Irish Angling Update

•    Very good Salmon fishing reported from the Blackwater Lodge Fishery on the Munster Blackwater in Co. Cork.

•    397 Salmon from the River Moy making a season total of 6226 Salmon for the season to date.

•    Specimen 20 lbs. 6 oz. Salmon from the Bundrowes River in Co. Donegal.

•    Very good Salmon fishing on many rivers in Co. Donegal.

•    Many good catches of Bream for English visiting anglers reported from fisheries around Co. Longford.

•    Plenty of Blue Shark tagged and released in West Cork.

•    Specimen Ling of 32 lbs. 7 oz. is our catch of the week along with specimen Pollack landed on the same trip out from Castletown Bearhaven in West Cork.

•    Great days of sea fishing from shore and boat for a group of new anglers tutored by the RAI (Recreational Angling Ireland) workshop at Cahersiveen.

•    An unusual sunfish catch recorded in Galway and elsewhere out from Clifden, 19 species were recorded in one day for a group of anglers out deep sea fishing.

GAME ANGLING

Eastern Region: Web: http://www.fishingireland.net/
                      E-mail: info@fishingireland.net

Godfrey Donohue Managing Director reports from the CORKAGH PARK FISHERY near Clondalkin in Dublin. Ph: +353 (0)1 4592622 mob: +353 (0)87 2650495 e-mail: fishing@ireland.com Web: www.CorkaghParkFishery.com

Paddy McLoughlin has had a great week on the Trout Lake with nearly 100 fish to the bank; his best day produced 21 fish. Other anglers including Ray Harris and Gar Murphy also did well, Gar landed 18 on Sunday!

Southern Region: E-mail: enquiries@srfb.ie
                           Website: www.srfb.ie

Ian Powell reports from the BLACKWATER LODGE fishery on the Munster Blackwater in Co. Cork.
Email: info@ireland-salmon-fishing.net
Website: www.ireland-salmon-fishing.net
Tel: 00 353 58 60235     From UK: 0871 474 0135  (10p/min any time!)
Fax: 00 353 58 60162    From UK: 0871 474 0136  (10p/min any time!)
Mobile: 00 353 87 235 21 20

With quite high water levels, yet comparatively good clarity, the catches so far for August on the Blackwater Lodge Fishery have been exceptional – especially when one takes into account the low number of rods actually fishing!

In the first 2 weeks of the month, 81 rod days have accounted for 97 fish to 16 lb. of which 47 were taken on fly. No less than 67 of these were returned alive.  The overall average weight of the fish has increased over that for July at a cracking 6.3 lbs., including 16 salmon in double figures – best ~16 lbs. and 47 in the 5-10 lbs. class.

Two days have recorded the highest daily catch of the season so far with 14 fish caught.  The first of these was the 4th, when one beat produced seven fish including five to one rod weighing 16, 14, 13½, 6 & 4 lbs.  The second was on the 14th, when beat 4 produced 9 fish to 3 rods, including 5 fish for Mattie McNamara from Cahir with one fish of 11.2 lbs. and 4 grilse.

The best day’s catch for one rod was recorded by Paudie Hartnett from Carrigtwohill on the 13th, with seven fish to 12 lbs. from Blackstone & Woodstream, all on fly & all released alive.  This was closely followed by Ken Tucker from Carlow who had 5 fish on the 11th, including two of 13 lbs. each from Kents.
 
With another 6mm rain on Tuesday 14th.  The river has risen from 0.50 to 0.66 on the gauge at Ballyduff Bridge.  This will ensure that the great run of grilse & autumn salmon will continue unabated!

Availability of rods and accommodation is fair for late August & first week or so of September.  There is very little left for the second half of September.
Best Regards & Tight Lines!
Ian
Blackwater Lodge & Salmon Fishery
Upper Ballyduff
Co. Waterford
Ireland
Tel: 00 353 58 60235     Fax: 00 353 58 60162
Web: http://www.ireland-salmon-fishing.net

                 Contact Ian                                        Contact Glenda
Email:info@ireland-salmon-fishing.net         glenda@ireland-salmon-fishing.net
 Mobile:   00 353 87 235 21 20                                    00 353 87 235 12 60

South Western Region: Web: http://www.swrfb.com
                                 E Mail: swrfb@swrfb.ie

From Eureka Lodge, Caherdaniel, angling guide Vincent Appleby reports on the past week’s fishing trends on the LOUGH CURRANE system:

