The NCFFI reports on the All Ireland Canal Championships fished at Prosperous last week…
30 April: This weekend saw 35 anglers from across the provinces take to the banks of the Grand Canal at Prosperous for the annual All Ireland championships. The competition was fished over two different sections at Digby Bridge and Salins.
There were very few small fish present but plenty of roach to 2lbs; it was tough for some but those that caught had the bigger fish with roach, tench and some bream resulting in some lovely catches to 11kg.
Fint Brennan – All Ireland Canal Champion
Fint Brennan is our champion for the second year in a row with 3.7kg on Saturday and 10.25 on Sunday for the winning weight of 13.95kg. In second place was Joe Nolan, on his first return to match fishing after a 2-year absence with 13kg and in 3rd Pat Bartley with 11.35kg.
Congratulation to the winners and everyone who took part! Thank you to sponsors Waterways Ireland, Dowlings Prosperous for their hospitality, to Sean Ward and John Connolly for their organisation and to all who helped out on the bank.
If you want to partake in some match fishing on the Grand Canal the Leinster clubs run regular open matches plus a selection of festivals attended by overseas anglers too – for details visit https://bit.ly/2HFJzDv
The Junior Canal Championships takes place at Prosperous on Saturday 19th May with categories for the U20, U15 and relaxed novice section. Come on Dad’s and Grandparents bring along the kids for a fun day in the outdoors! Contact Sean Ward 086 811 5526.
The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland
The National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland are the National Governing Body for coarse and predator angling. www.ncffi.ie
‘You have your way, I have my way, as for the right way, the correct way and the only way, it does not exist’ Friedrich Nietzsche
Damiens Fenelon, France with his early season trout on Sheelin
The water clarity on Lough Sheelin for most of April has been alarmingly poor and this coupled with high water levels and persistent cold has made this lake over the past number of weeks into a difficult and challenging place to be. Lough Sheelin’s knife edge nutrient status is no secret, as one eminent biologist once commented of Sheelin that it is ‘the cleanest dirtiest lake in the world’. The water quality here has been and always will be a contentious issue because Sheelin carries an unenviable past of high phosphate loading and a present of continual pollution prevention.
Double rainbows for Sheelin
Towards the end of April the water clarity here began to improve and as if heralding in our summer, reputably May 1st ,Sheelin became clear again with a welcome evidence (albeit in small numbers) of olives, buzzer, tiny black chironomids and some duck fly.
Jock Woods, Scotland with his 58cm fish (www.loughsheelinguidingservices.com)
Winter seems to have smothered spring and although now into the so called summer months, anglers here are still trying to catch up, having been seemingly cheated out of early season with the mixture of adverse conditions. On a more positive note I was reminded by a long time angler and advocate of this lake ‘that Sheelin is like a fine wine, it just needs time to become ready’.
A Kildare angler on Sheelin, Sunday April 8th
Hampered by the absence of insect hatches, April was all about lures and sinking lines with the Humungus and Minkies with red and silver intertwined achieving the best results. It has been a struggle for the traditional fly angler with things only improving over the past number of days spurring on the reappearance of the old early season favourites like the Sooty Olives, the Kingsmill (on the point), Black Pennell, Connemara Black, Bibios, Bumbles and Nymph patterns.
The Hatches
There were no insect hatches reported as late as April 27th despite the false afternoon heat that followed a number of frosty mornings. A few duck fly were spotted in Bog Bay earlier in the month but it was all fairly hit and miss. The first break in this ‘lack of insect’ cycle was on April 28th when there were good hatches of olives in Bog Bay and more importantly fish were feeding on them. Tiny black chironomids featured in scattered numbers throughout the month but these were too small to imitate and did not attract any interest from the fish.
Lough Sheelin’s elusive Duck fly
There are three essential steps to successful fishing regardless of all climatic and eutrophic obstacles and the first and the most important is to find where the fish are, secondly it’s the depth they are feeding and finally the fly/technique, this of course presupposes that you know what they are feeding on. Up until now it’s been hard to escape from the lures but in the early days of May there appeared a chink in the large lure armour and a few fish were finally showing an interest in the fly imitations.
The Catches
The shallows were the best places to head for – Merry pt, Stony Islands, the south shore of Derrysheridan and Ross Bay (good for buzzer hatches) and at the back of Church Island. The north shore of the lake from Chambers Bay, Arley down to Crover was also a good stretch particularly at the start of May when fishing with nymph, olive and buzzer patterns produced some interest from the fish.
