Joe Broderick had a 10½lb salmon on a Black Flying ‘C’ lure
River Drowes
Water levels continued to rise on the Drowes and at present there are good water levels with the gauge reading 0.85 metres. Rods reported seeing fresh fish running and there were 7 salmon caught for the week.
Joe Broderick had a 10½lb salmon on a Black Flying ‘C’ lure
On Monday, Marty O’Harra recorded a 10lb salmon caught from the Mill Pool on a Yellow Belly Devon Minnow. On Wednesday, Conor Healy reported a 10lb salmon caught on a Flying ‘C’ lure from the Mill Pool. On Thursday, Simon Harris logged a 9½lb salmon caught on a Devon Minnow from the Perch Pool and there were 2 further salmon caught of which, we are awaiting details. On Friday, Marty O’Harra recorded a 9lb salmon caught from the Mill Pool on a Yellow Belly Devon Minnow once again. On Saturday, Joe Broderick accounted for a 10½lb salmon caught on a Black Flying ‘C’ lure from Stoppage.
With the good water levels and increasing run of spring salmon, prospects look rosy for the coming week.
Make a booking
The Drowes Fishery is one of Ireland’s premier spring salmon and grilse fisheries. The river is some 5 miles in length, with over 70 named pools, flowing from Lough Melvin at Lareen Bay and entering the sea at Tullaghan, just outside Bundoran. The Drowes has a wide variety of water suitable for all fishing methods, including several miles of good fly water and deeper slower moving pools suitable for spinning and bait fishing.
For information and bookings on the Drowes Fishery & Lough Melvin see http://www.drowessalmonfishery.com Tel: 071 9841055 (8am to 12 noon). Mob: +353 (0) 87 8050806
Lough Melvin
Lough Melvin was very quiet over the fortnight due in great part to unfavourable weather conditions but also maybe, due to a lack of fish reported from the Drowes. As such, we have no reports of the first salmon of the season caught on Lough Melvin. When news filters down of the salmon caught on the Drowes, I think we will see a few boats venturing out this coming week (weather permitting!).
For info/Guides/boat hire on Lough Melvin contact Sean Maguire’s Tackle Shop, Main Street, Garrison. Tel: 0044 7871443304
For bookings/guides etc on the Rossinver Fishery contact Bill McNeary, Tel: 071 9854930 or Jim Hoye, Tel: 0831197428
For info see http://www.rossinverfishery.com/
Billy Downes reports from the River Laune in Kerry where all the rain over the weekend put the river out of order…
As of Monday 6th of March the Laune is at a serious height of 2.4 M. Totally un-fishable for a week at least and that is provided it stops raining. When it does one would hope that lots of fish would have run the river and some would be holding up in Laune Anglers waters. This excellent water should also bring in some willing spring sea trout to two and three pounds.
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. 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.
‘First day, first trout’
Gina Tanczos, Hungary with her beautiful first day of the season Sheelin trout
‘Now faith in the substance hoped for, the evidence of things not seen’ Hebrews 11:1
A new season opens on Lough Sheelin
Last Wednesday, March 1st Lough Sheelin – the jewel in Ireland’s angling crown, opened its waters to a brand new fishing season. On that first day around fifteen boats headed out, some from first light and the excitement and anticipation on that day and indeed in the preceding days was almost palatable as anglers reinstated their boats in bays and along shorelines, assembled gear and sorted flies.
‘First day, first trout’ Gina Tanczos, Hungary with her beautiful first day of the season Sheelin trout
Hungary native Gina Tanczos broke the mould on the first day with an impressive series of firsts – first woman to catch the first Sheelin trout of the season with her first time out on this lake, as well as claiming the weight of the week.
January and February have been uncharacteristically dry and mild but I had been assured by many local farmers (who are always in the know as far as weather is concerned) that we were due ‘for a slap of rain’ and true to form the real Irish weather set in coinciding typically with the start of the angling season so from March 1st onwards temperatures dropped and heavy rain, sleet and snow set in which although very familiar makes early season fishing that bit less attractive.
