Andy Hill reports on a day at Balinlough with Peter Wolstenholme, where flies from the 1960’s and guys of a slightly older vintage proved they still have what it takes…
Two old men went to Balinlough, near Skibbereen, in April, to see if a combination of sun, warmish weather and scudding clouds would break their run of fishless days in West Cork, with few salmon arriving on the Bandon and elsewhere.
Old guys, old flies
It was their first time on this day-ticket water but local talk was of feisty, chunky browns taking buzzers fished slowly from the three boats on hire.
So the two men, Courtmacsherry artist Peter Wolstenholme and journalist companion Andy Hill (combined age 135 years) went and tried their luck using buzzers that Peter had tied in the 1960s to use on English stillwaters. They hadn’t left the box until that April day.
One of around 30 fish landed on the day
They had a wonderful, unexpectedly fishy few hours taking 20 fish between them, many of them large browns losing a good dozen each and locked into some chunky rainbows as well. It was classic lake fishing – floating lines, longish leaders and small flies.
Beautiful scenery; beautiful browns, righteous Rainbows and a Spring smile to last the week.
No Dog Nobblers, Boobies or Jersey Herd were used in the making of this day.
Bright day on the Laune. Salmon still scare but some lovely sea trout reported.
Not a bad week of fishing considering the cold snap and dry conditions which see many rivers running low. As we approach May Day the salmon fishing is improving in the west, hatches are increasing on a number of lakes, the size of the catches in coarse angling festivals is growing, pike are starting to regain condition after spawning and the sea anglers are probably doing best of all with good shore and boat fishing reported…
While the salmon fishing across the south and south west has not really started to fire on all cylinders yet, there were a few fish reported from the Munster Blackwater, Bandon, and Lough Currane. It was in the west where the majority of the better reports came from as good numbers of fish were met on the Galway Fishery, Carrowmore and the the River Moy. Further north the Drowes did well enough considering the low water conditions there.
Trout to 7lb were caught on fly but this 19lb 1oz behemoth was caught and released by David Ryan trolling
Lough Corrib’s fishing was a bit like the famous parson’s egg – good in places. While plenty of anglers watched good numbers of fly coming off, mostly Olives and Buzzers, not as many figured out the right approach. Those that did had some great fishing and a number of trout between 4lb and 7lb were reported. The biggest trout reported was a 19lb 1oz lump, caught and released by David Ryan on the troll. On Mask the best of the fishing on calmer days to buzzer and olive patterns in sheltered bays. Lough Sheelin echoes this report and it fished well on the days when the temperatures pushed into double figures and huge buzzer hatches resulted. It was much the same on most of rivers and lakes and hopefully the forecast of settled, mild conditions will see trout angling really take off.
Pleasure anglers looking for tench, bream, roach, rudd and hybrids are getting good enough fishing in many parts lately. Popular venues across Cavan, Monaghan and Longford are all producing good catches. Some really big bags were seen at Lanesborough last week and one angler managed 100lb of hybrids while others had tench to over 5lb. Staying on the Shannon, down river at Portumna the Festival there saw daily catches to over 40lb during the week. Last week’s Easter 2 Festival on Muckno had bags into double figures each day for the top anglers. Carp fisheries did pretty well in the last week with really big bags reported from Oaklands and Gaulmoylestown.
Jacks are dominating catches for many pike anglers but as the female fish start to recover following spawning bigger fish are starting to show, but you might have to work your way through a lot of smaller fish to get there. One group of Dutch anglers used every lure in the box to see what might make a difference at a few Longford venues and caught plenty of fish but the bigger pike only showed towards the end of their trip.
Catch of the Week goes to Mike Sherwood for this 199lb common Skate
Charter boat anglers have been enjoying good specimen fishing at Wicklow. Of the 46 female spurdogs caught in the last few weeks, 36 have been specimens. The Borough SAC enjoyed good fishing at Kilmore Quay and while plenty of fish were caught it was the cod that impressed most and one fine fish of 11.5lb was taken. In West Cork a group of shore anglers using the humble lugworm as bait had gilthead bream, flounder and bass in an evening session, while offshore small boat and charter boat anglers also met with success. Pollack on fly provided the sport for the small boats but it was “big boat, big fish” for those fishing with Tom Collins on Loch an Iasc as 3 specimen skate were landed. The biggest, 199lb, is our Catch of the Week. Good fishing was also reported from anglers afloat and ashore in Kerry, Clare, Mayo/Sligo and Donegal.