Email: salmonandseatrout@eircom.net
Website: http://www.salmonandseatrout.com/

6/8/07 All quiet on the Salmon front but at least there was a bit of action in the Sea Trout department with a few Juniors being caught. Wind NW light to fresh, bright and sunny with the odd light shower. Air temperature 18C/64.4F, humidity 78% Amount of rain fall 2.4 mm/0.094488 in
7/8/07 Bright and sunny all day but with all that, there were a few Juniors caught. Wind N light to fresh, air temperature 18C/64.4F, humidity 61% amount of rain fall 0.6mm/0.023622in.
8/8/07 On the fishing front, the same as yesterday. Wind SSW light to fresh with plenty of sun breaking through. Air temperature 17C/62.6F
9/8/07 Anglers are saying it is hard out there and that may well be true but you try and tell that to Mr Ken Toner of the UK and Waterville, who had some fine action on the drift when he caught a fine Grilse of 5.5 lbs./2.5 kgs and added a 4 lbs./1.82 kgs Sea Trout to his basket and Mr Michael O’Sullivan of Waterville Boats of lobsterb@iol.ie reported that his client caught a 1.5 lbs./0.68kgs Sea Trout plus they rose a few Juniors. Wind SW light to fresh and cloudy, air temperature 19C/62.2F, humidity 74%. Amount of rain fall 7.0mm/0.275590in.
10/8/07 just a few Juniors caught and in the Salmon/Grilse department all quiet. Raining all day and a very slack SW wind. Amount of rain fall 13.3 mm/0.523622 in.
11/8/07 fly fishing, be it Sea Trout or salmon was at a standstill because of the lack of wind in the morning and what wind was there was SE light to calm then veered NW after lunch. Light all afternoon with drizzle on and off for most of the day but at least one young Angler who I might add is no stranger for making the Salmon head lines and that is Master Adam O’Dwyer of Waterville who caught a fine Grilse on Loch Capall with his Dad and well known Local Gillie Mr Mike O’Dwyer. Air temperature
25C/77F, humidity 84%. Amount of rain fall 6.6mm/ 0259842in.
12/8/07 Just a few juniors taken on the drift. Wind NW light to fresh with the odd shower. Air temperature 18C/64.4F, humidity 70% Now for quote of the day, I was talking to Mr Steven Galvin who has fished Lough Currane all his life and I might add is two steps away from making the Irish Fly fishing Team and he was telling me that the Juniors this year have been the best he has seen in the last twenty years and to all you pessimistic Anglers take note because here is an Angler who knows what he is talking about and lets hope that Steven makes the Irish Fly fishing team and carry’s the Flag for Munster. That is all the news from your Gillie and the Waterville Fishery. No Spin No Fly’s just Facts.
Berni Kelleher reports:

12TH AUGUST OF 2007

RIVER BLACKWATER KENMARE

Very close weather all week made fishing very difficult.  6 fish caught on Saturday best fish 6 ½ lbs. by a visiting Dutch angler.

ESB WATERS RIVER LEE
Monday 6th 2 fish caught by an unnamed angler weighing 6 lbs. and 8 lbs., Kieran Condon also caught 2 fish weighing 7 lbs. and 8 lbs.
Tuesday 7th a 4 ½ lbs. fish caught by Joe O’Brien and a 6 lbs. fish caught by Kieran Condon.
Wednesday 8th Adam Condon got 2 fish weighing 4 lbs. and 6 lbs. with another angler catching 2 fish weighing 4 lbs. and 7 lbs.
Thursday 9th saw Eddie O’Callaghan, Model Farm Road, Cork getting 2 fish on the fly weighing 3 lbs. and 4 lbs. and Richie Barry also from Cork getting 1 5 lbs. fish.
Friday 10th Richie Barry caught one fish weighing 4 ½ lbs.
Saturday 11th Paul Hanley caught 2 fish weighing 3 ½ lbs. and 5 lbs. with Adam Condon getting on weighing 5 lbs., all fish were hatchery fish and released.

RIVER LAUNE BEATS 1 AND 2

3 Salmon reported caught on the Laune

RIVER FLESK

2 Salmon reported taken on the Flesk

RIVER BANDON

7 fish confirmed caught and a lot of unconfirmed fish caught for the week.

RIVER LEE

All anglers were reporting fish being caught and released with fly the most productive method.

LAUNE ANGLERS WATERS AND BEAT 3

Water level has come back up again but still very suitable for fly and spinning.
Lots of fresh fish entering the lower river off each of the tides.  The angler who was in the right place at the right time met fish.  There were twenty fish reported from Laune Anglers waters for the week.  Even this writer had his first fish of the year a lovely sea-liced grilse of 6 lbs. on Thursday.  Despite the improvement there are anglers still waiting to catch their first fish of the season.   There was no news of fish from Beat 3 the lower sections of the river are doing best.

Western Region: Web: http://www.wrfb.ie/
                       E Mail: kcrowley@wrfb.ie

Kevin Crowley reports:

GALWAY WEIR
Very high water levels at the Weir made fishing next to impossible this week, with 6 gates open for most of the week. 2 gates were closed yesterday, and Donal O’Carroll landed a fine 8.5 lbs. salmon on fly, so with water levels dropping more fish should be caught again this week. There are still a lot of salmon in the river and fishing prospects are very good when water levels drop away again.