Sheelin in March
With high winds and heavy rainfall Sheelin’s water was predominantly discoloured which again poses difficulty for fly fishing and restricts the areas of success to the places were the water was the clearest which for this week was at the back of Church Island, Holywell and into the bays at Chambers and Kilnahard.
Enrico Fantasia, Dublin with his 45cm trout, March 4th (www.loughsheelinguidingservices.com)
While perhaps not discussed in the reverent tones used for the mayfly season, March 1st is still a date of note in the trout angler’s calendar. For this is the day that, for many fly fishermen, marks the start ‘proper’ of the fishing season as trout once more become legal quarry on this lake. However, the start of the season seems to slip by, while interestingly enough the end of the trout season on October 12th is met with a twinge of sadness.
The Hatches
Neglecting the start of the season relates, in part, to what is commonly termed ‘expectation management’. In this information age we are bombarded with tales, rumours and images of huge trout caught, the ease at which they were caught coupled with a bewilderingly wide array of flies. Lough Sheelin adds a little more to this scenario in that this beautiful limestone lake has a reputation for heavy weight trout so the bar is set high in that a trout of under 2lbs seems to be almost dismissed as only in the pinkie category, hardly worth a mention.
Gammarus Shrimp
The pressure is on and then launching out on to the lake the angler may well find the fish dour and sullen, non-existent fly life and the weather inclement, so it is no surprise that the fishing here as well as on any other Irish lake in early season may not live up to expectations. The trick, therefore is to limit (often drastically) one’s hopes for the day.
Owen Pickersgill with an early season Sheelin trout
The angler who starts the season early has one major card stacked in his/her favour – naivety. After a winter of peace and the rigors of spawning, early season trout are less cautious than they will be later and thus easier to fool. The trout in this winter water will be holding closer to the bottom and minimizing their energy expenditure so they stay deep and feed on the copious amounts of shrimp and freshwater louse (assellus and gammerus) which adorn the lake bed. Snails and nymphs with the odd zebra mussel also feature on their menu.
Christopher Defillon, Navan with his first trout of the season
The Catches
Deep and slow is the rule of the day. The di3 was the preferred line for most anglers and those that headed for deeper water even chanced a di5 but at this time of the year it’s best to stick to the shallows and the slower sinker.
Martin McCoy, Northern Ireland making it look easy with his early season Sheelin trout, March 4th
The best areas for catching this week was the north shore of the lake from Chambers Bay to Crover into Merry pt. and picking out the most rocky shores, shallows and exposed points.
A second trout for Thomas Harten, March 4th
Fishing anywhere on this lake is always weather dependent so particularly at this time of the year it is best to stick to the sheltered bays and behind islands.
‘One in the net’
A total of 21 trout was reported by anglers in the opeing week on Sheelin. The heaviest fish for the week was a 4½ lb trout caught by Gina Tanczos, Hungary on March 1st.
Selection of Catches
Thomas Harten, Kilnaleck – 2 trout at 2lbs and 2½ on a Sooty Olive.
Martin McCoy, Lisnaskea – 2 trout between 3 and 4lbs, Saturday March 4th.
Eammon Ross, Ballyconnell – 1 trout at 1½ lbs using a Sooty Olive
Christopher de Fillon, Navan – 2 trout at 1.5 and 2kg using lures, at Church Island, March 1st
Wexford angler – March 1st , 1 trout at 2½ lbs using a Bibio Variant.
The Flies
March is not the time to expect many rises simply because there is no fly life to tempt these normally sub surface feeders up to the top. Early season for the angler on this lake is all about sunken lines and lures, not flies as such except perhaps fish flies on droppers but it’s mainly large lures – things that look more like little fish than anything else.
A Humungus from KsG flies
I tried in vain to persuade a good friend of mine to fish this lake early season but was met with the words and I quote from his eloquently phrased email to me ‘I’d love to get on Sheelin in a mild spell of spring weather to experience the duck fly fishing there but I would rather gouge my eyes out with a broken stick than pull lures on a sunk line. Surface fishing in nice conditions with duck fly on the water would be priceless. Really special’.
