The Mullingar Motor mechanics were back out on the pike angling scene last weekend on Ree.Bernie and Ciaran Newman of Lynn Cross had some cracking double figure pike, with Bernie hitting a beauty weighing 19lbs. The weather was just ideal for trolling lures, and you can be sure more good pike will come from Ree as we drift into December. It’s a huge span of water, and the lake is very low at present, so watch out for shallows if out on Ree.
Midlands Angling provide a top class Guiding service covering many of the top coarse and game waters across the Midlands. Visiting fly anglers have landed some fine trout while out with Midland Angling Guides, pike anglers also recorded some net bursting catches including many pike over 20lbs. Top waters include Lough Ree, Ennell, Owel, Lene, Mount Dalton, and Glore Lake just to mention a few. Michael Flanagan Midland Angling
Pike and Trout angling guide.
An award of €100,000 from the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs under the REDZ (Rural Economic Development Zone) Initiative will go to improving access to angling in Ballinamore with a view to developingtourismin the Lakelands region, as proposed by Leitrim County Council with support fromIFI….
Peter O'Reilly yesterday with a lovely Courtlough rainbow trout
An icy cold start with freezing fog gave way to one of those very clear crisp winter days filled with sunshine and not a bit cold, well maybe a little bit cold. Target species yesterday for well known author, angler and instructor Peter O’Reilly were the hard fighting rainbows at Courtlough Fishrery in Balbriggan Co. Dublin. Peter informed me that he has been at the fishery a few times recently and like many other visiting anglers to the fishery, has been having great sport. The trout are in really great condition and fighting well. Varying tactics have been producing fish, some days static nymphs are taking fish and on other days only the slowest figure of eight retrieve will take fish. Plenty of fish yesterday with one angler taking at least 8 fish and Peter also had a number of nice fish as well. So if you fancy catching a few nice rainbows then why not contact the fishery, contact details provided below.
Courtlough Trout Fishery is located in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin. The grounds of Courtlough also offer clay pigeon shooting, archery and an extreme adventure zone. Dublin Falconry is also located here. For further information contact Garrett at Tel: 087 2712704 Email: [email protected]
Sunset at Inch Beach where good flounders, bass, coalies and even turbot have been caught recently
It was another cold, though mostly dry week. The cold conditions slowed down the fishing at a number of freshwater venues but not as much as might have been expected – though ice was an issue on some waters! Sea anglers did a little better and the winter leagues are reporting good numbers of fish caught…
The Naas and District Anglers enjoyed catching a fish a cast on the Barrow last weekend. Dace on the pole made for good sport but there was some enjoyable action for roach on stick float too. In the Midlands Michael Flanagan had some pretty perch on soft plastics using vertical fishing tactics. Ice was a problem at a couple of venues. Oaklands was frozen recently so it’s not a bad idea to phone ahead to check the status of waters if you are travelling to fish in the next couple of days.
Some decent pike have been reported from the Claremorris area but otherwise the cold is definitely making these predators slow down. One group of anglers on the River Erne found the going tough enough and this was not helped by ice to 2cm in parts on the river.
Fly anglers are still getting some respite at rainbow trout fisheries. The Annamoe Winter League had its 4th heat at the weekend and the 15 anglers in attendance caught 41 trout.
Pierre Montjarret is more familiar to readers of these pages as a pike angling guide on Lough Derg. He took a break from the lake to fish with bass guide Sean Jordan in Wexford recently and had some great fishing on sub surface lures. Shore anglers fishing an evening competition at Youghal also had good fishing but it was mostly the whiting which provided the sport here. There were also reports from Keith Barry of cod in at Waterford. At a Tralee Bay SAC competition on Inch beach in Kerry flounders, bass and coalies made for a great evening’s entertainment while up in Donegal pollack from the rocks and flounders and whiting on the beaches are keeping anglers ot in the cold, crisp conditions. Catch of the Week goes to the sea angling set this week – Nikki Foley is our winner for her 60cm bass at that Tralee Bay SAC competition on Inch.
