Sligo Boat Charters have continued to catch plenty over the past week as the ground fishing has been top-notch all season. They have had a number of groups out over the past week and each has managed to do well. Some Spanish Mackerel have been turning up in catches as well as the usual pollock, cod etc.
The Mount Falcon Fishery reported a total of 26 fish for the past week. Visiting angler, Tony Mashford, arrived with only one salmon to his name but after two days on the fishery he landed another 6 fish including a fine nine-pounder; above all his 6 fish were all safely returned. With plenty water in the river, prospects for the last three weeks of the season are looking good.
For bookings contact Stuart Price on +353 (0)87 2831776 or [email protected]
Sean Maguire of Fishing Adventures reported some good fishing for pollock in the Shannon estuary area over the past week. Blustery conditions made travelling too far out of the question so the anglers settled for some calmer seas closer in and luckily the pollock obliged by putting in a good show.
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Go Fishing
Lady Gwen II
Fishing Adventures on Séan Maguire’s Lady Gwen II, a Lochin 33 M265Ti Perkins charterboat which operates 15 miles from Kilbaha, Carrigaholt, and Kilrush.
Whether you want to go to the Atlantic Ocean for a large selection of species, including different types of shark, or fish the estuary for ray conger tope etc, Fishing Adventures will cater for whatever fishing you desire. Telephone: +353 (0) 877508758 or +353 (0) 894431182 Email:[email protected]Web:www.fishingadventures.ie
Mark Robinson with a lovely trout caught while fishing with Basil Shiels
Declan Gibbons reports that the majority of anglers and service providers reported tough sport on Corrib this week, even the ones that caught fish. This was primarily attributed to rising lake levels and changeable wind directions. Temperatures too are also hampering hatches, resulting in very sparse sedge and olive hatches in localised areas.
Cornamona
In the Cornamona area Tom Doc Sullivan http://www.tomdoc.com describes the angling as patchy. Tom guided Tim Cahalane from Killarney for a day and he had 2 trout – one just under 2lbs and the other 2.5lbs on a dry Daddy and a dry Deerhair Sedge.
Tim Cahalane from Killarney certainly enjoyed his visit to Corrib
Tom himself fished Friday afternoon and caught a 3lbs+ trout on a wet Green Peter.
Tom Doc Sullivan with a beautifully marked trout
Golden Years
Staying in the Cornamona area John Somerville Jnr guided John Watson, at 83 years young, with Colm Murphy on Saturday, and they had 3 fish on Silver Dabblers. This is John’s 50th year coming to fish Lough Corrib, during which time he has been guided by three generations of the Somerville family. On Sunday John fished along with John Horgan, who landed one to a Silver Dabbler.
John Watson, 83 years young, with a nice catch on his 50th year coming to Corrib
Good sport on dry fly
Friends Gene Haran and Niall Gelston had plenty of action on Sunday, landing 5 fish on dries in light winds on a mix of sedges and olives.
Gene Haran with a nice Corrib trout taken on dry fly
Playing a lively fish on Corrib.
Two Crackers for Ted
Ted Wherry of Mayfly Lodge, Ballynalty (087-4305957) fished Sunday afternoon and had 2 fish on dry sedges, both measuring 22.5 inches, best fish estimated 5lbs and both sportingly released.
Ted Wherry, with a fine 22.5-inch trout taken on a dry sedge.
Oughterard
In the Oughterard area Basil Shiels of Ardnasillagh Lodge (091-552550) reported a tough week fishing. Those that had good action at Ardnasillagh were Mark Robinson NI with 3 fish on wets and dries – best fish 2.75lbs.
Mark Robinson with a lovely trout caught while fishing with Basil Shiels
Ronan Cramer had 2 fish and David Donnelly from Cork also had 2 fish for their respective days on Corrib.