LOUGH MASK
Mask fished reasonably well over the last week, with dry sedges doing the business for most anglers. Water levels were still very high, and fish were hard to find in the deep, where normally at this time of year there are plenty. However anglers had good sport along the shorelines and islands. Gerry O’Brien from Ballinrobe had 3 fish to 2.5 lbs. for a day, while Jim Buchanan from Scotland had 9 fish on Wednesday to 1.75 lbs. Jean Ferguson, also from Scotland, had 4 fish on Friday to 1.5 lbs., and Harold Schmitt from Ballinrobe had 3 fish over the weekend to 1.75 lbs. Richie Yang had 2 fish on Saturday to 1.75 lbs., and Tom Mulvey had 1 trout for 1.5 lbs.  Declan and Colin McAlorum from Dublin fished on Sunday and landed 6 trout to 1.5 lbs, while angling guide Paul Loscher had a cracking 4 lbs. trout on Monday.  Kevin Sheridan from Ballinrobe had 3 trout to 2 lbs. on Monday, while Gerry Kenny from Ennis had 2 trout to 2 lbs. on Saturday.

LOUGH CARRA
Carra fished best in the late evenings over the last week, with dry buzzer and sedge producing the most fish, with some great trout reported. High water levels and bright conditions hampered fishing during daytime. Tim Hannon from Dublin had 1 trout on Friday for 1.5 lbs. Malcolm Roache from England had a red letter day on Tuesday, landing 8 trout to 3.75 lbs. on dry fly, while on Saturday he landed 7 fish to 2.25 lbs. Pat Maloney from Ballinrobe had 2 trout on Sunday to 1.25 lbs., while Larry McCarthy from Headford had 5 trout over 2 days, including 2 fish of 3 lbs. Jim McEvoy and a friend from Cork landed 8 trout on Saturday to 3 lbs., while the best fish of the week was landed by Brian Canavan from Derry, a beautiful trout of 5 lbs.

COSTELLO AND FERMOYLE
Fishery manager sent in this report for July from the Costello/Fermoyle fishery in Connemara. Weather conditions were mixed for the month of July with heavy thundery weather prevailing for most of the month. But there were some good floods and the salmon appeared in very good numbers. They were very visible in the river but some days would show little or no interest in the fly.

Highlights for July include: local angler Geoffrey Fitzjohn had a superb month and caught a total 12 salmon ranging from 3 lbs. to 10 lbs. The majority were caught on the river with the Silver Stoat and Red arsed Bibio proving to the successful patterns. Greg Perry fished Glenicmurrin Lough and landed 7 sea trout and Padraig McDonagh took 8 on the same lake the following day. Pat Farrelly chose his preferred River Beat 1 and was rewarded with a very fresh grilse of 4 lbs. 8 ozs. Mark Corps, an angling adviser with the Central Fisheries Board, also caught his grilse on the same beat, a fine fish of 6 lbs. Brian Smith and David Hammond travelled to Clogher Lough where they had a great day with the sea trout, landing 15 fish altogether. Chris and Donna Warne returned to fish Glenicmurrin and were rewarded with 8 sea trout. Eamonn Connolly travelled to Muckinagh Lough and landed 7 sea trout, the best a fine fish of 3 lbs 8 ozs. Brian Smith returned to Clogher, caught 1 grilse and lost another. Padraig McDonagh had a tally of 9 sea trout, best 2 lbs. 8 ozs on Muckinagh. David Nevin took a 3 lbs. grilse on Fermoyle Lough while Eamonn O Brien and Sean Bollustrum had a great day on Glenicmurrin, landing 15 sea trout. A delighted Pat Connolly caught his first salmon on Fermoyle Lough, a fish of 4 lbs.

Eamonn Connolly and Myles Costello were out on Muckinagh when they landed 9 sea trout. Sean Finnerty was rewarded for an early start with a fine grilse of 6 lbs taken on River Beat 4. David Micks caught his 4 lbs. grilse and 4 sea trout on Glenicmurrin while Jean Pierre Maire had a fine grilse of 6 lbs. on River Beat 2. He struck again on Fermoyle Lough with a grilse of 4 lbs. Donie Collins was thrilled with his first ever salmon taken on Clogher, a fish of 5 lbs. 4 ozs. Finally, Eamon O Brien returned to Glenicmurrin and had a very impressive 14 sea trout.

For information on fishing at Costello and Fermoyle please contact Terry Gallagher at 00 353 (0) 91 572 196 or email cosfer@iol.ie

North Western Region: E Mail: info@nwrfb.com
                                     Web: www.northwestfisheries.ie
Markus Muller reports:

River Moy

The Moy system yielded 397 salmon for the
week, bringing the yearly total, so far, to 6226, which is 373 fish more than at the same date in 2006. The fluctuating water levels still impacted on the fishing on the lower reaches, while good fly fishing was reported from up river.

The Moy Fishery accounted for 48 salmon, 19 of which were caught on the Ridge Pool. Paul Wymes, Dublin, had one salmon at 6.71 lbs. on the fly, Gareth Byrne, Co. Offaly, who also had a fine fish from the Cathedral Beat, landed two fish on the worm and Northern Ireland anglers, Jim Anderson & Edward Good, also had a fish each. Belgian fly angler, Roland Capouillez, caught and released 2 salmon on the Cathedral Beat, while John Harmon, Co. Louth, landed 2 fish on the fly. The Ash Tree Beat produced a salmon for Paul Wilson, Northern Ireland and juvenile angler, Julie Mannion, Co. Roscommon, landed a fine salmon on the Freshwater Beat.  

