Noel Fitzmaurice of Blackwater Salmon Fishery passes on some wisdom he received from two wise old angling sages when he was but a young buck. In his new video below he recalls this gift of knowledge given to him while fishing the King’s river in Kilkenny many moons ago.
Noel has some nice videos up on his YouTube channel, including this one featuring a beautiful double figure salmon caught and released in to the beautiful Munster Blackwater. #cprsavesfish
Stefan Martin reports on the Killybegs Mariners SAC recent angling trips…
Pollack
25 August: Balmy summer evening fishing including some rock hopping for the Mariners crew produced some lovely fish to lures and bait and all in stunning surroundings around Donegal Bay. Some cracking lure caught pollack along with red gurnards, tompot blennies, conger, dogs, pouting, poor cod and coleys. Nothing like it
Megrim, one of 21 species caught on St Catherine
24 August: Yet again a glorious day at sea, small boat fishing for good friends Dylan and Christopher heading out on a whim at lunch time when the day was good and enjoying the abundant bounty of fish species available from the bay.
With no ragworm and just the few mackerel feathered up for bait the lads managed a fantastic 21 different species including some new species for the club this year the mighty Megrim along with fine big blonde rays, spotted rays and Turbot double hauls, thornbacks, shoals of launce and scad, red, tub and grey gurnards along with the wrasse and pollack etc.
Great fishing lads and for sure a good laugh aboard St Catherine.. Happy days
23 August: Final leg of summer league and overall results
Top of the tide, of the highest tides of the year, accompanied by fresh SW winds and driving rain was the setting for the dozen Mariners SAC anglers who faced into the final leg of the club’s Summer League at Fintra last night.
As expected, the first hour after the huge tide began to ebb brought very scarce pickings for everyone but, as the wind eased and the rain stopped, the odd headlight could be seen twinkling as people began to take some catches ashore.
For most, this initial flurry of activity was mostly small Coalies feeding in close in the surf but soon these died off again and the odd flounder and turbot were beginning to show themselves.
But taking an early lead with a codling, Coalie and flounder, was a new junior Mariners SAC member, Callum Noctor, who was making his debut in shore angling on the eve of his 12th birthday and was certainly catching the eye of those around him, as was another new member making his debut, Jordan Frame, with some nice flounders.
And, as the rest of the more experienced anglers tried to battle with the conditions and scarcity of fish, young Callum increased his lead with several more decent flounder and was well clear of the chasing pack when ‘lines up’ was called at midnight and left him in first place on the night with Johnny Byrne second and Brian Smith & Gavin Dorrian jointly sharing the ‘longest flattie’ prize money.
It’s certainly encouraging to see that this is the second league outing in a row that one of our juniors has finished in the overall top prizes, with Callum Noctor following Cian Callaghan’s ‘longest flattie’ prize from the previous outing.
OVERALL SUMMER LEAGUE 2020 RESULTS
While last night’s winner was making his debut in the league, Johnny Byrne’s second place finish and Brian Smith’s third place meant that Johnny edged Brian off the top spot in the overall league standings by a mere 1.5pts with John Cunningham finishing third overall.
Congratulations to Johnny Byrne on winning this short, but greatly varying conditions, summer league with his consistent performance of three out of four counting outings recording a first and two second placings.
And, speaking of consistency, it should be noted that club Treasurer Brian Smith has now come second (by half a point) in the Mariners SAC 2019/20 Winter League and second (by 1.5pts) in the 2020 Summer League.
Many thanks to our sponsors Mooney boats fishing tackle Killybegs and well done to everyone that took part enjoying the fishing over the shortened summer.
19 August: A super days fishing for the Mariners crew aboard Evie Rose with Declan and a nice relaxing days fishing on all terrains mixing it up.
A high species count yet again for the crew without going at the mini species and still getting 23 different species landed which is great going.