John Coyne with his hard earned Sheelin trout caught using a Humungus, April 20th
Anglers fishing the lake tell me that anywhere is good if you can find the fish but you need to be on top of them for success regardless of what you’re using. In all this tip lipped confusion it is good to remember that the shallows are the places that are packed with easily accessible food – fresh water shrimp and water louse and our trout are still in the process of regaining condition after the winter so these are the places for now that they will most likely be.
A 55cm trout from Sheelin (www.loughsheelinguidingservices.com)French friends Romain Durand and Damiens Fenelon [email protected] (+33685964369) evasionpecheirlande.net
There were some nice trout caught fishing nymphs in the first few days of May. For the past number of weeks it has been the lures that have achieved the best results so now going imitative with the nymphs can be a useful way of attracting the fish that have managed to evade all of the brightly coloured lures zooming past them. The key to nymph fishing is to pick a pattern that resembles something the trout are feeding upon, or which attracts their attention and to fish it in a manner that makes it move in a convincing way and at a depth at which the trout are feeding. A floating line with a very slow retrieve is recommended.
Gary McKiernan of Lough Sheelin Guiding with the weight of the month a 65cm trout.
The biggest fish for the past month was a 6 lb trout caught by Dariukus Berzina, Dublin using a black & gold Humungus fishing around Church Island.
Total number of trout recorded: 52
Selection of Catches
Jock Woods, Scotland – 1 trout at 58cm
Gary McKiernan – 10 trout heaviest at 59 and 85 cm
Eamonn Ross, Cavan – May 4th 1 trout at 4 lbs on a mayfly nymph at Arley.
Frank Kelly, Cavan – 3 trout, heaviest at 3.25 lbs on nymphs.
Owen Jacob, Dublin – 1 trout at 4.25lbs on wet fly.
Daniels Baumanis, Dublin – 2 trout heaviest at 4lbs using gold and silver Minkies.
Markus Rubenis, Navan – 1 trout at 4 ½ lbs fishing at the back of Church Island on a Humungus.
Karlis Freimanus, Navan – 2 trout at 3 and 3 ½ lbs, both on lures fishing around Bog Bay, April 27th.
Dzintaris Mucenieks, Dublin – 4 trout heaviest at 5lbs using lures fishing Kilnahard and Merry pt.
Paul Brady, Cavan – 1 trout at 1 ½ lbs on a Sooty Olive in Chambers Bay, May 1st.
Trevor Scott, Cavan – 1 trout at 2lbs on a Sooty Olive, fishing in Kilnahard on a Black Pennell.
Michael Farrell’s April trout
The Flies
The Dabbler in Claret, Silver, Pearly, Peter Ross and Fiery Brown produced a few successes and has been a consistent favourite for Sheelin, appearing again and again throughout the season in the trout catches here. The Dabbler fished on a fast retrieve has always worked well on this lake and while the colour of this wet fly is significant on certain days due to weather conditions, cloud or lack of cloud, wind strength and definitely location, the colour is not 100% of the success rate, it is the speed triggering off necessary curiosity that injects the vital ingredient.
Ian Christie’s Chrunchers (tied using dyed peacock herl with holographic cheeks)
The most successful flies were the Pheasant Tail, Diawl Bach, Hare’s Ear and Olive Nymph in a size12 and 14, the Sooty Olive, Muddlers, Klinkhammer, the Dunkeld, the Chernobyll, Claret & Mallard and Golden Olive Bumble.
Ian Christie’s Buzzer – works great when tied with holographic cheeks
The lures that took top place were the Minkies and Humungus in black, gold and silver. The Sweeney Todd and the Cats Whiskers.
The River Inny at Finea, Lough SheelinDamiens Fenelon with a beautiful April troutRomain Durand and Damiens Fenelon, FranceIt’s not all about fish – a frog surrounded by spawn in a weedy shallow areaGary McKiernan of Lough Sheelin Guiding with a 65 cm troutChristopher Defillon and Damiens Fenelon with a beautiful Sheelin trout
Releasing a Sheelin trout #CPRsavesfish A catch & release policy is actively encouraged on the lake at all times
BYE-LAW 949 strictly prohibits:
The taking of any brown trout of less than 36 centimetres.
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.
Join the Club…
For anyone interested in joining Lough Sheelin’s Angling Club – The Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association please contact Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033.
We would implore anglers and all other users to wear life jackets for their own safety as well as it being the law.
Life jackets are required by law – SI No 921 of 2005 – Pleasure Craft (Personal Flotation Devices and Operation) (Safety) Regulations 2005.Water rarely gives second chances and a life jacket is just that – it saves your life.