In spite of the tough sport on Corrib, anglers are still meeting some nice fish, and it is great to see catch and release being widely practised at this time of year, with fish heading to their native spawning streams over the coming weeks. With only 3 weeks left in the season, let’s hope for better conditions and a bumper finish.
Gene Haran with another fine wild trout from Corrib
Wicklow Boat Charters skipper Kit Dunne has seen a few windy days over the past couple of weeks but catches have remained good on the days when he got out. He had a couple of crews out on the local wrecks and reefs which threw up some nice catches of wrasse, pollock and cod amongst other species.
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He also tried a day out in the deeps after some blues later in the week. While the fish were biting, they weren’t sticking and a few dropped runs and one lost close to the boat saw a few opportunities missed but one angler did manage a nice blue to the boat.
At least they had some calm seas for their journey back and they had the company of a pod of dolphins on the way back home.
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.
Avid pike angler Garreth Maher was in action again recently as he staked out a lake up in Cavan. Fishing deadbaits hard on the bottom on Inishmuck lake, Garreth managed to land this nice 13lb pike.
Lough Sheelin Angling Report August 31st – September 6th 2020
‘You never get what you really want, until you discover what you really value’
Andy Stanley
Now, into the first week of September, the cool breezes of autumn along with some heavy rainfall, freshened up the water and livened up our trout. Seasonal change is in the wind and while day time temperatures peaked at 20°C in the bright sunshine, an all too familiar autumnal chill edged each day reminding us that we are gradually moving into the back end of the season – ‘the Fall’.
The fishing has been very locked into the weather patterns. The dying remnants of America’s hurricane Laura resulted in heavy and interminable rainfall mid-week which raised water levels substantially. Southerly winds predominated throughout the week with north to north westerly’s moving in at the weekend. There was a noticeable increase in anglers and on most days boat numbers hit the double figures.
Rising water levels at Chambers Bay, September 5th
Most fly fishing for autumn trout requires patterns on opposite ends of the size spectrum – both tiny dry flies (for the sedge feeders) and large lures can work at different times of the day.
There is still room for the dry fly angler here but conditions have to be nigh on perfect – warm and calm and when this happened, mostly after 6pm pockets of trout would come up to feed on small sedges and a size 16 brown sedge sometimes did the trick.
It’s very hit and miss for the dry fly angler now and really at the back end of the trout season the successes are very much down to teams of wets and the use of lures. The Stimulator featured strongly in the catches for this week with the claret being the most popular although some anglers preferred the orange variety. The original pattern is from the American fly tyer Randall Kaufmann who tied it to imitate the adult stonefly but it will fish just as well as a hopper or caddis fly. This well dressed pattern is for fishing rough water, where it can be easily seen at a distance and it floats like a cork.
Stimulating
Stimulators are versatile and although look difficult, are relatively easy to tie, again, it’s all about proportions. By varying the size and colour, you can imitate most adult stoneflies. The Stimulator can also be tied with rubber legs; it is a great attractor pattern that will bring fish up to the top, when most other patterns fail. This tying is best streaked over the water’s surface, especially on windy areas. In general they float well in rough water but on calmer drifts it might fish better if the hackle on the underside is trimmed so that it floats a little lower in the water and strip it hard with short pauses through the surface over possible fish lies – just a suggestion. Vincent Kelly caught a nice 2 lbs trout using a Mick Kelly stimulator drifting into Gaffney’s Bay on Thursday.
Along with fishing wets, now is very much the time when some land borne insects could tumble on to the water and in the process offer a ‘hard to resist’ meal to our scaled friends. The odd Daddy Long Legs was seen, along with ants and beetles. Daddy patterns as well as small black Klinkhammers and Black Pennell’s worked for some anglers and are a good addition to the fly box at this time of the year. Trout are still chasing fry so floating fry patterns and lures like Minkies had some degree of success.