As it is a Bank Holiday weekend many will be in a rush to get lines in the water. Don’t forget to stay safe. Check the weather – there are Small Boat Warnings and Status Yellow Rainfall Warnings in operation at this time. Check the tides. Don’t take risks. Wear a life jacket.
Finally, the weather – Saturday will be mostly cloudy and windy, with patches of rain and drizzle, especially in Munster and along the west coast. The best of any brighter intervals will be in the northeast. Highest temperatures of 11C to 13C with freshening southerly winds. On Sunday morning, persistent or heavy rain will affect much of the country and there will be a risk of flooding. Highest temperatures of 10C to 14C with fresh southeast winds. Monday will be dry and sunny spells will develop with highest temperatures of 13C to 16C and light variable breezes. The rest of the week will be mild or warm and mostly dry. A Bank Holiday Monday and the conditions look promising. If you’re not already fishing, then that’s the day!
Safe fishing to all this long weekend and tight lines, especially here in Ireland.
20 April: Two Tench were banked this morning by Fran McCormack and Richie Gilligan from Mullingar both weighing males of 5lb 1oz and 5lb, but more a more significant catch has been made by Gerry Judge fishing the gusher. He currently bagging up on quality fish with some large Hybrids (mongrels).
Richie Gilligan and 5lb tench
21 April: When I last spoke to Gerry on the gusher yesterday, he was well on his way to a 100lb of Hybrids with odd Rudd and Roach. I’ve commented many times about the apparent lack of mongrels at Lanesborough in recent years, but every so often, they come and go seemingly overnight. Well, they’ve vanished again as visiting anglers from Navan and Mullingar found this morning.
A few more Tench are showing, Richie and Fran have a combined tally of 10 over their marathon three day session, which on reflection is not a great number but more than adequate reward for sitting it out for that long. At least it hasn’t rained.
Fran McCormack 5lb 1 oz tench
22 April: Richie and Fran finished with a total of 10 Tench from their 72 hour session. When they left, Flano and Paul Ryan fished the same area into the night, failing to land a Tench, but catching lots of Bream to a pound. They also noted the water was very warm at 2am when they packed up leaving the stretch was deserted.
23 April: Yesterday afternoon, Aiden Dooney, currently having a superb run of form in the Tench department, added four more to his yearly total with fish up to 4.02lbs. There were a lot of casual anglers on the hot stretch and also two Dubliners on the disabled swims. They were not so fortunate as Aiden and failed to lure one of those brown beauties.
25 April: Just before dawn, a good bream shoal rolled through his swim, and Larry caught two between 5-6lbs before adding a further four female Tench, three of which were barely a pound. What was strangely noticeable, the male fish all had red marks on the underside. I would presume this to be spawning damage, but the largest female had no evidence of this.
Larry Kelly had this, his biggest unweighed Tench on Monday 17 April. Fish like these are the only know cure for tincaritis
I now think I have all the symptoms of tincaritis, a rare disorder affecting the nervous system, the only cure is to sit patiently until I’m better. There is an antibiotic known as Rutilus, and this is currently available on the river Inny below Ballymahon where the annual Roach run has just started.
22:00 – That was a bitterly cold day, and god knows why I went out this evening. At least my perseverance was rewarded by a young lady of just over 2 lbs. Aside from two late arrivals who were on the hot stretch, there was only one Piking angler earlier today. I was far too frozen to bother investigating who the late comers were, but the amount of good sized Bream or giant mongrels turning below the bridge would suggest they may have a good session if they can bare the cold.
26 April: There are loads of tench all along the lower section and although some are babies of less than two pounds, there are odd fish to five. The total caught today was 17 including Tim’s early session. I blanked this evening, despite introducing my magic mix of particles earlier in the afternoon. Dubliners Barry and Pat shared the best of the catch with 13 Tench including one identified as being one I saw last week. I can but speculate, but with numerous males being weighed in at 5.01 or 5.02, there could actually be a low population at the moment, but with many repeat captures?
Perhaps the hot stretch also has a good number present? There several big fish turning at dusk and I presume these to either very large mongrels or Bream.