A ‘new age’ Minkie (KsG Flies)
The most popular lures used this week were The Humungus (Black & Silver), the Zonkers (in black with red and a silver underside), the Cats Whisker and the Minkie’s in various colours particularly those patterns which had silver threaded through them.
Threadless Glass Buzzer
Lures are designed to primarily imitate baitfish but they can also act as attractors, when their bright flashy appearance and movement is what makes them so successful. They are all intended to be fished at reasonable speed to provoke the chase instinct inherent in all game fish.
Moving away from the lures (to keep my friend happy as well as the myriad of other staunch fly anglers) there were successes with the traditional patterns particularly using the Sooty Olive, Black Pennell, Weighted Silver Dabbler, Peter Ross Dabbler, Golden Olive Dabbler, the March Brown and the Bibios. Reports of fish being caught once more with the old traditional favourites admittedly felt like a comfort blanket being wrapped around this angling report. Back in the day, these flies like the Black Pennell were tied with the only materials available at that time. Long before the advent of ‘modern’ tying materials, they were created and improved upon at a far slower pace than today’s modern counterparts but they worked and decades later are still working.
Thomas Harten’s first day trout of 2lbs caught using a Sooty Olive
As the lake rested from its anglers during the closed season, the trout did not and many trout ran the rivers to spawn. The spawning season gone by was a little different to other years presumably because of the low water levels. Sheelin’s main spawning river – the Upper Inny was recording trout spawning as late as the end of February 2017 while the Mountnugent finished spawning in early December 2016.
A trout spawning in the Upper Inny, February
During the winter months the local angling club – the LSTPA were not idle and held a series of fly tying classes at the IFI offices at Kilnahard. These classes were popular and were enthusiastically attended weekly by a number of anglers varying from ten to seventy years of age. As well as a lot of fun some master flies were created and will no doubt be used in the forthcoming season.
Sunset on Sheelin
IFI wish to convey their deepest sympathy and condolences to Sheelin angler Pat Bannon and his family on the tragic death of his young son Patrick on January 29th 2017 . Pat is a regular Lough Sheelin angler and every year organizes a very enjoyable and amicable trout competition – the Royal Cup on the lake. Our thoughts are with him always.
For anyone interested in joining Lough Sheelin’s Angling Club – The Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association please contact Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033.
The local angling club – the LSTPA will be kick starting the fishing season with their annual early season competition – The Kilroy Cup on Sunday March 19th.
This is a members only competition but membership is available on the day. Starting time from Kilnahard pier is 11.0am to 5pm with a 16” two fish bag limit.
The heaviest fish wins and there will be several prizes up for grabs.
For further details please contact Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033
House Rules
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
A catch & release policy is actively encouraged on the lake at all times
Lifejackets
‘Getting it right’ Noah Breen Johnson all togged out for some fishing
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.
We would implore anglers and all other users to wear life jackets for their own safety as well as it being the law.
Please put on and keep on that life jacket until you are back on dry land.
Ken Whelan and Jason O Riordan are offering a number of courses for anglers this year…
Please find below and attached details of our angling courses for 2017. As you will see we have expanded our offerings to include a very exciting course on saltwater fishing for bass and sea trout. Considering the success we enjoyed last season testing out marks along the south coast, this course should be quite an adventure!! We are also running daytime and night time sea trout courses, which will include estuarine fishing on the some of our favourite southern rivers and salmon fishing on one of the best beats on the Munster Blackwater. Our ever popular Match the Hatch series will move to a gorgeous, intimate, little private lake near Ashford in County Wicklow…as they say: less than an hour from Dublin.
2017 fishing courses
Have you an idea for other courses?? Do let us know, as we are always keen to design bespoke courses for clubs, local interest groups or fishery owners. Last autumn’s Freshwater Detective series in UCD was again a great success, with very positive feedback from the participants. As we did last year, we plan to roll out this course at various venues across the country. We are also hoping to announce details shortly of the AST adopt-a-stream initiative – the Small Streams Characterisation System training programme (http://www.atlanticsalmontrust.org/small-streams-course/). The course is ideally suited to club members interested in mapping, assessing and protecting their small feeder / spawning streams.
