Eileen Carroll reports that 60 salmon were landed over the last 10 days on the River Lee club waters. The fish were mostly caught in high water. there a few big fish in the run and the best was 17lbs landed by a local angler.
RIVER LEE ESB FISHERY INNISCARRA
A total of 14 fish were reported for the week from the Inniscarra Fishery. 7 salmon ranging in weight from 8lbs to 12lbs were caught on shrimp by local anglers. 3 peel caught on shrimp by local anglers weighing 3lbs to 4½lbs. 4 salmon caught spinning on high water and returned by local anglers.
Go fishing…
The River Lee drains a catchment of 484 square miles of which much is taken up by two large reservoirs. Salmon Angling is confined to an 8 mile stretch from Inniscarra dam to Cork city.
Inniscarra Fishery
This salmon fishery is located between Cork City and the dam at Inniscarra (9 miles). The fishery is run by the ESB (Electricity Supply Board) and an ESB permit is required. There is a fair run of fish with a very good grilse run dependent on water. Permits can be purchased on site from Dan O’Riordan, ESB Inniscarra; 087-9983879.
Lee Salmon Anglers Club
The Lee Salmon Anglers club was established in 1967. It was formed by a group of anglers interested in protecting and promoting the sport of salmon and trout angling on the river Lee. Day tickets available: http://www.leesalmonanglers.ie/
Eileen Carroll from our Macroom office has the roundup of West Work rivers…
ILEN RIVER
30 salmon landed for the week averaging 10lbs each, caught by local anglers on all methods. 1 sea trout weighing 4lbs caught by a syndicate member on worms.
COOMHOLA RIVER
2 salmon landed for the week, best 8lbs by a local angler on worms.
OUVANE RIVER
4 salmon landed for the week best 8lbs by a local angler on worms.
Go fishing…
The River Ilen is a medium size spate river that fishes best on a dropping flood for both salmon and sea trout. Spinning, worm and fly fishing are the methods used and allowed on club water.
The river is beautiful and a joy to fish, pools along club waters are easily accessible with seats, steps and stiles put in place for the anglers comfort. With selective tree pruning done along the river in recent years fly fishing has become a more available option especially on the lower river with numerous pools opened up to suit fly fishermen, night time fly fishing for sea trout is a pleasure with great stocks of trout entering the river from April.
A lovely fish Jason Nash released on Sunday estimated to weigh 14lb
Eileen Carroll from the Macroom office reports that the long awaited rain came last week and with it came a good run of both salmon and grilse. There were about 40 salmon caught for the week ended 11 June. There was a big flood again on Sunday which made for good prospects over the last few days.
Jason Nash from tells us that there was some fantastic sport on Sunday with salmon being caught all along the river. Spinning was the order of the day on Sunday but the water level dropped to a superb height for the fly on Monday. Double figure fish dominated catches with the odd grilse mixed in for good measure.
A lovely fish Jason Nash released on Sunday estimated to weigh 14lb
Go Fishing…
For the new year, Bandon Angling Association have set up a new website which you can view here. A new guiding service has been launched 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. 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
David McEvoy reports from Delphi where they have had a good start to June…
11 June: We have made a very encouraging start to June with fourteen fish in the first ten days, and, we had quite a bit of broken weather with the system as a whole slowly being topped up after the long dry spell. These were all grilse bar one cracking fish taken by Urs of 16lbs6ozs. Bertrand Fenart got the ball rolling on the 1st with a nice sea liced grilse of approx. 5lbs off Doolough. Giles Rawlingson have his first ever salmon on the 2nd, a grilse of 3lbs5ozs off Doolough. Holger Peres, from Munich also had his first ever on the 3rd, a nice grilse of 5lbs2ozs off the Grilse Pool on a Foxford Shrimp. There was also another first ever on the 5th when Niall Bollard had a fish from the Whin Pool of 4lbs9ozs on a Bann Special. Fred Eberle had one of 3lbs10ozs off Finlough on the 6th on a Red Shrimp. Brendan Keenan had a great morning on the 7th with two fish of approx. 2lbs and 1.75lbs on a Willie Gunn Variant. Manfred Wolf had one from the Turn Pool on the 8th of 5lbs9ozs on a Willie Gunn. The dynamic duo of Alan Molloy and David Dunne had three on the 9th, Alan landing a lovely fish of approx. 7.5lbs from the Whin on a Willie Gunn and David landing two off Fin in the afternoon of 2lbs7ozs and 4lbs6ozs, both on a Silver Stoat.
