John Fleming reports from the Brazen Hussy II on Galway Bay…
Tope
We broke the boats’s tope record boating and realising 20 tope last weekend. Nothing very big but cracking sport. We had some great mixed fishing as well over the reefs and sand with a lot of codling, pollack, whiting and red gurnard.
Red gurnard
To top a great week on the water we had another go for Tope,. We had a few runs to no avail but out efforts were rewarded with some lovely huss and spurdog. We had about 10 spurs in total with Rinus have from Holland pulling out a gorgeous 110cm specimen and there were a few more just shy of it.
Specimen Spurdog
I even managed a couple and a nice huss too.
All in all the summer is off to a great start for us in Galway.
huss
Go fishing…
To book fishing with John aboard the Brazen Hussy II, give him a call on 087 7571320
A regular day is between 9am- 6pm from either Rossaveal, Spiddal or Galway depending on species being sought after. Fishing on the inshore reefs for pollock, cod, ling, wrasse, conger eel and mackerel can be reached in 10 minutes from departure, while our offshore reef marks are within 45 minutes of departure. Our ground fishing for tope, spurdog, ray, bullhuss, turbot, plaice and the giant common skate can all be reached within the hour which ensures the most amount of time is spent fishing.
The shark season usually starts at the end of June and runs into late October, this is the ultimate angling adrenaline rush with these hard fighting blue and porbeagle sharks all being tagged and released safely.
Package deals available
A great week on the fishery again this week. Plenty of brown trout caught with the fish falling to nymphs, spiders and dry flies. After talking to one of the guides he told me that his own blue winged olive pattern claimed some trout at the higher end of the fishery.
Midweek of last week I was lucky enough to be able to welcome 2 very competent fly anglers Paul and Conor. The two anglers made their way to the middle reaches of the fishery. Using dry fly and wet fly they claimed some very nice brown trout with the real star of the show being a sea trout just on 2 pound for Conor. I have heard a few stories of sea trout on the fishery over the past 3 seasons but this was the first one I managed to see a picture of. Paul had some very nice brown trout on the dry fly up to one pound.
On Tuesday night of last week I was also very lucky and managed to get on the river myself for an evening with two of my good friends. We fished dry dropper, euro nymph and late in the evening dry fly. Between us we had just on 60 trout all; returned safely to the river. Over turning some submerged rocks showed an abundance of cased caddis and various other nymphs which is great to see.
There are a few evening permits available for next week.
Nymphing master classes still being held.
Now taking bookings for fly tying classes over the winter months.
For further information on the above contact Dan on 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.
Owenea Fishery – Monday 1st to Sunday 7th June 2019.
The Owenea ran at very low summer water levels all week. The gauge average for the week was a pitiful 0.06 metres. Only 5 visiting rods fished for the week. There is little to report in the way of catches except for Sunday when visiting rod, Pierre Rumeau, caught and released 2 fresh grilse weighing 4 & 5½lb on fly from beat 9. We once again await rain.
For info/bookings etc. on the Owenea Fishery –
Tel: 074 9551141. (9am to 1pm April to May & 7am to 1pm June to Sept).
LOUGH MELVIN – Monday 1st to Sunday 7th June 2019.
No word of any salmon caught to date on Melvin though in truth, salmon angling effort was very light. Trout fishing was variable. There were decent hatches of fly but you ‘had to work’ for each fish.
On Sunday, the Garrison & Lough Melvin Angling Association held their Gerry Gallagher Memorial Cup run in conjunction with the 2nd round of the Tony O’Brien. The Gerry Gallagher Cup was won by Irvine Marshall with 5 fish with Sean Maguire in 2nd place. Irvine Marshall & Gordon Law won the 2nd round of the Tony O’Brien Cup with 7 fish. In 2nd place were Stephen Clarke & Keith Cole with Sean & Darren Maguire taking 3rd place with 3 fish.
RIVER DROWES – Monday 1st to Sunday 7th June 2019.
Water levels continued to fall still further over the week as the dearth of rain continued and the Drowes ran at low summer levels. The gauge on Monday read only 0.41m and had dropped to 0.36m by the end of Sunday.
Despite the low summer levels the good run of grilse continued and the river fished well against the odds with some 55 salmon recorded for the week. These were mainly grilse ranging in size from 2 to 3lb caught by the rods booked into the fishery for the week. They have little choice in choosing river conditions!
There was also another Pink Salmon of 3½lb caught on Friday from the Sea Pools. Anglers are still requested (as elsewhere) to retain any Pink Salmon caught, Tag the fish and hand the fish into the Drowes Fishery Office who will contact IFI. A replacement tag will be provided to replace the one used on the Pink Salmon.
Sidney Kennedy reports on a big catch for his daughter…
Last Sunday the 7th my daughter Amy age 7 came fishing with me for common skate out of Baltimore. As she would be too small and light to hold a rod and fight a large deep dwelling fish the only option she had was using a bent-butt rod that could be placed into the rod holder that was built into the boat.
Amy and her skate
There was 4 of us fishing; Amy, my son Derek, his girl friend Stephanie and myself. Amy had all the luck on the day. She was the only one to see her rod bend over and the line go screaming off the reel. The skate put up a hard battle, but the rod, reel, line and Amy were up to the job.