The good fishing continued on the Mount Falcon water, with fly angler, Tom Swan from the UK, catching 7 salmon for 2 days. Also on Mt. Falcon, 13 year old Ben Price had 5 salmon for 2 days on prawn & spinner, with best fish at 8 lbs. On Coolcronan, Tommy Whiteside, Northern Ireland, had one fish, while Pill Davies, UK, landed 2 salmon on the worm.

Up river, anglers enjoyed good sport on the fly. On the East Mayo Association water, Theiry Colm, France had two salmon on the fly, including a fine 8 lbs. fish, Henry, Cooke, Dublin, also caught a fish on the fly and John Buckley, Co. Westmeath, had a 5 lbs. fish on spinner.  

Moy Estuary

Fishing conditions remained quite good for most of the week, with 79 sea trout reported by anglers. Pete Hannon and his 12 year old son, Richard, who were fishing with Judd Ruane, had 15 trout (12 released) on mackerel strip, best at 2 lbs. Fly anglers also reported excellent sport during the week.

Easkey River

The Easkey Fortland Fishery had its best week of the season, so far, with a total of 45 salmon caught, 18 of which were released. Robert Rowntree, Northern Ireland and Tom Halpin, Co. Kildare both caught their first salmon on fly.

Carrowmore Lake & Owenmore River

At the time of compilation a report from these fisheries was not available.

Burrishoole Fishery

Burrishoole had another good week with plenty of fresh grilse showing in Lough Furnace. Fifteen salmon (2 wild & 13 ranched) weighing a total of 50.7 lbs. were caught in 25 rod days. Brothers Brian & Mark Hughes caught their first ever salmon weighing 6 lbs. & 5 lbs. respectively. Seamus O’Neill & Pat Byrne from Kingscourt had 6 salmon for their day’s fishing, totalling 19.4 lbs., while Peter West, Co. Mayo, landed the best fish of the week at 6 lbs. Most successful flies were Ally’s Cascade, Green Peter and Daddy Longleg patterns.

Ballinlough

The lake fished well for the week and 22 rods caught a total of 35 rainbow trout (24 released) with some good fish up to 3.75 lbs. having been landed.

Best angler for the week was Mr. B.A. Vainall, UK, who caught and released 4 trout (best fish at 2.75 lbs.) during his first visit. He returned to Ballinlough two days later to catch another 8 rainbows (all released), with best at 3.45 lbs. Other notable catches included: 5 trout (2 released) for Joe & Orla Quinn and also 5 trout (4 released) for Ed Moore & friend, best at 3.75 lbs. Best flies for the week were Cat’s Whiskers, Dabblers and Olive patterns.

Loughs Bilberry & Lannagh

A Charity Competition was held by Bilberry & Lannagh Angling Club, Islandeady on Loughs Bilberry & Lannagh on Sunday, 12 August. Nineteen anglers took part in the event and a total of 21 fish were caught.

Results were as follows:

1st: John Burke with 6 fish at 7.1 lbs.
2nd: Peter Byrne with 6 fish at 6.9 lbs.
3rd: Tommie Carroll with 4 fish at 4.2 lbs.
Heaviest Fish: Adrian Murphy

The proceeds amounting to €485 will be sent to a charity of the winner’s choice.  

Northern Region: Web: http://www.nrfb.ie
                         E-mail: info@nrfb.ie
Lynsey Clarke reports:

RIVER DROWES – Monday 6th to Sunday 12th August 2007.
   
The Drowes continues to fish well with good numbers of grilse being caught. The spring tides early next week should mean the good runs of fish will continue. Some of the recorded catches are given here.
C. Fitzpatrick caught a 5 lbs grilse from the Dark Hole on worm. C. Gardiner accounted for a 4½ lb grilse caught on shrimp from the Sea Pool. T. Parker recorded 3 grilse caught from the Mill Pool. The fish weighed from 4 to 6 lb and were caught on an Ally’s Cascade fly. G. Morrow recorded 2 grilse caught on shrimp. They weighed 5 & 7 lbs. and were caught from McGroary’s and the Island Pool. J. English recorded a 9 lbs. salmon caught from the Sea Pools on shrimp. B. Carty accounted for a 4 lb grilse caught from Stakey’s on fly and A. Fullerton caught a 4 lb grilse on the fly from the Red Roof. There is good water at present in the Drowes River with the gauge reading 6, allied to the forecast of more rain to come this week should ensure the river has good levels for the coming week.  Late last week, a fine specimen Salmon of 20 lbs. 6 oz  was landed at the old sea pool by George Matier from Bangor in Co. Down while fishing a shrimp.  See photo on our website on page: http://www.cfb.ie/fishing_in_ireland/update/game_angling.htm

LOUGH MELVIN – Monday 6th to Sunday 12th August 2007.

The Lough has been fairly quiet this week. With the wet and variable weather few anglers ventured out on the Lough.

EANY FISHERY – Monday 6th to Sunday 12th August 2007.

