another salmon was hooked and lost later in the evening on the Ballina Salmon Anglers waters. No other salmon reported caught for the week.
Daniel Daly couldn’t wait for March 1st so he could cast a line for trout and so far the season has proved to be worth waiting for…
As I had said in a previous report the 1st of March could not come quick enough! Myself and Simon hit the river on the 1st. We started early, fishing rapalas and small shads. Things didn’t go our way. We lost 2 lovely trout but made up for that by catching lots of lovely jacks.
We didn’t get fishing on the 2nd but on the 3rd of March we changed up to the worm. On the first cast I saw a knock on the tip of the rod and struck. I was off the mark with an absolute beauty!!
Went hard at the river again on the 4th with the worm. Simon lost a great fish. But at the end of the day we only managed 2 pike (on the worm!).
On the 5th we got out late after lunch around 1:30 and within 20 minutes we had landed 2 beautiful brownies! The trout season had come and come great for us!
1 of 3
Daniel's first trout of the season
On the 5th Daniel and Simon had one each
On the 5th Daniel and Simon had one each
All fish were returned safely as always!
Instagram…
You can followDaniel and Simons fishing adventures on their Instagram page ‘Dalys Daily Fishing‘
Dave Edwards reports from Courtmacsherry where he made a quick run to sea during at the weekend…
Obviously no charters running for the foreseeable but I had a few hours out in Courtmacsherry Bay on Sunday with Conor O’Reilly on board. Conor is a local engineer and welder. He helps out with maintenance and making new gear so he often takes the opportunity to cast a line when onboard.
Surprise! It’s a fish!
He had some good inshore Pollack to 7lb on a dark green savage eel. He looks a bit surprised in this shot though
Nice to see a few fish there even if we won’t be at them for a while yet.
Go fishing…
West Cork Charters operates the Silver Dawn, a 41′ Rodman 1250 with twin 430 HP Engines out of Courtmacsherry. The range of fishing found within close range of Courtmacsherry is superb, with trips producing anything between 6 and 15 different species as a norm and in excess of 20 is possible if anglers are prepared to change methods and use different baits and lures throughout their trip. As a rule mackerel, pollock, cod and ling are usually encountered but several species of wrasse along with whiting, pouting, coalfish, bull huss, conger and many more are often added to the catch.
If you do choose to head offshore to sample the superb shark fishing available within 10 miles of Courtmacsherry, there is a very strong chance of encountering blue sharks and an increasing chance of bringing a porbeagle shark to the boat.
Marcin Kantor is back again this week with an entertaining video from back in December between the lockdowns where he targets pike on fly and lure…
Marcin’s notes: Another awesome day fly fishing for pike. How often do we face a ‘jacks only day’? I believe that when the biggest pike are on the feed, jacks are hiding away and sitting quietly. However, jacks being very active can ‘wake up’ the big pike and trigger them to start feeding. When small pike are our only reward, remember about it and try to find some of the large pike.
A change of tactics from flies to big lures, change of depth and feature can get you the big fish you’re after. Plenty of tips and information in this fly and lure fishing for pike video.
Another session on the Savage Gear High Rider 170 Float Tube, using pike fishing flies and large lures, mainly the awesome Miuras Mouse lure, this time in the White Christmas colour.
Inland Fisheries Ireland is seeking applicants for the 2021 recruitment campaign for seasonal Fisheries Officers nationwide. The positions will see the successful applicants support the development and protection of Ireland’s fisheries resource during the summer period. There are numerous roles available across six operational districts.
The roles are available on a six month basis with contracts commencing from Monday the 31st of May 2021 and training provided to all new recruits. Interviews will take place on the 14th, 15th and 16th of April 2021. The locations for the new positions will be based across the country in the following districts:
Eastern River Basin District: CityWest, County Dublin; Kilcoole, County Wicklow; Virginia, County Cavan; Drogheda, County Louth.
South Eastern River Basin District: Enniscorthy, County Wexford; New Ross, County Wexford; Carrick on Suir, County Tipperary.
South Western River Basin District: Bantry, County Cork; Farnanes, County Cork; Tralee, County Kerry; Kenmare, County Kerry.
Shannon River Basin District: Listowel, County Kerry; Limerick, County Limerick; Clare, County Clare; Lough Sheelin, County Cavan; Drumsna, County Leitrim.
Western River Basin District: Galway City, Lough Corrib, County Galway; Erriff Fishery, County Galway; Moy Fishery, County Mayo; Bangor, County Mayo; Ballina, County Mayo.
North Western River Basin District: Cavan, County Cavan; Ballyshannon, County Donegal; Letterkenny, County Donegal; Clady Crolly, County Donegal; Northern Donegal, County Donegal.
The closing date for applications is Monday the 22nd of March 2021. Applicants should be available for interview on the 14th,15th and 16th of April 2021 with a start date on Monday the 31st of May 2021. To find out more about the roles and how to apply, visit www.fisheriesireland.ie/careers
Padraig Carroll, IFI Corlesmore, reports that opening day on Lough Gowna turned up trumps with a super trout landed…
Kieran Lee is a local angler to Lough Gowna and took to the lake on the opening day of the season amid high water levels. to try and tempt some trout to the boat. It all paid off when the top of the rod suddenly bent over with the sound of a screaming reel while trolling a 28g silver Toby in the depths of Gowna.
Kieran Lee caught thise 7lb Trout while trolling on Gowna. #CPRsavesFish
Kieran knew this was a good one and after an exhausting fight he won the battle and landed this beauty of a 7lb brown trout.
The fish was returned to the water safely and unharmed to fight another day.