1 of 6
Goldsinney Wrasse
Brill
Spotted Ray
40cm flounder
Double Cuckoo Wrasse and a Cod
24 Species
Some lovely fish as always the highlights being the Brill, Plaice to 40cm, turbot to 33cm, spotted rays, thornbacks and all the rest. A great day out
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
20/8/20 Storm Ellen certainly left its mark in last night’s rain department with Valentia recording 34.4 mm of rainfall and that does not include today’s rainfall. As you can imagine the Waterville anglers had a great choice of Rivers, starting with the C&R River Inny, Commeragh River and of course not forgetting the World-Famous Butler Pool. Where the upper Lakes and Lough Currane are concerned, a strong Southwest wind dictated today’s procedures for most of the day. Today’s humidity 90%. Yesterday’s maximum air temperature 21.2 centigrade.
21/8/20 Lough Currane was on the wild side this morning with a strong South Westly wind blowing, come afternoon slightly moderated, but to be honest, wild or not, the majority of Currane anglers would have had their Inny catch and release hats on. Today’s weather, humidity 89% with good cloud cover followed by a few heavy showers. Yesterday’s weather, amount of rainfall 12.3 mm. maximum air temperature 18.5 centigrade.
22/8/20 The Currane Anglers still have their Inny catch and release hats on today, as there was a reasonably good flow. Going back to Lough Currane what boats were out were all quiet on all fronts. Wind WSW light to fresh with good cloud cover with rain at times. Yesterday’s weather, amount of rainfall 8.1mm. Maximum air temperature 17.8 centigrade.
23/8/20 All quiet in all departments, you could say, the Inny and Currane anglers were as silent as the lambs. Wind Southwest light to fresh and overcast all day, followed by the odd heavy shower, humidity 94%. Yesterday’s weather, maximum air temperature 16.6 centigrade. Attention all Inny anglers keep your catch and release hats on because there is a big flood forecasted, starting late Monday, the main event on Tuesday.
24/8/20 Well the Inny anglers are anticipating a big flood, I can tell you the heavy rain has already started this evening; their forecasting 18 mm of rainfall, give or take for Waterville. On today’s action the Currane Anglers were all quiet on all fronts. Wind Southwest light to calm and veered East Southeast this evening and overcast all day, humidity 95%. Yesterday’s weather, maximum air temperature 17.2 centigrade.
A good flood on the Inny – Click for the video
25/8/20 Before we go to today’s big flood, just for the record in the past few days, the Currane anglers have caught a few Salmon and a good number of Sea Trout on the drift. Now back to today’s flood, well Valentia observatory recorded 52 mm of rain fall last night, as you can see by the video of the Inny there was a fine flood coming down. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to know where the Currane anglers were manipulating their skills, to be fair Lough Currane was a No go for most of the day because storm Francis was still blowing his trumpet. Wind West Northwest fresh to strong and overcast followed by showers, humidity 89%. Yesterday’s weather, rainfall as already stated maximum air temperature 17.3 centigrade.
26/8/20 Lough Currane was filthy dirty this morning and for good reason, there was big a flood coming down the Commeragh this morning, just for the record it was reported to me that 82mm of rainfall fell yesterday and early this morning. Wind Southwest light to fresh with reasonable cloud cover, humidity 87%. Yesterday’s weather, maximum air temperature 17.5 centigrade.
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
A quiet Ballindoon Bay (picture courtesy of Gareth Jennings)
Jimmy Frazer reports from Lough Arrow…
Now that the Peter fishing is over, angling effort has slowed down considerably on Lough Arrow. The few anglers that were out over the weekend have switched to wets in the hope to pick up some fish. As a consequence, traditional wet fly fishing will dominate the rest of which has been an excellent season on one of Ireland’s premier limestone lakes.
Now I’ve watched my fair share of Wicked Tuna, but I’ve seen more bluefin tuna caught this week in Donegal Bay than in several seasons of the popular TV show. The difference being that all of the tuna caught in Irish waters were not only released, but they also provided invaluable data for the Tuna CHART (Catch and Release Tagging) Bluefin Tuna Data Collection Programme.
To add to that, they also have the potential to attract international angling tourists in future years who will travel to Ireland to spend their euros, pounds, dollars, yen, francs and krona on a sustainable big game fishery that can compete with any on the planet for its quality. The economic boost that this type of sustainable tourism could provide to badly hit rural regions in a post-Covid, post-Brexit Ireland could mean the difference between local enterprises and service providers continuing to exist while remaining profitable, or not, as the case may be.