Please put on and keep on that life jacket until you are back on dry land.
To prevent the infection of carp stocks in their fishery, Oaklands Lake have taken the decision to close until further information is received about the outbreak affecting The Lough in Cork.
Anglers are advised to check the NCFFI facebook page in relation to the running of the NCFFI Commercial Pairs Championships on 20th of May.
01 May: Well the year rolls on and the Cuckoo has returned from it’s winter holidays and as usual for any light sleepers the distinctive “cuckoo” will start just at dawn and quite often keep going for most of the day. They also brought a slight rise in temperatures, but the last few days have been rather unusual with clear blue skies and highs of 14 degrees by day and lows of -3 degrees at night. The fishing has remained steady, with 24 fish landed since my last update.
First of these was Alexander Mills, with a fish of 7lbs14ozs from Sligo Bay on Finlough on a Willie Gunn. This was followed minutes later by Shannon Healy from California, a complete novice who whilst fishing with her father, managed to land not only her first ever but followed it up with a second fish about an hour later. Both were taken on Finlough on Delphi Collies and weighed in at 8lbs5ozs and approx. 9lbs. Great celebrations ensued but I think it took a while for Shannon to realise the enormity of her achievement. Well done to all involved!! There were five landed the following day, three off Finlough, with Alexander Mills and Bob Hadden having one each on Willie Gunn’s of 8lbs and 6lbs13ozs. David Lennon also had one of 7lbs on a Delphi Collie. Alan Molloy had a lovely fish of 9lbs1oz from the Meadow Pool on a Collie Dog and John Phelan had a cracking fish of 10lbs7ozs from the Rock Pool on a Delphi Collie.
Saturday despite another crack team of anglers we blanked. We got 16.6mms of rain on that night, so maybe the fish knew the rain was coming. On Sunday morning the river was at 60 and Luke Drea had a fish of 9lbs2ozs on a Cascade Conehead from the Rock Pool. There were two off Finlough in the afternoon, with Konrad Jay having his first ever, a fish of 7lbs3ozs on a Delphi Collie and Luke Drea having a second of approx. 7.5lbs on a Cascade Conehead again. On Monday the river was at 47 and we landed five. Heinz had two, one from the Rock Pool of 7lbs on a Willie Gunn and one from the Whin of approx. 6lbs on a Collie Dog. Ray Barlow had another off the river in the afternoon of 8lbs14ozs on a Delphi Collie from the Meadow Pool. There were also two off Finlough, Paul O’Malley having one of 8lbs1oz on a Delphi Collie and David Lennon having one of 9lbs also on a Delphi Collie. The 24thwas slower with only one, but it was a cracking fish of 12lbs off Finlough landed by Ken O’Boyle on a Delphi Collie.
We blanked on the 25thbut Heinz had a fish of approx. 5lbs on the 26thon a Collie Dog from the Meadow Pool. There were two on the 27th. Ian Huet had a fine fish of 12lbs1oz, his first ever, on a Cascade off Finlough and Heinz had one of 9lbs10ozs from the Rock Pool on a Willie Gunn. Markus Merz had a fish of 7lbs9ozs from The Schoolhouse on a Cascade on the 28th. There were two landed on the 29thwith Reinhard having one of 9lbs14ozs off Finlough on a Collie Dog and Yvonne having one of approx. 6lbs from the Rock Pool on a Night Star. Yesterday morning saw Maxi Schiedt landing a lovely fish of 8lbs14ozs from the Whin Pool on a Delphi Collie.
As of yesterday evening, after a few fine days the river had fallen to 27 and it was one of those beautiful days in Connemara where the clarity is just breath taking. This morning the 1stof May is a different story, being one of those grey Connemara days with wind and rain. As a result the river is now at 45 and it looks like there is some broken weather for the next few days, until the weekend when some fine, warm settled weather may be on the horizon.
Total fish landed for April here at Delphi was 44, which is well above our 10year average and the best since 2011. I would envisage that in May the good run should continue, and catches will hopefully reflect this!
At Delphi Lodge, with many years of experience with the timing of the best runs of fish, we have in place a price system that offers both great value fishing and lets our anglers know when they have the best chance to catch a fresh run spring salmon or a summer grilse or Delphi sea trout.
New for 2018/2019
We are delighted to announce an opportunity to purchase prime Irish Salmon Fishing with accommodation in a country cottage. Each new member will have the option of a one week stay, a four day stay or a three day stay fixed for five years. For more information see https://delphilodge.ie/2018/04/10/the-new-delphi-salmon-club-and-syndicate-connemara/
All anglers are advised that Inniscarra Reservoir is closed for angling until further notice due to ongoing investigation into into carp mortalities at The lough.