There were some good conditions this week on the Eany Fishery with plenty of rainfall giving a number of floods. On Saturday the river kept rising to give a big flood reading 1.70 metres by the end of the day making the river virtually unfishable! There was a huge gauge average for the week which read 0.75 metres! The week was busy with 80 visiting rods fishing for the week, 44 of these over the weekend.
There were good numbers of salmon caught over the week. The best fish of the week was caught on Monday by Fred Henry and weighed 15½ lbs. It was caught from The Devlin on spinner. On the same day John O’Donnell recorded 2 fish weighing 2 and 5 lbs. caught on the spinner. Martin Rose accounted for a 7 lb fish also caught on the spinner. On Tuesday, Alan Cully recorded a 4lb grilse caught from Bonnyglen on worm. On Thursday, John O’Donnell recorded another grilse of 4 lbs caught on the spinner and Patsy McHugh accounted for a 4 lbs. grilse caught on the fly. There were a number of fish recorded on Friday. Eunan O’Connor recorded a 6 lbs. grilse caught from Limm-na-Mhille on the fly. Gerry McCafferty accounted for a small grilse caught on the fly and Mick Doyle caught a 3½ lbs. grilse from the Luggies. John O’Donnell accounted for a 7lb grilse caught on the fly. I caught and released a 6 lb grilse on the fly in the Flag Pool losing hooking and losing another fish. Jed Cole recorded a 5 lbs. grilse caught at Bonnyglen Falls on worm. On Saturday, Jed & Stephen Cole caught 3 grilse from Bonnyglen Fall’s weighing 7, 5 and 4 lbs. on worm. On Sunday Stuart Henry caught a small grilse from below Ballymacahill Bridge and John O’Brian recorded a 4 lbs. grilse caught from Bonnyglen on a spinner.
There is now a large number of salmon present in the fishery and the runs continue.

OWENEA FISHERY – Monday 6th to Sunday 12th August 2007.

The Owenea Fishery had good water for the week with fair floods on Monday (0.31m), Tuesday (0.31m) and Friday (0.32m) and a good flood (0.48m) on Sunday. There was a good gauge average for the week reading 0.29 metres. The fishery was
fairly busy with 73 visiting rods fishing spread throughout the week. There were good numbers of salmon caught as would be expected. Some of the catches are given here. The best angler for the week was probably visiting French angler, Denis Bonnet who recorded 6 grilse caught on the fly from beat 9. On Tuesday he caught a grilse of 2½ lbs., on Wednesday a grilse of 4 lb and on Thursday, 4 grilse weighing 3½, 4, 4 and 5lb returning 2 of these. Mick McCole recorded a good grilse of 7½ lbs. caught on the fly from the Priest’s Pool on beat 5 on Monday and accounted for another good grilse of 8 lbs. caught from Finn’s Pool on beat 9 on Wednesday, also on the fly. John Northridge had a good days fishing on Sunday recording 3 grilse caught on the fly. Two were caught on beat 4 and weighed 5 & 6 lbs. with the third weighing 3½ lbs. caught from beat 5. He also missed another 7 fish!

LOUGH MELVIN – Monday 30th July to Sunday 5th August 2007.

The Lough was fairly quiet this week and the World Cup competition on Mask during the latter half of the week meant little trout angling over the weekend. For those that were out fishing seemed to be variable and the thundery weather certainly did not help matters. Freddy Boyd & angling partner had a good days fishing catching 7 good sonaghan on the wet flies and James Doherty recorded a good bag of fish also. The salmon angling was very quiet with few boats out fishing for the same.

EANY FISHERY – Monday 30th July to Sunday 5th August 2007.

The river remained low for the greater part of the week. There were however two small freshes on Wednesday (0.43 metres) and Saturday (0.48). The gauge average for the week was low reading 0.26 metres. These freshes were enough to bring fish up the river and there were numerous reports of good numbers of salmon rapidly ascending the river. 36 visiting rods fished for the week (with the majority of these fishing on Saturday) but we have no great catch returns. Despite the good run, the fish seemed particularly dour and were hard to interest by any method. I have no reports of fish caught during the week so far. On Saturday, Jed Cole and Stephen Cole accounted for a grilse apiece weighing 5 lb & 3½ lbs. The fish were caught on the worm from Bonnyglen Fall’s. Francie McHugh recorded a grilse of 4 lbs. caught on a spinner from ‘The Devlin’. 2 further grilse were caught from the Fish Counter Pools and I am waiting for confirmation of details of these. I did not help the averages by catching a 1 lb grilse on fly but we’ll say no more on this! On Sunday, Dermot McLoughlin recorded a 5½ lbs. grilse caught on the fly from Burn’s and lost another fish. We hope for more rain (unlike the rest of the population who seem to be sick of it!).

OWENEA FISHERY – Monday 30th July to Sunday 5th August 2007.

The Owenea River ran at low levels all week until Saturday when we received a small flood (0.26 metres) which gave only fair conditions by Sunday. The gauge average for the week was low reading 0.16 metres. 52 visiting rods fished for the week with 28 of these fishing at the weekend. There were a number of grilse recorded. Davy Arbuckle recorded an 8 lbs. salmon on Wednesday and a grilse of 2½ lbs. on Friday. Both fish were caught on the fly from McGill’s Pool on beat 8. Billy Blair recorded grilse of 4 lbs. and 2 lbs. caught from beat 8 on Wednesday & Thursday on the fly from Gavigan’s & Brian’s Pool respectively. On Sunday, Kevin Agnew recorded a 3½ lbs. grilse caught from beat 8 on worm. We pray for more rain!

