Artur PikeSeeker reports on a recent tench fishing trip where he catches some really nice fish…
The end of June and the beginning of July is a good time to catch tench. The fish are returning from their spawning grounds, they are hungry and start to feed intensively. If you are lucky, you can catch some really great fish.
The method feeder gives great results. Here are a few fish from my last trip. There was a lot to do. I catch a lot of fish over 50cm. Great fishing trip.
he last few days saw a drastic change in the weather for most parts of the country after the extremely dry and warm conditions of late. Most areas recorded moderate to high amounts of rain with air temperatures also dropping. This was welcome news among anglers as water temperatures had risen significantly making angling difficult and even leading to closures of a number of salmon fisheries such as the Galway and Moy Fisheries. However, as of this morning the Moy Fishery in Ballina has opened again, while salmon angling on the Galway Fishery was permitted again from Wednesday this week.
Before the closure water levels remained at 2 gates, with a good drop of water coming over the top of the weir in Galway which allowed for good salmon fishing with a number of nice grilse caught by local and visiting anglers alike. Fishing was described as OK when the fishery reopened, with 6 fish on each of the first 2 days after the closure.
Over to trout angling, where rising water temperatures have also become a growing concern in recent years. This week’s episode of the Ireland on the Fly podcast, “Trout in hot water”, covers this topic featuring well know angler and scientist Ken Whelan who details the impact and consequences of rising temperatures on our freshwater fish as well as their food sources and the challenges anglers are facing fishing in a changing environment.
Keith McDonnel’s latest blog post on river trout tactics might also be of interest to the trout anglers out there. Keith shares some of his knowledge on targeting large trout with dry flies, and as usual, his writing is accompanied by some fantastic photography.
On the lakes, a number of trout competitions were fished last weekend. Lough Carra fished well in the last week of June with Lough Carra Trout Anglers Association having its third evening flyfishing competition in squally weather conditions. Foxford Salmon Anglers held their previously postponed Presidents Cup Competition on Lough Conn with Michael Tiernan scooping first prize, while Donal Raftery won Dublin Trout Anglers LM Byrne Cup which was fished on Lough Lene.
Michael Tiernan with a beautiful Lough Conn trout
While pike fishing usually slows down during the summer months, coarse angling remains in full swing with various matches fished throughout the island. In the North, the Lurgan Coarse Angling Club fished the latest round of their Blackwater Summer League last weekend. Anglers feared that the sunshine and high temperatures might have put the fish off the feed, but they needn’t have worried, as the fish were in top form, with bream and skimmers feeding avidly. This led to some massive weights with Nicky Seedon bagging over 45kg to take the win! Staying in the North, round 3 of the Lower Bann Summer League was held on Sunday, June 22 on the Argory Section of the River Blackwater. Weights were also impressive with Keith Russell winning the overall match with 16.325kg, made up mostly with skimmers.
Massive weights were recorded at the Blackwater Summer League
In the South, Leinster Coarse Fishing Federation held the final match of their Leinster Open Competition on Clonahee Lake in Co. Roscommon last weekend. Unfortunately, the weather was atrocious, with strong winds and very heavy rain showers. However, the competitors got stuck in and caught a variety of fish, including roach, perch, small skimmers, and beautiful tench to 5lb 13oz. The event was won by Dara Finnegan.
Finally over the sea angling. Starting on the east coast, a group of Welsh anglers fishing with Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters found plenty of species in a taking mood over the weekend. Tope, huss, hounds, gurnard, bass, codling, and of course, dogs were among the many species caught.
Bass man and Lure Fishing Podcast host Cormac Walsh found the time to tackle some bass along the southeast coast this week. Cormac found a bit of shelter over the weekend from the westerlies but plenty of weed in the water made fishing shallow divers, metals and sandeels quite tricky. However, top water lures finally did the trick delivering a total of 4 bass best just over 60cm.