Grilse from Delphi
Urs Leibundgut was over for the weekend wiith some Swiss friends celebrating three 6oth birthdays in the same year, and he got a wonderful birthday gift, landing two before breakfast on the 10th. The first was a grilse of 3lbs1oz and the second fifteen minutes later was a magnificent fish of 16lbs6ozs. Well done again Urs. Both fish were from the Turn Pool and both on Cascades. Mark Corps finished off the day with another off the Turn Pool of 3lbs6ozs again on a Cascade.
Hopefully this is the start of a good grilse run and if anything it seems to be a little ahead of previous years as regards timing or the run may be greater. There are some rods available over the next two weeks so give us a call.
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.
The annual Arva Seniors 2017 Festival took place during last week with 84 anglers taking part. They fished Gulladoo Upper and Lower, Corfree Left and Right, Dernaferst, Kevins Shore, Rockfield and Dereskit. Fishing proved to be excellent despite the change in weather conditions. The following is a list of the winners:-
1st. Francis McGolderick 62.870kg
2nd. Mark Harris 56.050kg
3rd. Kevin Johnson 53.410kg
4th. Arie Roubos 46.960kg
5th. John Potters 42.700kg
6th. Niel Mallinson 42.650kg
The George Pratt Memorial was held on Sunday last in rough conditions with strong winds, rain and high waves. . Mick Schoppen came first with 24.200kg on Corfree, Grahame Whalley second with 21.400kg on Gulladoo and in third place was Bob Nudd with 18.600kg on Corfree.
Fishing in the Cootehill area is reported to be improved on previous weeks with some nice Bream on Skeagh Lake and Bairds shore. The Dromore river is producing good bags of fish also.
The river at Belturbet is producing good mixed bags of fish with plenty of Tench, Bream and Roach. Anglers staying in the Belturbet area also report good fishing at Killykeen.
Lough Sheelin’s fishing successes were all about sunsets/silhouettes and darkness
‘Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see’. Martin Luther King, Jr.
‘This was the hardest mayfly season ever’ – words echoed over the past weeks by many a Sheelin angler but don’t misconstrue this sentence, it may well have been the hardest but it certainly has not been the worst. Now into mid-June there is still the guts of another week left in the mayfly season here. The hawthorn or May blossom may have faded, weighed down now by great trusses of the beginnings of berries but this season’s exuberance of insect life on Sheelin sees no end.
The Hatches
There were great hatches of mayfly particularly around Derrysheridan and off Derry point and spent drifting across the lake in substantial quantities at different times during the afternoons and evenings of this week.
Thomas McMullan with his Sheelin trout
The angling holiday makers have long since left the lake but what remains are a steady number of the locals as well as our Northern Ireland friends, those who have caravans, mobile homes or acquaintance’s houses which resulted in twenty or more anglers fishing Lough Sheelin on most days. With the angling numbers dwindling somewhat, naturally the number of fish caught took a corresponding nose dive.
Lough Sheelin’s pulchritudinous
It is still a brilliant time entomology speaking to be out on this lake and it is still all about our mayfly – Ephermera danica. If you think of evolution as maximizing one’s imperative to pass on genes and continue the species for another generation, then mayflies must be the most highly evolved species in existence. Their sole purpose (because they have no mouth parts) is to reproduce and die – so regardless of their graceful aerial beauty they have a short and sad life reflected in their name which derived from the Greek ephermeros means ‘lasting only one day, short- lived’.
