Skipper Luke Aston says weather has been a bit tough of late, but even on the windy days his guests enjoyed some good fishing in shelter, with tope, thornback ray and bull huss featuring in catches.
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A settled day saw them have a try for sixgill shark, but although no monsters appeared, they did have the first blue shark of the season to the boat.
The following day was too rough to anchor, so another shark drift it was, and they were rewarded with plenty of action, and 6 blues up to 2 metres long.
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With the weather settling this week, conditions are much nicer and another day sharking produced 3 nice porbeagles to the boat.
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And as Luke says (and we agree fully) it’s always nice to see someone get their first shark. And what a fish this was for a first catch!
Go fishing…
Clare Dragoon
Clare Dragoon is a LOCHIN 366 powered by 650HP engine, skippered by Luke Aston and operating out of Carrigaholt Co. Clare…
I have some offers up on my web site www.fishandstay.com and if anybody is interested in putting a trip together please do get in touch. Also I Twitter from the boat on @fishandstay and try to update my face book page www.facebook.com/CarrigaholtSeaAngling fairly often!To experience some of the best deep sea fishing available in Ireland contact Luke. Telephone: +353 65 9058209 or +353 87 6367544 Email:lukeaston@eircom.netWeb:www.fishandstay.com
Skipper John Fleming says the weather has made shark fishing a little difficult lately, but with the warm settled spell this week that will surely change.
One trip saw 2 dropped runs and small pup porbeagle to the boat. Great to see the young fish showing, good sign of a healthy breeding population.
Mixed species fishing has been reasonably good, with some nice pollack and wrasse landed.
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The better weather this week allowed an offshore trip, and resulted in the first blue to the boat this year, with more dropped runs. We suspect the porbeagle fishing will take off any day now…
Go fishing…
To book fishing with John aboard the Brazen Hussy II, give him a call on 087 7571320
A regular day is between 9am- 6pm from either Rossaveal, Spiddal or Galway depending on species being sought after. Fishing on the inshore reefs for pollock, cod, ling, wrasse, conger eel and mackerel can be reached in 10 minutes from departure, while our offshore reef marks are within 45 minutes of departure. Our ground fishing for tope, spurdog, ray, bullhuss, turbot, plaice and the giant common skate can all be reached within the hour which ensures the most amount of time is spent fishing.
The shark season usually starts at the end of June and runs into late October, this is the ultimate angling adrenaline rush with these hard fighting blue and porbeagle sharks all being tagged and released safely.
Package deals available
We received a late report from the week ending Sunday 25th May.
An Garda Siochana held their annual competition over two days in May. Thirty-one anglers fished showing a return of ten trout on day one with day two showing no return in extremely difficult conditions.
An evening of celebration and presentation for the winners of the Garda Competition
Serving members section results.
1st Damian Barron. Three trout for 3lbs3oz.
2nd Barry Carolan. One trout for 2lbs9oz.
3rd Colin Dodd. One trout for 1lb9oz.
4th Mick Bradley. One trout for 1lb7oz.
5th Niall Kenny. One trout for 1lb3oz.
Retired members section.
1st John Donohoe. One trout for 1lb 3oz.
2nd Dessie Mc Entee. One trout for 1lb2oz.
3rd Dean Kerns. One trout for 1lb1oz.
Heaviest Fish.
Barry Carolan. 2lbs 9oz.
Elsewhere, Kevin O Boyle reports of being out on the River Deel and Lough Conn last week with father and son anglers Jack Blake from Dublin. They had four trout off the Deel averaging 1.1 lbs and two trout off Lough Conn of similar size all of which were released with bumbles and olives working well for them.
Water levels fluctuated greatly and rapidly over the week due to continuous heavy rainfall in the catchment on two separate days. Water levels at Ballylahan rose to 1.22 m on Tuesday 1st July dropping to 0.43 m on Friday 4th and rising again to 1.3 m on Saturday 5th before settling on 0.7 m on Sunday 6th July. Weather wise, the week has seen rainfall amounts from 33 mm to 49 mm recorded in the catchment.
The week ending 13th July is forecast to be largely dry and settled with high pressure building towards the weekend and air temperatures of up to 28 degrees Celsius currently forecast.