Today is International Women’s Day and IFI celebrates the women of all ages and backgrounds working across all its functions. We encourage women to pursue their dreams and study what they love. Consider a career in fisheries – we have a diverse workforce involved in research, operations and development.
Equally important why not try and take up fishing as a new hobby. You might even make some news friends! In the last number of years many more women are taking up the sport and reaping the benefits. The excitement of the catch is often the highlight of a day out fishing but the benefits far outweigh that. We all have busy lives and being able to get away from the stresses of our daily lives and immerse yourself in the calm surroundings of nature is one of the reason many women have taken up angling. It’s a great opportunity to clear your mind and forget about the rest of the world for a while. Take time with a friend or loved one and spend some valuable down time by the waters edge. this amazing sport has the power to bring people together to have fun, bond and learn.
The last week has felt cold, but Met Eireann says it’s normal for the time of year. I suppose with the weather finally behaving I expected Spring to notch itself up a few gears. Still, there’s signs of it everywhere and all of nature is getting into the swing of normal seasonal activities. The same can’t be said for anglers who despite the lovely conditions have been restricted to base for the most part…
We have a couple of more spring salmon to report on this week, one is a huge fish of over 20lb from the Drowes. This fish was caught last week and reports are that were another couple of similar fish in the pool with it. A claim is going into the Specimen Fish Committee. On Lough Currane a salmon of about 8lb was caught, the first to be taken with the new Brown Tag regime there. Another larger salmon was lost on the same day but otherwise the lake has been quiet. Water levels on the River Moy dropped slightly during the week and no fish were reported caught for the week, again very few out fishing.
On Lough Conn there were a few boats out over the week and each got a bit of fishing. The Fiery Brown accounted for a few trout, one of the best being about 2.5lb.
Once again we go to Donegal for our sea angling fix. This time those Killybegs Mariners lucky to be within 5kms of the beach were getting some super turbot and lovely sea trout.
Apart from that, there’s not much else to report.
And now the weather…
This cold but settled weather will continue into Saturday. Sunday will be generally dry with a mix of sunny spells and patchy cloud. Highest temperatures of 7° to 10° in light southerly winds, moderate to fresh at times along western coasts. It looks like becoming increasingly unsettled early next week, starting with patchy rain in western and north western counties on Monday, spreading into the south east on Tuesday. Give up cutting the grass and get yourself fishing if there’s anything inside your 5km!
A lovely dustbin lid size turbot of 38cm for Michael the best of them. Great fishing
Stefan Martin from the Killybegs Mariners SAC reports…
A lovely dustbin lid size turbot of 38cm for Michael the best of them. Great fishing26 Feb: Although it’s a quiet time of year with the flounders moved deeper to spawn there were some lovely turbot got today on the cove under a nice surf.
01 March: Enjoying the good settled spell of weather on the bay on the first day of spring and some fine trout fishing for the Mariners anglers on the Warren.
Seatrout about to be released #CPRsavesfish Don’t forget you need a licence to fish for seatrout in the sea too.
Also note the Mariners record fish labels beside some of the fish. This is a new bit of fun idea starting from this year to keep a record of the species and size records for each angler. Hopefully when things open up properly we will get a good run out at it. We already have some entries in for January and February…
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
25/2/21 You could say the calm after the storm and here are today’s facts, there were 3 Brown tag boats manipulating their skills and one Barbless fishing this day and sadly all were fruitless, except for the Kelt department, one brown tag boat caught two on the troll and one on the fly which is great to see Kelts caught. Wind WNW then veered WSW light.
Lough Currane 26 February 2021
26/2/21 The Brown Tag and the Barbless Anglers were as silent as the lambs and there is a good reason for this, the lazy articles were not out there. Wind SSW light with reasonable cloud cover.
27/2/21 The Brown Tag boats were in force today. All I can say is tags or no tags, by the end of their day the 5 Currane Brown tag boats were lighter when they first went out. In their defence they did catch a few Kelts and to be honest Lough Currane is still dirty after the big flood. Wind South light and variable with good cloud cover.
28/2/21 Lough Currane was bright and sunny. Order of boats, there were four boats in total. Sadly their rod and reels were slack apart from a few kelts. Just for the record Lough Currane is still on the dirty side. Wind ESE light and variable.
1/3/21 Four Brown Tag boats out, sadly there were no Barbless anglers manipulating this day to the best of my knowledge. Just for the record there were a few Kelts caught today. Staying in the Kelt department I would ask all Currane Brown Tag and Barbless anglers to report your Kelt catches, it would be greatly appreciated. Wind East Southeast light with reasonable cloud cover.
2/3/21 All the headlines go to Local Gillie Mr. Eric Jouen of Waterville Boats and at watervilleboats@gmail.com and for good reason Eric, caught a fine 8 lbs. Salmon on the troll, in his Brown Tagged Boat in doing so Eric made a little bit of history in catching the first Brown Tagged Salmon on Lough Currane, plus that bit of Currane History can never be taken off Eric so Congratulations. Now for the Next record is the first Brown Tagged Fly, so tight lines to My Noble Gentlemen the Brown tag Salmon Angler. Local angler Tam and a Member of the Brown Tag association, lost a good fish on the troll and Tam reckoned it was in the 12 lbs + class. For the rest of today’s News, in total 3 boats out. Wind SSE light plus bright sunshine all day.
3/3/21 There were a total of 3 boats out today and their order of merit is as follows, one barbless, followed by two brown tag boats and were all were quiet in the Wild Salmon department but did see some action in the Kelt department. Wind Light and variable and overcast.
4/3/21 Four Brown tag boats out. On the Wild Atlantic Salmon, it was a draw 0-0. The same could not said in the Kelt department, because there were a few caught. Wind again light and variable and very cold out there.
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
