The Irish Bass festival draws closer and anglers are reporting some good fishing…
Clive Power of CP Lures has been getting lots of action on his homemade needlefish lures in the Waterford area. The bright full moon allowed him to have some great fun sight casting at night to bass moving around and hitting sandeels in the shallow surf.
There were also some good reports of bass fishing along the copper coast and Waterford area which is great to see in the lead up to the Irish Bass Festival being fished this July (13-15th).#
Go fishing…
The countdown is on ! Have you registered ?
Some great reports coming in of good bass turning up all along the coast over the last week to lures. It feels like it’s starting to switch on!!
29/5/18 There was a nice light wind from the West, with the sun blazing down on Currane, sadly the Lough Currane Anglers all they were hitting was the water bottle because it was roasting hot with temperatures soaring into the low twenty’s? That is your meteorological service for today, on the Game Fishing front you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out today’s common denominator. Yesterdays weather, maximum air temperature 17c.
A quick photo before Markus returns his salmon #CPRsavesfish
28/5/18 The fly anglers may have been redundant for the lack of wind, so its over to the lure department where there was some fine action, we start at the W End of the Lake, Local Gillie Mr. Bob Priestley, caught a fine 9 lbs. Salmon while trolling on his own, now we head down the North Shore to the Bungalow, Mr. John Smith of Birr, Co Offaly, caught a cracker of a Salmon in the 11 lbs. class, while trolling with his Gillie Mr. Neil O’Shea of www.oshealoughcurrane.com. Now for C&R of the day and that goes to Swiss Angler Mr. Markus Hodel and fishing out of the Smugglers Inn at https://www.thesmugglersinn.ie/ caught and released a fine 8 lbs. Salmon, while trolling with his Gillie Mr. Dominic McGillicuddy of www.fishingwithdom.com Today’s weather bright, hot and flat calm as you can see by the C&R photo. Yesterdays weather, amount of rainfall,4.5mm. Maximum air temperature 18.0
27/5/18 The Lough Currane Anglers this day were made redundant because of the lack of wind, mind you the same couldn’t be said for their verbal’s and the trolling department didn’t fair much better and that sums up today’s action. Wind as already stated and very humid and overcast all day. Yesterdays weather, amount of rainfall o.o. Maximum air temperature 19.6c 26/5/18 The temperature may have been down slightly due to the good cloud cover today but sadly the results were the same as yesterday but on a brighter note https://www.met.ie/warnings are warning of Flash floods as you can see for yourself if you click the above and as one angler said this evening while having a liquid libation in the Bar and I quote, a flood would be no harm and there is no argument to that. Today’s weather, wind NE light and very humid. Yesterdays weather, amount of rainfall 0.1mm. Maximum air temperature 19.6c.
25/5/18 Heat wave hits Lough Currane with temperatures hitting 24c.today? as the Wild Atlantic Salmon go into a dormant mode, so its not surprising that the Currane Anglers get red faced with a mixture of a suntan and blood pressure! That sums up today manipulations, but to be fair what would you exspect when all the elements are against we anglers. Wind NE light to fresh and clear skies. Yesterdays weather, maximum air temperature 16.2c.
Beautiful to look at but not to fish in
24/5/18 Lough Currane anglers could only look up to the blue skies as the Sun blazes down on South Kerry. So you don’t have to be a rocket scientist or a bookie to work out the odds of catching a Wild Atlantic Salmon or a Lough Currane Sea Trout, mind you I say that because Lough Currane has a great reputation for making one look a fool! So watch this space. Wind NW fresh. Yesterdays weather, maximum air temperature 17.6c, The pharmacist did well in the selling of suntan lotion today to prevent the Currane Anglers from getting a suntan, all I can say is the suntan lotion worked a treat, but sadly the same couldn’t be said for their flies and lures. Wind West light and bright sunshine all day. Yesterdays weather, maximum air temperature 16.5c.16.5c.
That is your ration from the last week on Lough Currane, from your Gillie and the Waterville Fishery, no spin no fly’s just facts.