Given proximity of the waters we are taking this precaution to minimise risk of potential cross contamination pending results of testing by the Fish Health Unit in the Marine Institute.
Inland Fisheries Ireland is also suspending stocking programmes to the managed lakes in the south west on the same basis.
Sunset from The Fishing Lodge at Clydagh on Lough Corrib (photo: Mary Miller)
Changeable weather is the best way to describe this week, with everything from warm, flat calm conditions to strong wind and rain in the past week, with some frosty nights thrown in for good measure. Water temperatures are still below normal for the time of year, and hatches of insects are at least a week or two behind. Fishing has started to pick up in many places though, and with good weather forecast for the bank holiday weekend, a lot more angling activity is expected.
The Drowes has had a good spring run this year, and this week was no different, with 24 fish caught. A few early grilse are starting to show up as well. Elsewhere, the first salmon off the Ridge Pool opened the account for the Moy Fishery, while the upper river produced the best week of the season so far, with over 70 salmon landed by anglers.
Spring fish continue to provide anglers with sport on the Feale, as well as Lough Currane, where the first sea trout was also recorded, while the Bandon had a good week as well as water levels suited angling.
Julian Ciconte with his fine 12lbs fish off the Drowes
Corrib has been fairly quiet on the fishing front, with the first mayfly still awaited, and sparse enough olive hatches, but the warmer weather coming should see a rise in water temperatures and get things moving. Despite the lull, some anglers had great fishing on buzzer patterns, with a cracking fish of 7lbs 10oz reported from the Luimnagh area. Lough Mask is producing great sport at the moment, although anglers with an eye on the international competition next week were remaining tight-lipped about sucessful patterns. The Scierra Pairs at Knockaderry was a great success, with plenty of good fish caught. River fishing is producing a few trout too, and anglers on the Ryewater had to produce exceptional fishing to make the podium in a club competition.
Paul Smithson with his 7lbs 10oz Corrib trout
The hot water stretch at Lanesborough is starting to fire, with good bags of roach coming out, as well as some lovely hybrids and rudd showing up. A few tench have also been caught, and all this action has interested the pike, with at least three twenties caught recently. Competition fishing in Leitrim is also producing some good bags. Pike fishing should be picking up everywhere with spawning over, and Newbridge Anglers had good sport last weekend, while Italian anglers reported good piking on the Shannon.
Sea angling is also picking up, with good fishing reported from Clare and Galway Bay, with pollack, wrasse, ling, spurdog to specimen size and even a nice John Dory aboard Luke Aston’s boat in Clare. Despite tough conditions, some nice bass are showing up too.
John Dory
And now the weather…
Finally the weather is picking up again, with temps up to 20 and even 21C in some places over the next few days. A positively pleasant bank holiday in store and let’s hope the fishing is good too!
Sean Kyne, T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, gives notice of his intention to make the Designated Salmonid Waters Bye-Law.
This Bye-law provides for the designation of the waters and their tributaries, specified in the Schedule below, to be managed primarily for the benefit of salmonid species. These waters are already designated in fisheries management policy.
The Bye-law also introduces a daily bag limit of 4 pike in those waters.
Putting or transfer of any fish species to the designated waters shall require a written application to Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) and is only permitted with the written consent of IFI.
Fishery District
Waters
Limerick
Lough Sheelin
Galway
Lough Corrib
Lough Mask
Lough Carra
Ballina
Lough Conn
Lough Cullin
Sligo
Lough Arrow
A copy of the draft Bye-law, which is available online at the Department’s website, is open for public inspection at the offices of the Department in Cavan and also at the offices of Inland Fisheries Ireland.
Any person may submit observations/objections to the draft regulations at any time during the period of 21 days concluding at 5pm on 25 May, 2018, either by e-mail to [email protected] or by post to the address below. All submissions received will be published on the Department’s website following the conclusion of the consultation period.
Inland Fisheries Division
Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment,
Elm House,
Earlsvale Road,
Cavan Town
H12 A8H7
Ireland
Tel (01) 6783071 /Lo-call 1890 449900 Extension 3071
(Note: the rates charged for the use of the 1890 number may vary between service providers).
Inland Fisheries Ireland have responded to reports of a fish kill in The Lough, Cork City. The reports were received from Cork Carp Anglers Club who recorded a number of dead fish at this iconic city centre carp fishery. Initial investigations by Inland Fisheries Ireland indicate the cause of death to be a fish health issue with a bacterial or fungal infection suspected of causing the mortalities.