It’s Daddy time
Going through the week:
Monday was officially the last day of summer and it came with chilly fresh southerly winds. Southerly winds reputedly favour the wet fly fisherman but fishing was still tough going, with returns averaging around the 1½ – 2 lbs caught on Claret Stimulators, Claret Bumbles and Hopper patterns. Anglers reported few sightings of fish and it was disappointingly slow. Tuesday again saw more southerly winds progressing from light to moderate, there was a small window of opportunity for dry fly sedge fishing in the more sheltered areas and a few trout up to 3 lbs were caught on size 16 sedge patterns. Wednesday was very wet and humid as the tail end of hurricane Laura struck, only a few anglers ventured out and these were all wet fly fishermen using Stimulators, Bumbles and lures. Temperatures dropped for Thursday and Friday producing fresher conditions with westerly winds which opened up other areas of the lake for fishing. Returns were poor and wet fly methods predominated. Angling numbers picked up considerably at the weekend with the use of lures featuring heavily – minkies and humungus. Some larger trout were caught, heaviest at 5 lbs landed by polish angler Franciszok Zielinski but in general the catches were few and ‘hard got’.
Autumn piscatorial magic
19 trout were recorded for the week. The majority of the catches were in the early morning and late afternoon.
The weight of the week was Franciszok Zielinski’s 5 pounder caught on a Minkie at the back of Church Island.
The most popular flies were the Red Tailed Peters, Golden Olives Bumbles, Pearly Invictas, the Dabblers (Silver, Sooty and Peter Ross), the Grey Flags, the Stimulators (Grey, Claret and Bling), the Black Pennells and the Black & Peacock Spiders. Some lures were used on sinking lines – di3 and 5.
This week's menu
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Bibio patterns
Agrynia obsolete
An Orchid Beetle
An autumn appearance - Ephemera dancia
A potential trout meal - a micro caddis
An Emperor moth caterpillar
Damselfly shuck
Chloeon similae
Lough Sheelin's Hover fly
Sheelin's terrestrials
Not on the menu but looking for a feed - 'Come into my larder' - a lizard on the prowl
The Green George, Claret George and Detached Daddy were good, these are great teaser flies and were excellent as top droppers. The Muddlers worked well on the lake, these flies push through the water creating a bubble which attracts the feeding trout. Other ‘pusher flies’ used to create a disturbance and used again on the top dropper were the Bibios, Zulus and Sedgehogs. Something sleeker and more imitative on the middle like the Claret & Mallard, Silver Invicta and Wickham’s Fancy and then a flashy attractor on the point like a Dunkeld, Peter Ross or Alexandra. The Bibio is a very versatile fly as it can work both as a top dropper attractor and a tweaked dry, when greased. Gaudy patterns were good for those targeting the Daphnia feeders out in the open water. Lures that were successful were Black & Silver Minkies and a black Humungus.
The best areas for fishing on the lake this week were Lynch’s pt. Chambers Bay, mid lake, at the back of Church Island, Bog Bay, Goreport, Corru and Merry Pt.
Some of this week's scenes and a salmo trutta or two
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Under the rod
The searching game
Spotted glory
Mercurial mystery
In the shallows
Out of darkness
Aquatic retreat
An evening catch
Autumn sunset
Autumn can produce some magical days on Lough Sheelin but to be honest, the action isn’t always that good as large trout are finicky and easily spooked at the best of times but still the opportunity to encounter big, brilliantly coloured wild trout increases during the autumn as those large fish who have been sulking down in the lower regions are starting to move into the shallower, more accessible lies, driven by the spawning urge and the need to bulk up before the long winter.
Despite the constant unpredictability of the weather and the fickleness of Lough Sheelin now is a good time to get out on this lake as there is plenty on offer and of course ‘it is better to have hooked and lost than never to have hooked at all’.
A catch & release policy is actively encouraged on the lake at all times
Catch and release
Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 949 which strictly prohibits from June 14th 2017 onwards:
The taking of any brown trout of less than 36 centimeters.