She has a video of her fishing adventure on YouTube to see it click on the link below https://youtu.be/BvMbSyC4gRI
French fishing guide Bruno Duboul has been in contact with some news about the pike fishing in the Cavan area. According to Bruno, “Pike fishing during this period is significantly less productive than spring, fall or even winter. In fact, the low water level and the high temperature make the pike almost inactive during the day. My best opportunities are early in the morning or late at night. The most productive technique for me is the “sink and draw” method as it allows me to emulate a natural fish in the middle of water lilies and other congested places.
I also note that the small lures give very good results, probably because at that time there is a large amount of white fish fry on which the pike are feeding. I also have better results in the rivers than in the lakes, probably because of a better oxygenation of the rivers thanks to the flowing water. But these current difficulties make each take even more rewarding and Irish nature is always so beautiful and accompanies us whatever happens.” If you fancy a guided pike fishing break with Bruno you will find his contact details below.
Fishing guide in Co. Cavan
Bruno introduces you to Irish nature through pike fishing. You can fish with Bruno for a day, a weekend or even a full week. By boat or float tube, fish on the Erne River, the Oughter system or one of the countless lakes surrounding the towns of Belturbet and Killeshandra.
For further information and bookings please contact Bruno at 00.353.8.71.86.67.21 or +33 06.87.08.30.58
Well known fisherman, casting instructor and angling guide Eamonn Conway has been in touch with us to let us know that the River Fane is fishing very well at the moment. There are plenty of brown trout to be caught with the occasional seatrout in the mix too. Trout have been caught on nymphs and dries mainly, with perdigons and cdc emergers working best.
Tight lines Eamonn Conway
Make a booking…
Eamonn Conway is one of the country’s top angling guides and a qualified APGAI Ireland Fly Casting Instructor. If you fancy a days guided fishing with Eamonn why not drop him an email at [email protected] or give him a call at 00 353 86 1242966.
Last week Mid Ulster was host to the 25th European Coarse Angling Championships played out on the Lower River Bann; the first FIPSed event in Northern Ireland since the World Championships were held on the River Erne in 1992, and the Newry Canal in 1982.
Seventeen high profile angling teams including former World and European champions commenced training on the venue on Monday 24th June with the competition played out on Saturday & Sunday 29th & 30th June.
Significant investment from Waterways Ireland and Mid Ulster District Council and the generosity of local landowners led to the enhancement of the existing coarse fishing facility providing Ireland with its first world class angling facility on a river. The competition delivered a welcome boost to the local community in the Bann Corridor, which with further planned developments will leave a legacy for angling in this area of outstanding natural beauty.
A warm welcome from the communities of Portglenone and Bellaghy met the teams, which included a number of former World Champions, as they were joined by pupils from St. John Bosco and St. Mary’s primary schools and the Bellaghy Vintage Tractor and Classic Car Club in the ‘Parade of the Nations’ ahead of the official opening of the championships.
Anglers line the banks of the Lower Bann
Met with unusually high temperatures the fishing proved difficult during training with catches of mostly roach and some perch. It was soon clear that this would be an exciting competition based around technical skills which saw the top five teams all fishing different tactics. The weather broke with an electric storm on the morning of the championships which was played out in humid conditions with heavy rainfall, changing wind directions and sunny intervals. The first day closed with France leading, followed by Poland and home team Ireland in third position. Day two saw more settled weather and a last-minute change in tactics by the Dutch National Angling Team to win the match. But it was Team Lithuania who rose from 4th position to take the championships with a sector win by Tomas Buzas in difficult sector D, complimented by a 3rd, two 4th and a 12th in sector for first position and 49 points. It was the first trip to Ireland for Team Lithuania, yet they got to grips with the river early in the week and after finishing in 4th position after day one, were motivated toward a podium finish.
Team Manager Alvydas Žibas says:- “The performance of our anglers and supporting team (totalling 11) has been incredible; we were surrounded by great local people and organisers, our positive fishing tactics worked really well and we could not have expected more” Aurimas Verbliugevičius adds:- “Although when at home we mostly fish bloodworm and joker on the bottom, we fished positively with the maggot and fed an active groundbait 2 to 3 foot from the bottom”
Poles aplenty in Portglenone
It wasn’t to be for home Team Ireland whose plan to target big roach from the start using Tubertini sting floats up to 6g proved successful with a third position finish on day one, but a difficult draw on day two saw them miss the Bronze medal finishing 8 points behind the Netherlands. Team Manager, Vincent Walsh says:- “Whilst we would have liked to make the podium it was still a fantastic performance to finish 4th. I am extremely proud of the teams’ achievement finishing 3rd the first day and 6th the second which will see Ireland move up significantly in the European rankings”
Individually Netherlands’ Ramon Ansing took the Gold Medal with 3 points followed by Stephane Linder of France. Lithuania’s Tomas Buzas picked up the Bronze with fellow team member Mindaugas Alekna awarded the certificate for 4th position and Hungary’s Laszlo Csillag 5th.
The week long competition closed with the awards ceremony at Wolfe Tones Baile Eachaidh GAC followed by a gala dinner at the Wild Duck Inn at Portglenone.
The event was brought to the region by the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland, NCFFI whose volunteers organised the event with support and funding from Mid Ulster Council, The Honorable The Irish Society, Waterways Ireland, DAERA Inland Fisheries and Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. The NCFFI wishes to express their thanks to all parties involved including the expert support from the Community Rescue Service Central team, volunteer stewards from the angling and local communities, the Lower Bann CAA and East Belfast Angling East Belfast Coarse Angling Clubs contributed to the success of the championships.
