Mayflies are still hatching in good numbers on Lough Arrow and anglers reported excellent fishing over the past week. However, wet fly fishing hasn’t been as successful as in previous weeks. The majority of the fish have been taken on spent gnat and dry buzzer.
Impressive Mayfly hatch on Lough Arrow
Fishing out of Hargadon’s Boat Hire (contact: +353 (0)85 1740956), Martin McDaid from Strabane had 8 trout heaviest at 3 lbs. All fish were released. Edward McMillan, Co. Antrim, had 5 fish heaviest 1.5 lbs., while Edward McMullen, Derry, caught 4 best at 4 lbs. Other successful anglers included Michael Smith and Maurice Cullen, both Drumshambo, who had fish between 3.5 lbs. and 4 lbs. David Gray caught & released 4 fish over 3 lbs., while Niall Cullen had 2 stunning trout in one evening on the buzzer weighing 7.5 lbs. and 9 lbs.
Billy Thornton in our Ballina Office reports that the Moy had its best week of season so far with over 200 salmon reported caught throughout the system…
Roland Martin from France, photo’d here with his son, on his first visit to Ireland caught his first salmon
A rise in water levels at the beginning of the week resulted in good catches on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with all fisheries reporting fish. However bright sunshine affected angling for the rest of the week.
Uwe Steffen with his Clongee salmon
Gerry Moore, NI, had a 12 lb fish on Armstrongs Fishery. Jim Moloney and 2 friends had a fish each on the Foxford Fishery. Upstream of Foxford on the Cloongee Fishery80 year old Roland Martin from France on his first visit to Ireland caught his first fish, which weighed 7 lbs and was taken on a spinner. Also on Cloongee, Uwe Steffen from Germany had a12 lb fish on worm.
Dieter Kramer had 2 salmon on the East Mayo Anglers water
On East Mayo Anglerswater Dieter Kramer had 2 fish of 8 &12.5 lbs on worm.
How’s the river doing? Check the Ridge Pool Webcam
Sea Bass Hunter Tomasz Eckert had some pretty slow bass fishing recently. The last three weeks of fishing produced just one bass per week. that was just three bass to a little over 60 cm. However, late last week he caught 5 nice fish and it suddenly felt like summer!
As usual Tomasz had his bass on a mix of lures, soft……and hard. #CPRsavesfish
IFI has established a National Bass Programme to collect data on bass in order to provide scientific advice to support management and conservation of Ireland’s bass resource. Bass is Ireland’s only marine fish species which is managed for angling. The programme is being developed to determine the status of bass stocks and also to improve understanding of their ecology and biology in Ireland for the long-term sustainability of the species. See further details on www.fisheriesireland.ie/Projects/national-bass-programme
David Norman reports from West Cork where he is back on the shores chasing bass…
North Easterlies are the stuff of legend on the Striper Coast of America, but not so here on the South Coast of Ireland… especially when combined with Torrential Rain! I was pondering all this, alone in the dark and very content to be back out Bass Fishing again after the long and hard winter months that never seemed to end this year when the rod was nearly wrenched out of my hands as this 70cm+ beauty assaulted my Albie Snax lure in about a meter of water.
David Norman with his first good bass of 2018. #CPRsavesfish
First decent fish of the 2018 season released fit and healthy to attack again… by the time photos had been taken lightning had begun to flash all around me and I literally ran all the way back to the car to arrive sweaty and relieved to have avoided a lightning strike, but delighted to have landed an early season clonker !!
Anybody up for some Guided Bass Fishing or maybe a bespoke Bass Lure Fishing Workshop to tune up those Lure Fishing Skills on the stunning West Cork coast? If so please contact me
West Cork Bass
David Norman is a Clonakilty based Bass Fishing Guide and Coach specialising in Shore Based Lure Fishing & Workshops.
Notes: Having intensively fished for Bass (Catch & Release) on the West Cork Coast plus all of the recognised Bass fishing counties of Ireland I want to share with other like-minded anglers the thrills of responsible lure fishing for Bass on a One-to-One basis over a limited number of trips throughout the key times of the Bass fishing Year, which for me is June – Sept, sometimes earlier or later depending on how the weather is behaving…
I can offer a range of options around key tides, to include night fishing, in a safe and environmentally conscious manner including bespoke workshops to help build knowledge and confidence
Mobile: 0858492691 Email: westcorkbass@gmail.com FB: West Cork Bass Web: West Cork Bass INSTAGRAM: westcorkbass
Newbridge & District Pike Anglers fished a river for the Milltown Cup. We had 15 members make the trip. Fishing was very patchy with only some places that fished well.