With the holiday weekend almost upon us, any visitors should pre-order bait to avoid disappointment, and if anyone requires bait before the shop opens, call me the night before and I will arrange to open the shop as early as 06:00 if required.
Due to the biosecurity risks posed by the Asian Clam populations anglers can only use the specially provided keep-nets, available both sides of the bridge – from the Daybreak Filling Station, Ballyleague and Bridie Holmes Fishing Tackle Shop, Lanesborough.
23 April: Fantastic fishing at Portumna for the Festival goers on the Shannon. A warm-up for the Waterways Ireland Curley’s Festival produces a top weight of 65lbs 11oz from the Town Stick-Up’s section. All sections fished well with top weights at Town Bridge 47lbs 6oz, Meelick 32lbs 6oz and Salmon Run 18lbs 5oz. May the good fishing continue throughout the festival.
24 April: Day 1 of the Festival and weights to over 40lb recorded.
25 April: Day 2 and Stick Ups, Meelick, Rogers Island and Town bridge all produce weights over 30lb. Bags over 40lb came from Stick ups and Meelick
26 April: Day 3 and still fishing well. Weights in the high 30’s to over 40lbs were returned by anglers today on the Town Bridge and Stick Ups section 3
27 April: Town Bridge still producing with a high of 47lb. Other sections were a bit tougher and fishing was a little less consistent at Meelick.
Julian Kendrick was happy with his 47lb catch
Go fishing…
Plenty to fill your nets at the Portumna Angling Festival this April. Five days of match fishing on the Shannon with sponsorship from Curley’s Bar and Waterways Ireland!
Our competition takes place from the 24th to the 28th with a one-day open on Sunday 23rd. There are 30 anglers booked in so far with places still available.
22 April: Richard Lubrant from Atlanta USA was fly fishing the Laune with Billy Cotter yesterday. Richard guides on his local river in Atlanta, the Chattahoochee. He managed to land several brownies and a lovely sea trout of 18 inches.
Kevin Walker; sea trout over 1 lb.
23 April: River is on the low side – some salmon seen – but only sea trout landed. Kevin Walker had a nice sea trout of over a pound on a salmon fly later this evening. Bernard Doyle a visiting angler from UK had some fun with small brown trout. Earlier in the day more sea trout were landed.
Billy Downes, Secretary Laune Salmon and Trout Anglers’ Association
Go fishing…
Day permits are the same as last year €25 to the end of July and €35 for the months of August and September. For Beat 3 Permit costs click on: Beat 3 Permit Prices 2017
Be sure to display your permit on the dash of your car with the date and permit number visible and have the other part with you because you will be asked by members to identify yourself as a legitimate ‘One Day Member’ / Permit Holder. Web:www.launeanglersfishing.com Facebook:Facebook Laune Anglers Email: [email protected]
Stefan Martin from Killybegs Mariners SAC reports on the first round of their Summer League…
Flounder
22 April: The first of the Mariners summer league outings took place on the most summery of locations in Donegal, Rossnowlagh beach last night throwing up some lovely fish from the big surf beach. Fishing an hour going and three coming most of the big flatties were caught on the hour going a few 38cm flounder and some nice double hauls and then some fine coley over our minimum 23cm and turbot and even a conger all measured and released again.
All fish were released after measuring
In the end everything was very close as both cash prizes were shared the winning scores of Pat Cunningham and Johnny Byrne of 267 points each and the longest fish prize was also shared by Pat and Christopher Noctor with 38cm flounders each. 11 anglers fished. Well done all.
Go fishing…
Join the club
Killybegs Mariners sea angling club, Co Donegal runs a shore league, boat competitions and angling trips around Ireland doing the sport we love.
Wicklow Boat Charters Skipper, “Kit Dunne”, reviews a cracking March – April for Specimen Spurdog, Bullhuss & a few Tope and Ray for good measure…
Gordon Darker with 1 of his 3 Specimen Spur claimed
Having seen a good start in 2016 we set out a bit earlier this year making our first trip on 6th March. That was the start of a record 2 Months.
Double Tope for John Millerick & Tom Lynch
The first trip produced 18-20 Spurdog of which 14-15 were specimens; Gordon Darker managed 5 specimen fish, while a cracking 17lb fish fell to Pat Swan. This pattern continued for numerous trips, the only chinks in the armour fell when weather hampered play.