Jason and I will be next at one of our favourite shows of the year – the Northwest Angling Fair in Strabane (8th and 9th April, http://www.derrystrabane.com/Subsites/Angling-Fair/Welcome). A little earlier ( March 10th and 11th ), Ken will be helping to man the Atlantic Salmon Trust stand and giving some talks at the London Fly Fishing Fair ( http://thelondonflyfishingfair.co.uk/).
Do book early, as based on past experience, these courses fill up fast!
Mark Walton of Fly fishing for pike Irelandreports on the first Lough Key Social & Competition, one of Ireland’s only pike fly fishing events…
Well that was great craic! Many thanks to all competitors who travelled from the four corners of Ireland, not sure which was farthest Cork, Waterford, Belfast and Dublin, our target was 10 anglers and we had 24 in horrible conditions.
The weather was very poor though it improved as the day went on. The high water and at times coloured water were the most challenging aspects of the day for the anglers. Weather aside, I have to admit it really did live up to our hopes, a social, where we can meet and share ideas, get some people on new waters and maybe catch a few fish, yeah the weather was shocking, but this is Ireland!
If I do say myself, I think it was amazing we got off on time and we were all wrapped up and done before 6, good effort everyone! For the record, not only was it my first competition to organise, it was my first to compete in!
A nice pike on fly on a poor day
Before we get into the competition results, I’d like to thank a few people. Firstly I’d like to thank the prize sponsors:
Michael McMenamin, Sean Carty, George Burdess, Stuart Wylie, Predator Battle Ireland, Mick McShane Flytying, Barton Smiths, anonymous Nayat supplier and Pikeskinz, who I must apologise I hitherto failed to mention, sincere apologies Chris Chandler. It was very generous of them all, particularly as we do not allow commercial posts in the group, they really are doing this without expecting anything in return.
There was a lot of people assisting throughout the process from inception (discussion over beers last year), you know who you are, though I would in particular like to thank Boyle Anglers, Declan Conroy Derrick Winter! Bodo Funke, his maps, assistance with B&B’s, measuring boards and loads of other stuff I forgot.
The longest pike was caught by Mark Walton
We also raised €176 for Northwest Hospice, I was amazed as some anglers paid more than the entry fee and some who could not make it paid in full, even though not present.
Off the 12 boat teams, 8 caught, I have to admit half way through the day I thought we were facing a blank for a competition!
We decided to add total length of the three largest fish of any team to determine the winner, as opposed to biggest fish, we wanted to reward consistent fishing as opposed to potentially a single big fish.
1st Mark Walton/Stuart Wylie (86cm, 60cm, 50cm) 4 fish
2nd David Losso Losty/Paul Dennis (70cm, 53cm, 50cm) 4 fish
3rd Bodo Funke/ Markus Müller (62cm, 52cm, 49cm) 3 fish
4th Alan Magee/Davy Patton (59cm, 55cm) 2 fish
5th Paul Wynne/Chris Barry (51cm, 50cm) 2 fish
6th Brendan Sharkey/Julian Dusseau (73cm) 1 fish
7th Adam Tylman/ Garrett Bergin (55cm) 1 fish
8th Myles Kelly/Paul Kane (46cm) 1 fish
9th Ronan Broderick/George Burdess
9th Kuba Stan/ Eamon Gallagher
9th Mart Lewis/Jason O Brien
9th Thomas O Donovan/ John Loughney
Mark and Stuart went on to win the day
I have to admit I am slightly embarrassed to win, Stuart is fine with it :-). Certainly home advantage helped, though interestingly none of my fish where caught in spots of the lake I have caught before, my usual marks didn’t produce. Fair play to Losso Losty/Paul Dennis who never fished the lake and were a notable 2nd!
It was never going to make 60cm, but on the day every fish counted
Noteworthy mention to Alan Magee, who enjoyed the hospitality of Boyle a little too much Friday but still competed, you seriously have no idea!