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) is looking for public feedback on its current funding programmes. The organisation has awarded over €3.4 million to angling projects and fisheries initiatives in communities nationwide over the past five years. We are looking for feedback via an online survey which will help inform the future direction of funding schemes.If you have received funding from IFI or made an application to one of our funds please make the efoort to take this survey – https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/IFIFundingSurvey.
As we go to press there is another Orange weather warning with severe frost forecast for this evening and continuing overnight and Friday morning. Lowest temperatures of 0C to -5C, coldest in Leinster. The outlook is for the dry and cold conditions to continue for a time, but turning more changeable later in the weekend and early next week. There will some fog in the mornings so any anglers heading out to go fishing are advised wrap up warm and to be cautious on the roads.
With a cold North Easterly wind we all wrapped up warm for a night competition at Inch beach. There was a great turn out from club members and we all arrived unsure of the evening ahead.
The competition got off to a flying start with some nice flounders coming in on the first cast. Throughout the first two hours there were a good number of fish being caught across the beach despite our worries of the NE wind.
Nikki Foley with her 60cm bass. this lovely fish wins Nikki Catch of the Week
As darkness came so did a few bigger fish with Bass, Coley and Turbot making an appearance.
Eoin Foley took the lead for the juniors and the beach while his Mum, Nikki Foley on the other end of the beach caught the biggest round with a 60cm bass. Phil Ord came close with a 55cm bass near to the end of the competition.
Chris Osullivan claimed the biggest flat with a flounder of 31, followed by Eugene with a flounder of 29.
A great evenings fishing with everyone happy to gather inside for the results to get warm.
Junior
1st -Eoin Foley – 413 points
2nd – Paddy Mcmahon – 213 points
Senior
1st – Eugene Farrelly- 400 points
2nd – Nikki Foley – 386 points
3rd- David O Sullivan – 370 points
Best Flat
1st – Chris O Sullivan -31 cm Flounder
2nd – Eugene Farrelly -29 cm Flounder
Best Round
1st- Nikki Foley- 60 cm Bass
2nd- Phil Ord -55 cm Bass
The next Comp is Sunday December 11th 12-4pm on Fenit Pier.
The AGM will be held on the 9th December at 8 am in the Greyhound Bar. Further details will be sent out next week by email.
Tralee Bay SAC is a thriving community of enthusiastic anglers – young and old, experienced and newcomers – with new members joining all of the time. We have a busy schedule of shore and boat competitions and lots of social events planned throughout the year. Tralee Bay is a family friendly, welcoming club with a reputation for promoting angling and encouraging newcomers to the sport.
Joining could not be easier – simply get in touch with us via our Contact us page leave your address and we will send you out an application form. Please also let us have your email address – especially if you have any queries for us. We are especially eager to hear from junior anglers who want to take advantage of club membership. For more information on joining see here – Joining Tralee Bay Sea Angling Club.
Terry O'Donovan finished 5th on the evening but was the clubs Master Angler of the year
Terry O’Donovan reports that it was back to business for the West Cork and District SAC ate recent evening outing on Youghal Beach…
8 anglers braved the biting easterly winds to fish the last competition of the 2016 season. Rumours that Youghal Beach hadnt been fishing well recently, the lack of peeler crab and the bitter cold weather certainly didnt dampen spirits The anglers took to the beach and lines hit the water at 5pm.
The first fish of the match came to Joe Ganley who had a 33cm Flounder, soon after Mike, Barry John and Stan were finding fish. Coalies, Whiting and Flounder coming in in singles and the odd double. Barry lead the way at the half way point with 7 fish on his card.
As the halfway point passed the fishing was less than impressive and all of a sudden Youghal Beach came to life, Whiting started to hit the beach in huge numbers and good size. Barry took advantage of his early lead finding doubles and treble shots every cast, Ruairi Ganley who had a slow start showed his talent for angling by finding Dogfish and Whiting in good numbers. Joe Ganley was fishing like a man possessed getting some good sized fish in multiple hook ups. Mike Carlton getting some good Whiting on the end peg also.