For the third year in a row the there has been a very poor run of sea trout into the catchment this year. For the first time in recent memory, just one ‘specimen’ sea trout has been caught to date whereas in a ’normal’ year a good number of these early running fish would have shown up in the catches on Lough Currane. These are now worrying times for us all and in particular the fishermen and those local businesses which depend on them.
Sea lice infestation of post smolt sea trout caught in the Butler Pool in Waterville in 2017
The Trustees have, since the inception of the Trust in January 2017, been busy lobbying the Fishery Agencies, Government Ministers, and local politicians to encourage them to take action to prevent the potential complete collapse of our famous sea trout stocks. So far with little success. Inland Fisheries Ireland are proposing to carry out even more research to ascertain the prime causes of the collapse in the stocks but they report that Government funding for this study has not yet been made available, despite the urgency of the situation.
Typical tiny stream used by spawning sea trout
Of course the problems now facing Waterville are obvious. Other migratory fisheries, throughout the West Coast of Ireland and Scotland have suffered from a proliferation of sea lice from offshore salmon farms, which have decimated outward migrating salmon and sea trout smolts. Probably the the most famous of these sea trout fisheries, once of equal standing to Waterville, was Loch Maree in Wester Ross in Scotland, which was also famous for its large ‘Specimen’ sea trout. It was similarly decimated twenty five years ago. Twenty five years on Lough Maree has yet to recover. A lesson we must take note of for Waterville. Clearly time is of the essence if we are not to share a similar fate.
Without Government help, so far lacking, little can be done to tackle the problems at sea but the Trustees are determined to do whatever they can to enable those sea trout, which do make a spawning run into Lough Currane this year, to spawn successfully in suitable habitat. Currently they are seeking grant aid, from several sources, to carry out small stream habitat improvements including replacing spawning gravels lost in the recent flooding events. It is not generally appreciated how small the streams are which attract a spawning run of sea trout. Often these tiny streams, which are little more than spawning channels, attract some of the largest sea trout. In the past the local community would have joined together to carry out this essential work. Nowadays any ‘in stream’ work needs ‘Environmental Impact Studies’ and ‘Appropriate Assessments’ for each stream, to be agreed with Inland Fisheries Ireland, before any work can begin.
Regardless, the Trustees are determined to forge forward with this work and come August will need all the volunteer effort they can muster to complete it before the first sea trout spawning runs of the Autumn and Winter.
We will be putting out a call to all concerned volunteers, to help us with this work, should we succeed with our grant applications. Watch this space!
The Waterville Lakes & Rivers Trust, formed by concerned volunteers in 2016, is one of the new Rivers Trusts to be set up in Ireland and is currently aspiring to Charitable Status. Its remit is to protect the fresh and coastal waters of the Iveragh Peninsula.
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
The weather has been nothing short of Mediterranean this week, with blue skies and temperatures up to 26C in the western half of the country. The jetstream is remaining north of Ireland, dragging up warm air from southern climes and giving most people a welcome taste of summer. While spate rivers suffer in this weather, the bigger rivers benefit from lower flows, and salmon angling this week has been best on those bigger rivers, with the Moy and Blackwater both fishing well.
This is the very beautiful Ballincurrig Beat (Ballyduff Bridge) with the famous Churchill’s pool at the end.
The Blackwater saw a good run of fish this week, and with ideal conditions for the fly, anglers took advantage and landed some fine fish. The Moy continued its fine form, with over 200 fish reported for the week, while Carrowmore Lake defied the hot weather and produced a good number of spring salmon, most released. The Boyne produced a fine 16lbs salmon caught on fly by Spanish angler Ignacio, and released again. Elsewhere, low water and bright sunshine means that most rivers need a drop of rain to get salmon taking.
Despite the tropical conditions, Corrib fared reasonably well, with good mayfly fishing up to the weekend, and some fine fish landed. Buzzer fishing has also produced, with late evening buzzer hatches providing some good sport, and early morning Caenis hatches getting underway in some areas. Indeed, with temps in the mid-twenties by day, the best sport is often early and late in these conditions. Spent and dry fly has also been successful on Lough Arrow, with a good hatch this week getting trout feeding.