Ger Mathews with one of his BullHuss
Along with the record numbers of Spurdog we had a few Tope and Thornback Ray on several days, a great sign of things to come this season. A double haul of Tope fell to Tom Lynch and John Millerick on their Spur trip, this complimented John’s 3 Specimen Spurdog including the biggest so far at 18+lb.
Peter Mc Cartin specimen Spur.
BullHuss were abundant on every trip to deep water; the best day fell to Ger & Greg Mathew’s crew with 24 caught on the Lisin with skipper Anthony. The Peter’s, Mc Cartin & Bolger each got their specimen spurdog too with a 17.7lb falling to Peter Bolger.
Peter Bolger with his 2nd Specimen Spur of the day.
Having recorded a total of 46 female Spurdog, 36 of which were specimen fish the signs are promising of a growing spur population. Nearly 80 Huss, 5 Tope and a few Ray topped off the 2 Month tally, signs are good for 2017 summer season.
Last but no least -Christy Lane
Go fishing…
Angling Charters are offered on a full-day, half-day and evening trip basis and can be tailored to suit your needs. Two boats available – Lisin and Castle Maiden. All levels of anglers are catered for. Anglers will benefit from your skipper’s angling experience and local knowledge with advice and guidance on-hand at all times.
SPECIALIST ANGLING CHARTERS
Specialist Angling Charters are offered for those who wish to target specific species, specimen fish or try new methods of angling.
ANGLING COACHING
Whether you’re a Club, Individual, School or Junior you can have an angling coaching session or programme tailored to suit your needs.
Some updates from the Munster Blackwater where a few salmon have been caught in recent days…
22 April: Yesterday the Bandon Angling Association held their annual fly fishing tuition day with Bandon Scouts on the River Blackwater with Glenda Powell. A fantastic day was enjoyed by all who attended with much learnt by everyone involved. The Bandon Anglers gave their appreciation to Inland Fisheries Ireland for sponsoring the event, Glenda Powell for educating everyone in the art of fishing plus Bandon Scouts leaders and Bandon Angling Association members for helping out on the day.
Bandon scouts and anglers on the Blackwater
24 April: Visiting angler Ian Dolley from the U.K landed a beautiful fish of 10lbs this evening off the Fortwilliam Fishery’s House beat on the Ellis stream. Conditions were perfect and the cold spell it might slow them down a bit.
Gauge .25m.
Ian Dolley
25 April: Very well done to Rodger Burke who landed a lovely fish of 12lbs at Ballyduff Bridge.
Rodger Burke
26 April: Jason Corcoran with a cracking fish of around 10lbs at the Ballyduff Bridge fishery this evening on a CCK Partridge.
For those not in the know a CCK is a Connie Corcoran Killer. A fly made up for Connie by Ali Hutchens for his 70th. There’s no other fly like it in the world according to Connie’s son.
Upcoming events
Fortwilliam Fishery in conjunction with Andrew Ryan Clonanav Fly Fishing will be holding a casting course on the 7th May on the famous Castle beat. This is the first time a course will have taken place on this beat. BBQ on the day. Spaces are very limited so book early.
Contact Paul
0878292077
Go Fishing…
Fortwilliam Fishery & Self-Catering Cottages
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
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.
Best specimen of the weekend went to Mike Sherwood coming in at 199lb
Tom Collins of Loch an Iascout of Union Hall was back on the water and back at the skate…
Jim plays a skate
22 April: First day back out and first specimen Skate of the year for us. Delighted with our new stern door/big fish ramp, it worked a treat with Jim‘s 157lb skate. And more important great company as usual, cheers guys for a great start to 2017 season.
As small boat angler Jim says – “Big boat, big fish!”
A lot of work was done to the boat in the off season. A new stern door was installed to make landing big fish like Jim’s skate easier on the crew and less stressful for the fish.
