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Successful mayfly competition held on Lough Arrow

By
IFI staff
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Lough Arrow

Lough Arrow Anglers held their annual mayfly competition last Sunday. Check out their report below…

We held our annual mayfly competition on Sunday 17th last, with 50 anglers taking part, who were all hoping to win the Des McDonagh Perpetual Cup.

The day started off with a light wind, which dropped to flat calm conditions at lunchtime. However, it picked up again after an hour, much to the delight of the dappers.  There were great hatches of greens throughout the day,  but as it was bitterly cold very few spent went out.

Ken Murray being presented with the Des McDonagh Perpetual Cup by Mary McDonagh

Well done to all the anglers who took part, in particular, of course, to those who caught fish.  Results are as follows:

  1. Ken Murray – 3 fish
  2. Paul Colreavy – 2 fish
  3. Graham Brown – 1 fish
  4. Mata Ferguson – 1 fish
  5. Gerry Kelly- 1 fish
  6. Emmett Mc Williams – 1 fish
  7. Paul Casey – 1 fish
  8. Paddy Carr – 1 fish
  9. Gerry Martin – 2 fish
  10. 10 Paul Mc Tiernan – 1 fish

The prize for the best fish was won by Graham Brown and the top lady angler was Sarah Maxwell.

Thanks to Mary McDonagh for presenting the cup, to Philip and Ellie for hosting the prize-giving, not forgetting Sally behind the bar. Thanks also to everyone who supported our competition.

Finally, after very cold temperatures so far into the month, we can look forward to the warmer weather which has been forecast for the coming week.  This should result in good spent fishing from the continued excellent hatches of greens.

Tight lines, bent rods and keep casting!

Big pike and quality perch for returning Austrian fly angler in Boyle

By
IFI staff
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Angling Services Ireland reports continued success for visiting fly anglers in the Boyle area, with Austrian angler Mario returning for his annual trip and enjoying productive sessions, landing several impressive pike over the 1 metre mark along with an impressive 44cm perch taken on the fly.

Chunky 44cm fly-caught perch for Mario
The fly was working well for Mario

Earlier, Swiss guest Remo also experienced excellent sport, recording a number of quality pike on fly, highlighting the strong predator fishing available in the region.

Remo with a fine Esox

Go Fishing

Bodo Funke, Angling Services, Ireland

Pike, Game and Coarse fishing Guide

Notes: Angling Services Ireland are based in Boyle, Co. Roscommon, in the North-West of Ireland, an area with many superb angling opportunities.

The Proprietor Bodo Funke holds the Marine and Countryside Guiding Certificate (achieved with distinction) and his expertise and local knowledge will be to your avail when you go on a guided angling trip or angling holiday with Angling Services Ireland. Pike fishing, Fly-fishing for Pike, Game fishing for wild Brown Trout, Float- tubing, Coarse fishing. Salmon fishing and Sea-angling can be organised.

Address: Angling Services Ireland, 3 Canal View, Deerpark, Boyle, Co. Roscommon
Telephone/Fax::+353 71 9663580 or +353 86 6011878

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.anglingservicesireland.com

Salmon fishing quiet in Cork despite some notable fish on Lee and Bandon

By
IFI staff
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The River Lee in Cork.

Salmon fishing effort remained relatively low across the County Cork rivers for the week ending Sunday, 17th May 2026, although some fish were reported.

On the River Lee and at Inniscarra Dam, anglers reported 6 salmon landed, with the best fish weighing 7.5lb taken by a visiting tourist angler on a spinner. Water levels were reported to be good.

The River Bandon also produced 6 salmon for the week, including a fine fish of 10lb taken by a club angler fishing shrimp. Water conditions remained favourable.

Meanwhile, on the Munster Blackwater, very few fish were reported moving through the system, which is considered normal for this stage of the season.

Quiet week on River Laune

By
IFI staff
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On the River Laune/Killarney Lakes system, one salmon was reported from Beat 2 on the Laune Fishery, taken on a spinner. Water levels were low for the period, with conditions remaining generally quiet.

Mayfly hatch underway on Lough Conn, but surface feeding remains slow

By
IFI staff
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Michael Murphy reports from Lough Conn…

Peter Roche wet a line on Lough Conn recently and had a 2 lbs trout to a dry mayfly, with the main mayfly hatch showing between noon and 4 pm. Wet fly is recommended in the morning and swapping to dry fly towards evening. Fish do not appear to be feeding on the surface much just in the sheltered bays like Cloghans Bay and Castlehill.

Peter’s fellow angler had two good trout measuring 39 cm and 42cm with a Johnson’s Muddler and dry mayfly working well.