Adrian Gorman with a nice trout on buzzer
Coarse angling has been very good this week in spite of the bright sunshine. Tench fishing has picked up at Lanesborough, and competition anglers have reported good bags from venues as diverse as Lough Ree, Leitrim and Lough allua in Cork, where anglers relocated from the closed Carrigadrohid Reservoir enjoyed excellent fishing, with 30kg on one day for overall winner of the O’Callaghan’s Festival, Jim Brockie, who finished with an impressive 3-day total of 51kg! The Catch of the Week came from a lake venue in the midlands, where Tommy McGee caught a cracking rudd of 4lbs 3.375oz, just a few ounces shy of the Irish record, if confirmed as a rudd.
Catch of the Week: Tommy McGee’s Rudd or Rudd/Roach Hybrid weighed in at 4lb 3 and 3/8oz
Speaking of Inniscarra and Carrigadrohid which were closed during the outbreak of carp edema virus (CEV) at the Lough and Belvelly, these venues will now open from tomorrow, June 1st. The Lough and Belvelly Lake remain closed for the foreseeable future. IFI urges all anglers to act responsibly in relation to bio security measures. Full information on how to safely clean angling gear and minimise the risk of spreading pathogens and invasive species can be found at: http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/documents/358-invasive-species-biosecurity-guidelines-for-anglers-leaflet-1.html
Despite the bright conditions, some decent pike fishing has been reported this week from the Newbridge Anglers and O’Casey’s Anglers, Co. Monaghan, who both fished river venues, although no monsters were caught with the best fish 12lbs. A change in weather is probably needed to improve pike fishing, which rarely produces well in a heatwave.
Sea angling has probably benefited most from the benign weather conditions, with sea temperatures improving and slack winds allowing more boat access to offshore marks. Bass fishing has certainly picked up, with good fishing reported from Cork and Kerry, while some lovely boat fishing was reported from Killala Bay. The downside of the good weather, however, is that anglers and skippers are busy fishing, and don’t have time to write reports on fishing, so we may have to wait until next week, or a break in the weather, to find out how they’re getting on!
And now the weather…
We’ve had a week of warm and mostly dry weather, and incredibly, it’s set to continue like this for at least another week! Temperatures are set to hit the mid-twenties on quite a few days, warmest in the midlands and west, with cooling easterly breezes keeping it more bearable in the east. There is a risk of thundery showers in a few places up to Saturday, but it looks dry for the most part. As ever when fishing, if a thunderstorm approaches, stop fishing and seek shelter. Fishing rods are lightning conductors – don’t be holding it when there is electrical activity about!
With the bank holiday weekend upon us, more people will be out fishing and enjoying the fine weather, but safety is extremely important. Please remember your lifejacket if going afloat, tell someone where you are going and what time you expect to return, and carry a mobile phone with you in case of emergencies. And don’t forget the sunscreen!
The Galway Fishery has seen little action this week, as grilse have been slow to arrive in any numbers, with only a few showing in the river and not many encountered by anglers. Some more grilse have been seen today, with 2 landed by lunchtime, so hopefully there will be more to report next week, when we will have a full roundup for the 2 weeks.
With the good weather has come a reduction in water levels, with one sluice gate now open the weir and perfect water for flyfishing, although bright sunshine and high temperatures are not helping matters. With the dry weather set to continue water levels should remain in perfect order for the coming week.
Declan Gibbons reports on a week that saw hectic sport at the start, but the heatwave has slowed mayfly fishing right down since the weekend. Anglers out late have been rewarded with good balling buzzer fishing, while the early morning Caenis hatches have started in some areas, mainly from Saddle south. Fishing during the main part of the day has been in Mediterranean conditions, with temperatures up to 25 or 26C and bright sunshine, so fishing early and late may be the solution.