Fish friendly stern door
23 April: Two specimen Skate by lunchtime today. One at 188lb and the other 199lb
Ben’s 188lb skate from today, not quite a record but a fantastic specimen fishBest specimen of the weekend went to Mike Sherwood coming in at 199lb. This super fish wins Mike Catch of the Week
Go fishing…
The Loch an Iasc is a fast worker 36 built in Valentia and refurbished in 2005 under department of marine supervision specifically for angling charters and whale watching. She is licenced and insured for 12 passengers and carries a P5 licence which allows her to operate within 30 miles of designated ports. For customer comfort there is inside seating for 12 passengers and it has a toilet as well. The Loch an Iasc is powered by two Caterpillar 3126 engines giving a total of 700 horsepower which means that our customers can get to fishing grounds faster or when the whales and dolphins are offshore you will get more time with them. In 2014 Tom Collins invested in new electronics and fitted new led lighting for night shark fishing trips. Tom has found in the past that lots of light at night attracts baitfish which in turn brings in the big predators. For information on trip from the Reen Pier in Union Hall, County Cork, contact Tom Collins at +353 (0)87 – 279 2983.
Paul McLoughlin reports on the Easter Two Festival fished last week on Muckno…
Harwood prevails in the end, over Muckno hard man O’ Neill in a nail biting finish which saw just over a single kilo separate them.
Having had an indifferent draw to say the least on 121 White Island Steve Harwood set about grinding out the last gramme, knowing that O’ Neill the chasing danger man was heading brim full of cockiness to his favourite Black Island and would surely come back with 6kgs plus.
Steve’s peg had been a hard nut to crack all week but his confidence was sky high and he was backing himself to do close to 6kgs to hold Rory at all cost and a must do, given that less than 1.5 kgs separated them .
Remarkably Rory tied with another venue specialist Seamus Winters for top weight of the day on 6.400kgs while lo and behold, in came Steve Harwood on 6.325 kgs just 75 grammes back and we knew then then that the game was up.
Lough Muckno
Rory, not one to rely on hard luck stories or fishy excuses around ravenous pike, acknowledged the fine performances of a brilliant Steve Harwood all week, while at the same time, breathing a sigh of relief, knowing that his battle to hold off a resurgent Mick Smith in third place, with 6.2kgs today, was also successful.
Conor Browne and Derek Buckley made their determined individual charges today but came up just short for the top three positions, ending in 4th and 5th respectively, for a nice share of the €4800 prize fund, which included, all entries, all optional pools and significant sponsorship.
Steve Harwood
Spare a thought for Rory Dunne the overnight 4th place occupant who slipped to 8th, due to his inability at the draw bag, being the poorest drawer on the Festival, only overshadowed by his brother Shane who could not draw stickmen all week.
Just out of the frame, Seamus Winters as usual put up a fierce challenge as did Julian Kendrick and Paul Leese who will rebound all, on this great venue in July, if not before.
Alberto Falcomer the top Italian raider ended in 10th spot after a spirited performance in which he and his fellow Italian competitors gave good accounts and thoroughly enjoyed their weeks stay, vowing to return for more of the same, before years end.
Just this time we go outside the top ten, to mention a very young and able first timer to our festivals, in the form of Conor Gaughan, in a superb 11th spot, overshadowing, on this occasion some very, very, top class competition.
We closed out our Easter Festivals series this evening with an after festival meal at the old Coach Inn, courtesy of our friend and patron Raymond Watters who along with his class staff, did us proud all week once again.
“Silver’s fishing at its very best” is how the victor Steve Harwood describes his 8 days with us and he is listed on all our Festivals for the remainder of 2017, along with a large entourage of top UK competitors, watching his every move this week while egging him on, on social media, particularly on our Facebook page, which achieved over 30,000 visits, over both Festivals.
The winners
We thank all of our competitors, all 60 over the two Festivals which lasted in total 7days, with pre matches, for their continued loyalty and support and with the interest already flagged for the remainder of the Lough Muckno Festival series during 2017, we are confident that our sponsors will continue to support us and by definition you the anglers, who are ultimately the ones to gain through our Festivals uniquely attractive prize funding and a host of other unique Festival plus features.
Winners Overall:
1st Steve Harwood KG26.100 €1000 plus pools and sections
2nd Rory O’ Neill KG 24.700 €750 plus pools and sections
3rd Mick Smith KG 20.77 €500 plus pools and sections
4th Conor Browne KG 19.225 €350 plus pools and sections
5th Derek Buckley KG 18.525 €150 plus pools and sections
Results table
Congratulations All.
Big thanks Irish bait and tackle, superb, as always.
