Our next featured business is Sligo Boat Charters, a charter boat operated by Daryl Ewing in Rosses Point, Co. Sligo, which offers “the best boat charters and trips in Sligo and Donegal Bay!”. Closed for the past few months, Daryl’s main boat, the Sarah Marie, is back in the water and angling trips are well underway. Rosses Point has car parking and pontoon access to the boat, which makes for very accessible fishing. Read on about the best sea fishing in Co. Sligo…
The Boat
Daryl: “Sarah Marie is an Aquastar33 purpose-built charter boat, powered by a 225hp straight 6 turbo perkins engine. She is capable of cruising at 12-18 knots, and is also equipped with all the finest latest technologies. She is bigger and faster than our last boat, and licensed for up to 12 persons. On her you will be guaranteed to be spending less time steaming and more time fishing in comfort!”
MV Sarah Marie
Recent Fishing
Daryl sent in some photos from recent trips on the Sarah Marie, including specimen spurdog, fine tope and other species and says “From these, you can see we have been enjoying some great catches. We are reopened for business and all of our details can be found on our new website www.sligoboatcharters.com
We have also been approved for the bluefin tuna tagging programme 2020 and are looking forward to a busy season ahead.”
Family Fun – Two Fine Pollack
A specimen spurdog
Tope!
Sea Trout
Daryl also says “In other news we have just started sea trout angling trips for small groups in 2020 on board our smaller licensed vessel, MV Dalemoor. These trips are 3 hours long and normally timed along with tidal activity in order to maximise catches”.
Co. Sligo has some great sea trout fishing, and we look forward to hearing more reports from this new venture.
Cod too
Matching outfits, but we prefer the colours on this cuckoo wrasse!
To Book
To book the best sea fishing in Co. Sligo you can get in touch with Daryl on 086 8913618 email [email protected], or check the website at www.sligoboatcharters.com,
Angling guide Christopher Defillon took a break from Lough Sheelin last week and tried his luck on Lough Ree for a change. The accomplished angler has featured many times in our reports over the years and he has an uncanny knack of connecting with some of the bigger fish that are swimming in our waters.
The photos and video say it all really, but for anyone interested in the stats – that trout is 76cm long and tipped Christopher’s scales at 11.56lb.
Lough Ree brown trout, 76cm long and over 11 and a half pounds in weight
Paul Geraghty's 20 inch trout, caught on the dap and landed for a quick photo
#cprsavesfish
Declan Gibbons reports from Lough Corrib, where most of our regular contributors are only resuming business due to Covid 19 Guidelines. Mayfly have started hatching again, with sedge hatches already well underway, and fish are responding.
Lucky Escape
Two anglers had a very lucky escape last week then their boat struck a marker and overturned, throwing both into the water. Both were wearing lifejackets, and were quickly recued by jetskiers who happened to be nearby, so it was a lucky escape and neither were seriously hurt. Please – everyone – if you are going on the water, wear a lifejacket or PFD. It’s the law, but more importantly, it could save your life!
Angling
Starting off in the Oughterard area Basil Shields of Ardnasillagh Lodge (091-552550) reports good mayfly and sedge hatches when conditions are right. Cork anglers Tom Murphy and Pat Hoare had 4 fish on wets for their outing on Corrib, while fellow county man Barry Healy had 2 fish for his efforts, all on wet fly.. Larry Kelly from Dublin had 12 fish for 3 days with the best being 5.25lbs on a mixture of wets and dries.
Richard Molloy of Ballard Shore Boat Hire & Self Catering (087-2879339) reported that Meath man Paul Geraghty enjoyed a good day’s action dapping, with a couple of small fish all around the 1lb mark and his best fish 20 inches (estimated 4lbs) long – all fish sportingly released. Dublin angler Tom Ormond and family members had 3 keepers on dapped mayfly and crickets with the best fish being2.5lbs, all released. Tom also reported localised hatches of mayfly and fish showing on them.
