Grilse have provided excellent sport in the last week of May, with 72 fish landed, and more as I (Kevin Crowley) looked out on the fishery half an hour ago and saw three anglers playing fish at the same time!
Among the lucky anglers this week were John Anderson, with three grilse to 6lbs on fly, Tipperary’s Jim Ryan with 2 grilse to 7lbs on fly, and Navan man Paul O’Malley, with 2 grilse on shrimp. John Murphy from Clare had 3 fish to 5.5lbs on fly, while local angler Bertie Lynch landed 2 grilse to 5.5lbs on shrimp. Northern Ireland man Davy McMurtry enjoyed his visit, landing 4 fish over 2 sessions to 7.5lbs on shrimp, Andrew Sheridan had 2 fish to 6lbs on fly, and UK visitor David Christie had 2 grilse to 7lbs on fly.
Local angler Sean O’Toole had 2 fish to 6.5lbs on the fly, Northern angler Christy Lynam also had 2 grilse on fly, and local musician and banjo maestro Enda Scahill had his first salmon of 2017, a nice 6lbs fresh grilse on fly. Limerick man Martin Kiely caught 3 grilse to 5lbs on fly and shrimp, Tuam angler Louis Brennan had 2 grilse on shrimp, and Westmeath man Liam Gilsenan had 3 grilse to 5lbs on fly.
Moycullen angler Neil Spellacy had a great day on Saturday, landing 5 grilse, losing another and meeting quite a few more fish as well. The best fish of the week was the 11lbs salmon taken by local angler John McCarthy. There appears to be a good run of grilse coming in on every tide now, and with one gate open, conditions are perfect for fishing, especially for fly anglers.
Another good week on the Laune, plenty of action for anglers
Billy Downes, Laune Salmon and Trout Anglers’ Association, reports that as of Monday 29th of May the Laune had fallen to just above 1m on the gauge at the Laune Bridge. Nice enough water for all methods but for fly it would be better a bit higher. Billy tells us it was another good week on the Laune…
Angling effort is up considerably with lots of members and visiting anglers encountering fish and some really good fish among them. As usual the really big ones get away – up to 15 lbs reportedly… There were a few fish got each day last week but the fishing was at its best when the nets were off Saturday to Monday with Sunday being the best day we have had on the Laune for a long time. Matt Standen met four fish during the week and managed to land one of almost 8 lbs on the fly. On the Saturday, Noel hickey had a beauty on the fly a fish of 10 lbs at Johnston’s and there were two nice grilse landed from Broderick’s on worm also.
On Sunday there were 12 fish met in Johnston’s alone, mostly on worm but a good few also met and turned to the fly. On Monday, Matt Murphy lost a fish of 12 at the net, net too small. Matt has already had a few grilse but this was his first salmon. John Hussey landed a fine fish of about 8 lbs spinning; the fish had very obvious seal teeth marks on both flanks. There were a few more grilse got today in Heffernan’s and Johnston’s. On the sea trout front Noel Burke and Garry Fernane met and landed some nice fat trout over the weekend.
Let’s hope that the good week we have had is not the only one we have for the season and that the coming week brings a few more fish to members and visiting anglers.
Prospects: Much improved but shortly the river will be in need of a good rain to keep it suitable for all methods. Allow for the fact that the commercial nets will be operational from Tuesday to Friday.
Billy Downes, Secretary
Laune Salmon and Trout Anglers’ Association
Go fishing…
Day permits are the same as last year €25 to the end of July and €35 for the months of August and September. For Beat 3 Permit costs click on: Beat 3 Permit Prices 2017. Be sure to display your permit on the dash of your car with the date and permit number visible and have the other part with you because you will be asked by members to identify yourself as a legitimate ‘One Day Member’ / Permit Holder.
Web: www.launeanglersfishing.com
Facebook: Facebook Laune Anglers
Email: billydownes@hotmail.com
More about the Laune…
http://fishinginireland.info/salmon/southwest/laune.htm
