Newport SAC – 2025 Teams competition

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October 2, 2025

Newport SAC hosted their final competition of the season on Sunday September 21st. This was a teams event which meant that the total number of fish caught by each of the 4 team members were combined together to calculate the overall winning team score.

The morning of the competition remained dry enough for the Newport SAC committee members and anglers to mingle on the quayside over a cup of tea before boarding the boats to depart for Clew Bay. The anglers took to the boats shortly before 9.30am and they eagerly headed out to sea to begin the day’s fishing. Fishing began at 10.30am and all anglers tried their best to land as many fish as possible before the 3.30pm deadline.

All boats returned to Newport Quay where team members met to discuss their respective catches and attempt to work out where they may end up in the overall standings.

The prize presentation took place in the Grainne Uaille (as they were winners of last year’s local shield). When all scores were tallied up, the winning team ended up 100 points clear of their nearest rivals but the contest for the 2nd and 3rd places was a much tighter affair as the teams were only separated by 6 fish / 30 points.

The winning team trophy and prizes was presented by Newport SAC club President Pat Moran on behalf of J Coffey Construction to the ‘Gilvarrys Pub, Killala’ winning team members Shane Gilvarry, Jim Pressley, Cormac Burke & Ciaran McGowan. Each member received €100 in prize money as well as an NSAC plaque and winning trophy.

Gilvarry’s Pub, Killala Team were the overall winners of the recent J.Coffey sponsored Teams competition. The team members were presented with their prizes by club President Pat Moran on behalf of J Coffey Construction. Winning team members (from left to right) were Ciaran McGowan, Cormac Burke, Shane Gilvarry, Pat Moran (NSAC) & Jim Pressley.

Ciaran McGowan also claimed the Individual winners trophy following his haul of 8 fish and 195 points. Ciaran landed a large common Skate with a wingspan of 62 inches and an estimated weight of 185lbs on board ‘The Finnaun’. Catching a Skate is a rare occurrence and the last time a skate was landed during a club competition was back in 2018. [This fine fish wins IFI’s Catch of the Week]

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Sorcha Moran also took home the largest fish prize for her 47.5cm Ray.

The prize for the largest ray was won by Sorcha Moran accepting her prize from Pat Moran (NSAC).

As this was the final event of the year, and when all calculations were completed, Ciaran McGowan was also presented with the league cup as this year’s club Master Angler.

The club chairman Sean Fahy thanked the competition’s main sponsor J. Coffey Construction who sponsored the main trophy, 2nd & 3rd placed prizes as well as €600 in prize money. He also thanked Harry & Liz from the Grainne Uaille, Inland Fisheries Ireland for their continued support, the skippers, each of the anglers for taking part and finally the committee for making it all happen.

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Next year the club will be 60 years young so the club would like to invite anyone who wishes to get involved or help out to make contact with any member of the committee.

The results from the Newport SAC Teams competition were as follows:

Winning Team – Team Gilvarrys Pub — (Total Fish 28 & Total Points 305) Shane Gilvarry (8 Fish & 40 Points), Jim Pressley (3 Fish & 15 Points), Cormac Burke (9 Fish & 45 Points), Ciaran McGowan (8 Fish & 195 Points)

Runner-Up Team – Village Inn 2 — (Total Fish 41 & Total Points 205) James Kenny (4 Fish & 20 Points), Josie Barrett (8 Fish & 40 Points), Paul Murphy (3 Fish & 15 Points), Peter Coyne (26 Fish & 130 Points)

3rd Place Team – Mary’s of Mulranny — (Total Fish 27 & Total Points 175) Mary Pavey (4 Fish & 20 Points), Jason Moran (6 Fish & 30 Points), Josh Pavey (4 Fish & 40 Points), Sorcha Moran (13 Fish & 85 Points)

4th Place Team – PMB QS — (Total Fish 27 & Total Points 170) Sarah O’Brien (9 Fish & 80 Points), David Moran UK (11 Fish & 55 Points), Joseph O’Brien (4 Fish & 20 Points), Michael O’Brien (3 Fish & 15 Points)