Cormac Walsh with a nice Wexford bass
Going clockwise around the coast, the next on our list is Jim Clohessy, who was fishing over some wrecks out of Cork Harbour mainly catching ling best at 14 lbs. Check out his comprehensive report here.
Meanwhile, avid kayak angler David Norman of Angling Adventures West Cork sent in a great report about big pollack on pencil lures, while skipper Luke Aston reported some good fishing from the Shannon Estuary including bull huss, some good thornback ray, decent pollack and tope up to 145cm. Excellent fishing considering the conditions which prevented Luke from leaving the sheltered waters of the estuary.
Tope from the Shannon Estuary
Further north, in Galway Bay, fishing was excellent during the week aboard the Brazen Hussey skippered by John Fleming of Blue Shark Angling Galway. According to John his anglers enjoyed some “savage fishing” catching ray, coalies, pollack and the first porbeagle of the season.
Other news
An exciting opportunity, for women interested in learning about flyfishing, will be happening at the Southern County Fishing Resort near Garryhill on Sunday 13th July 2025. The event has been organised by the Irish Ladies Flyfishing Association (ILFA). It begins at 11am and will include a short indoor session followed by 4 hours of casting instruction and practice outside. The course is aimed at beginners or novice anglers aged over 18 and all equipment will be provided. Dan O’Neill from Killkenny who is an APGAI Qualified Fly-Casting Instructor will be the lead instructor. He will be assisted by Maddy Kelly from Co. Down who is the current President of the International Ladies Flyfishing Association representing Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.
Andrew Callan of onthewater.ie was back in touch once again with more good news. They have added two more clubs to their online permit shop. The website is now selling guided fishing with Johannes Bulfin of Watershed Fly Fishing. Check out their full listing here.
And now the weather…
It will remain humid tonight with patchy rain and drizzle. Lowest temperatures of 13 to 17 degrees in moderate to fresh southwest winds, easing light to moderate overnight. The weekend will start out mostly cloudy with scattered falls of rain and drizzle. However, it will become drier in the west and north during Saturday afternoon and evening with sunny spells developing. Sunday will be a warm and humid day with maximum daytime temperatures of 19 to 23 degrees in moderate southerly winds. There will be lots of cloud in the south in the morning with perhaps some patches of mist and drizzle. However, cloud will break in many areas during the afternoon with bright or sunny spells developing. The outlook for the beginning of the week is for the mixed and changeable weather to continue.
Don’t forget to double-check the forecast before heading off, and if you’re going to sea, check the tides.
If you have an angling story to share with the Irish Angling Update, please send it to [email protected]and don’t forget that all of our fishing reports are available on our dedicated Angling Ireland Facebook page.
Peter Corcoran reports that Lough Carra fished well in the last week of June with Lough Carra Trout Anglers Association having its third evening flyfishing competition in squally weather conditions.
Dave Kidby with his Lough Carra trout
This trout was caught by Dave Kidby with Peter Corcoran as his boatman. The heaviest fish of the evening was caught by a local lady angler and weighed 3lb.
Join the club…
Arrangements to join the club can be done by contacting Peter Byrne at 087 623 8264. Your participation would be welcome.
This week, with the hot temperatures we’ve been having and the noticeable lack of rainfall, Daire & Tom speak to renowned fisheries scientist, Ken Whelan, who gave a talk at the recent Irish Spring Angling Fair, called ‘Trout in hot water’.
Ken details the impact and consequences of rising temperatures on our freshwater fish as well as their food sources and he challenges anglers to start thinking and adapting to the changing habitat and waters that we are going to be seeing.
As always with Ken, he’s got some thought-provoking and fascinating insights well worth listening to and considering.
Skipper John Fleming does like a bit of shark fishing. Well, when we say like, he’s probably borderline obsessed. So we’re sure he’s a happy man today, with the first porbeagle shark of the season brought to the boat yesterday to kick off the sharking season on the Brazen Hussy. Well done to Conor, who played the fish well to the boat, his first porbeagle. Check out the video here.
