Terrible weather for the middle of April but hopefully it will settle down soon as there are a few bass about. Water temperatures still too cold for lure fishing. Bait working well.
Some salmon caught on the Slaney during the first two weeks of the season but low water since hasn’t helped any fish migrate upstream. Great rain over the last few days will help & hopefully I’ll have ago on Friday. Catch & release all thru the Slaney this year.
Before the fishing starts proper!, please have a look at Rosslare Harbour Lifeboat website..This magnificent service has helped out quite a few fishermen! Hopefully none of us will ever need them but if we do, they’ll be along very quickly.
A great deal of rain over the last weekend of April. The webcam on the Slaney River Trust website read about 3 feet on the evening of May 1st. This should move a few fish up stream.
May 3rd.
Some good fishing on the Slaney after the rise in water over the last few days. The water level rose to over the three foot mark on the guage. Good to see some fish showing above the weir in Clohamon. I spent a grand afternoon with Debbie,the two Johns & Bruce on The Mount Leinster Anglers water. We saw three fish but no catch. I believe there was a double figure fresh fish caught there in the morning.
May 4th.
John, Debbie & I were up this morning on Moyeady. Great water running at 11 degrees C.
Fish showing on the Majors Stream then Debbie hooked, played quickly & landed a lovely fresh fish of about 8 lbs on Abrahams Flat. A small half inch yellow tube did the trick.
We all fished on untill evening with no further joy. A great day. Debbie’s first Irish salmon.
May 13th.
Off tomorrow for a couple of days to Lough Corrib. There has been some very good fishing there over the last fortnight. Hope it is still good !
May 17th.
Spent two wonderful days on Lough Corrib with Jim in the boat with me. Bitterly cold with the wind coming from a northerly direction mostly. Not good for fishing. Mayfly hatching quite well in many of the shallows. We failed to catch any good sized fish. The dap rose a few but not that effective. Wet fly the best. Returned early to say farewell to our good friend Dan. Ar dheis De go raibh a ainm dilis
May 22nd, 23rd, 24th.
At the kind invitation of Stuart I spent three days at Mount Falcon Estate. Chris, all the way from Wales,joined me. Three brilliant days at a self catering house set in the grounds of the magnificent Mount Falcon. I can thoroughly recommend a visit here. The facilities available are truly splendid. Apart from luxuries usually found at a country hotel. Mount Falcon has a considerable stretch of the River Moy including the famous Wall Pool. Salmon fishing here is an unforgetable experience. Have a look at Mount Falcon
Chris & I showed Stuart & Jim around the Rock House stretch of the Owenduff. Sadly, no water & high temperatures but a lovely place to visit. We also spent a most enjoyable day on the Erriff river at the kind invitation of Mount Falcon. Again, not a lot of water & warm but very windy which always helps put a good ripple on the pools. Against all the odds a fine salmon of around 12lbs we landed at the top of Beat 8. Small cascade did the trick! safely released.
June 23rd
An early start for James & me. 6am start on the Galway weir. 4 gates open. Too much water for successful fly fishing. A couple of nice grilse caught on shrimp. Difficult to estimate the numbers of fish at the weir. A pod of fresh fish arrived at 11.30 am . The same time the fish were caught! I fear the gates may be open for some time yet as the weather is far from settled.
July 1st
What an amazing summer for rain! Never stops. Launched my boat today. Two months later than last year! Not a bass caught yet but I’m told there are a few about! I’ll be at it soon.
Have a look at the Slaney River Trust website. A lot of water in the Slaney but a few sea trout are moving up.
July 15th.
Just back from a wonderful week on the Owenduff at Shraduggaun. Rained everywhere except where we wanted it to! Last Tuesday saw a little spate & the river rose by a foot. Enough to encourage a few fish to enter the top beat & take. Some lovely sea trout. Chris had one of around 5lbs & Simon followed with another of 3lb. Gerald had a a good catch of trout & also a few salmon. Simon’s salmon of 11 lbs was the best. Not fresh but in great condition & all fish returned to the river.