5th Place Team – Grainne Uaile — (Total Fish 27 & Total Points 135) David Moran (5 Fish & 25 Points), Declan Moran (4 Fish & 20 Points), Pat Moran (7 Fish & 35 Points), Thomas Moran (11 Fish & 55 Points)

6th Place Team – Village Inn 1 — (Total Fish 22 & Total Points 110) Anthony Masterson (10 Fish & 50 Points), Padraig Munnelly (6 Fish & 30 Points), Jack Murphy (2 Fish & 10 Points), Danny Murphy (4 Fish & 20 Points)

7th Place Team – Electro Rent — (Total Fish 19 & Total Points 95) Stephen Moran (3 Fish & 15 Points), Pritt Moran (7 Fish & 35 Points), Arthur Moran (4 Fish & 20 Points), Thomas O’Brien (5 Fish & 25 Points)

8th Place Team / Wooden Spoon – Buckfield Inn — (Total Fish 18 & Total Points 90) Sean Fahy (4 Fish & 20 Points), Irene Walsh (6 Fish & 30 Points), Joe MacManammon (2 Fish & 10 Points), Sean Kilroy (6 Fish & 30 Points)

Local Shield: The local shield was won by the Grainne Uaille Team – This ensures that next year’s presentation will once again take place in the Grainne Uaille.

The Grainne Uaille Team were the local shield winners on the day. Team members from left David Moran, Declan Moran, Pat Moran & Thomas Moran.

Overall Individual Winner: Ciaran McGowan (Total Fish 8 & Total Points 195)
Largest Ray: Caught by Sorcha Moran (47.5cm)
Club Master Angler 2025: Ciaran McGowan with 13 points
Skipper of the Day: Joe Gibbons who skippered The Finnaun

All the action from Newport SAC

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Huge catches weighed in at Celtic Masters Open, Inniscarra Feeder Classic and Celtic Masters

By

Myles Kelly

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October 2, 2025

Munster Feeder Anglers kicked off 9 days of festival fishing in great style with the 1 Day Celtic Masters Open on September 25th. Fishing venues were the Garden Centre, Walshetown, the Pumphouse, the Graveyard and Coronody/O’Neills. John Bijvoet took first place with 25.950kg. The top five angler landed over 100kg between them!

Inniscarra Feeder Classic

The next day saw lines in for the 3 Day Inniscarra Feeder Classic. Winner on the day was Robertas Zilaitis with an amazing weight of 29.250kg of mostly hybrids from Walshestown. Followed by German angler Andy Lutz with another awesome weight of 23.525kg from The Pumphouse.

Lovely to see Austin Conway with another cracking rare wild Irish Inniscarra Carp off The Piggery — Austin Conway with rare wild Irish Inniscarra Carp off The Piggery

There were good weights from all venues on Day 2. Winner on the day was Inniscarra Maestro Henk Roskam 17.940kg closely followed by yesterday’s winner Robertas Zilaitis weighing 17.400kg. Overall leader of the pack with a total weight of 46.650kg is Robertas with Andy Lutz in pursuit with a 37.775kg and a potential big weight section on the final day at Walshestown.

On Day 3 (the final day) Andy Lutz did indeed take the heaviest bag, 19.575kg, but Robertas Zilaitis fished well too and his 17.950kg was more than enough to keep him well clear at the top of the leader board.

Overall results

Robertas Zilaitis, 64.600kg
Andy Lutz, 57.350kg
Michel Diepstraten, 49.900kg
Tom Thackrway, 42.4250kg
Lee Turner, 38.850kg

Celtic Masters

The Celtic Masters is fished from 29 September to 03 October. The first 3 days of the competition have seen more great fishing with superb weights off all 5 sections apart from Walshestown. Roach, bream, skimmers and hybrids have been featuring in all 5 sections, a few put in an appearance at O’Neills Quarry and a golden hybrid was also caught.

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The stand out venue on Day 1 was Cronody/O’Neills Quarry. Both sections fished evenly to provide a fair split with 1st place coming from O’Neill’s and 2nd from Cronody. Ken Ince was 1st on 27.580kg. Ken was fishing O’Neills and had a fantastic mixed net of bream, hybrids and roach with a little tench for good measure. Dale Malpas put an impressive 24.200kg on the scales ay Cronody for 2nd.

