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.
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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.
10 year old Caoimhe Murtagh appreciating the beauty that is Lough Sheelin
Lough Sheelin Angling Report June 29th – July 5th 2020
‘Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did’
Newt Gingrich
This has been a difficult week for fishing on Lough Sheelin. The usual culprit – the weather, struck with a vengeance again like an unwelcome visitor bring with it pulses of rain, dropping temperatures and gusty westerly weekend storms. Weather is the game changer here and is effectively destroying what could be some excellent fishing.
The calm before the storm
Along with our meteorological woes there are some other factors which are effectively pushing Sheelin trout fishing into this more challenging phase. Large shoals of fry, commonly referred to as ‘pinheads’ are gathering in the shallow areas and bays of the lake. Trout are always on the lookout for food but it isn’t just prey they are after, it is easy to capture prey, our trout want the most gain for the least effort so a congregation of a protein packed meal in the form of dozens of small fish is a very attractive and tempting option over the alternative of cruising a large area of water looking for an insect or two. As the fry get bigger they become that more aware of their marauding enemy so to overcome this the trout will hurtle themselves at full throttle into a shoal of small fish, in the hope of stunning some of them and then return to quietly pick off injured or dazed fish. Such ‘fry bashing’ is what the angler is looking for to try out perhaps a static floating fry or a semi-submerged pattern. While the trout are fixated on the pinheads, it can be a difficult time for the fly angler so the best plan would be to stay away from the areas where the fry congregate and head out into the open water where the trout might be shoaling on daphnia or stick to the late evening fishing when there might be a possibility of catching buzzer or sedge feeding trout, again the choice of fishing is very weather dependent and the weather simply wasn’t kind to anglers this week.
Lough Sheelin’s Cinnamon sedge
Going over the past seven days:
Monday was a humid day with temperatures stretching up to 20°C, moderate to fresh southerly winds along with drizzly rain made conditions unfavourable. Some trout were sighted performing aerial acrobatics but this was probably to rid themselves of lice rather than air diving for food. There were handfuls of sedges in sheltered areas but little or no surface feeding from the trout. The potential of good evening fishing on the murrough was destroyed by the onset of heavy rain. Mirror calm conditions prevailed throughout Tuesday with only a very odd sedge and damsel fly on the water, some caenis feeding fish were spotted in early morning. Wednesday was the pick of the week with light to variable winds and good cloud cover. Thursday was disappointing with heavy rainfall, temperature dips and only sparse amounts of fly on the water. Friday and Saturday were all a bit of a struggle as anglers tried to cope with strong and gusty winds and continuous rainfall and Sunday was a total wash out with drenching downpours, strong winds and a sky that stayed on the ground all day.
Chambers Bay
This week was all about teams of wets with little room for any dries. The orange Stimulator worked well as did any scruffy kind of fly used on the bob. Lough Sheelin has a large number of trout in the 4 to 5 lb bracket which is an enviable fact. These are big trout and big trout are often looking for flies that are showing signs of vulnerability and that means flies that are less than perfect. An imperfect copy of the natural real insect which has included a few good trigger points that portray the illusion that the prey is vulnerable in some ways is a good plan so keeping it scruffy and not too regimental could be the way forward when the fishing is being more challenging than normal.
A scruffy Leggy Claret Bumble
The traditional method of dapping a grasshopper was tried by one angler during the week with a moderate degree of success.
The numbers of anglers fishing the lake averaged 10 to 12 per day with a slight increase for the evening.
There were still plenty of the terrestrials being blown on to the water this week with ants, beetles, daddy long legs and some hawthorns being helped out on to the water by the daily breezes, providing a variety of temptation to a possible passing trout
Summer is Daddy time on Lough Sheelin
With the trout on the pinheads, fly dressing incorporating a thread of silver attracts these fish on the hunt for the silver of the perch fry.
Angling is poor at the moment but it will change and there is a lot to look forward to if the weather changes – sedges, murrough, green peter and bloodworm. July is also a good month for fishing hoppers and using terrestrial imitations.
Trout food - today's menu.......
