80cm trout on a pike lure from the River Erne wins Catch of the Week
Robert, a keen fisherman from Cavan, was fishing for pike on the Erne near Belturbet when he had a catch of a lifetime he was not expecting. Robert was using a plug (Salmo slider Fatso 10) and had had some OK pike when suddenly he was connected to a fish that felt much more powerful than the jacks he had landed earlier in the day.
As he played the fish he caught sight of it in the water and saw it was a big trout. He did not realise just how big it was until he had the fish landed. He measured the the trout at 80cm, a really good trout, and after a quick photo released the fish safely.
Des O’Rourke was out on a tributary of the Suir on Sunday morning. It was a beautiful crisp morning with a touch of ground frost and magical mist coming off the surface of the river. Des reports that he did not see any fish rising but had good success fishing a brown bead pheasant tail nymph he tied himself.
Des O’Rourke got this beautiful trout on a home tied PTN #CPRsavesfish
One fish in particular stood out from the rest as it gave an incredible fight. Des met his fish in a deep pool and upon being hooked it headed off downstream and took Des into the backing. Once landed Des admired its fantastic red spots. and after a quick photo the trout was safely returned.
Bill Brazier was in touch to tell us about the latest edition of Off the Scale…
Off the Scale – Issue 21
Issue 21 of Off the Scale digital magazine has just launched. And yes – incredibly – it is still absolutely free for all to read.
As always we have a varied line up of great articles covering all aspects of angling from river trout fishing, searching for spring salmon and chasing specimen pike to the current Irish cod tagging project, the story behind the rainbow trout revolution, early season carp and adventures to Lanzarote and Kashmir. As well as this there’s the usual mix of hints, tips, news, wildlife, science and general inspiration thrown in too.
We’re sure you’ll agree, this is not just another online mag! If you have any fishing friends who have somehow not heard about our great work here then feel free to share and spread the word.
Off the Scale magazine is best viewed on PC’s, laptops and tablets, but will also work well on all mobile devices. This is absolutely NOT your average online publication and it may take a few moments to load due to the high quality of the photographic/media content. Enjoy!
March 23: The Bandon is high and coloured today after yesterday’s rain. However, it is now dropping again, fishable with spinner at least and should be in very good order for the weekend, regardless of today’s downpours.
One spring salmon was caught on Wednesday and with positive reports from other fisheries near and far, hopes are high for sport over the next few days.
An inspiring sky over the Bandon
March 24: Brisk flows on the Bandon today but good clarity and improving this evening. Conditions were best suited to spinning and tomorrow will see the water being more suitable for the fly.
Go Fishing…
Bandon Angling Association have set up a guiding service in conjunction with Jason Nash, Peter Aspinwall and Phil Dewey. Details of the guiding service are provided on the website and they are looking forward to making memories and enhancing people’s fishing experiences on the river Bandon. Day tickets and club membership are also available. Web: https://bandonangling.com/
Kilcoleman Fishery, Enniskeane, is renowned for its hospitality. The owners David and Patricia Lamb make a particular effort to make their guests feel at home. Past visitors have described the atmosphere as ‘laid back’ and the accommodations as ‘cosy’. Kilcoleman is “fly only” throughout the entire season. However, in certain water conditions, spinning is permitted for salmon. Trout angling is “fly only” at all times. web:http://flyfishing-ireland.com
Johnathan Murray releasing a spring salmon on Beltra on Sunday #CPRsavesfish
Fishing on the Newport River on Tuesday last week, John Belmore had a salmon of 7lb. The prediction at the time was that conditions would be better for the lake from the following day.
The first fish of the year on Beltra was taken by Frank Dooley
It took a few days for the Lough Beltra to respond and Frank Dooley landed the first Salmon of 2018 on Sunday. His fresh 9lb fish couldn’t have come at a better time as it won him first prize in the Glenisland Anglers Co-operative competition.
Johnathan Murray releasing a spring salmon on Beltra on Sunday #CPRsavesfish
Johnathan Murray also had a salmon on Sunday. Johnathon met his fish at the Dock. The fish was released.
Richard McDowell had this fish from last year – it would have been a huge salmon in its prime #CPRsavesfish
A 16lb “rawner” was caught and released by Richard McDowell on Sunday evening. It would have been a super fish when fresh – well over 20lb.
Go fishing…
The Glenisland Anglers Co-operative was set up to provide anglers access to salmon and sea-trout fishing on the East side of lough Beltra. Membership of the Glenisland Anglers Co-operative is currently open and the club is actively enrolling new members. Day tickets are also available. For more information see http://www.loughbeltra.com
If you are interested in fishing Beltra West or the Newport river please contact Newport house.
Well done to Noel’s father Seamus Fitzmaurice was fishing on the Blackwater Salmon Fishery‘s Ballyhooly Beat on Sunday. Seamus caught and released a lovely spring salmon from the castle flat on what was a pleasant Spring day.