Caenis on a 5-6 size reel for scale
On Saturday last the Jimmy Dunne Memorial Cup was hosted in Collinamuck with 10 rods participating and the Cup went to Sean Madden with 2fish for 4.25lbs, caught dapping. In the Birchall area on Saturday Terry Callinan had 8 fish dapping with his best fish being 3.5lbs. Barry O’Sullivan had 2 fish on Saturday in the Birchall area for 4.75lbs, and also had excellent sport on Friday and Monday, landing 4 fish on both occasions. Padraig Fahy in the same area had 3 fish on dry mayfly. Joe Creane had good fishing on wets on Wednesday last in Birchall with the best fish being 4.5lbs.
In the Oughterard area Basil Shields (091-552550) reported moderate hatches in the area but excellent fishing to be had none the less. Podge Dwyer & friend Foxy had 7 fish for their trip to Corrib with the best fish being 4.25lbs. Colin Wright from Belfast for 3 days had 22 trout on dry mays and buzzer (best fish 4.75lbs). Visiting English Angler Simon Oliphant had 5 fish for his day on Corrib with the best fish being 4.25lbs. Victor & Tony from the UK had 11 trout for 4 days from 1lb up to 2.5lbs on wet fly and dapping. Sam Crawford, Antrim had 16 fish for one day’s fishing on buzzer with the best fish being 5lbs 6oz. Balbriggan man John Gallagher & friend Peter McCann had 7 fish to the boat with the best fish being 8lbs 3oz and for another day’s fishing John & his friend Stuart Killeen had 6 fish to the boat with John landing a fish over 7lbs. Basil himself landed a noble trout of 11lbs 3oz on buzzer which he sportingly returned.
Podge Dwyer enjoyed his visit to Corrib
Gerry Molloy http://www.loughcorriboughterard.com reports of regular visiting Swiss angler Bruno catching numerous trout in the area dapping and trolling and all sportingly released. Gerry guided three novice tourist anglers on Saturday last dapping for their first time and had 4 fish dapping (best fish 6lbs).
Staying in the Oughterard area Kevin Molloy of Baurisheen Boat Hire Guiding & Self catering (tel. 087-9604170) reports of Dave Gordon and friend from England landing 25 trout for 8 days varying in size from 1.5-3lbs on the fly.
In the Cornamona area on Saturday last Padraig Walsh and Noel Fahy enjoyed great sport dapping landing 9trout to the boat with the fish varying in size from 1.5-3lbs. Also in the Cornamona area Bernie Feerick of Lakeshore House B&B reports of Dublin angler Jonathan Ryan catching 12 trout for two and a half days fishing on wets and dapping, all released and the best fish being 2.5lbs.
In the Cornamona area tom Doc Sullivan http://www.tomdoc.com guided Martin Mannion formerly of Rosmuc, Galway now residing in Donegal for a day and had 7 fish on dries – best fish 2.5lbs. John Smith from Birr had a day on Corrib with Tom and had 2 fish for over 4lbs. Steve Carew & Ray Hickey of Fulling Mill Tackle had 5 fish with the best fish being 2.5lbs on buzzer and wets.
Steve Carew with a fine catch
Richard Molloy of Ballard Shore Boat Hire & Self Catering (087-2879339) reports reasonably good fishing in the area with Father & Son Duo Matt and Paul Geraghty from Meath landing 12 fish on Saturday dapping – best fish 2.5lbs – and on Sunday had 4 fish averaging 1.5lbs dapping. Tom Ormond had 5 fish on Saturday with the fish averaging 2lbs in weight..
Cong Angling Club hosted their Annual mayfly competition with 1st place going to John Somerville with 2 fish for 2lbs 14oz. 2nd place went to Eugene Groeger with 2trout just over 2lbs, and 3rd place went to Vincent Hughes with one fish for 2lbsm which also won the Heaviest Fish.
John Somerville receiving his prize from Stephen Lydon and John Fahy, sponsors.