A Status Yellow – High Temperature warning for Ireland is in place valid from 12:00 Saturday 12th July until 06:00 on Sunday 13th July and this will have an impact on angling and water temperatures which are already creeping up. Possible fishery closures are likely.
Moy Fishery
A total of fourteen salmon were caught across the Moy Fishery beats this week of which four were released. Eleven of the salmon were caught on the Ridge Pool and three were caught on the Weir Pool. Fly, worm and spinning all worked well this week as water levels were up with weights ranging from 3 lbs to 6 lbs. Due to increasing water temperatures prospective anglers are advised to contact the Moy Fishery office prior to travelling. The angling boat is now available on the Lower Beat which comprises of Polnamonagh, Spring Wells and the Ash Tree Pool. Permits can be secured by contacting the Moy Fishery office at 096 21332 or by email at moyfishery@fisheriesireland.ie
Nathan Kane with a 4.5 lbs salmon off the RidgeMike Hornsby releasing a 6 lbs salmon back to the Ridge Pool
Ballina Salmon Anglers
Peter reports forty-five salmon caught for the week all on the worm and spinning with weights mainly ranging from 3 lbs to 7 lbs. The heaviest fish weighed 9 lbs.
Mount Falcon Estate
Mike reports of four salmon caught for the week, all on the fly.
Knockmore Salmon Anglers
Kenneth reports of thirty-one salmon caught for the week mostly on the worm with weights from 3 lbs to 7 lbs.
Attymass Angling Club
Kevin reports of twelve salmon caught for the week, mostly on the worm.
Coolcronan Fishery
Nick reports of thirty-seven salmon caught for the week using all methods with the best weighing in at 7 lbs.
Byrnes Fishery
Roy reports of forty-seven salmon caught for the week of which seven were released mostly on the worm and spinner. The best fish weighed 7 lbs.
Gannon’s Fishery
Pat reports in with thirty-eight salmon caught for the week of which four were released.
The Foxford Fishery
Granville reports of thirty-three salmon caught for the week of which three were released, mainly on the worm. The best fish weighed 8 lbs.
Foxford Salmon Anglers
Harry reports of eighty-four salmon caught for the week using all permitted methods with sixty-five of these coming off Rinnaney.
Foxford Town
Reports of twenty salmon caught for the week were received with a number released in the town stretch. It was also reported that a lot of fresh fish were seen.
Cloongee Fishery
A total of eleven salmon were reported caught for the week of which three were released with the fly and the worm working best. Weights ranged up to 9 lbs. Anglers are reminded that they must make a “Catch/No Catch” return on the blue duplicate of their permit and place in the catch return boxes located in the two car parks. Catch/No Catch returns can also be made by email to moyfishery@fisheriesireland.ie
East Mayo Anglers Association
Kathleen reports of thirty-two salmon caught for the week of which six were released and one sea trout of 1.5 lbs also released. All methods working well with most weighing 3 lbs to 6 lbs and the best weighing 10 lbs.
East Mayo Anglers Association will be holding a Youth Angling Event on Saturday 26th July at the Disabled Anglers Facility. Details are set out in the poster below.
A very worthwhile youth angling event planned by East Mayo Anglers Association coming up soon
The Moy Estuary
Simon reports from the estuary aboard Nettie’s Star of twelve sea trout caught over two days of which eight were released with the best weighing 3 lbs 6 oz.
Seamus and Vinny aboard Nettie’s Star on the Moy Estuary
During the months of May and June a total of 125 anglers fished Ballin Lough, which is a managed fishery and located near Westport in Co. Mayo. Throughout that period the fishery produced 770 trout with half of them being released.
Ballinlough Fishery
Ballinlough is a shallow, limestone lake of 22 hectares located 3.2km north of Westport and is managed by IFI. It is a rich lake with a marl bottom and has been stocked with rainbow trout and brown trout. The fish are known to be free rising, and are encouraged by hatches of olives, sedges and wind-blown terrestrials. Trout can be taken on traditional wet flies including Peter Ross, Bibio, Invicta to mention but a few. Streamer patterns such as the Minkie and nymphs can also work well. Dry flies, however, can also provide great sport particularly during evening times and during sedge hatches.