Stuart, Jim & Paddy joined us on Wednesday evening for a great leg of lamb & those melted mars bars for after. Most enjoyable evening. Chef Simon worked wonders again.
The following evening Simon produced another memorable meal & this time Sibylle & Guy joined us.
The midges were in fine form & very healthy!! One early morning at 5am nearly saw us run off the river. Saved just in time by a gentle breeze.
Lack of water, would you believe, made us move to the River Moy. Stuart very kindly set us up on the best water you could find.Two went upstream worming & two downstream flyfishing. Gerald collected the worms from Garry & in no time at all those floats were bobbing down the ‘Sandy Bank’ beat. Not before Chris had a beautiful 8 lb grilse on the bugeye cascade fly. 4 others on the fly. All lovely fresh fish. The worm worked well as did the fly. 10 fish altogether between us 4. The best July grilse fishing you could ask for. I ruined Stuart’s sink tip & lost his good fly but I’ll replace them! Thank you Stuart for all your hospitality .
Looking for a good place to stay for a bit of fishing or just a relaxing break. Have a look at Mount Falcon
July 25th.
Brilliant afternoon with Simon & Archie in the Greenore area. First good day bass fishing. Tide still a bit strong but easing. Very good sized fish in great condition. That K Ten worked very well. No fish from a surface lure, surprisingly.
Never brought any tea! It got the better of us in the end.
August 8th.
A few days on the Moy at the Ridge Pool & Cathedral Beat proved very challenging due to all the high water. We managed only 2 fish with a few lost. Even Kevin struggled!
Yet again Stuart from Mount Falcon came to our rescue & within an hour of Jason stepping of the ‘plane at Knock he had a fine fish of 5lbs. Chris had another.Thanks Steve & Jason for coming all that way for poor fishing. They did enjoy Doherty’s!!
August 12th.
Mick & I fished hard for 2 hours with little to show then suddenly it all changed much to the delight of Mick. His little popper worked a treat. Great bass fishing for an hour. I think I have a convert!
August 18th
After a week of heavy rain & gales which kept us all off the sea, saw much better weather today. Hopefully to continue. A great photo’ of sunset over Rosslare Harbour was sent to me this evening
23rd August
Charle, Ben & Rory spent the afternoon on the Barrow, with Keith showing them the good spots. Charle managed two fine pike around the 8lb mark.
The other boys continued with their quest for a bass! Very difficult conditions. Coloured water, rain & wind. Ben had a good catch.
August 26th
Just happened to be down checking my boat when I met Andrew , Toby & Brendan just in from a trip to Tuskar with a fine catch of pollack including one of just over 13lbs. A fine fish.
September 14th
Early start on a magnificent morning. Mick & myself arrived just as the action started. 3 plus hours of the best bass fishing you could arrange! non stop action. All caught on surface poppers. The bass were feeding hard & breaking surface constantly.. Coffee & sandwiches were provided. Brilliant morning.
30th September
Tremendous water for the last week of the season on the River Nore. I managed to sneak away for the last few days! Some tremendous fish caught up & down the river. Keith managed some lovely sealiced fish in around the 8lb but finished off the season with a tremendous cock fish around 20lbs, caught on a small size 10 cascade. What a battle. I saw a fine 14lb sealiced fish taken & sadly missed seeing another fresh fish of 18lb the next day. An 8 inch rise in the water stired them up a bit! I was lucky one evening to meet up with four small fish all in their autumn colours! but most enjoyable. Gerald had two, one of 14lbs. Eoin came for a bass to St Helen’s but no luck but that all changed on the Nore. He had a beautiful fresh 12lb fish & ended the season with a superb cock fish of around 20lbs caught on a size 9 Claret shrimp. Declan enjoyed the last two days & also went home with a 10lb fresh fish. Look forward to next year. Must go and tie up a few Claret shrimps!!