John says last week produced “some savage fishing on Wednesday gone with Thomas and crew. Ray providing the entertainment as usual and as always catching the smallest fish this time a baby whiting. Pollock, coalies and mackerel were pretty solid on the ground and we had a couple of porbeagle visitors as well, the lads had 3 rods out and we got a couple of runs but no takes and shortly after we had a nice fish hassling the pollock we were catching.”
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John has limited availability for the next few weeks, mostly midweek, so give him a call if you’re off and fancy some great charter fishing.
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
Skipper Luke Aston reports some good fishing from the Shannon Estuary. Mackerel are seemingly plentiful now up as far as Beal, providing plenty of fresh bait. Broken weather meant they could only fish in shelter, but that is what the estuary provides, along with some nice fish. Tope proved elusive this week, but College Bay produced some good thornback ray and bull huss, and some pollack around Horse Island.
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Another day last week saw a tope trip produce better results, with some fine fish up to 145cm. They also caught a preciously tagged tope, which will be interesting to see where it was tagged first.
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Tope from the Shannon Estuary
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:[email protected]Web:www.fishandstay.com
High water temperatures again resulted in the Galway Fishery being closed on the 21st June. This time it was just a 4 day closure, as water temperatures dropped sufficiently by the 24th to allow reopening the following day. Before the closure water levels remained at 2 gates, with a good drop of water coming over the top, but the level on Lough Corrib dropped away in the last week and we are down to 1 gate on the weir now – perfect for wading and flyfishing.
The last week before closing saw nice fish caught; John Ryan had 2 grilse on fly to 5lbs. UK angler Simon White had a 6.75lbs grilse on fly. There were more grilse for Fergal Cormican, Eoin Cosgrove, Brian O’Rourke and Garrett Byrne (2 fish) all on fly, while Sean O’Toole had a 9.5lbs salmon on shrimp, and Daniel Donoghue had an 8lbs fish on fly. The last day open on the 20th saw 6 fish landed, including another 2 for John Ryan on very small flies, and fish also for Coleman Counihan, Jon Menzies and Paul McCabe.
Fishing was described as ok when the fishery reopened, with 6 fish on each of the first 2 days back, including grilse for Kevin Mitchell, Niall Lynch, Damien Lawless, Billy Moylan and Tony Kavanagh, among others. While more grilse have been seen, the number of fish in the river is nothing like normal for the time of year, and anglers are praying the grilse run is just delayed this year.
Go Fishing
To enquire about availability, contact the fishery at 091 562388 or email [email protected]
Andrew Callan of onthewater.ie was back in touch once again with more good news. They have added two more clubs to their online permit shop. The website is now selling guided fishing with Johannes Bulfin of Watershed Fly Fishing. Johannes offers pike, perch and trout fishing on the Shannon system. Book now for an unforgettable experience on the Ireland’s longest river.
All competition entries for TAFI Leinster will now be going through the website also, to help simplify the process for both TAFI Leinster and anglers alike.
For the weekending 22 June there were 3 grilse off Currane and a small number of sea trout reported to the office. Water levels in the Inny, flesk and Kenmare rivers are moderate and salmon are starting to arrive in the rivers.
Sea Trout – Catch and release only
Inland Fisheries Ireland wishes to remind anglers that the Conservation of Sea Trout (No.7 or Kerry District) Waterville Area Bye-Law No. 971 of 2019 remains in effect. This Bye-law prohibits the retention and possession of any sea trout (Salmo trutta L.) taken by any fishing engine or by rod and line in the Waterville area i.e. that part of the sea eastward of a line drawn from the most westerly point of Bolus Head to the most westerly point of Lamb’s Head and to all the waters discharging in to it.