Seamus releases his salmon #CPRavesfish
On Thursday last week, 22 March, an 8lbs salmon was landed and released on the Ballyduff Bridge Salmon Fishery, and another one lost after 10 minute battle. This fish was never seen.
Up coming events
Fortwilliam in conjunction with Clonanav Fly Fishing and Andrew Ryan has announced that Saturday May 12th is the date for their first group 2018 Casting Course. This day long course will take place at Fortwilliam on the infamous Lismore Castle Beat and will include all aspects of casting. Suitable for the beginner through to the those whom may wish to improve their casting techniques the course comes with a guaranteed to enhance your skills.
Fort William also offers individual casting tuition throughout the season with their senior house ghillie.
Contact Paul Whelan our Fishery Manager or email [email protected]
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:[email protected] 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: [email protected] Tel: (00353) 87 8292077 or 058 75299
The cold weather at the weekend seems to have have had a huge impact on fishing around the country. It would appear that many anglers stayed in, as reports are thin on the ground. There was some decent fishing to be had though, particularly for coarse and salmon anglers…
High water followed last week’s rain and many salmon fisheries took time to get back in order. There were reports of a good fish lost on the Muster Blackwater as the levels returned to normal and visibility improved, but not much else. The Lee was too high for any real fishing. Meanwhile on the Bandon water levels were described as perfect, but no fish were caught. The Laune was much the same and Lough Currane was also quiet. There were a few salmon on the Feale over the weekend and further up the west coast at Delphi 9 salmon were caught in 7 days. But it was the Drowes that did best, the river had an impressive 20 salmon reported, most over the weekend. So much for the cold snap!
In other salmon fishing news Inland Fisheries Ireland is seeking submissions from interested parties in respect of a proposed new temporary Bye-law which would:
prohibit being in possession of any mounted fishing rod with line attached and prohibit taking, catching or attempting to catch any fish by any means whatsoever in those waters of the River Blackwater, Co Cork, which are between the downstream face of the weir known as Fermoy weir, in the townland of Carrignagroghera and the townland of Fermoy, both in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, in the County of Cork, and a line, drawn across the river at right angles to the Mill Race wall, from a point on the South bank which is 10 meters downstream from the point at which the weir meets the Mill Race wall, to a point on the North bank.
prohibit any fishing on or from the weir structure itself.
There were two big St Patrick’s Festivals fished in Ireland at the weekend but they may as well have been fished in different countries. One was fished on Lough Muckno where freezing weather and heavy snow made for tough fishing and small catches. The other was on Inniscarra and though conditions were far from perfect, they were at least not as Arctic, and really good weights were recorded. The Graveyard section fished particularly well with an average catch of 7kg per angler over the 3 days. Congratulations go to Julian Kendrick, now a 2 in a row winner, who caught a total weight of 26.660kg.
Sea anglers around Cork reported shore angling to be tough enough over the weekend. We did get reports of flounder and mullet, but fish were not biting well. There was some decent charter boat fishing for pollack and coalfish at Courtmacsherry and, off the west coast, some decent fishing also reported on Galway Bay.
Tomasz wins Catch of the Week for his Spring bass
We had our first report of bass in the southwest this year as Tomasz Eckert got amongst some good fish from the Kerry coast. Tomasz wins catch of the Week for his bass.
We have one pike report this week. Some decent fishing was had in the Longford area with one fish of 18lb landed on deadbait by an angler staying at Melview Lodge.
Enrico Fantasia, Dublin with a 66cm trout from Lough Sheelin
Trout anglers will be delighted to see the return of our Sheelin reporter, Brenda Montgomery, with her weekly update from the lake. It’s been a very cold start to the season so its no surprise that Lough Sheelin has not been very busy, but there have been some lovely trout caught and released.
Salmon licences
Sincere apologies for the delay in getting our online salmon licence sales system up and running for 2018. Unfortunately there were a number of technical difficulties that prevented us from continuing with the old system and a rebuild was needed.
We hope that you find the new site easier to use and look forward to seeing you on the river in the new season.
And now the weather..
Saturday will bring good sunshine to most places, according to Met Eireann, but there will be some scattered rain or hail showers too. Most of these will be in the western half of the country. Winds will be moderate west to northwesterly. Temperatures will be around 8 to 10C at best. Cold and mostly clear overnight and frost is likely to form, becoming sharp to severe. Lowest temperatures -2 to plus 2 C. Sunday will be much the same, but frost may clear the southwest late in the night, as rain develops there. At the moment, the rain will become widespread during Monday and will be heavy in places. The early days of next week will continue unsettled and changeable, with areas of low pressure bringing in further rain or showers from the Atlantic from time to time.
The Laune Anglers had little to report in the last week. Eileen Carroll Murphy tells us that there was very little angling effort and no catches reported.
It was a case of too much water on the River Lee. Eileen Carroll Murphy reports that with water levels high for the week, there were no reported catches.
Eileen Carroll in our Macroom office reports that despite perfect water during the week and over St. Patrick’s weekend there was no fresh salmon caught. There were a number of well mended kelts caught and there was a report of a fresh fish lost.