Lough Sheelin’s Mayfly
Winds and heavy rainfall put a halt to mating dances and falls of spent, as mayfly huddled close inshore among the bushes and sometimes dying there in their wait for the elusive conducive ‘dancing’ weather. The spent when they did fall drifted like some surreal elaborate surface decoration made of intrinsically woven wings spread prostate on the surface film.
Soaking up the very last of the may blossom
Fishing aside, our mayfly is very photographic and conscious that the numbers of these very beautiful creatures will start to diminish rapidly from now on, well the temptation to photograph Lough Sheelin’s main attraction can be difficult to resist.
The Catches
A trout of over 4lbs caught on a dry Mayfly at the back of Church Island gets released
The weather, of course, had a crucifying effect on the fishing when on some days this lake was subjected to strong North westerlies followed by deluges of rain which effectively killed off any sport. Thursday evening was a point in case where fish had started to rise to the spent and then we were subjected to bucketing rain which pressed the off button for the rest of that day. There were times when things where shaping up nicely and then wind direction would abruptly change and it would be game over. When conditions were ‘fishing friendly’ there were a nice number of trout moving to the spent and some decent fish were caught.
Paul O’Reilly, Dublin with one for the future
Total number of trout recorded: 63
Day time fishing was mainly wet fly fishing with Dabblers, Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear, Bumbles and Humpies being particularly effective. Using an Orange Stimulator as a top dropper during those office hours worked well for one Dublin angler as he landed himself a 5 lb trout at Crover using this set up. Goslings, French Partridge, Denis Mosses Ginger Mayfly along with Nymph patterns as well as an angler’s own personal green mayfly tyings worked for some. With the continual changing winds and downpours dry fly fishing proved tricky although a few fish were taken on dries, but these were few and far between and the numbers could have been counted on one hand.
Cal Healy, Mallow, Cork with his 66cm fish (www.loughsheelinguidingservices.com)
The heaviest fish for this week was a 6 ½ lb trout caught by Thomas Lynch using a Spent Gnat pattern
Selection of Catches
Andrew Dale, South Wales – 1 trout at 3lbs on a Spent Gnat pattern, June 5th.
Thomas Lynch, Cavan – 2 trout at 5 ½ and 6 ½ lbs caught on Spent patterns at the back of Church Island and in Rusheen
Thomas Harten, Cavan – 2 trout at 63 and 66 cm on Spent Gnat patterns.
Joe Heffernan, Northern Ireland – 2 trout at 3lbs (on spent) and 2lbs on wet fly.
John Malcom, Wexford – 3 trout, heaviest at 5 ½ lbs on a Royal Wulff.
Lawrence Hickey, Dublin – 1 trout at 56cm on a wet Mayfly pattern.
Cal Healy, Mallow, Co.Cork – 1 trout at 66cm using wet fly patterns.
David Forster, Dublin – 2 trout at 3 ½ and 3lbs caught using Stimulators and Gorgeous George fishing around Stoney Islands.
Joe Cassidy, Northern Ireland – 3 trout heaviest at 5lbs using Spent Gnat patterns fishing around Crover.
Now heading into mid-June, the mayfly will soon be replaced by the sedge fishing which is often thought of in the angling world as the cream of the fishing season. A few fish were caught on the Great Red Sedge or Murrough in the evening and beyond nightfall but we are only at the very start of this next insect progression here so these have not yet featured on the trout’s menu sheet. The mayfly will soon be appropriated by a plethora of trout food which will keep the trout angler on high alert and will necessitate him ‘matching the hatch’ and really studying the natural food out there but really this is what true fly fishing is all about. The Caddis flies or sedges have over 12000 described species, all of these of course aren’t present on Sheelin but sometimes it feels as if they are as in the weeks to come the angler will be met with all sorts of grey and brown varieties, the Murrough and Green Peter are the most easily identified and the rest I find are just vaguely classified as ‘a little brown sedge’. Of course as well as this feast ahead of the angler there will be Alder flies, Hawthorns, Daddy Long Legs and all sorts of terrestrials blown on to the water from the nearby shoreline.