An infected carp from the Lough
Inland Fisheries Ireland has estimated that in the region of 200 carp have been infected in this outbreak. A small number of live fish have been securely transported to a specialist fish health unit to identify the infectious agent. All dead fish that have been collected are being held in cold storage at an Inland Fisheries Ireland facility pending the outcome of the tests to determine the exact cause of death.
Anglers are requested to suspend all fishing activity at the lake until further notice. Any anglers who have been fishing the venue in the last month are advised to carry out appropriate disinfection of their landing nets, fish mats, footwear and other gear that may have become contaminated to prevent the spread of the disease to other fisheries.
Kevin Lyons reports on some nice pike fishing for a couple of Italian guests in Co. Longford…
Carlo Bonifacini and Umberto Poretti with their first Pike of their Ireland trip Ireland.
Carlo Bonifacini and friend Umberto Poretti from Italy were over for a Pike fishing holiday and stayed with Kevin and Jane at Melview Fishing Lodge. The weather was not the best for them all week but still done well all the same.
Fishing various methods over the week they managed to catch Pike to just over 90cm, it was a great week with good company Kevin commented.
Thanks guys hope to see you over in Ireland again soon, ( Grazie e spero di rivederti presto ).
Kevin has over 30 years experience of fishing in Ireland and is happy to offer a guided tour on your arrival, and to advise where the on-form waters in the area are. We can arrange your bait order so it’s here when you arrive. Melview offers free use of 17ft lake boats with engines to our guests (pay fuel only) and Kevin is happy to assist with any pre-baiting requests. Maps and other information regarding fishing are also available.
Lough Corrib is seeing small hatches of olives at the moment, but wet fly fishing and buzzers are taking most fish. No big sign of mayfly yet, and with the whitethorn bush still showing no sign of flowering, it may be another while yet. Weather over the past week has ranged from sunshine and flat calm to driving rain and wind, with some frosty nights thrown in for good measure. It is still unseasonably cold and everything appears to be a few weeks behind this year.
Mary Miller from Lough Corrib Fly Fishing was in touch with a report on fishing for some guests last week.
Visiting anglers from England, Paul Smithson and Greg Simpson fishing out from the Fishing Lodge, Lough Corrib Fly Fishing with ghillie Greg O’Donoghue caught three splendid trout with a total weight of over 16 lb!
The first fish was over 3lb the second over 4lb and then this beauty of 7lb 10oz!
Paul Smithson with his 7lbs 10oz Corrib trout
All caught on size 12 buzzer’s in the Limnagh area.
Two other anglers out from the lodge on the same day had four fish for 8lbs on size 14 dry olives and size 12 buzzers near Kid and Goat Islands.
Greg Simpson with a lovely trout off Corrib
Gary Costelloe from Lakelands Angling Centre, Portacarron (tel. 091 552121) was also in touch reporting on fishing for some guests.
Bright sunshine, no wind and cold air made fishing hard for the Aberaeron Angling Club’s annual Corrib outing. John Davies , Conrad Jones ,Brian Hughes and Geoff Churton battled hard on Corrib for three days catching a total of 7 trout.
The best of these was a fine fish of 4lbs 14 oz, caught by Geoff Churton on a Sooty Olive.
Geoff Churton caught this chunky 4lbs 14 oz Corrib trout
Corr na Mona Anglers held their annual Hospice Pairs Competition on Sunday, in tough conditions, with flat calm in the morning giving way to cold northerlies and thundery showers after lunch. The winners on the day were Gerry Dixon and Johnny Faherty from Oughterard. Well done to all who took part and raised money for the hospice, and a big thank you from the competitors to the sponsors, who included Airflo, Lough Inagh Lodge, Mick Hegarty, Tom Doc Sullivn, Eamon Gavin, Kevin Kerrigan, Dorrie Gibbons, Costelloe & Fermoyle Fisheries, Connacht Angling Council, Tí Bhurca, Brendan Lynch and Treacey’s Pharmacy.
Martin Kinneavy of the host club with Gerry Dixon and Johnny Faherty, 2018 winners
The forecast for the week ahead is a gradual improvement, with some real warmth coming by the end of the bank holiday weekend. Water temperatures are still hovering around 9 degrees C, and could do with some warm weather to bring on the mayfly and olive hatches. The next few weeks usually sees the cream of the fishing on Corrib, and we hope to have a lot more to report then.
Sunset from The Fishing Lodge at Clydagh (photo: Mary Miller)
Grey Duster Guiding