In total we had 61 pike caught and released i would like to thank all members who made the trip. Full results are as follows
Winner of the Milltown Cup 2018
1st Mark Horgan 9.9 hf 15.5 bag 3 fish
2nd Brendan Jervis 34.09 bag 9 fish
3rd raymond collopy 31.14 bag 10 fish
RAFFLE 3× 20 euro southside angling vouchers winners are as follows
Ciaran Sullvan
Stephen sheriden
Pat foran
Next event
Our next comp is the Gingerstown Cup (24hr competition). We hope to see most of our members there; this is one not to be missed! Also we are still open to new members
O’Casey’s Pike Angling Club held the 4th heat of their 2018 league on a river in Co. Monaghan at the weekend. Fishing was reasonably good with 33 fish up to 12Ib 2oz landed.
Results were as follows:
1st Ronan Garrett 37Ib 8oz (7 fish)
2nd Paul Reynolds 17Ib 7oz (6 fish)
3rd Cillian Garrett 11Ib 4oz (7 fish)
4th Chris Maguire 10Ib 12oz (4 fish)
5th Fergal Bell 10Ib 4oz (2 fish)
6th Johnny Brady 9Ib 13oz (2 fish)
7th John Doran 5Ib 6oz (2 fish)
8th Mickey Doherty 4Ib 4oz (2 fish)
9th John Hoey 2Ib (1 fish)
Heaviest Fish: 12Ib 2oz caught by Ronan Garrett.
Join the Club…
O’Casey’s Pike Angling Club is based in Co. Monaghan. The aims are to promote and develop the sport of pike fishing for all responsible anglers.
For more information see their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/caseyspike123/ or Call 087 9941600 The Irish Federation of Pike Angling Clubs (IFPAC) is a body representing pike anglers in Ireland, North and South.The IFPAC was founded on 17th January 1988 at a meeting held at the Ardboyne Hotel, Navan. The membership for that year stood at fifteen clubs representing six hundred anglers, today membership of IFPAC is approaching 100 affiliated clubs representing in excess of seven thousand anglers from all walks of life. http://www.angling-in-ireland.com/
Keady and District Angling Club had an enjoyable day out at their first junior event of the new season recently. Fishing was poor but the craic was good as the juniors took the opportunity to explore the outdoors. Only one fish was caught to the rod of Jason which tipped the scales to 3lb 6oz so well done to him. We’ll be holding a few other junior events over the next few months.
North Longford Angling Club
Congratulations to all the juniors that fished North Longford’s junior competition on Saturday. Well done to winners in particular:
U18 winner Ben Murtagh
U13 winner Aodhan Walshe
U8 winner Patrick Martin
Heaviest fish on the day came to Aodhan weighing in at 5lbs 13oz
Go fishing…
Keady & District Angling Club
While members of the Keady & District Angling Club fish for most species of fish, the Club is a Pike (Esox lucius) angling club. The club organizes regular Pike fishing events, usually held on a Sunday, with fishing running from 11am until 4pm. The Club also has a proud tradition of encouraging the young people from the wider area to pursue angling as a hobby and this is one of the most worthwhile aspects to club life.
Some great fishing has been reported on the Munster Blackwater in recent days as conditions improve for angling…
This is the very beautiful Ballincurrig Beat (Ballyduff Bridge) with the famous Churchill’s pool at the end.
23 May:Ballyduff Bridge Salmon Fishery reports that the river is dropping and clearing nicely, the coming days are looking good.
24 May: The Fortwilliam Fishery is seeing a good head of fresh fish running the system. There were two fish lost today. Water clarity has greatly improved and height is just right. Staff at the fishery expect the grilse run to start in the next week or two so.
Jason salmon about to go back #CPRsaves fish. Courtesy of James BarryCian had a beauty and was happy to see it swim away again. Jame Barry was on camera duty again.