Also, on Lough Cullin last weekend Foxford Angling Club held their Presidents Cup Competition. Nineteen anglers had good fishing particularly in the northern half of the lough with a good hatch of mayfly and olives and fishing coming to both wet and dry flies.

The results were as follows:

1st place Martin Kenny

2nd place Dominic Mc Gowan

3rd place Brian Gallagher

Martin Kenny being presented with First Prize from Michael Tiernan

Cold winds and low temperatures keep angling quiet on the Moy

By
IFI staff
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The River Moy in Foxford
Tough conditions on the Moy

Michael Murphy reports from the River Moy…

River Moy Angling Report – week ending 17-05-2026

Above average rainfall amounts this past week with 17.6mm recorded locally causing levels to rise again at Ballylahan from 0.41 m on Sun 10th to 0.45 m on Sun 17th of May. Angling pressure remains low for the time of year with the low temperatures and cold winds continuing to keep anglers off the water.

Ballina Salmon Anglers

Peter reports of one salmon caught for the week, caught spinning using a red Flying C.

Gannon’s Fishery

Pat reports of five salmon caught for the week of which three were released with the prawn working best.

Foxford Fishery

Granville reports of five salmon caught, mostly on the prawn of which two were released with the best being 12.5 lbs.

Foxford Salmon Anglers

Harry reports of two salmon caught for the week with the best being 14 lbs.

Cloongee Fishery

Two salmon were reported caught for the week and subsequently released. Both fish were caught on the fly with the best weighing 11 lbs.

East Mayo Anglers Association

Kathleen reports of six salmon caught for the week of which two were released with the best being 9 lbs. with all methods working.

Another quiet week for Currane Anglers

By
IFI staff
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Church Island, Lough Currane, Waterville, Co Kerry_Web Size

Vincent Appleby reports from Lough Currane…

13/5/2026. The Currane anglers headed out on a rough and ready Lough Currane today, battling a strong NNW wind with gusts hitting 59 km/h for good measure. Between the blasts there was a lively mix of cloud, sunshine, and the odd shower just to keep everyone on their toes. As for yesterday’s weather, the rainfall clocked in at 0.4mm, the maximum air temperature reached 13.3°C, and the sunshine recorded was an impressive 9 hours and 1 minute. Just for the record, there were still no reports of any C&R Wild Atlantic Salmon—clearly the fish were taking a day off while the anglers were earning their sea legs.

14/5/2026. They say fishermen are liars — or is it that all liars fish? I’ll let the philosophers debate that one, but I may be guilty as charged, because it has been brought to my attention that in the last few days there hasn’t been a single Currane boat out. And why?  Because their clients don’t like the new regulations and it is putting people off coming down to Waterville, sadly there’s no argument to that.

Now, in my defence, anyone who reads my notes knows well that when boats are out, I report exactly how many — even the other night when their engines were so quiet you wouldn’t hear them if they were parked in your kitchen. But fair play to the Currane angler who raised the point; he made a valid one. Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball, so come on you Currane anglers — let’s hear your comments. Send them on and I’ll put them up on the notes. WhatsApp: 0872074882.

Now we head for the Currane Anglers Weather Chart: wind fresh NNW, with showers sweeping through and plenty of sunshine breaking out in between. Yesterday’s weather: rainfall 0.9mm, maximum air temperature 12.4°C, sunshine 6 hours and 1 minute.

16/5/2026. It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Pádraig Fogerty, RIP, who left us yesterday. For many of us, the memories go right back to the early days of Fogerty’s small butcher and grocery shop — you’d walk in to find Sheila Ann at the counter and Pádraig at the butcher’s block, both serving the good people of Waterville and the surrounding areas with warmth, respect, and hard work.

In the years that followed, their dedication and community spirit built Fogerty’s Centra, a cornerstone of village life — and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, you might ask what Fogerty’s has to do with fishing reports. Well, we Currane anglers owe Pádraig a debt of gratitude. Whenever one of us was lucky enough to land a Specimen Sea Trout, there was only one place to go: Fogerty’s. If memory serves, they weighed more specimen of Sea Trout than any other shop in the history of Sea Trout fishing. That alone secures Pádraig’s place in the folklore of Lough Currane.

On behalf of the Currane anglers, and the good people of Waterville and the surrounding areas, we extend our sincere sympathies to his beloved wife Sheila Ann, son Patrick, daughter Hazel, daughter in law Maura, and his adored grandchildren Millie, Louise, Laura, Grace, Chloe, and Jamie. We also remember his sisters Ann and Lucille, his brothers in law, sisters in law, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, cousins, neighbours, and his wide circle of friends.

