23 anglers turned out for the latest match in the Float Only Winter League in blustery, mild and dry conditions.
Anglers are legally required to be in possession of a licence when fishing for salmon or sea trout. Licences can be purchased from a number of sources, including fishing tackle shops, IFI offices and some fisheries.
Peter B. of Monasterevin & District Anglers Association was fishing the Grand Canal at Monasterevin last Monday 23rd of January 2012. Peter, fishing a dead bait caught a pike 42 inches (1,07m) long which he weighed at 9 kg (19 .9lb). Brian reports that the pike was nice and healthy and after a quick photo she was released back in the water safe and sound!
We were back out on Lough Ramor last week and the fishing was tough and slow but eventually we hit into a jack or two, before Noel struck into a nice fish while trolling off the back of an island but to Noel’s disappointment the fish dropped the lure straight away. Noel put the rod back in the rest and went to say something to me but before he could, his rod started hammering away in the rest.
Another recent pike outing with angling guide Peadar O’Brien produced some nice sport. Peadar O’Brien and David Byrne fished recently in the Cavan area. The weather was mild enough but there was a bitterly cold breeze which disrupted the fishing. There was very little move on the fish until the breeze dropped and the air warmed in the late afternoon
The river has thankfully continued to fall and is now reading 0.66 on the gauge at the Four Masters Bridge. This is a more desirable level than in previous weeks. A limited number of rods fished over the week with most of these fishing at the weekend. There were however two more fresh salmon caught. On Friday, B. Canney recorded a 10lb salmon caught from the Trout Pool on a Devon Minnow. On Saturday, regular rod Brian McEvoy, recorded an 8½lb salmon caught on a spinner from Lennox’s.
Meet the Dublin Angling Initiative team the Ireland Angling Show
From Eureka Lodge, Caherdaniel, angling guide Vincent Appleby reports on the past week’s fishing trends on the LOUGH CURRANE system:
Cashel Trout Fishery report by Marlene Mc Laughlin
Ballybay Angling Association in conjunction with Irelands Coarse Fishing hosted their first annual Pike competition on Lough Egish on Sunday 22nd January. Just under 60 anglers attended on the day, with 30 fish in total being caught.
Donegal County Council has been fined €5,500, including costs, for gross negligence in the protection of the river Eske and its fish stocks.
23 anglers turned out for the latest match in the Float Only Winter League in blustery, mild and dry conditions.
Cashel Trout Fishery report by Marlene Mc Laughlin
The nice mild weather for January looks set to continue as there was plenty of angling effort all over the country in the past week including the opening of a few important salmon fisheries in Co. Kerry yesterday.
Vincent Appleby from www.salmonandseatrout.com reports that the first salmon weighing 8.5 lb. of the new season in Co. Kerry was caught at 9.50 am by Dermot Devereux on Lough Currane. Dermot was trolling with his ghillie Mr. Neil O’Shea of www.oshealoughcurrane.com when he connected with his prize fish. They contacted another fish later in the day but the fish shed the hook near the boat. Mr. Dermot Devereux and his Gillie headed for the Waterville Inn to receive The Paddy Carey Memorial Cup and a fine Gold watch for the first salmon of the new season from the Lough.
JACKS ON LINE. We had a couple of lovely days last week, all be it cold on the Lakes. I ventured out with younger Brother J.J. and we boated eight pike all on Lures. Plus we lost as many; they were coming short and just snapping at the lures. The best pike was just about 8lbs, but they gave us some sport on the jerk bait rods.J.J. had a few Slomo Concept suspender lures, and they really took a shine to these colorful baits. Still our best fish fell to a Mini Bulldog, fished in 10-12 ft of water.