For a person to fish with more than 2 rods at any one time.
To fish with more than 4 rods at any one time when there is more than one person on board the boat concerned.
For a person to take more than 2 trout per day.
All trolling on the lake from March 1st to June 16th (inclusive).
To fish or to attempt to take or to fish for, fish of any kind other than during the period from March 1st to October 12th in any year.
It was a wet week with torrential downpours resulting in destructive flooding in some parts. Temperatures dropped considerably too, adding to the feeling of a bad end to a poor summer for many. Venues all across the country are at winter levels already and sea anglers in many places had to contend with flood waters pushing saltwater species offshore and murky waters which also made angling tough at times…
Floods and high water dominate the salmon angling news. There are a few fish about all the same, though they are spread right through the various fisheries following the sustained rains. Anglers are reminded that the daily quota on Open Rivers is one fish a day in September.
Kevin Sheridan with a lovely wild corrib trout. #CPRSavesFish
Trout anglers are also having to contend with the unsettled weather. Most of the lakes are quite high now and in many cases the water temperatures have dropped a few degrees. Not much in the way of hatches about, but there are still a few good trout to be caught as anglers who braved the conditions on loughs like Sheelin and Corrib found.
Fishing for roach and perch in Cavan
Setting up higher on the lake shore is required of coarse anglers at the moment. And many have found that they are casting to the spot where they could normally expect to be sitting at this time of year. Between the high water and cooler temperatures the fish are not in their normal swims, but a bit of searching can result in some decent fishing.
The cooler conditions will suit pike anglers who will be glad of an early return to the rivers and lakes they long to frequent. We expect to have some good reports in the coming weeks of pike angler successes.
Turbot
In sea angling news we have reports in from the charter boats in Dungarvan, Carrigaholt, Killala and Kincasslagh. The weather has not been on their side for a lot of the time but some good ground, wreck, reef and shark fishing has been had. A catch of note in Killala Bay were a number of double figure pollack and these win Catch of the Week. Staying in Donegal small boat and shore anglers have had great fishing as the club members of the Killybegs Mariners continue to enjoy the best of what the north west coast has to offer.
Bluefin tuna for the Clare Dragoon
It’s been a great season for the authorised skippers taking part in the scientific catch-tag-release bluefin tuna fishery. We have already seen reports of tuna tagged in Cork, Galway, Sligo and Donegal and now we can add Clare to the list as the Clare Dragoon caught its first fish of the season.
Other news
Freshwater Detective courses are being run in Louth and Wicklow over the next few weeks.
Ireland on the Fly has a new podcast for you to listen to. This week’s topic is this year’s salmon runs.
More details in the links below.
And now the weather…
Sunny spells and scattered showers on Saturday morning. Cloudier in the afternoon and evening with showers or longer spells of rain at times over the northern half of the country. The best of any bright or sunny spells will be in the southeast. Cool and breezy with highest temperatures of 13 to 17 degrees and moderate to fresh westerly winds.
The outlook is for fresh and breezy conditions with showers or longer spells of rain at times. Temperatures will be milder than recently. This will last all the way to Thursday, which should be brighter and drier, but it looks like the cool, wet weather is back again after that.
Safe fishing to all this weekend and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.
Charter boat skippers Sean Maguire and Luke Aston having been out on the water in the last few days.
Sunday was a fantastic day on the sea with no wind and lively sunshine. But the anglers on the Clare Dragoon found the fishing to be hard. Lots of Scad about with specimens through them if you wanted. Enough Mackerel if you could get away from the Scad. Other whitefish where hard to catch but they got one nice spurt of Pollack.
Anglers fishing on Lady Gwen II also had a cracker of a day at sea on Sunday. A slow drift gave them the opportunity to catch very good whiting, also pollack, and wrasse. They did get a fair few mackerel like the guys on Clare Dragoon found, it took a fair bit of effort.