Rest in Peace, Pádraig. A gentleman, a community man, and a quiet part of Currane history.

17/5/2026. Just for the record, there were no reports of any action yesterday, and the same can be said for today. That said, one Currane boat did venture out, and the angler texted to say — and I quote — “not a Salmon or Sea Trout in sight.” On that note, we head straight to the Currane anglers’ weather chart: the wind was Moderate to Fresh, accompanied by heavy showers throughout the day. As for yesterday’s weather, rainfall measured 2.5mm, the maximum air temperature was 13.0°C, and the sunshine clocked in at 7 hours and 6 minutes.

18/5/2026. I have no reports of any action from Lough Currane today, so on that note we head straight for the Currane anglers’ weather chart. The wind ranged from gentle to moderate to fresh and was variable from the South, veering SSW, S, and SSE, all accompanied by heavy showers throughout the day. As for yesterday’s weather, the rainfall clocked in at 17.8mm, the maximum air temperature was 12.0°C, and the sunshine amounted to a grand total of 0.8 minutes.

19/5/2026. There were no reports of any Currane boats out today, and to be fair, the lake wasn’t exactly inviting. A moderate to strong south westerly wind drove hard down the lake, accompanied by heavy showers from morning to evening, enough to keep even the hardiest angler on dry land.

Now to the Currane weather chart: Yesterday’s rainfall: 8.6mm Maximum air temperature: 12.9°C Sunshine: None

A day best forgotten by anglers and fish alike.

More interesting content from Dan O’Neill on flyfishing tactics, patterns and the River Nore

By
IFI staff
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Dan recording for Facebook video

Dan O’Neill has been in touch again with a another detailed update on the River Nore, flyfishing tactics, fly patterns and much more…

River Nore trout fishing

Things seemed to have picked up a bit, the water has dropped under .30, in fact it’s about .27, all runs and glides are now in full view. Fish are becoming a little more wary, yet feeding a little more actively day by day. I fished the Nore over the weekend in an area I don’t usually fish. A narrow little section with many little streams entering the river, a very enclosed stretch which made it even more exciting than normal.

How do I approach an area that’s new to me?

When approaching a new area, I prepare for the spookiest trout that I ever encountered, I approach them with extreme caution, fish close and quietly. Of course, before I do any of the above, I closely look at the water and use my ever-growing rivercraft knowledge. What’s hatching, what lies beneath the rocks on the riverbed, I familiarise myself with the area and the water, adding to my database.

I like to use the coated Cadence nymphing line for my dry fly fishing, it suits the area where I fish perfectly as most of my casts are maximum 30ft. Speaking about lines, it’s very important to keep the lines clean. I treat the lines I use for dry fly fishing quite regularly and have written some blogs on it. The difference it makes is unbelievable and it can be overlooked at times. I heard an angler once say, “Fishing is made up of a lot of small things done well”.

Dan explaining a new area

Moving onto leaders now, I do like to use a leader about 10ft and sometimes more, it depends on the river really and the space I have, sometimes it’s very hard to use a longer leader in an overgrown area. It’s why I use the coated nymphing line quite a lot, the landing of this thin diameter line makes little disturbance on the water so gives me a little leeway with shorter leaders, the thinner diameter also doesn’t catch as much surface current. In saying all this, I have seen many anglers on rivers using the total opposite of what I have said above and they still catch fish. It boils down to finding what is comfortable for you and gives you the success rate that you’re looking for, some people are happy with a couple of trout whereas some like to catch every trout in the run, fishing needs to be enjoyable to you and for you, find your balance and go have some fun.

Cased Caddis

For live streams and fishing content please follow me on my socials:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/share/1RDD9oHGmX/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/troutfishingireland?igsh=dDFraDh5M3E3ZjVq&utm_source=qr

Tik Tok – https://www.tiktok.com/@trout.fishing.ire?_r=1&_t=ZN-96LwEhHtv78

Ladies’ introduction to fly fishing days

Very happy to be assisting Maddy Kelly with the ladies’ introductory days to fly fishing. We have a wonderful venue in Southern County fishing resort, this is where the first day will take place and it’s on the 13th of June at 11am. All inquiries to Maddy Kelly at [email protected], a great opportunity to learn more and carve a path into the wonderful angling world.

Matchin what’s Hatchin

Matthew Cooper again speaks about a wonderful pattern to help us with matchin what’s hatchin…

I spotted this Large Dark Olive clinging to a wall, To most people it was just another bug, but to me it was a sign that I was missing some cracking dry fly fishing though all was not lost, I knew the evening time would still produce a great bit of sport fishing spinners for confident trout.