RNLI competition Courtown Sea Angling Club ran their annual RNLI fundraising competition on Sunday last 15th January 2012. Fishing took place from 2pm till 6pm and there was a huge turnout of anglers from all over the country (Belfast, Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork, Galway to name but a few) to participate in and support this great event. A total of 85 anglers fished in very tough unsettled and blustery conditions. Despite this, lots of fish were caught and species included coalies, flounder, dabs and rockling. The winner of the competition was James Ryan from New Ross with 24 fish, Second place went to Joe Byrne from Courtown with 21 fish and third place went to John Watchorn from Bannow SAC also with 21 fish.
Peadar O’Brien fished recently for pike in the Cavan area with Sheila Bromley and husband Liam from the Ballybay Coarse Angling Club. Peadar reports that caught Sheila had a surprise catch, a nice 3lb trout which was taken on a pike bait. The trout which was obviously not deterred by the wire trace and pike bait was carefully handled, photographed and returned unharmed to the lake. The group had a few jacks but the bigger fish were unfortunately conspicuous by their absence. Sheila also had her first pike of the 2012 season.
Trout fishing in winter can be a new and wonder full experience and no better way to clear your head, early morning, cold winds, numb hands and thinking to yourself ” I must be mad ” suddenly! the line snaps, the reel screams, A Curragh Springs Rainbow. What cold? and that’s how it was here last Sunday, an amazing day with 13 fish landed from dry fly. Stephen Potts from Newbridge with 8 fish on Black Klinkhammer and Martin Cowman with 5 on Adams.
Just a quick reminder that our next light lines competition is on next Sunday 22nd Jan. Fishing will be from 9:30am till 2:30pm each day with boats departing from Kennedy Pier, Cobh at 9am. Boats used will be from the Cork Harbour Angling Hub charter fleet. The entry fee is €40, and it’s great value!
The second salmon of the 2012 season in the Killarney area was caught yesterday morning at 10.00am on the River Flesk. Damion Dillon landed a 10lb 8oz spring salmon which fell for a red Flying C. The Flesk, Laune, Killarney Lakes, Lough Currane and a number of other Kerry rivers opened for salmon fishing on the 17th of January.
BLUSTERY conditions and heavy surf made for a bitterly cold but challenging day for the 85 anglers who came from across Ireland to take part in the Courtown Sea Anglers RNLI fundraiser on Sunday.
Josie Mahon, Fisheries Inspector, was recently fishing at Blessington with colleagues from IFI. It was a bright January day and though the fishing was generally quiet Josie soon had reason to be high spirits. Fishing a mackerel deadbait she had a good run which turned into a powerful, dogged opponent. After an exciting tussle the fish was finally banked and weighed at 17lb 8oz. After a quick photo the fish was swiftly returned none the worse.
Water levels have thankfully dropped on the Drowes and the gauge at present is reading just under 8. The fishery was quiet during the week but there were a few rods out on Saturday. There was however no fresh salmon reported although some rods say they sighted a couple of fresh salmon. With the river continuing to fall more settled weather forecast, the fishing may improve towards the weekend.
A group of youngsters fishing with Des Chew and Josie Mahon of the Dublin Angling Initiative last week in Lough Ramor had great sport with a wide variety of coarse fish caught. Children and parents enjoyed watching their first coarse fish being caught.
Water levels have fallen during the past week, which has been mainly dry and the gauge at the Four Masters’ Bridge is now at 0.84 metres, approaching a more fish-able level. No more fish have been reported and angling effort has been light.
A party of anglers from the Howth Sea angling club recently fished the beach, north of Wicklow Town last week. They fished into dark and recorded some nice dabs, small whiting and some dogfish. One comment by one of the anglers was that some of the roads into the beaches between Greystones and Wicklow are in very poor repair and anglers should be careful driving down to some of these locations.
I was out fishing with my son on Cork Harbour after a long spell of very windy weather. The boat is in the water all year around so we shot out for a cod session on soft plastics. Cian got a whopper of a cod on Harbour Rock. It weighed in at 10.5 lbs, his best ever. I have never seen a cod as big from this mark.