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Two's company
Summer is Daddy time on Lough Sheelin
Sitting pretty - an Elephant Hawk-moth
Murrough, Green Peter and Ringed China-mark (2 Caddis and an aquatic moth)
Molanna albicans (the only caddis on Sheelin to roll its wings under its abdomen
Lough Sheelin's Murrough
Lough Sheelin's Cinnamon sedge
Heptagenia sulphurea
Female Agrypnia varia (Lady Green Peter)
An emerging damsel
A Sheelin sedge
A Sheelin sedge - Molanna albicans
A newly hatched damselfly
A Murrough shuck
A Lough Sheelin caddis
A freshly hatched Ringed China-mark moth
A crippled damsel
Now into the third phase of the Covid unlocking roadmap, anglers can now travel anywhere in Ireland and there has been a noticeable increase in anglers from other parts to Lough Sheelin.
A Lough Ree angler who has a boat on Lough Sheelin fished the lake late last week. His boat is called ‘The Demon’ for various unflattering reasons. After purchasing his Midlands Fisheries Group Permit online he was eerily given the permit number 666 (Satan’s number) and now is feeling particularly cautious about future expeditions on this lake………..
Hope springs eternal
23 trout catches were recorded with a 63cm trout taking the catch of the week.
Fish catches this week were caught on a variety of patterns but the attractor patterns worked best. Attractor flies are great for now when it’s horrible weather and there are poor trout rises. When you are trying to match the hatch, you have to wait before casting to the fish that you’ve spotted but with attractor flies you can cast randomly, a free license to almost cast willy-nilly but hopefully over likely pockets of water that should hold fish.
Changing flies more often is advisable when fishing attractor flies until you find the right combination and a good long drag free presentation is just as important as on any cast.
A traditional salmon fly and very apt for the weather that’s in it – ‘Thunder & Lightening’ landed a fine 3lb trout during the week for one Dublin angler.
This week's fish and photos from afloat
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Murrough time
Lough Sheelin perfection
Mirror calm
Dominic Conconnon with his impressive 63cm catch
Rippled water
A summer trout
A Sheelin dream
A quiet fishing bay on Lough Sheelin
A 'last light' catch
Cloudy skies
A beautiful 60cm fish
Dominic Murray with a lovely 54cm trout on Sheelin
The calm before the storm
55cm
Ready for release
Humpies and Stimulators brought results but other popular patterns were Claret Bumbles, Golden Olive Bumbles, Bibios, Klinkhammers, dry Buzzers (sizes 8-12), Emerging Buzzers, Grey Duster (size 10), Royal Wulffs, Dabblers (Green, Golden Mayfly and International), the Octopus, Welshman’s Button, Chocolate Drop, Muddlers, Daddys, Hoppers, the Telephone Fly, Elk Hair Caddis, the F-Fly, Red Tailed Peters and small dry sedges.
Golden Olive George
The places that produced catches were down along the Western shore of the lake, Stony Island, at the back of Church Island, Merry Pt., Wilson’s pt, Inchacup, Chambers Bay and from Kilnahard down to Crover, Crane Island, Bog Bay, and Sailors Garden and into Goreport, Lynch’s Pt, Derrysheridan and Derry Pt.
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.
Over the past two weeks angling was interrupted on Carrowmore by high winds for quite some time. However, once the lake had settled anglers were able to venture out again and were rewarded with some nice catches.
Carrowmore Lake settling after the storms
Among the successful anglers were John Cosgrove, Eamon Power and Sean Keenan who all had grilse in the 4 lbs. to 8 lbs. range. The usual Carrowmore patterns (Dabblers, Green Peter, Bumbles, Clan Chief etc.) did the trick while sea trout fishing has also been very good with some excellent catches of fish up to 2.5 lbs. There were numerous other fish caught and released during the past two weeks and angling for the coming days is expected to be equally as good.
Go fishing…
Carrowmore lake is located 2km North of Bangor Erris and has an approximate area of 1000 hectares of fishing water which ranges in depth from 1 to 6 metres. The lake is frequented by very healthy stocks of Spring Salmon, Grilse, Sea Trout and also has a substantial number of resident Brown Trout.
Fishing in this lake is confined to boat fishing only and with the permission of the fishery manager. Boats for hire are clinker built design fibre glass and average 19ft in length.
Please note that Carrowmore Lake is a Brown Tag Fishery!
For fishing on Carrowmore Lake contact Seamus Henry on +353 (0)97 83487 or visit www.bangorerrisangling.com