Paul Geraghty’s 20 inch trout, caught on the dap and landed for a quick photo #cprsavesfish
Prospects
As we move into July, many trout are feeding on coarse fish fry, but there are still plenty up on the surface. Sedge hatches are going well, and the July hatch of mayfly will be increasing as the days go on. The weather has been broken too, which helps hatches, and without a heatwave in sight, prospects are good for the week ahead on Lough Corrib.
With the cancellation of all FIPSed World Championships in 2020, Confédération Internationale de la Pêche Sportive, CIPS announced that our angling youths would not miss out. Those who would have been due to move up an age category next year, shall be allowed to remain in their current age group for the deferred championships. The NCFFI intend to present the current U15, U20 and U25 teams at the World Youth Angling Championships in Hungary in 2021.
Irish international John Browne with his nets brimming with tench and skimmers
With the easing out of lockdown, International Youth Manager Gavin Walsh took the opportunity to meet with Nick Richards who is coming onboard to assist Gavin with the Under 20’s team going forward. Co. Leitrim based Nick, a retired firefighter and keen angler has dedicated much of his spare time in previous years to support the development of his son Charlie (featured image) who represented Ireland in the U15’s in Spain last year. A very welcome appointment providing extra support for junior angling.
Irish international Rhys Walsh and his haul
Getting together earlier last week they were joined then by Adrian and John Browne, Rhys Walsh and Charlie Richards along with Enda Hickey assistant to the U15’s, as they accepted an invitation for a spot of fishing on Waterford & District Coarse Angling Club’s managed water which produced some fine catches for everyone on the day proving it a top notch spot for coaching and introducing novices to angling sport.
If you have a renewed interest in angling, have skills to share or would like to be involved get in touch with the NCFFI here https://www.ncffi.ie/about-us/contact/
Amy O’Brien was out fishing with her dad Sidney last week. They were out for Conger and sure enough, conger they got. Watch Amy fight with her slippery foe for every inch in this entertaining video…
This metre plus pike took a small lure intended for perch.
Damien Culliney reports from Lough Derg…
Was out fishing for fun with a old friend last week. We decided to go for perch on the drop shot and jigging. Had some nice perch during the day, nothing special, with the odd jack thrown in the mix.
We decided to do a bit of cranking for bigger perch in deeper water. We were using THE COWBOY from Castaic, one of my favourites. And bang we got this fin perfect fish of 108cm. What a beauty. Fish was photographed and released very quickly.
This metre plus pike took a small lure intended for perch.
Great to see such beautiful fish on small lures. #www.anglersparadise.ie #perchfishing #Trophytechnoly #Castaic #BigpikeloughDerg
Go fishing…
Anglers Paradise Ireland
Trout and Pike Guide
Anglers Paradise Ireland is owned and managed by Damien Culliney, a well known angler and chef in the Clare region and a man passionate about the inland waterways and natural history of County Clare. At Angler’s Paradise, we love the thrill of Game fishing and Pike fishing in equal measure and can take our clients to some of Europe’s most unspoilt rivers and lakes in search of trophy predators and the realisation of their angling dreams.
River Moy at Foxford. Courtesy of Farson digital WaterCams.
Foxford Salmon Anglers report that, after another unsettled week with heavy rain, the River Moy has been going up and down like a yoyo!
However, it hasn’t fallen very much, maintaining a constant high level which has fish moving. It was an another great week for fishing and it is fantastic to see the reports of at least 85 fish caught.
There has been an incredible run of fish going through the system and, with more rain forecast for the coming week, hopefully the river will continue to fish well.
Bandon Angling Association report on how the river is fishing:
Some nice fishing reported this week. We are delighted to see decent numbers of fish running, with a good proportion of these being multi sea winter fish. Grilse are making more of an appearance now and hopefully numbers of these continue to rise throughout the month.
Shrimp fishing was the most successful technique this week but fly and worm accounted for salmon also. A rise in water levels on Saturday produced more sport over the weekend and this will ensure good flows during the week.