As 9pm came and lines were reeled there some fantastic numbers on the score card, the man of the night was Joe Ganley winning with 16 fish. A huge well done to Joe!!
The results were:
1st Joe Ganley (16 fish 539 points)
2nd Barry O Rourke (19 fish 452 points)
3rd Ruairi Ganley (14 fish 445 points)
4th Mike Carlton
5th Terry O Donovan
6th Stan Topelewski
7th John Sexton
8th Morgan
Pools went to Morgan for his 57cm Painted Ray. A total of 104 fish were caught and released.
Look forward to seeing everyone back on the beach for the start of the 2017 season in Garrylucas in Feb.
Terry O’Donovan finished 5th on the evening but was the clubs Master Angler of the year
Join the club…
The club was formed on march 19th 2009, in the small picturesque harbour town of Kinsale County Cork. We’re an inclusive club, this can be seen in our membership profile; from anglers who are new to match fishing all the way up to members of the Irish World Shore Team 2010, two of which are in the club! The club holds circa 10 competitions per year, members are encouraged to practice a catch and release policy in the interests of conservation. Anybody wishing to join our club is always welcome, just use the contact us page and we will give prospective members full details. Web:http://westcorkanddistrict.webs.com/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/West-Cork-and-District-SAC/201776589958897
Brian Nally reports that the 4th heat of the Fly Fishing Winter League at Annamoe was fished on November 26th. On the day there were 41 rainbows landed by 15 anglers. Each fish was measured and recorded and then returned safely back into the lake.
Hubert Smith won the day with 9 trout for 340cm, his second league win.
The Grand Final is scheduled to take place at 10am on Saturday 10th December.
Heat 4 Fly Fishing Winter League 26th November.
1st Hubert Smith 9 Trout 340cm.
2nd Ronan Meegan 5 Trout 220cms
3rd Pat McDonnell 5 Trout 210cms
4th Stuart McGraine 4 Trout 181cms
5th Roger Fowler 3 Trout 137cms
6th Nicholas Madden 2 Trout 98cms
Go fishing…
Annamoe Trout Fishery is a 4 acre lake set on the banks of the Annamoe River. The lake is filled with trout up to 20lbs weight, where fly fishing only is permitted. Annamoe Fishery is also specialised in providing fly fishing classes for beginners and more advanced fishermen.
The 18 of December is the next leg of the AWOL league, then we will fish Courtlough in Balbriggan. Only a stones throw from Dublin and just off the m50.
Courtlough has great stocks of Rainbows and hard fighting brown trout.
Courtlough run their own winter league and run other private events, because of this they are always topping up the fish stocks. This provides for a very active fishery. Some pics of the venue.
Reporter and guide Michael Flanagan is back on line in more ways than one. Poor Mick had some internet and computer problems lately but it’s hard to keep a good man down !
A trip to Lough Ennell last weekend with Frank McKeon threw up some cracking perch. The lads had some fine fish including a few double hook-ups. Conditions were good and calm but quite chilly. But Mick’s faithful green hat kept him warm !
Midlands Angling provide a top class Guiding service covering many of the top coarse and game waters across the Midlands. Visiting fly anglers have landed some fine trout while out with Midland Angling Guides, pike anglers also recorded some net bursting catches including many pike over 20lbs. Top waters include Lough Ree, Ennell, Owel, Lene, Mount Dalton, and Glore Lake just to mention a few. Michael Flanagan Midland Angling
Pike and Trout angling guide.
POACHERS IMPERIL PARADISE?‘Wherever there’s fish there’s men, and wherever there’s men there’s a villain or two’.
James and I looked into the dark, swirling waters of the Moy downstream of Ballylahan Bridge, where salmon would be holed up and waiting for the final push to their spawning grounds. High water will help them. Not only will a good flood enable them to reach high into the smaller rivers and feeder streams which contribute to the bulk of the Moy, it will have prepared the shallow gravels in readiness, scrubbing them clean of sediment and turning the beds of small stones anew.
James mused: “Are there more fish now, than were there ten years ago?”…