Lately, good numbers of salmon are running the Ballisodare Fishery providing decent fishing for local and visiting anglers alike.
Check out Gerry Merrick’s report below…
The grilse run has been in full force in Ballisodare over the past four weeks with many thousands transcending upstream through the system. On occasions, some rain has fallen but levels have dropped again over a short period of time. Water temperatures have averaged approximately 16 degrees over the past few weeks which tends to result in fish not actively taking fly etc. However, the system is being fished quite heavily, and catches have been up to approximately 10 per day with a good proportion being released.
Conditions have been particularly challenging in recent days with high temperatures and regular visits to some pools by seals. With the current high temperatures forecast to continue, it is likely that the fishery will be forced to close at some point this weekend.
In recent weeks, we welcomed many visiting anglers from Spain, France, Holland, UK and elsewhere which is lovely to see and their contribution to Ballisodare and tourism generally is greatly appreciated.
Recently, well-known YouTuber Senan Stanley visited the Ballisodare Fishery producing a 30min video which is well worth watching.
Spent a few hours chasing brown trout a few days last week
Senan Stanley and Paul Bourke have been getting some great trout fishing on Lough Derg. Last week they found the trout to be feeding well with the abundance of bait fish in the lake.
Trout on Lough Derg. Hard to believe it rained last week
On July 3rd he pair fished for a few hours in the morning and had a good few trout between 35-50cm on light spinning tackle, all released. Looks like great fun!
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1m plus pike from Lough Derg
Paul was out on Jly 4th with Calum, who worked hard all day. Calum eventually managed to boat a 101cm and a 90 cm pike nearing the evening time. It’s never easy when the fish are not active but there’s always a chance
Guided fishing for pike, trout and perch on Lough Derg. Fishing from a custom fitted Sheelin boat with all modern electronics including live scope, gps electric trolling motor etc
For enquiries and bookings get in touch via Facebook or Instagram.
Irish Fishing Tours provides customised fishing holidays based in the picturesque harbour village of Garrykennedy on the shores of Lough Derg. Our comprehensive fishing trips include a guiding service, tackle hire and food and accommodation.
Choose from my list of existing fishing holidays or contact me to tailor one to your specific requirements. Airport transfers can be arranged on request.
Irish Fishing Tours is owned by Paul Bourke. Paul has lived and fished here all his life. As a guide, he will show you the best fishing locations, advise you on baits and methods and then allow you the freedom to explore the lake yourself. He fully understands the needs and interests of the experienced enthusiast.
Continuing their fly fishing in hot waters theme on Ireland on the Fly, this week Tom & Daire are joined by Ronan Collins, a well-known and well-travelled fly angler who is just back from a trip to Gabon in west Africa.
Ronan tells them why fly fishing in Africa should be on everyone’s bucket list with an incredible array of species to be caught from crevalle to snappers, tarpon, barracuda and sharks.
Ronan is also on the board of Salmon Watch Ireland and he talks about this year’s very poor spring run and why a multi-faceted, multi-agency approach is drastically needed to address the emergency situation relating to salmon numbers in Ireland.
David Norman of Angling Adventures West Cork has added more dates to his ½ day, Summer Bass Lure Workshops schedule…
Finally got a brief window last week to go in search of Bass before the Summer weather returned to its familiar unsettled ways!
I managed to pick up this beauty and missed a couple of others, which more than made the high ratio of work ashore to get afloat versus the actual fishing time more than worth it!
Go fishing…
Following the interest in my recent Bass Lure Fishing Workshops and requests for other dates I’ve decided to offer two additional dates! 🎣
Thursday 10th & Friday 11th July (afternoons)
Max 2 people per session, all experience levels catered for.
David has been lure then fly fishing since the mid noughties with some of the best guides and anglers in Ireland and abroad.
Kayak fishing by lure & fly now takes him and his guiding guests beyond the shore to target Pollock, Bass or Wrasse with the chance of other species such as Codling, Coalfish, Mackerel or Garfish.
Shore fishing at night is also a very special experience.
The River Lee was running extremely low last week. There were a few anglers out and 10 salmon were reported caught, best was 7lb at Kingsley Weir on prawn.