Anglers fishing with worms are encountering flounder as far up as Desert Bridge, this is the furthest upstream they’ve been seen by club members since the new fish pass was built at Bandon Weir.
A Bandon flounder! Caught well upstream of the fish pass at Desert Bridge
Flounder are known to migrate many miles upstream into rivers; however, Bandon Weir was built c.1720 and this blocked off fish passage for flounder. With the new fish pass, flounder can now migrate to sections of the river that they haven’t been able to reach for 300 years.
Dan O’Neill reports from Mount Juliet on the River Nore…
The last few months for all were dark unknown times. The light at the end of the tunnel seems to be getting brighter for us as a nation at the moment. My trusty fly rod was re-placed with a paint brush throughout the times of the 2km, and indeed the 5km travel restriction, although once the 20km came in I was lucky enough to be able to fish solo on the River Nore. One thing about the lockdown was I was able to tie up enough flies and nymphs to last a small army of people quite easily through the next few seasons.
Some of the bead head Nymphs Dan has been tying
The water levels have been quite low dropping to .23 and remaining there for 12-14 days. Rain was quickly taken in by the dry ground, not being given the chance to get into the water systems that needed it just as much. Trout fishing became pleasantly challenging on the long slow flats. Stealth was the only way to go. Treading carefully, watching the position of my shadow became quite enjoyable in a game of cat and mouse with the wary trout of Mount Juliet.
The wary trout are marked perfectly to match the stream bed
Dry dropper was my method of choice over the past few weeks, again aiming at the flats. A size 22 PTN on a 2.5mm dark nickel tungsten bead worked wonders for me. When overcast I would perhaps go to a size 20 PTN with the same particulars as the size 22. I did use a size 22 olive nymph also which had its days of production. Some lovely trout came to hand mostly on these smaller flies, all released to fight again another day.
1 of 3
Overall this season the trout are in great condition. Fly and nymph life on the river seems to be in a good place. Average trout catches good at the moment with some trout touching 2 pounds showing up.
Limited day tickets are available for morning and evening sessions.
Any advice needed on the fishery feel free to contact me on my details below,
Mount Juliet House is set on a large estate, which offers private fishing on 2.5 miles of the middle to lower reaches of the River Nore. Mount Juliet Estate offers fishing of the highest quality, just a short stroll away from the Manor House. There is a fishing room on site in the Manor House for your convenience i.e. for storage and drying of fishing equipment. Mount Juliet Estate can also provide the necessary equipment on site if needed.
Fishery manager Brian Curran reports on last week’s fishing at Costello & Fermoyle…
A very good week on the river beats with high water levels encouraged salmon and sea trout to run the system. Monday last saw Brendan Hamrock, visiting Costello for the first time, land a 5 lb and a 2lb fresh grilse. On Tuesday, local grille, Sean Bollustrim returned a 4 lb fish. Two fish taken on Wednesday, a 5 1/2lb and 4lb lb.
With water still rising but at very fishable levels, Brian Curran, fishery manager, had two 4 lb grilse higher up the system and this was followed on Saturday with Sean Kelly and Geoffrey Fitzjohn, each having a grilse, one of 7 lbs and the other of 5 1/2 lbs, caught on Black Shrimp size 14. They saw a number of salmon running past in the higher water. Some sea trout are beginning to be caught with a 4lb fish being returned by local angler Padraig Mc Donagh.
Go fishing…
Costello & Fermoyle Fishery
Costello & Fermoyle is a jewel in Connemara’s crown, with a short, productive river draining a chain of lakes, all providing quality salmon and sea trout fishing. Salmon run the system from April, with the grilse run peaking in June, while sea trout start in May, with the most prolific runs in June and July. Fishing can be excellent right through September.
Bookings can be done through the web site, irelandwestangling.ie, or contact Brian at Telephone: +353 (0)91 572196 or 087 2399988 E-mail: [email protected]