The Flies
Spent!
The artificial patterns that worked best where all the spent patterns particularly the spent gnat patterns in black with a small amount of red woven in at the tail. The Wulffs similar to last week worked their magic with three trout of over 5lbs being caught on the Royal variation of this tying. Gink up the Wulff with a floatant, enough to make this fly sit in the top film and drag it slowly is the best way. The Wulffs imitate the spents and these in their natural form in the last throes of death are fairly static on the water’s surface so avoid a ‘chuck and duck’ tactic as this will simply lead to a disappearance act from the trout. The Fox Squirrel Spent using a ghost tip along with a second fly with some sparkle woven through proved good as well as a predominantly black coloured spent imitation with some glow bright on the tail.
Claret Dabbler – Kevin Sheridan
The most successful flies this week were the Mayfly nymph patterns, wet Mayfly patterns in greens with mixes of brown and white mingled through, the Mosley Mays, the French Partridge, the Goslings, Dennis Moss’s Ginger Mayfly, Soft Hackle Mayfly Emergers, CDC Mayfly Emergers, the Wulffs (grey and royal), the Spent Gnat patterns (a predominance of black worked best). Other patterns catching fish were the Dabblers (Claret, Green and Silver), Stimulators and Bumbles (Golden and Cock Robin).
A catch & release policy is actively encouraged on the lake at all times. 2.75 lbs caught at Crover on a Spent Gnat pattern
All anglers are required to have a Fishery Permit to fish Lough Sheelin which must be purchased before going out on the lake.
Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 790 which strictly prohibits
All trolling on the lake from March 1st to April 30th (inclusive).
From May 1st to June 15th – no trolling between 7pm –6am and no trolling under engine between 6am – 7pm and
June 16th – October 12th – no trolling under engine between 7pm – 6am.
No trout less than 14 inches should be taken from the lake
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.
Getting it right – Caoimhe & Oisin Sheridan
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.
A novice angler from the Central Remedial Clinic enjoys a successful fishing trip with the Dublin Angling Initiative
Students from the Central Remedial Clinic enjoy fishing trip
Inland Fisheries Ireland’s Dublin Angling Initiative partners with Central Remedial Clinic to teach fishing to novice anglers
Students from the Central Remedial Clinic in Raheny and Clontarf recently took part in a fishing trip, organised by Inland Fisheries Ireland’s Dublin Angling Initiative. The novice anglers, who ranged from the ages 18 to 22, enjoyed a day out fishing at Meadow Lodge Fisheries, Maynooth.
All participants in the initiative took fishing lessons from instructors who were on hand to coach them as they made catches of roach, rudd and tench. Plenty of skill was demonstrated by the anglers with many keen to get back fishing again soon.
This was the first group of 2017 to take part in Inland Fisheries Ireland’s Dublin Angling Initiative. The Initiative aims to promote, develop and improve angling among young people in target communities. Young people can take part in the initiative through their school, youth groups or community projects.
Well known broadcaster and angling guide Alan Broderick is based on the shores of beautiful Lough Derravaragh in Co Westmeath. Alan has been in touch to let us know that in addition to his guiding services he has a number of boats with outboard motors for hire at this great fishing location. Alans’ boats are 4.8m Lund Lakers which have foldable pedestal seating and are fully equipped with automatic inflating life jackets, landing net, anchor, a map of the lake and a 5m push pole. Each boat is powered by a 25hp outboard and has a Lowrance fish finder. The raised casting platforms fore and aft provide anglers with a good solid platform from which to fish. In addition Alan will provide launch and recovery services for you so all you have to do is get your gear ready and get fishing. There is an additional charge for fuel supplied.