The Large Dark Olive (LDO) is an important fly in a trout’s diet, When the spinners return to the water to lay eggs, trout can become completely locked onto them. They’re slow and sometimes stuck on the surface and unlikely to fly away.

One of my favourite patterns for this is the Snowshoe Olive Spinner. It’s simple to tie, sits nicely in the film, and the snowshoe wing keeps it floating well even in rough water.

The fly Matthew is trying to copy

Materials

* Hook: Dry fly hook, size 14–18

* Thread: Tan or olive 8/0

* Tail: 4–5 olive cock hackle fibres (trout can’t count!)

* Body: Dyed olive turkey quill

* Wing: Natural snowshoe hare

* Thorax: Electric olive dubbing

This is a pattern I always keep plenty of in my fly box. If you chance an hour or two on the river during an evening spinner fall, having a few of these can make all the difference.

I like to fish these as a single fly, I typically stay on the bank if I can as to not disturb the water but getting in is sometimes the only way.  I would get in and get in a position to cast to where I want and let the river settle for a few minutes. I usually take this time to get my gear in order and ready to fish or spend a few minutes looking at bugs and insects on the water. The local river I fish (river Bann) I can get away with using my favourite river fly rod – my trusty 7ft 3wt. This rod allows me to get into spots a longer rod wouldn’t allow. Fullers earth is applied to the tippet and a small amount of silicone gel flotant is rubbed through the wing of the fly. I cast a few feet upstream of where I believe the fish are and let the current bring it to the fish at the same speed as the debris (leaves etc.) on the water surface. If you have any drag on your fly the fish will avoid it!

The rest is up to the fish to decide if you’ve done a good job tying the fly or not! I will link a video to tying the fly hopefully this helps put some fish in the net!

Tight Lines,

Matthew Cooper Fly Tying

Instagram: @matthew_cooper_flies

Baby shark.. doo doo.. daddy shark – Big and small in west Clare!

By
IFI Staff
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Skipper Luke Aston says the weather has been playing havoc of late, with a lot of trips restricted to the estuary. Fishing in the estuary has produced some nice “baby sharks” aka bull huss.

Nice fish! But they pale in comparison to the daddy shark Luke recently put a client over, when the weather had improved enough to get offshore. It may have been a long wait, but when the giant six gill shark took the bait, we’re sure it was anything but boring! It was a 4 day effort trying for the giant, but as Luke said “its always a thrill to see another sixgill”.

Go fishing…

Clare Dragoon

Clare Dragoon is a LOCHIN 366 powered by 650HP engine, skippered by Luke Aston and operating out of Carrigaholt Co. Clare…

I have some offers up on my web site www.fishandstay.com and if anybody is interested in putting a trip together please do get in touch. Also I Twitter from the boat on @fishandstay and try to update my face book page www.facebook.com/CarrigaholtSeaAngling fairly often!To experience some of the best deep sea fishing available in Ireland contact Luke.
Telephone: +353 65 9058209 or +353 87 6367544

Young Irish Anglers Promote Biosecurity – Guest Post

By
Chantel Carr
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Chantel Carr from the National Biodiversity Data Centre has written another guest post for us about young Irish anglers doing their bit to protect our biodiversity. Take it away Chantel…

 

Rising Protectors of Angling

We are very excited the International Sport Fly Fishing Federation has chosen the island of Ireland to host the Youth World Fly Fishing Championship 2026. The event will take place across County Tyronne and Donegal and involves our most talented young anglers testing their skill in wading and boat fishing.
These young anglers are ambassadors to the sport through becoming Biosecurity Champions ahead of the competition. The team are protecting our waters through raising awareness of the spread of invasive species to other competitors, ensuring all anglers Check Clean and Dry their gear before leaving each fishing spot and setting an example for us all to follow.
With invasive fish such as roach (Rutilus rutilus) outcompeting our native salmonids and invasive pondweeds including Nuttall’s Waterweed (Elodea nuttallii), impairing our ability to navigate along the waterways, we need to share key messages around biosecurity and support small, practical actions.
Some suggested small actions to take:
  • Apply to everyday – build the biosecurity message into what already happens. Share a quick CHECK CLEAN DRY reminder [www.invasives.ie/resources/check-clean-dry-resources/] using ready-made posters.
  • Support good practice- make use of simple tools such as a basic biosecurity checklist to support your group.
  • Citizen Science- watch for invasive species and report sightings to help track their spread.

 

If you spot any invasive species while out on the water please report your sightings by visiting:
Northern Ireland- www.invasivespeciesni.co.uk/report-sighting/
Ireland- www.invasives.ie/reportsightings/
“Biosecurity can be part of what you already do, small actions can make a big difference.”
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