To the fishing and first stop is with Kiwi Girl and Declan Kilgannon fishing Donegal Bay out of Mullaghmore in Sligo. Declan’s guests, Martin Kennedy and Jack Vassallo, managed to land a number of good fish on Tuesday 25th after a fantastic day on the water. If you’ve never seen a Penn International reel being put to the test by one of the most powerful fish on the planet, you can now – check out the video above.
Deep in the hurt locker on Kiwi Girl
Over with WildAtlanticWayAngling Tuna Mick reports on another fantastic day on the water last Friday 21st with the best BFT fishing in the world. He had Ciaran Flanagan, Colin Lynch, Nicky Mackin, Emmet Duffy, Paul Teague, Mark Thornton and Peter Mc Caughey and in terms of fish caught – they nearly had one for everyone in the audience. Smallest fish was 350 lbs and biggest was 620 lbs. It was one of their best days fishing ever as they were never more than 15 mins trolling without a fish on!!! Sensational stuff.
Another bluefin tagged and ready to release aboard wildatlanticwayangling
Not to be out-done by his neighbours in Donegal Bay, Adrian Molloy of tuna.ie also reports incredible fishing aboard Deep Blue where, in a spell of calm weather on Monday 24th, they caught a number of fish on both stand-up gear and from the fighting chair. The biggest two fish estimated at over 500 lbs and 450 lbs both taken on stand-up gear. One small fish was recorded at around 170 lbs and the others were in the 250 lbs – 350 lbs size range. A good day’s fishing by any standards! Adrian and his guests have had similar success aboard Deep Blue nearly every day in the last week when the weather allowed.
Holding tight aboard Deep Blue
If you want a skippers eye view of what it looks like when a 350 lbs bluefin tuna hits the surface while chasing a lure have a look at how Adrian sees it aboard Deep Blue below!
Tagged and ready to go, this is what it’s all about
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:
Emmet Daly wins our Catch of the Week this week for his fine C&R trout #cprsavesfish
Jim Wallace was fishing recently in Co. Kerry with his good friend Emmett Daley. The pair were spinning for trout near Lough Leane, Killarney.
Emmett had his first, best and only fish of the day on his fifth cast. This fine trout that took a small Mepps armed with a single hook. After a quick photo the fish was released safely to continue his journey.
Paul Byrne with his fantastic corrib trout, which was sportingly released. #CPRSavesFish
Declan Gibbons reports from Corrib, where Storm Ellen and rising water levels hampered anglers, but good sport was had by those who did get out during weather windows.
Starting off in the Cornamona area Richard Molloy of Ballard Shore Boat Hire & Self Catering (087-2879339) hosted Cork anglers Billy Kavanagh and Kevin Willis who landed 2 trout in the Dooras area on Saturday – best fish being 2.75 lbs. On Sunday they had 3 fish in the Annaghkeen area with the best fish 1.75lbs, all on wets.
Staying in the Cornamona area John Somerville Jnr had 5 fish on wet mays and daddies with the best fish being 2.5lbs.
Moving to the Cong area: It was the first time dapping for young James Rochford and he landed himself a fine trout of 4lbs whilst being guided by Frank Costello of Ashford Bay Boat Hire & Guiding http://www.ashfordoldschoolhouse.ie. Cong Angling Club member Paul Byrne from Dublin along with friends Mark Ryan & Barry landed a beautiful trout 10Lbs+ whilst trolling roach and he sportingly released it back into Lough Corrib. #CPRSavesFish.
Paul Byrne with his fantastic corrib trout, which was sportingly released. #CPRSavesFish
In the Oughterard area Basil Shiels of Ardnasillagh Lodge (091-552550) reported on young Kerry angler Ollie Lynch landing 8 fish on wets on Friday last in the Corrib View area – best fish 52cms. Michael Gallagher had 6 fish on wets with the best being 47cms. PJ Dornan had 1 fish of 42cms on wet fly. Rory Stewart had 6 fish on wets – best fish 2lbs. Declan Keogh had 2 fish on wets – best fish 45cms.