The Bye-Law mainly affects seatrout fishing on :-
the river Inny (Knockmoyle) and its tributaries
the waters of the Waterville system, including the Waterville River, Lough Currane, the Cummeragh River and all their tributary rivers and lakes
the waters of Ballinskelligs Bay
For more information on the daily conditions on Lough Currane, all the craic and news be sure to check out Vincent Appleby’s Salmon and Sea Trout blog for regular reports with back dates, petitions, public consultation notices, readers letters and videos and more of what’s happening in Waterville and beyond
June 18, 2025. Six Currane boats participated in catch and release (C&R) Salmon and Sea Trout fishing under favourable weather conditions marked by a gentle south-southwest wind. Despite the conducive weather, no C&R Grilse or Sea Trout were reported caught. Nonetheless, the anglers appreciated the sunny conditions. Weather data from the previous day indicated a rainfall of 4.4mm, a maximum air temperature of 17.1°C, and 4 hours and 6 minutes of sunshine.
June 19, 2025. Starting with a retrospective date of June 15th, local angler Mr. Bob Priestley caught a notable 4 lbs Grilse while trolling. Dissatisfied with his day’s catch on the lake, he docked his boat and visited his friend Mr. Robert Elson, proprietor of https://thecrescentwaterville.ie/ Together, they ventured out to sea in Mr. Elson’s boat and successfully caught two impressive pollocks.
Returning to the present, today saw the capture and release of a fine 3 lbs Sea Trout. Regarding today’s weather conditions at Currane, there was a variable moderate wind from the ESE, which then shifted to SE and SSE, with gusts reaching up to 48 km/h, accompanied by bright sunshine throughout the day.
June 20, 2025. There were five boats on the water, and reports indicate that only a few trout were caught. Regarding the wild Atlantic salmon, no activity was noted. The weather forecast for today’s Currane anglers is as follows: gentle and variable winds from the Southeast, veering towards the South-southeast and South. Yesterday’s weather conditions included no recorded rainfall, a maximum air temperature of 26.4°C, and 13 hours and 5 minutes of sunshine.
June 21, 2025. Today was the longest day of the year. According to reports, Currane anglers had a long day with only a few trout caught on the fly, and the Salmon Grilse were generally inactive in the Western waters. The weather today included variable gentle to moderate winds from the south, veering to SSW, S, SSW, and SW, with intermittent cloud cover. Yesterday’s weather recorded no rainfall, with a maximum air temperature of 20.4°C, and a total sunlight duration of 6 hours and 1 minute.
June 22, 2025. There have been no reports of Catch & Release Salmon or Sea Trout from the Currane anglers thus far. With that said, we shall proceed to the weather conditions reported by the Currane anglers: moderate and variable winds from the West, shifting to WNW and NW, accompanied by substantial cloud cover. The weather observations for the previous day recorded a rainfall amount of 1.1mm, a maximum air temperature of 19.5°C, and a total sunshine duration of 2 hours and 4 minutes.
June 23, 2025. The Currane Catch & Release Salmon and Sea Trout anglers reported no activity in all categories. Consequently, we turn our attention to the weather conditions at Currane. The wind was moderate from the west, occasionally shifting to the west-southwest, accompanied by reasonable cloud cover. It is worth noting that there has been a significant amount of rain. The previous day’s weather recorded a rainfall total of 4.4 mm, a maximum air temperature of 17.2°C, and 2 hours and 8 minutes of sunshine.
24 June 2025. There was no activity reported from the Currane anglers in the Catch and Release Salmon and Sea Trout Department. It appears their fishing equipment remained unused.
Today’s weather forecast for Currane anglers indicates moderate winds coming from the west-southwest. The weather data from the previous day includes 5.6mm of rainfall, a maximum air temperature of 16.6°C, and 1 hour of sunshine.
June 25, 3025. Catch and Release (C&R) salmon and sea trout anglers refrained from voicing their opinions. Evidently, their reels remained silent amidst the cloudy conditions and light rain throughout the day. The weather was characterized by a gentle to moderate south-southwest wind that veered southwest. The previous day’s weather data recorded 3.3mm of rainfall, a maximum air temperature of 16.6°C, and a mere 4 minutes of sunshine.