Day 2 was less productive and was miserable at times but there was still plenty of action across the lake. Top spot went again to Cronody/O’Neills Quarry with Simon Robinson taking the win with a fantastic weight of 21.380kg and Martin Bobka in 2nd place with 16.750kg. Despite lower weights in some areas, there were still lots of skimmers, bream, and hybrids showing—plus endless sport from small roach right across all five sections. There was yet again more tench and even a very rare golden hybrid.

We’ll have the final results next week. To see all the weights and score sheets check out https://www.facebook.com/munsterfeeder

Go fishing…

Should you require further information on any of Munster Feeder Anglers events, accommodation options, or general venue information please contact Pat Falvey on Messenger or on email: [email protected]

Coarse angling on Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid

Joe Nolan wins Portuma September Festival

By

Myles Kelly

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October 1, 2025

126391812_3686469884716644_4486863116040477249_n — Portumna. Photo courtesy of Discover Lough Derg

There was some great catches of fish by the for the 42 anglers fishing the Portuma September Festival. Venues for the competition were Rodgers,
Salmon run, Town and Stic ups, Shebeen and Meelick.

Day 1 was won by Dave Brooks 19.600kg with Bill Cassidy in second place on 16.800kg. Both were fish Meelick.

Meelick was the lucky venue again on day 2. 1st was Richard Pulford with 21.190gk and
2nd was Neil Ferriday with 15.820kg.

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The Sheebeen, Salmon Run and Town and Stic ups all produced weights over 10kg on Day 3 but once again the best came from Meelick where Darren Sullivan’s 16.320kg took first place and Steve Williamson 15.840kg was enough for second place.

John Downs had 19.750kg and Ronnie Goldwater had 15.750kg on from Day 4 on Meelick to win the day.

On Day 5 Helen Dagnall got her chance to fish Meelick and took the day with 17.430kg, also at Meelick was Joe Nolan who secured 2nd with 16.410kg.

The overall results for the 5 days saw 2 anglers finish on 4 points, which called for a count back on weight and Joe Nolan eventually came out as champion.

Results

1st Joe Nolan 4pts
2nd Steve Williamson 4pts
3rd Richard Pulford 5pts
4th Helen Dagnall 7pts
5th Gary Mckay 9pts

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The Pairs Competition was won by Pair’s Results Richard Pulford and Bruce Pennell.

1st Richard Pulford and Bruce Pennell, 96 kilo 690
2nd Helen Dagnall and Dave Brooks, 95 kilo 680
3rd Karl Unwin and Joe Nolan, 94 kilo 870

Big thanks to the sponsors; Boathouse Bar, Finns Daybreak, Oak Lodge B&B, Teachmor B&B, Ferry Inn and Palmerston stores.
Thanks were also given to Inland Fisheries Ireland for cutting the pegs out and Michelle Humpleby for doing the results

Go fishing…

April Festival will start on Monday the 13th of April 2026

Portumna Coarse Angling Club

For information about the Portumna Festival and other matches in the area check in with the club on their Facebook page.
Contact: Bruce Pennell
Email: [email protected]
Website: Portumna Coarse Angling Facebook

Cormac Gannon wins Munster Open Boat competition on Cork Harbour

By

Myles Kelly

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October 1, 2025

Cobh SAC report on their 4th club Master Angler competition…

The Munster Open Boat and Frank Cronin Trophy was fished today under beautiful weather conditions. Twenty anglers fished from three boats Deora De, Lagosta and Osprey, the fishing designated area was east of Roches Point.

Fishing proved to be very slow on the day with low catches recorded

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The overall and gold medal winner was Cormac Gannon Crosshaven S.A.C who had
7 high scoring Conger on his card which also won him the Frank Cronin Trophy (most conger)which was presented by the Cronin Family. In 2nd place and silver medal winner was John Dennehy and the bronze medal went to Stephen Hurley both Carrigaline S.A.C members.

John Dennehy, Munster Provincial Council, presented the top 13 anglers with their prizes.
The highlight of the competition was a cracking Ballan Wrasse of 49cm Irish Specimen caught by John Griffin Cobh S.A.C .