On Sunday last Ronan Cusack and Adrian Gorman had good sport on buzzer in the Kilbeg area, landing 3 fish of 4, 5 and 6lbs with Adrian getting a PB and all 3 fish sportingly returned.
Adrian Gorman with a nice trout on buzzer
On another note, the wearing of lifejackets or personal flotation devices while in a boat is a legal requirement. We receive some fantastic photos of anglers holding unbelievable fish, often the catch of a lifetime, but we often cannot use these photos because the angler is not wearing any kind of PFD. There have been a number of tragic accidents around the country in the last few years where a PFD may have saved a life. It’s not just frustrating for me that I can’t show a photo, but it’s worrying that so many don’t take basic safety precautions that are the law. Please, please, if you’re going afloat, don’t do so without it.
27 May: 55 turned out to Ballinamore today with anglers travelling as from Dublin, Belfast, Mullingar and those closer by to fish alongside festival anglers from the UK for the Ivan Price Cup.
Congratulations to James Place, Manchester a regular visitor to Ballinamore and former festival winner for his 14.350kg win from Lough Scur. In second place was Co. Cavan angler Robertas Zilaitis with 8.850kg, followed by Kevin Dyer, Hants on his first visit to Ballinamore who weighed in 7.650kg for 3rd place. Another Cavan angler and former Irish International was 4th with 7.500kg followed by John Mcvey and Chris Simpson in joint 5th.
James Place Winner of the IVAN PRICE CUP 2018
Club member Steve Clinch and his wife Sonia of Abbey Lodge sponsored a beautiful crystal trophy for James and presented the Ivan Price Cup on behalf of Dorothy & Ivan. Thanks to sponsors Terry & Agnes of Short’s Heritage Bar and GORDON HUGHES ESTATE AGENTS represented by Debbie.
Thanks to very one who took part. The fishing as very tough, bright sunshine and an Easterly wind didn’t help and the club are busy working on the options for a change in sections for the festival tomorrow.
Day 1 of the Festival
Bob Nudd
Day 2 of the Festival
29 May: The Ivan Price Cup served as a great warm-up match for this years festival and enabled us to make some changes to put the festival anglers on the fish. 41 anglers checked in on Monday at the Tourist Office for the match which is fished on 5 venues over 5 days by rotation. Venues include Lough Garadice Church and Connolly’s Shores, Kiltybarden and Lough Scur Pumphouse and Rocks.
Top weight for Day One was Bob Nudd with 8.850kg of small skimmers at Lough Scur, Rocks. Second on the match today was Barry Chapman with 7.020kg from Kiltybarden which included two bream.
Day 3 of the Festival
Even hotter – when is the weather going to break?
Kiltybarden continued to be the favoured section producing the top two weights of the day with Ireland’s Junior International Eoin Rogerswinning the day with 14.600kg followed by Nigel Broadley with 10.780kg
All other sections continue to fish hard with some improvement on Lough Scur Pumphouse giving Dave Stewart 3rd on the day with 7.930kg.
Top 5 on Day Three Wayne Fuller 22.650
Nigel Broadley 17.680
Dave Stewart 15.740
Eoin Rogers 15.530 Bob Nudd 15.450
An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar TD, and several Government Ministers, have today launched the €4 billion Project Ireland 2040 funds for rural development, urban regeneration, climate action and innovation.
The four funds are a major innovation in Project Ireland 2040.
Rather than allocating funding in a ‘business as usual’ way to Government Departments, money will be allocated competitively to the best projects, which leverage investment from other sources thereby ensuring that the impact of this investment goes much, much further.
The funds will be open to applications from state agencies, local government, business, educational institutions, chambers of commerce, and others, but the ideal applications will be collaborative efforts that break down barriers and silos.
The call for applications will open in the coming weeks.
You can read more here.
As part of the Government announcement, Minister Denis Naughten outlined a new €500m Climate Action Fund and his address can be seen here.
