Written By: Myles Kelly.
On Date: 16/3/2010
Although fishing has been tough over the last two weeks with continuing cold weather and severe frosts there were some extraordinary catches reported. Chief amongst these are a 15lb trout from Lough Sheelin, a record breaking haddock from Union Hall and a monster 38lb pike from Lough Garadice.
Coarse angling continues to suffer as water temperatures remain low. The Erne Anglers Winter League in Co. Fermanagh saw modest catches at its latest match on the Rosslea lakes. Simon Huthwaite was the winner with 30 small roach. At the Lyreen Fishery, Maynooth, a huge 28lb 10oz carp, just 1lb 1oz short of the Irish record, was caught by George Speirs.
Some big fish have been taken lately by pike anglers including a massive 38lb pike from Lough Garadice and a 32lb pike from the River Suck. Lough Brakely, Bawnboy, is also fishing well with a number of 20's reported.
Trout fishing on rivers is quite slow at the moment due to the cold and the low water levels at a number of rivers. Lakes are much the same though a pike angler on Lough Sheelin landed a massive 7kg trout on a buster lure earlier this week which wins this week's Catch of the Week.
The Delphi, Drowes and Lough Currane continue to produce the odd salmon but as water levels fall and temperatures remain low catch rates are unlikely to improve in the short term.
The big story this week is the breaking of the 44 year old haddock record by Tony Santry fishing out of Union Hall with charter skipper Colin Barnes. The 11lb 14oz fish is last week's Catch of the Week and should be ratified by the Irish Specimen Fish Committee later in the year. Catch of the Week trout 11 March: A specimen mullet from Rosscarbery is the week's Catch of the Week... Want to see more? Visit Catch of the Week.
Highlights
* Pike to 15lb in Mohill area.
* 61 pike in 5 days to 3 French anglers.
* Trout to 6lb 11oz from Lough Ree.
* Wexford shore angling report.
* Specimen mullet in Rosscarbery.
* Over 40 congers caught on Predator II in 4 days.
Some lucky anglers continue to beat the odds despite the continuing cold, but for most salmon, trout and coarse anglers it continues to be a hard ask with bright skies, low water levels and lower water temperatures combining to make fishing very difficult. Pike and sea anglers buck the trend (a little) with some encouraging reports from Leitrim, Longford, Wexford and Cork.
Coarse angling reports are very thin on the ground this week with only the results of the Erne Anglers leagues featuring. Catches have dropped considerably following the prolonged cold weather. John Potters moves to the top of the senior league with a catch of 6.42 kg. James O’ Doherty won the junior event with 3.93 kg.
Pike anglers continue to enjoy good fishing and plenty of double figure fish feature in reports from the Shannon Region. French anglers staying with Kevin Lyons in Longford had 61 pike over 5 days. Dead baits worked for the early part of their stay but trolling proved to be more effective later in the week. Dead baits were more reliable for guests of Brian Bohan's in Leitrim with pike to 15 lb being caught by father and son team John and Mayler Colloton.
Fly anglers on the trout rivers and lakes are reporting testing conditions as water temperatures hover around the 5 C mark. Many lakes have only lost their last patches of ice in the past few days. Lough Ree seems to have fared better than most lakes with trout to 6lb 11oz falling to the troll. And trolling worked the job on Lough Gowna too with trout to 9lb reported. The North Western Regional Fisheries Board would like to remind anglers that Lough Doon opened for angling on the 1st March, Lough Bo will open the 15th March and Ballin Lough on the 1st April. Day and evening tickets are available for all Board managed fisheries.
Salmon angling is still slow and most fisheries are reporting very low water levels. The Blackwater Lodge had its first salmon of 2010 on Saturday, an 8lb bar of silver to regular visitor Gavin Wishart. Saturday was obviously salmon day; the Drowes had 2 10lb fish and Lough Currane recorded 3 salmon to 9lb with one sportingly returned. Spring salmon are a precious resource so please remember: Catch, Photo, Release.
Sea anglers again take catch of the week with a lovely specimen mullet caught by junior angler Brian Lombard. The fish was caught at Rosscarbery where a number of specimens were taken last year. Staying in the South West, Brian Murphy of Bellavista Hotel, Cobh reports that his small boat fleet has been busy and visiting anglers have had a lot of good cod and ling fishing in Cork Harbour. Danny Meagher from Wexford reports on some rewarding beach fishing with 6 species taken on lug.
In closing this week I'd like to encourage anglers to send in your fishing reports and photos during the year for inclusion in the Irish Angling Update and Catch of the Week competition.
Tight lines.
Myles Kelly
email: myles.kelly@cfb.ie
Headlines
Salmon Angling
* Blackwater Lodge gets its first salmon of the season.
* Currane salmon oblige but lake very low.
* North west salmon report.
* Salmon slow to take on Drowse and Melvin.
* Salmon from the Mourne but conditions not ideal.
Pike Angling
* Pike to 15lb in Mohill area.
* 61 pike in 5 days to 3 French anglers.
* Boyle Ramblers pike report.
Trout Angling
* A cold start to fly fishing on Sheelin and Owel.
* Trout to 6lb 11oz from Lough Ree.
* Trout to 9lb on troll from Lough Gowna.
* Cashel Trout Fishery report.
Coarse Angling
* Erne Anglers League Results.
Sea Angling
* Wexford shore angling report.
* Sal****er Fly & Lure Bass Fishing Workshops.
* Cork Harbour small boats report.
* Specimen mullet in Rosscarbery.
* Clare Dragoon gets ship shape for new season.
* Over 40 congers caught on Predator II in 4 days.
Irish Angling Update