COARSE ANGLING

Eastern Region: Web: http://www.fishingireland.net/
                      E-mail: info@fishingireland.net

Godfrey Donohue Managing Director reports from the CORKAGH PARK FISHERY near Clondalkin in Dublin. Ph: +353 (0)1 4592622 mob: +353 (0)87 2650495 e-mail: fishing@ireland.com Web: www.CorkaghParkFishery.com

The Coarse Lake, which is fishing well, has produced bags of silver fish to 20 lbs. With Bream to 9.5 lbs. and Carp over 9 lbs. the weather might be changeable but the fishing is still great. Darren Murtagh has had 30 off the surface this week while on the ledger, Saha, Dan Campbell, Aido and Stewy have all had sessions producing between 5 and 10 fish. Ciaran Murphy had his first carp ever of just under 8 lbs.

Shannon Region: Web: http://www.shannon-fishery-board.ie/
                        E Mail: info@shannon-fishery-board.ie

Brian McManus reports:

http://www.shannon-fisheryboard.ie/guides/coarse/fishing-reports.htm

Kevin Lyons, MELVIEW LODGE GUESTHOUSE, Drumlish Road, Clonrollagh, Co Longford Tel : 003534345061 Mob: Email:  info@melviewlodge.com Web: http://www.melviewlodge.com  covering fisheries in the LONGFORD AREA and the STROKESTOWN LAKES

Photo: Nigel Barnes from the UK with a good net of 100 lbs plus of quality Bream.
(on our website at page:
 http://www.cfb.ie/fishing_in_ireland/update/coarse_angling.htm )
 
Nigel Barnes from the UK who we reported on last week once again proved that the Bream are there for the taking, Kevin from Melview Lodge said Nigel put a lot of work into prebaiting and it paid off for him all week.  With one catch to 130 lb and others of 80 lb plus it turn out to be another great holiday for him.
 
Photo – Howard Jones from Worthing in the UK.
 (on our website at page:
 http://www.cfb.ie/fishing_in_ireland/update/coarse_angling.htm )

Howard Jones from Worthing, UK who has been to Ireland many time’s before also had a great two weeks fishing, staying with Kevin and Jane at Melview Lodge for his third time also managed to get into treble figures with a good net of Bream.  Kevin said when Howard is over he like’s to target a different species of fish every few days and did so with great success, prebaiting the night before he was able to catch some very good Roach and Hybrids along with Tench, Pike and even Trout.
 
Bream catches over the last few weeks have been very good, some Strokestown lakes that were high are now beginning to return to normal levels and lakes in and around Longford have fished well. With catches to around the 130 lbs. mark and some quality fish being caught, I am hoping that it continues into the coming weeks, next week pictures of the lads from Liverpool who also hit the jack pot with the Bream.
 
PIKE ANGLING

Co. Armagh

John Chambers, Chairman of the Irish Federation of Pike angling clubs reports on the latest heat of the Pike Championships Qualifier on Clea Lake in Co. Armagh from their website: http://forum.angling-in-ireland.com/ 

The results from todays Kingspan National Pike Championships Qualifier on Clea lake were as follows;
 
1st   Jim Callaghan (Duleek) 1 pike 12 lbs. -10 oz.
2nd  Terry Sheridan (Kilcogy) 2 pike 11 lbs.-11 oz.
3rd  Pat McLoughlin (Kells) 2 pike 9 lbs. – 14 oz.
4th  Michael McKinney (Ardee) 2 pike 9 lbs. – 8 oz.
5th  Thomas Sheridan (Loch Gowna)2 pike 7 lbs.-10 oz.

Many thanks to the local Keady club for their help on the day and providing a bottle of whiskey for the raffle.   Many thanks also to Caseys bar for providing huge quantities of sausages and sandwiches for the 51 anglers who landed 29 pike.

SEA ANGLING

South Western Region:

Tigger
Pro-charter Offshore 31. 330 HP
Skipper: John Angles
Base: Castletownbere Operational Area: 30 miles out from Castletownbere. Address: Inches House and Restaurant, Eyeries, Castletownbere, Co. Cork.
Telephone: +353 27 74494 or +353 86 3983586 Fax: +353 27 74494
Email: info@irelandseaangling.com Web: www.irelandseaangling.com
Fishing aboard Tigger operating out of Castletownbere, a group of lads from Scotland and UK had some good sport with Blue sharks recently during four days fishing. A total of 13 Blues were Tagged and released. Trevor Newton had the largest at 77 lbs.
Colin Thornley had 3 shark at 47 lbs., 50 lbs. and 62 lbs. and also hooked a wreck fish at 6.5 lb.  Peter Lynn had 3 shark also at 27 lbs., 63 lbs. and 67 lbs.
It was interesting to note that the average size seemed smaller than at this same time last year. We are also involved in taking Skin samples from each shark for DNA testing to see if our sharks all come from the same Genetic group or not.
An 0400 start on Friday 10th August saw members of the South Western regional fisheries board and friends heading out to try and catch the elusive Albacore Tuna. We started trolling five lures at about 23 miles out at about 0600 heading out towards some wrecks at 30 miles. After two hours of trolling we decided to fish a wreck on the first of the flood tide. This produced some fine fish with the best, a Ling for Patrick Buck at 32 lbs. 7 oz.  (This is our catch of the week and the photo of this fine fish can be seen on the front page of our website at www.cfb.ie )  Five more Ling between 20 lbs. and 24 lbs. were landed. Three specimen Pollack were also caught, Daniel Moore had two at 13 lbs. 5 oz. and 12 lbs. 4 oz. and John Angles with one at 12 lb 2 oz.
We trolled for Tuna on the way back in for about an hour with no success although a Fulmar caught in one of the lines provided a brief moment of excitement!!!
A shark fishing trip on Sunday 12th August provided only one Blue Shark that came of at the side of the boat, estimated at 65 lbs. and one specimen Garfish was caught at 2.31 lbs.
With the weather forecast not great for the coming week, prospects don’t look great but with an improvement expected next weekend hopefully we might get some more Shark.
 Inches House & Boat Angling Centre offers:-
Maulin cottage   (sleeps two/four)
Milleeny cottage   (sleeps two plus one)
Miskish Cottage (sleeps four)
Boat Sea Angling & Scenic cruises aboard TIGGER.  A fast & comfortable 31ft Procharter Offshore.
 
All this on the beautiful Beara peninsula in South West Ireland.
You might like to visit our websites at:- www.eyeries.com or www.irelandseaangling.com
 
John & Maree Angles, Inches House
Eyeries, Beara, Co. Cork, Ireland

George McCullough, Chairman of EFSA Ireland reports that the Trigger fish were still in feeding mood all around the CAHERSIVEEN area.  Many specimen fish over 3.25 lbs. were recorded during the week.

On Saturday last, George coordinated a day of angling tuition for 15 junior and 5 adult anglers on behalf of RAI (Recreation Angling Ireland).  On the day the novice anglers were thought how to fish, tie knots & rigs etc, and fished off the shore near the town for several.  They caught 42 fish including 7 different species and a very enjoyable day was had by all.  Some of the same group went out deep sea fishing with charter skipper Adrian Hanley on his boat “Wey Chieftain” on Monday last.  Despite some heavy rain, the group enjoyed excellent fishing recording 9 species including Pollack to 8 lbs., Ballan and Cuckoo Wrasse, some good Cod, Whiting, Pouting, Scad, Mackerel and one Haddock.

Wey Chieftain
35′ Offshore 105. 320HP Iveco
Skipper: Adrian Hanley
Base: Caherciveen Operational Area: Valentia and Skelligs Islands      Notes: Reef, shark and general fishing.                                             Address: Kilpecan Cottage, Aghaturbid, Caherciveen, Co. Kerry.
Telephone: +353 66 9473438 or +353 87 2571024
Email: adrianhanley@eircom.net

Western Region: Web: http://www.wrfb.ie/
                       E Mail: kcrowley@wrfb.ie

Kevin Crowley reports:

News of a highly unusual catch from Galway Bay this week. A large group of anglers from Bray, Co. Wicklow were fishing aboard Kevin MacGabhann’s “Mighdean Mara” and Max Couque’s “Leaca Rua”, 2 charter boats operating out of Spiddal.  Fishing near Inis Mean island, when one of the group, Fred Doyle, landed a real rarity, an ocean sunfish! Sunfish are occasionally seen from boats on the west coast in summertime, usually basking or swimming slowly near the surface. They are a summer migrant from warmer waters, here to feed on the abundant jellyfish.  This specimen, however, took a strip of mackerel fished on a trace for bull huss and ray.  The fish was estimated to weigh 25-30lbs, and was quickly photographed and released again.  See Photo on the website at http://www.cfb.ie/fishing_in_ireland/update/sea_angling.htm  Other species landed on the day included pollack, ling, ray, and a fine John Dory.
For further details on fishing Galway Bay or to book fishing, contact Kevin MacGabhann at 091 553888 or 086 8547890, or Max Couque at 086 3234638. Their website is www.galwaybayfishing.com

John Brittain from Clifden had a group including Irish Times angling correspondent Derek Evans out recently aboard “Bluewater”. Fishing out of Cleggan, the group landed a very impressive 19 species for their day’s fishing, including haddock, ling, cod, ray, plaice, a number of turbot and a brill.
For details and to book fishing you can contact John or Sue Brittain at Blue Water Fishing, Sharamore House, Streamstown, Clifden, Co. Galway, (Tel.) 095 21073 or check http://seafishingireland.net/

Maigden Mara
43′ Aquastar.
Skipper: Kevin MacGabhann
Base: Spiddal Operational area: Galway Bay                                          Address: Galway Bay Safaris, An Boluisce, Spiddal, Co. Galway.
Telephone: +353 91 553888 or +353 86 8547890
Email: info@galway-bay-fishing.com Web: www.galwaybayfishing.com
 