Gary Chandler reports on Sheemore Angling Association’s recent outings…
20 May: Well a good day for fishing was had on Lough Ree. A bit wet in the afternoon but can’t complain . It was the second Sheemore Open today. Barney’s shore fished well with wind blowing in. Heron’s didn’t fair as well but most caught a few including a 2.13 lb hybrid to Dave Oddy the results are
Section. A herons shore
Gavin brown. 9.15lb. Section win
Robert howgate. 9.11lb
Dave Oddy. 9.09lb
Malcom Singleton. 7.08lb
Andrew Riley. 6.12lb
Section B Barney’s shore
John McVey. 37.09lb. 1st place
Joe van der spek. 24.12lb. 2nd. Place
Gary chandler. 24.08lb. 3rd place
Stuart Lear. 19.02lb. Section winner
Jimmy Fitzsimmons. 13.11
Ray Carpenter. 7.11lb
So not bad day for Barney’s if the wind had changed round or dropped altogether it could well have been a bit different
Well done to john who gave us all a good lesson today
25 May: Not a bad evening for the Thursday match on Barney’s shore. After bright sunshine in the day it clouded over and the wind got up a bit. Here are the results..
Joe van der spek. 30.04lb
Gary Chandler. 18.09lb
Ray Carpenter 15.01 lb
Andrew Riley. 11.01lb
Dave Oddy. 7.02lb
So not to bad an evening and most fish were caught close in on the whip at least you could get away from the pike a bit quicker hit and drag tactics for most of the evening
27 May: A great day weather wise but not to good for fishing. A bit bright and windy for the trip to the Mud Flats. So here are the results..
Michael Fitzpatrick. 1.13lb
Robert howgate. 1.11lb
Joe van der spek. 1.09lb
Ray carpenter. 1.03lb
Malcom Singleton. 1.03lb
Andy Riley. 1.01lb
Dave oddy DNW he had more sense and went home early so the fish were scarce but the sun tans are coming along nicely!
Sheemore Angling Associationare affiliated to the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland and are members of the Angling Council the National Governing Body for coarse and predator angling. www.ncffi.ie
CM Lakelands report on their weekend match on Concra…
27 May: The club held a match today on Lower Concra! 15 anglers fished the match today with warm and humid conditions. Fishing was hard because the Roach were away spawning. Most fish caught was small skimmers and hybrids.
Results today as follows
1st Polish Pete with 6.120kg
2nd Brenton Sweeney with 4.460kg
3rd Andy Chapman with 3.300kg
Section winners were Ollie Doyle and Dave Worsnop.
Next club match on Upper Concra June 10th
Join the club…
Membership open to all is €30, €15 for OAP’s/Juniors.
To join contact Brenton Sweeney on 087 2510260 or mail [email protected]
Inniscarra TDL reports reports that with Inniscarra and Coachford closed the O’Callaghans Festival organisers worked hard to get a suitable venue for the anglers committed to travelling for this popular angling event… 27 May: A fantastic start for the festival anglers on Lough Allua with a 30kg catch for Jim!!! Top fishing and fantastic efforts by all here to get the 33 festival anglers some fishing! 28 May: Another great days fishing on Lough Allua in the gorgeous sunshine. Day 2 results 29 May: The final day… With so much uncertainty over recent weeks, against all odds we put on a festival for the lads and it worked out well. Despite the bright sunny conditions our stand-in venue fished well and we are all delighted to see Jim Brockie win the Cup with a 3 day weight of 51.040kg.
In second place is Terry Morgan and in 3rd Ian Shepard. Well done to our festival winners and all those who continued with their journey to Coachford not knowing what the fishing would be like. Whilst catches across Ireland are difficult at this moment Lough Allua got us out of trouble and put our festival anglers on the fish.
Thanks to sponsors O’Callaghans Bar & Guest House and for their assistance with the enhanced bio security process.
In he meantime we are delighted to confirm that Inniscarra Resevoir will re-open for Angling from Friday at 06.00hr
Report courtesy of Inniscarra Lake TDL, an affiliated club of the National Coarse fishing Federation of Ireland www.ncffi.ie. You can follow them at www.facebook.com/inniscarralakeTDL