For further information including hire and rental terms and conditions or to make a reservation please contact Alan at
Lough Derravaragh is a long narrow lake nearly 5 miles (8 kms) in length and an area of over 2700 acres (1080 hectares). The northern part of the lake is wide and shallow with depths graduating from 1.5 meters at the margins to about 6 meters at the centre of the lake. The southern half of the lake narrows into a long deep neck with depths up to 20 meters at its southern most end.
Lough Derravaragh is located about 14 kms north west of Mullingar. Multyfarnham village is in close proximity off its southern shore and Castlepollard which lies to the north east is also a recognised angling centre offering facilities for visiting anglers. Should anglers wish to stay on this side of the lake, Castlepollard has plenty to offer.
Toberdaly Bridge, Offaly, Ireland. Unfortunately the weather went from this to chaotic for the Edenderry festival
It’s been a wet and windy start to June. The rain was needed at most fisheries, but the wind has been a bit contrary at times…
The rain and grilse runs were timed well for a change, but those rivers getting their first dirty floods of the summer were not great for fishing. Many of West Cork’s spate rivers fell into the latter category, but the Ilen was not amongst them racking up 30 salmon last week. The Bandon also improved with the drop of fresh water it received. The Laune, Currane, Owenmore and Feale all had positives to report, but the wind undid the chances of many on Lough Currane. The Galway Fishery did well as the grilse run and favourable water levels saw 137 fish landed with some anglers getting 4 and 5 fish a session. Fishing on the Moy continues to improve and 340 salmon were reported as salmon are now spread all through the system. The Munster Blackwater also recorded a few good days and further east anglers on the Suir had some really exciting catches before the rain put the river out of order. Many had the prized double figure fish from this river, but one angler was witnessed catching and releasing a super springer estimated at 26lb.
Liam Harris win a River Suir beauty
Inland Fisheries Ireland has launched a public consultation focusing on the development of a national sea trout policy and is now inviting submissions from the public. Sea trout has significant economic and cultural importance in Ireland with the potential for further development. For more see: http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/Public-Consultation/sea-trout-policy-development.html
Gareth Jones had 24 trout on Lough Corrib, 3 over 4lb, all released. This super achievement wins him Catch of the Week
The weather did not really suit late season mayfly fishing for trout and all the big loughs struggled. Despite big hatches of fly on Sheelin any trout caught here were hard earned as anglers negotiated wind changes and temperature drops. Over on Corrib the Mayfly is done and changeable weather did not make for enjoyable fishing. The “but” was that Caenis did offer some great early morning sport and some anglers had 8 and 10 trout a morning! There were a few trout reported from Lough Ree and some of the midlands stocked fisheries offer a great antidote to a tough day on the big loughs.
The Grand Canal at Daingean was producing good catches of bream and tench earlier this week, unfortunately the weather has been playing havoc with the canal fishing for the Edenderry 3 Day Festival. The CM Lakelands Feeder Only 3 day festival produced plenty of hybrids and skimmers. The festival was fished over two County Cavan Loughs, Barnagrow and Skeagh, during the Bank Holiday weekend was won by Robertas Zilaitis with 42.280kg.
Ken Golightly’s with 28kg plus of bream from Inniscarra
Ken Golightly’s first day catch of almost 29kg from the Garden Centre in Inniscarra’s Ottewill Cup gave him an unassailable lead and he easily took 1st place despite two tough days after that. Pleasure anglers are reporting some great bags of fish between Portumna and Shannon Harbour with catches reaching 30 – 40kg for some.
Lough Derg saw some great pike catches last week as the Irish Kayak Angling Club fished the first leg of their championship from Portumna. Reports from the angling guides on the lake are that the bite is on and 1m plus fish are feeding well.