Notes: Located at Lakelands House Bed and Breakfast and Self Catering Accommodation, on Ireland’s best sea trout lake, Lough Currane. Frank is a professional angling guide and boatman.
Sea angling can be arranged with local operators.
Boat Hire
Boats for hire. All boats and engines are moored on the farm, 300 metres from the house, with easy access from the road with car park and boat shed.
Notes: Having ghillied on Lough Currane for over 30 years Vincent is a great choice for those looking for a guided service or flyfishing instruction on the Lake. All ages are catered for and even experienced anglers will benefit from the watercraft and fly-lore unique to Lough Currane. All tackle is provided and accommodation can be organised if required.
Smallish pollack had no hassle taking on the big lure
Jim Clohessy of TopFisher.eu found the fish on Saturday but getting them to bite was another story…
Wednesday 18 June was one of the nicest forecasts so far this year. My usual victims were all unavailable so I went on a solo run. I do love a solo run from time to time however there’s no doubt that having crew makes the day easier all round. It’s more craic too!
A cracking day on the water. New season new flag
I do like a bit of experimentation and that was part of the plan: to fish some likely ground that probably has never seen a rod and line and then to fall back on some wrecks should the need arise.
What a cracking morning! I had a need for fresh bait (me mammy was also looking for some mackerel). That was a bit of a pain as I found the mackerel to be patchy and scarce. Loads of little herring about. It took too long to get a half dozen macks so I was a bit stressed heading offshore. It was beautiful conditions. I would be relying on the tide for drift until the breeze that was forecast developed.
I worked hard for these few. You can see some of the little herring in there too. If I was stuck I’d have used these.
First stop was a patch of ground with a lovely looking trough in about 100m. The tide meant I could drift along the length. To say I was left scratching my head when all that I produced here was doggies would be an understatement. This is whiting and haddock ground. I moved about trying different ground half expecting spurs as well as whiting but only managed a few small ling. It was a bit of a shock. Similar areas fished like this last year and didn’t produce all year. I would have to say that this ground gets some commercial attention, maybe too much.
Ling on a lure… I often puncture the stomach and the fish do swim back strong. Do they survive?
I pushed on and fished the first wreck of the day. I had a decent ling on my staging drift so things looked well. I had decent ling and a few smallies on most every drift. Many went back (whether they survive is another matter) but I was having to keep too many. I decided switch to a lure for a few drifts. I decided to try a spare 200mm Black Minnow body mounted on a 150g jig head. I was trying out a Gunki Ocean Tribe jigging rod rated to something like 200g. It’s a dinkey rod that’s great craic (For less than €100). Deffo one to consider if wanting to dip a toe in the multiplier jig rod side of things.
The ubiquitous Black Minnow body in 200mm with my own V2 150g head. Just was able to keep contact with the slow drift
The wreck must be fairly carpeted with ling because I was getting a handy ling every other drift and some small pollack hitting the big lure if I went more than 20 turns off the bottom. I went back of bait for a last couple of drifts. Had my best ling of the day @14lbs and dropped a decent fish on the second to last cast.
A small ling. A decent one managed to spear my thumb. Having a first aid kit is a must on a small boat. Although a tine puncture… it bled like a pig. It’s still bleeding today. I heard that ling teeth have an anticoagulant… most be something to it!
You’ll notice my fish pictures are fairly crap this trip! I left a bracket at home so couldn’t mount my solo selfie setup.
I visited another couple of wrecks and drifted with lure only. One was bare and the other had a head of small pollack. Not big enough to hold my interest. The forecast breeze didn’t materialise until I got further inshore. The harbour was actually snotty with wind against tide.
I was wrecked when I got home after a long day and too much filleting. The boat washdown will have to wait…
Read more…
Check out Jim’s website, an absolute treasure trove for anyone looking to improve their sea angling game…
Boat Hire
Salmon and Sea-Trout fishing Guide