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Haddock on the Clare Dragoon
Blue shark on Lady Gwen II
Blue shark on Lady Gwen II
Pollack on the Clare Dragoon
Pollack on the Lady Gwen II
Last week shark were the quarry for some fist time anglers on Lady Gwen II. Wednesday 26th was a another beautiful day on the sea, and the lads kept Sean entertained with their mighty singing voices.
In other Clare fishing news the Clare Dragoon got its first tuna of the season last week. We have the report here.
Bluefin tuna for the Clare dragoon
Go fishing…
Clare Dragoon
Clare Dragoon is a LOCHIN 366 powered by 650HP engine, skippered by Luke Aston and operating out of Carrigaholt Co. Clare…
I have some offers up on my web site www.fishandstay.com and if anybody is interested in putting a trip together please do get in touch. Also I Twitter from the boat on @fishandstay and try to update my face book page www.facebook.com/CarrigaholtSeaAngling fairly often!To experience some of the best deep sea fishing available in Ireland contact Luke. Telephone: +353 65 9058209 or +353 87 6367544 Email:[email protected]Web:www.fishandstay.com
Lady Gwen II
Fishing Adventures on Séan Maguire’s Lady Gwen II, a Lochin 33 M265Ti Perkins charterboat which operates 15 miles from Kilbaha, Carrigaholt, and Kilrush.
Whether you want to go to the Atlantic Ocean for a large selection of species, including different types of shark, or fish the estuary for ray conger tope etc, Fishing Adventures will cater for whatever fishing you desire. Telephone: +353 (0) 877508758 or +353 (0) 894431182 Email:[email protected]Web:www.fishingadventures.ie
It’s not easy for a skipper to switch from their ‘bread and butter’ fishing – be that wreck and reef fishing, targeting shark species or ground fishing – to trying something completely different which requires not only specialised tackle and tactics but a whole new approach than the norm. That is what many of the skippers who have signed up to participate in the Bluefin Tuna CHART Programme have had to do in the last year or two, pretty much start from scratch and learn a whole new type of fishing.
So it’s really nice to be able to report on a first tagged fish of the season from a part of the country that hasn’t tagged one yet in 2020, and that fish was caught by Luke Aston’s crew aboard the Clare Dragoon, fishing out of Carrigaholt Sea Angling Centre; this fish of 300 lbs+ was caught, tagged and released last Thursday August 27th. Congratulations to Luke and crew, it’s great to see the effort and expense begin to pay off with this potentially lucrative ‘new’ brand of fishing for the area.
First BFT of 2020 for the Clare Dragoon
Needless to say the boats fishing off of the Donegal and Sligo coastlines are well underway this season with several more BFT tagged in the last week. Killybegs Fishing Charters, who are approved members of Failte Ireland’s Covid-19 Safety Charter for operating in line with current Government public health advice, have had some good success with fish up to a whopping 101 inches and a double hook up where both fish were brought alongside safely – great fun!
Hard labour aboard the MV Fiona Tee….…but the rewards make it all worthwhile
Kiwi Girl continued her run of good fishing with some really tough battles on stand up gear for those anglers who wanted to test their mettle against one of the fastest fish in the seas! Several more fish were tagged by Declan and crew who are making a real success of the CHART tagging licence this year.
He’s a stand up guy!
Adrian Molloy has some more nice footage from aboard Deep Blue, this time John McBride was on camera and caught a tuna busting out after baitfish in the area – you can view the footage on the Tuna.ie Facebook page. Adrian has tagged a number of fish all in the 400 lbs size range in the last number of days while over with WildAtlanticWayAngling Tuna Mick has been busy too, Mick has had consistent success this season with some excellent fishing days.
Another BFT for TunaMickAnd yet another bluefin for Deep Blue
Authorised Vessels
Anglers wishing to engage in this fishery must only do so on a sea angling vessel specifically authorised to participate in the pilot 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:
Go Fishing