I would really like do more events like this and I’m happy to organise another one in my neck of the woods in autumn if people are keen, maybe just meet as opposed to a competition, but I realise it’s a long way for many, so I’m throwing it out there if anyone else would be keen to organise a social somewhere else, have boat, will travel!
If not the cup will be there to be claimed the first Saturday of march 2018. Next time try and come down the night before, the banter in the pub might have been the highlight of the weekend!
See you there god willing and thank you all for a great day out!
February passed by without any spring salmon being caught on the Bandon following the recent years’ trend. March is the month where most anglers begin to put in their initial efforts and we should see the first fish landed shortly.
River Bandon 02 March
River conditions heading into the weekend were perfect for fishing. The rain had ensured that the Bandon remained at a steady level and fishable. But then the rain really fell and the river went into flood, rising by about 4 feet and making fishing an impossibility for most of the weekend. Unsurprisingly, there were no reports of salmon landed or lost. The only thing lost on the river recently was a landing net found by one of the club members on Thursday – if it’s yours get in touch with the club sec
The water level is about .60m and falling and water temperature has dropped following all the cold rain and hail.
The forecast coming days is for milder, drier weather which will make it easier for anglers to stand on the bank of the river!
For those who use it as a reference point for water levels, the Bandon Flood Warning website (http://www.bandonfloodwarning.ie)is back up and running.
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/
Adrian Browne reports on the the final leg of the 2016 Club Master Angler…
05 March: Severe weather conditions with very strong westerly winds blowing up the lake made for a difficult day on the final leg of our 2016 Club Master Angler competition. For most of the match it was like sea conditions. The Carp where hiding from the wind and it was impossible to hold the pole – every one had to fish the feeder.
The junior anglers did well. John Brown 19.5lbs putting many senior anglers to shame
The master angler title went down to the wire. The format is that 4 of 6 best results count and in the end George Quinlan came out on top by just 1 point after finishing 2nd today.
Carp
Master Angler
1st George Quinlan 7pts
Joint 2nd Danny Murphy & Adrian Browne 8pts
3rd James Foley 9pts
Todays results
1st Adrian Browne 21.5lbs
2nd George Quinlan 7.5lbs
3rd James Foley 4.6 lbs
Juniors
1st John Brown 19.5lbs
2nd Darragh Doyle 2.9lbs
The winners
Go fishing…
Adrian Browne
Oaklands Lake,
Marshmeadows,
New Ross, Co. Wexford.
EU backs investigation into climate change on fish and shellfish in Irish Sea
Researchers investigating the risks posed by climate change on the sustainability of fish and shellfish in the Irish Sea are being given more than seven million euro in EU funding to carry out two projects. It is hoped the projects, one of which involves developing and testing a new ‘smart grid’ electricity network to help reduce energy costs for the fisheries industry, will help protect and develop the marine life and fisheries industry in Wales and Ireland… Irish Independent, 06/03/17. Read the full article ‘EU backs investigation into climate change on fish and shellfish in Irish Sea‘.
EU backs investigation into climate change on fish and shellfish in Irish Sea
It’s the way they would look at me when I hauled them in to the sand: such reproach in their eyes, dark marbles hooded in twin nacelles above their noses. They had their defences – vicious, rose-bush barbs on their backs and tail and a little pursed mouth on the pale underside that bites hard like a teething baby. But their spreading, generous, tremulous wings were what we wanted and carved out for the freezer… Irish Times, 04/04/17. Read the full article ‘Michael Viney: The fish disappearing from Irish waters‘.
Stephen O’Flanagan emails with news of the workings of Killinarden Angling Initiative – Kai, based in Tallaght, Co Dublin. Although not an angling club per se, the initiative was set up in 2014 to introduce people “from all walks of life” to get involved in the sport. The “connecting community” programme is developed to work with the probation services, mental health, rehabilitation, ethnic and people with disabilities. Weekly workshops are based on pike, coarse, game and carp… Irish Times, 06/03/17. Read the full article ‘Broadening angling’s appeal in Killinarden‘.