Leaca Rua
37′ Tyrell.
Skipper: Max Couque
Base: Spiddal Operational area: Galway Bay                                          Address: Galway Bay Fishing, An Cuan, 16 Cullane Road, Carraroe, Co Galway.
Telephone: +353 91 595 352 or +353 86 323 4638
Email: info@galway-bay-fishing.com Web: www.galwaybayfishing.com

Blue Water
42′ Cygnus. Twin 250HP
Skipper: John Brittain
Base: Clifden Operational area: Clifden, Achill.                                     Address: Streamstown, Clifden, Co. Galway.
Telephone: +353 95 21073 or +353 87 2779622 Fax: +353 95 21678
Email: bluewater@tinet.ie Website: www.seafishingireland.net

Eastern Region: Web: http://www.fishingireland.net/
E-mail: info@fishingireland.net

Press Release                                  &nb
sp;                                                                                                                           13th August 2007

Ladies Learn to Fly-Fish in Support of Action Breast Cancer
Slaney River Trust in conjunction with the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board and Central Fisheries Board with funding provided by the INTERREG IIIA programme hosted a second Ladies fly-casting and fly-fishing course on the 12th August at Rathcon Fishery, Grangecon, Co Wicklow.

The second course was fully booked in advance and participants travelled from Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford and Tipperary. The course offered participants the chance to learn from one of the best instructors in Ireland, Glenda Powell assisted by Mark Corps, Angling Advisor for the Central Fisheries Board, Betty Hayes, Eastern Regional Fisheries Board member and representative for Slaney River Foundation and Glenda’s husband, Ian Powell. The day started at 10.00am with a detailed briefing from Glenda on the basics of fly-fishing including an introduction on Safety & Clothing; The Equipment; Entomology and Fly-Casting Principles. Loop kindly provided top of the range fishing rods, reels and hats for use by the participants on the day.

Before the group got to cast on the lake itself, the basic steps were taught on a nearby field allowing Glenda and the other instructors to identify and correct any mistakes at an early stage. Following a delicious lunch organized by the Fishery, it was time to put all the casting practice to the test in an effort to catch one of the big Rathcon rainbows!

We didn’t have to wait long; the first fish was caught by Carmel Benson from Roundwood, Co Wicklow. This spurred on the rest of the group and the second fish was caught shortly after by Anne Maloney of Sandycove, Co Dublin. The third fish was signalled by a series of screams and cries of delight as Marie Doyle from nearby Baltinglass, Co Wicklow landed a fine rainbow with assistance from Glenda. It was one of the instructor’s turns next and Mark showed the group how it’s done by catching and landing a huge rainbow of approximately 8lbs. The last fish of the day was caught by a delighted Teresa Doyle from Citywest, Dublin.

The group reluctantly handed back their rods at 4.00pm. They all thoroughly enjoyed the day and promised to continue practicing. Each participant took home a detailed pack on fly-fishing from Glenda, brochures on fishing in the East from the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board and catch and release videos from the Slaney River Trust. Many thanks to Dermot Paige and his family at Rathcon Fishery for looking after everyone so well. If you haven’t tried fishing at Rathcon yet, it is well worth a visit.

There was no fee for tuition on the day; instead participants were invited to make a donation to Action Breast Cancer. Many thanks to all participants for their generous donations. The total amount raised for Action Breast Cancer was €1,440.
                                                                                                …….Ends…..
For more information on fishing in the Eastern Region, please contact Hazel Dobbyn, Eastern Regional Fisheries Board, 01-2787022 or visit www.fishingireland.net

Notes to Editor:
Slaney River Trust represents clubs, fishery owners, anglers and naturalists on the River Slaney. We are committed to working in partnership with communities in the Slaney Valley, with Government at national and local level, as well as others who have an interest in improving the ecology, fisheries and wildlife of the river.

The Eastern Regional Fisheries Board is a statutory authority whose function is to conserve, develop, protect, manage and promote the inland fisheries and sea angling resources within its jurisdiction. The Region extends from the border in Northern Ireland to South of the Wexford coast and includes all catchments which enter the sea between these boundaries. For further information, please visit www.fishingireland.net
The principal functions of the Central Fisheries Board are to advise the Minister for Communications, the Marine and Natural Resources on policy relating to the conservation, protection, management, development and improvement of inland fisheries and sea angling, to support, coordinate and provide specialist support services to the Regional Fisheries Boards and to advise the Minister on the performance by the Regional Fisheries Boards of their functions.
Action Breast Cancer is a national programme established by the Irish Cancer Society to provide breast cancer information and support and to fund breast cancer research. Services are free, confidential and accessible and include:

•    A National Helpline – staffed by specialist cancer nurses, Freefone 1800 30 90 40
•    Information – booklets, fact sheets and website.
•    Health Promotion – providing community and workplace programmes on breast  cancer awareness and early detection
•    Reach to Recovery programme – one-to-one emotional support provided by former breast cancer patients.
•    Research – funding vital Irish breast cancer research that will have a significant impact on diagnosis and treatment.
•    Advocacy – providing a voice for women with breast cancer in Ireland.