Richard Gibbons with a fine 4lbs 6oz trout taken on wetfly in the Golden Bay area.
Staying in the Oughterard area brothers Kevin & Eamon Molloy had 3 fish on wets on Sunday, with Eamon landing the best of the 3 at 3.5lbs.
Galway angler Harold O’Toole on Sunday had 4 fish on wet sedge patterns in the Fly Island area with the best fish being 2.5lbs.
In the Greenfields area The Shane Fanning Memorial Cup took place on Sunday on a Catch Photo Release basis with two categories – Longest Overall Length and Longest Fish. 19 anglers had 38 fish over the minimum 13 inch size limit. In 1st place was Darren Duffy with 5 fish for 80 inches. 2nd place went to Paddy Fitzgerald with 4 fish for 74 inches, and in 3rd place was John McGuire with 3 fish for 57 inches. The Longest Fish prize was for a trout of 23 inches, won by Paddy Fitzgerald.
Perch - when big, they are like the biggest fish of all!
Vincent Hulston from Roscommon was out for a few day’s of Perch fishing before Ellen hit last week. Vincent tells us that the perch were biting well. He was fishing a midlands river venue and was getting 10 in a session, trotting a free lined worm, sometimes with a small split shot weight.
The highlight was this super perch. A really good fish that is Vincent’s new PB.
Ireland on the Fly: River Life in Ireland Explained
For this week’s Ireland on the Fly podcast, renowned fisheries scientist Ken Whelan explains the River Life in Ireland courtesy of a webinar from Limerick’s European Green Leaf Award and over the next thirty minutes or so, Ken places Ireland’s unique aquatic heritage in context.
He introduces us to the underwater animals and plants you can find as well as the threats they are facing.
“Look at the river in total, along the river bank, the canopy, the river corridor, and the interaction going on, rather just the river itself,” Ken says and advises what we — as citizens, farmers, volunteer scientists, and anglers — can do to help keep our rivers and streams healthy and productive.
Dan O’Neill reports again from Southern County Fishing Resort where he was back fishing after all the Rain from Storm Ellen…
With storm Ellen leaving plenty of water behind during the week the river was a little dark, I decided to go to my usual spot when the river I usually fish is out of order. So a trip to southern county Fishing resort it was.
Taking some of the information and knowledge from my recent visit there i spent most of the evening before at the fly vice tying up some new creations. Having found that pheasant tailed nymphs work quite well here I tied some with various different colour beads, some damsel nymphs and the good old trusty bubble head caddis. The bubble head caddis can be very good here; stripped back fast or just cast to feeding fish.
I got to the fishery early and there was plenty of activity on the surface so it was the bubble head caddis up first. In another first for me was I had 3 fish in 5 casts which hasn’t happened to me here before. They were all nice fish from perhaps 2 pounds up to 5 pounds – great fighting fish and in beautiful condition.
It was time for mid morning coffee in the clubhouse and a chat about tactics to try for maybe a larger trout this time. After a chat to Chris and gaining some more information it was time to head for a larger fish.
Rainbow trout
Using the tactics that Chris had advised and fishing deeper it took only 10-15 mins to meet a larger trout, the fish held bottom just swimming around for a while until it realised it was hooked , after all hell breaking loose for 5-8mins it was nearly time to try and net the fish , seeing brief glimpses of the trout I knew he was larger than most in there , eventually the trout laid on his side and glided towards the bank admitting defeat ,
I didn’t weigh the fish just took a quick photo and got the fish back safely to where it belonged
Some more fish follwed mostly to cdc sedges / bubble head caddis and pheasant tail nymphs. Another great day in Southern County, a place that I find myself getting more frequent cravings for.
Go fishing…
Angling takes place on over 10 acres of water on 3 different lakes and Southern County Fishing Resort prides itself on its Rainbow Trout. The lakes are stocked on regular basis with high quality fish reared in an onsite hatchery. The fresh river water which feeds our lakes supports the life of a range of insects which is a source of natural feeding for the fish. Fish size range from 1.5 lb to 10 lbs.
Southern County Fishing Resort
Milltown, Garryhill, Bagenalstown, Co.Carlow.
For booking enquiries please contact Chris on 0892550585