On behalf of the club we would like to thank the Munster Provincial Council and Halfway Angling for their generous sponsorship of the event. We would also like to thank the Cronin Family who travelled to Cobh to present their late fathers Trophy.

Finally we would like the skippers and the anglers who helped to make it a successful competition.

Go fishing…

Cobh SAC is a very active club with a great series of competitions across the year.

The club is very welcoming to new members.

If you are interested in joining the club or fishing any of their competitions contact them via Facebook.

A couple of sea trout and a salmon the last Erriff catch of 2025

By

Donavin Brinklow

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October 1, 2025

Conditions improved slightly for the last weekend of the season, though the final day itself was a miserable one.

29 September

Damien Lavery landed 2 sea trout on beat 6 and a 4lbs salmon on beat 8 Coronation pool.

Go fishing…

Bookings for the 2026 season will be open from 01 March.

River Erriff

Young anglers on the Maigue already looking forward to next season

By

Myles Kelly

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October 1, 2025

Harry Ahern with pal James McDonagh behind

The end of the season has come for Paddy Dunworth of Celtic Angling but he has one last report for us…

Our game season end on 30th September and as usual the latter weeks of the season saw improved river levels, but ironically our rivers were too high for a lot of it. This impacts river trout anglers more than those seeking salmon or sea-trout, lake fishers aren’t as affected either. The trend of long dry spells and summer-levels by mid-April continued, this mix of drought combined with rain when we would not usually get it is a clear sign that all is not well with the World’s plumbing department.

James McDonagh fly-fishing t he Maigue at Adare — James McDonagh fly-fishing the Maigue at Adare

James McDonagh was gifted an Intro to Flyfishing with me for his 16th birthday back in early June, we finally got around to organising his session a few weeks ago but such was the topsy-turvy nature of the river and windy conditions we had to cancel numerous times. Luckily James lives locally, the visiting Yanks only get one shot at it and have to take it or leave it. As school-goers James and his mate Harry were also confined to Saturdays so that narrowed our choices, but the final Saturday came to our rescue.

Both have never fly-fished but have done a bit of spin-fishing, we used the ideal learning water at Adare, post tide to give us a decent flow. James, at 16 and Harry nearly 15 are destined to be anglers, textbook students, they were keen and attentive and casting a good line within an hour, not over-anxious to catch, both recognised that to be a good fly-fisher one needs to be a good fly-caster. Springtime is the ideal start point for budding fly-fishers, good water levels, no weed nor overgrown banksides, and a whole season ahead to improve one’s skills whilst fishing.

James McDonagh, Your's truly and Harry Ahern, seeing out the season but starting out on their fly-fishing journey....roll on Spring '26 — James McDonagh, Paddy Dunworth and Harry Ahern, seeing out the season but starting out on their fly-fishing journey….roll on Spring ’26

Too few young people are availing of our great outdoors, we don’t realise how lucky we are here in Ireland, most of my clients can only fish when on vacation, and back home fishing is crowded and fish are stocked rather than wild. It was a pleasure to introduce the boys to fly-fishing, they are already looking forward to next season and it’s great that they’ll carry the flag, and keep a watchful eye on our wonderful waterways too. There’s no better antidote to today’s angst-ridden and toxic social media mad World than spending quality time on a river, communing with nature…it’s a Mindfullness us fly-fishers always knew about……a secret of sorts long before the greedy marketeers cashed in on it. Way to go James and Harry!

There must have been a Swanfest at Adare last weekend, two proud parents with their offspring who are almost fully grown

PS Thanks to James’ mum Caren for her patience with my insistence on ensuring we got a suitable day.

Go fishing…

Celtic Angling

Address The Commons Ballingarry Adare Limerick Ireland Phone: +353 69 68202 Mobile Phone: +353 87 652 5687 Email: [email protected] Website: celticangling.com

More information

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Pike & Coarse Fish Bye-Laws up for Public Consultation

By

Shane O'Reilly

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October 1, 2025

Following the outcomes from the submissions received in response to the Public Consultation on the draft Long Term Management Plan for the Great Western Lakes and a requirement to review bye-laws in excess of 10 years old, Inland Fisheries Ireland is carrying out a review of three bye-laws below:

Links to current bye-laws for consultation:

Inland Fisheries Ireland(IFI) wishes to make this review as open and transparent as possible by inviting submissions from interested stakeholders. The findings of these reviews may serve as a foundation for subsequent phases of public consultation concerning prospective legislative amendments.