David with Wicklow Boat Charters first Specimen Smooth Hound of 2017
The poor conditions often made life difficult for sea anglers hoping to get out on the waves. Killala Bay is fishing well and charter boat anglers onboard Leah landed some fine fish (15 species) despite the windy conditions. Shore anglers and charter boat skippers are getting good fishing from Donegal’s shores. Donegal Bay is once again up in highlights following more Killybegs Mariners trips and anglers on Rosguill from Downings had a great mix of fish as new marks from last year continue to produce this season. Galway Bay is also fishing well and tope and blue shark are expected to put in an appearance there soon. Anglers fishing on Loch an Iasc in West Cork had good wreck fishing with their star fish a 15lb pollack. East coast anglers also had good fishing to report. Specimen smoothhounds are starting to come onboard Kit Dunne’s boat and despite some awful weather and trips being cut short they are getting great fishing.
Other news:
Inland Fisheries Ireland has launched a Fish & Film competition to encourage young people to spread the word about fishing. Junior fishing clubs, youth clubs, projects and centres from across Ireland are invited to apply to the competition by taking film footage of their fishing adventures and promoting it online. The top three groups with the most views on their film will go forward to a junior fishing competition where the overall winner will receive a €1,000 fishing tackle voucher for their club with the two runners up each winning a €250 voucher. To enter visit: http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/fishandfilm
The forecast is for a blustery weekend with some rain, some heavy, in warm daytime temperatures on Saturday, but cooler on Sunday. The outlook for next week is for warmer weather to develop after a fresh start with showers. There are gale warnings and small craft warning in effect so check the forecast before heading out.
Blustery weather at weekends and preparations for Round 1 of the All Ireland Kayak Angling Championships at Portumna on 27th May reduced the numbers of sea Catch Reports submitted this month. Anyone interested in Kayak Angling is welcome to visit Round 2 of the All Ireland Kayak Angling Championships at Donegal on 17th June (subject to weather).
Following on from a successful Spurdog outing at Kenmare in April other members returned to Kenmare River on Sunday 7th May landing 6 spurs.
Another Kenmare Spurdog
At the same time and the opposite end of the West Coast Graham Smith opened his Porbeagle account for 2017 catching and releasing a fish estimated at 300-350lb followed 2 days later by another (measured by nearby boat angler, Mike Heffernan) at 200 – 210lb.
Club members have had some very successful days chasing rays in Tralee Bay in the last few years so 4 members launched on the Fenit side of the Bay on Saturday 20th May hoping for similar results. Ray rigs were abandoned in favour of wire traces as the first Tope arrived at the Monk Hole, this being the largest fish member Tim O’Herlihy has ever caught.
Surprise Tralee Tope
Pat Gill claimed the only ray of the day landing this fine Thornback on the way back to shore.
Tralee Bay Thornback Ray
Friday 26th to Sunday 28th had some members exploring the Copper Coast and Dunmore East, Co. Waterford and the Wexford Coast. Pollock were caught at Dunmore, bass (released) from the shore in Waterford, and smooth hounds from the kayaks in Wexford.
The Irish Kayak Angling Club encourages Catch & Release of all fish except those retained for bait or the table. All fish mentioned in this report were released alive.
Go fishing…
To find out more about Kayak Angling visit www.irishkayakangling.com and register on the forum. Membership is free and the forum is a great resource to learn about safety, venues and techniques. Experienced members will answer any questions you have and everyone is welcome to come to a meet to learn more before taking the plunge.
Articles on beginning kayak angling are available at http://www.topfisher.eu/ and much of the advice on small boat angling is also transferrable to a kayak.
Please note that forecasts have led to a number of meets being postponed and/or relocated in the past for safety reasons. Details will be updated on the Forum, Facebook and Twitter as the year progresses.
Grey Duster Guiding
Please note that forecasts have led to a number of meets being postponed and/or relocated in the past for safety reasons. Details will be updated on the Forum, Facebook and Twitter as the year progresses.