26 May: Two beautiful fresh fish caught and released today on the Blackwater Salmon Fishery, this time at Kilmurry. The lucky anglers were Jason Nash, James Barry and Cian O’Halloran. They avoided the siren call of pub life and started earl – before six. There is no doubt this paid off! Meanwhile well known mentalist and angler Keith Barry had a lovely fish this morning at the Ballyduff Bridge Salmon Fishery Cable Island Beat.
Mike Dunbar releasing his lovely fish estimated to be around 10lbs #CPRsavesfish
27 May: Fishing at the Ballyduff Bridge Salmon Fishery Mike Dunbar caught and released a lovely salmon, estimated to be around 10lbs. There was a total of 6 fish hooked but only the one making it into the landing net. One of the anglers onFortwilliam Fishery hooked and lost a good salmon on Friday but Mossy Brown had better luck today and landed two silver salmon, a 9lb on the Glenmore Beat and a 12lb on the Lismore Castle Beat both on the fly and safely released. And once again two salmon were caught on the Blackwater Salmon Fishery
Mossy about to release his salmon at Fortwilliam #CPRsavesfish
28 May: Noel Crowley landed and released a lovely fish of around 12lbs this evening at Ballygarret ( Ballyduff Bridge Salmon Fishery ). A lot of fresh fish are being reported high up in the system with all the recent water. Fishing at the Fortwilliam Fishery Kevin O’Connell landed an 8lb fish on the Lismore Castle Beat.
Go Fishing…
Blackwater Salmon Fishery
Blackwater Salmon Fishery has 3 beats downstream of the weir and 2 upstream of the weir. Blackwater Salmon Fishery offers fishing on approximately 5 miles of the river Blackwater. The fishing is spread throughout the middle section of the river to offer good sport throughout the fishing season. Due to the location of the beats, fishing can still usually be offered in low or high water. Contact Glenda Powell: Lismore, Co Waterford, Email:info@blackwatersalmonfishery.com Mobile: +353 (0) 872351260 Telephone: +353 (0) 5853929 Web: www.blackwatersalmonfishery.com
Ballyduff Bridge Salmon Fishery
Ballyduff Bridge fisheries control a number of beats of the Munster Blackwater. The Ballyduff Bridge beat is almost a mile long offering a huge variety of water and is particularly suited to fly fishing. Upstream near the village of Ballyhooley (a few miles outside the town of Fermoy, Cork) we have two beats. The Ballincurrig Beat is one of the most beautiful locations along the river and has an excellent piece of fly water flowing into a deep pool. Just downstream on the opposite bank we have a short but productive beat, called Magners. This beat fishes also well in high water.
Fortwilliam Fishery offers two miles of double bank salmon and trout fishing over five beats on the river Blackwater.
Our salmon include – Springers, May Salmon, Grilse, Back End Salmon, and in Summer sea trout.
Our beats provide a wide variety of water, suitable for both beginners and the more experienced fishermen.
Fortwilliam Fishery, Glencairn, Lismore, Co. Waterford, Ireland Web: www.fortwilliamfishing.ieEmail: fishing@fortwilliamireland.com Tel: (00353) 87 8292077 or 058 75299
IFI met held an operational meeting with the ESB at Inniscarra 28th May. The ESB are considering IFI’s proposals in relation to long-term bio security measures at Carrigadrohid and Inniscarra Reservoirs and accepted IFI’s recommendation to reopen the ESB waters for angling effective 06:00 Friday 1st June 2018. This decision was made on the basis that The Lough and Belvelly will have been closed for 4 weeks since 3rd May and remain closed, therefore greatly minimising the risk of accidental cross-contamination from anglers who may have fished the affected waters prior to 3rd May.
Carp mortalities appear to have ceased at The Lough in Cork, with none reported over the weekend; the total remains at 855. There were 23 reported from Belvelly Lake, over the weekend bringing the total there to 322.
Angling remains suspended at both locations.
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:
‘A man in his fifties drowned on Monday evening after he fell into the water while fishing.
It’s understood that the deceased man was fishing for salmon on the River Moy close to Foxford in Co. Mayo when he apparently lost his footing on the river bank and fell in.
His body has since been recovered and was brought to Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar, where a post mortem will be carried out tomorrow.
Other anglers in the area were unable to save the fisherman, who was to be from the area.
David Norman is a Clonakilty based Bass Fishing Guide and Coach specialising in Shore Based Lure Fishing & Workshops.