How to get involved

Interested stakeholders can make submissions on each bye-law via the online submission forms below.

Make a submission on a bye-law below:

Only valid submissions received via these online submission forms will be considered when reviewing these three bye-laws. Each bye-law is accompanied by a number of question(s), and you may make a submission by selecting one or all bye-laws and providing observations and/or recommendations regarding their future direction.

This review process opens on September 22nd for a period of 6 weeks and closes at 6:00 pm on November 2nd, 2025.

Inland Fisheries Ireland will review every submission received. The information received from these submissions may be used to inform and shape the development of the relevant legislative review. All valid submissions received (except attachments) will be published on the IFI website. Attachments received as part of this public consultation will be reviewed by IFI but will not be published on the IFI website. Submissions will not be accepted if they are anonymous or where they do not include a contact name, address, Eircode and email or phone number. Any personal and identifying information will be redacted prior to publication on the website.

All submissions and comments submitted to IFI are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and the Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) Regulations 2007-2018.

Personal, confidential, or commercially sensitive information should not be included in the body of your submission.

Submissions are also subject to Data Protection legislation. IFI’s Privacy Statement can be viewed here, as can the Privacy Notice for this Public Consultation.

Rinnashak and Tramore/Waterford SACs announce dates for Open Shore Competitions

By

Shane O'Reilly

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October 1, 2025

A couple of sea angling clubs have set dates for some annual memorial competitions to be held over the coming months.

First up is the Martin Halley Memorial Open Shore Competition, hosted by Rinnashark SAC on Woodstown Beach on Sunday, October 19th. Competition details on their Facebook Page.

Next up, Tramore/Waterford SAC will host the Nicky McEvoy Senior Memorial Competition, also on Woodstown Beach on Sunday, December 5th. Again, you’ll find competition details on their Facebook Page.

Krakens Cash-in at Cushendun

By

Shane O'Reilly

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October 1, 2025

The Ulster Krakens made a late change of venue for round 10 of their Master Angler competition, as the original venue at Carnlough was too weedy to fish. So the thirteen anglers high-tailed it around the coast to Cushendun, where they found conditions to be a lot more favourable.

The change of venue paid off, as anglers were in fish from first casts, despite persistent rain making the going somewhat uncomfortable. The higher pegs, in particular, seemed to be producing the goods, as anglers on pegs 9 through 13 were kept very busy throughout the evening.

Lines were reeled in at 11.30, and as the cards were counted up, it was apparent that some decent numbers of fish had been caught.

Results were as follows:

1st David Rainey 36 fish +3 unders for 889 points
2nd Andrew Mc Callion 27 fish + 2 unders for 766 points
3rd Marc Wilson 26 fish and 5 unders for 726 points
4th Gavin Mahaffy 21 fish for 602 points
5th Craig Henderson 18 fish for 542 points

The biggest fish was a 29cm flounder by Gavin

Species caught were: flounder, dab, rockling, pouting, poor cod, pollock, coalies, whiting and dogfish.

King of the Lake 2025 takes place on Lough Ree

By

Paul O'Reilly

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September 30, 2025

Lough Ree King of the Lake 2025 was held last weekend and 83 pairs of anglers took to the midlands lough to try win by scoring the longest cumulative length of four pike caught over two days fishing. With so many anglers on the lough, fishing wasn’t easy, but there were some smashing fish caught, including a longest fish of 112cm for one of the teams.

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Winning pair, Brian Connaughton and Daniel Nesbitt, managed a best fish of 108cm, but followed that up with fish of 97cm, 97cm and 93cm for a total length of 395cm – crowning the pair as Kings of the Lake for 2025. Just 13cm behind were the second placed team of Jacek Gormy and Wioleta Hejna, with David Roche and David Fagan a further 10cm back with 373cm.

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