All the SHANNON ESTUARY reports

[bigkev]

New Quay / Crovraghan Pier 15 November 2003 Low water/darkness

Went to fish New Quay( now signed as Inishmurry Quay), near Kildysart on the shannon estuary. The area is unfishable as extensive building work on the quays in being carried out. Kildysart pier didnt appeal as at low water its a muddy bank

So, we moved back around to Crovraghan pier. Fished four hours at low water to darkness. We managed to set a new record for crabs caught in one hour, with multiple crabs per bait per cast.

However, there were a lot of bait fish which I couldnt identify due to the very coloured water after all the rain thursday friday, and a large fish kept crashing into them right against the shore (bass or sea trout). Tried spinning for this fish with no joy.

In summary , saturday was never going to be good on the shannon as it was high with all the cold floodwater , but we never managed a bite

ps No peelers anywhere

Kev

[kieran]

Kilterry Pier 10th November 2003 3 hr either side of high water

Fished from the pier 3 hours either side of high water saturday night, 2 hours into darkness.
For a lot of effort and bait we landed two fish, a doggie and a thornback of 4 or 5 pounds
Sand eels were devoured in seconds by hyper active crabs, and both fish fell to squid. (the only bait that can last any length of time)

Fishing is quite poor and the expected whiting were nowhere to be seen. This time last year 40 or 50 whiting could be expected in a session, admittedly on the small size, but they are conspicuous by their absence.
Maybe the mild weather is responsible but Im going to try further down the estuary next time

BigKev[/b]

[kieran]

Well all,
I am new to sea angling and am wondering if anyone has fished Kilteery Pier recently?
If so is it woth fishing at the moment?
What species would i most likely encounter and what baits would be the best to use?

Any info you can give will be greatly appreciate.

Regards,

Dave B

[kieran]

Hi Dave B

Welcome to the forum.

I tried fishing it along with all the marks up the shannon from Foynes to Carrick Island earlies this year and blanked... on every single one.

The only mark that showed any potential was the west of Carrick Island - rocky bottom, bring lots of leads - target species are bull huss, conger eels and dogfish with the odd bass reported and I saw one sea trout there.

There were reports of bass falling to flying C spinners in the hot water outflow from Tarbert Power Station. You can fish there for conger eels off the outer pier and also for flatfish off the inner pier.

Try carrick island with worm and mackerel baits or alternatively give yourself an extra hour in the car and head for Fenit Pier in Kerry. BTW the man of the house in the B&B as you enter carrick island is a wealth of local knowledge and not above showing people where and how to fish if they decide to stay the night. nice B&B and very reasonable too...

Hope this helps, and if you see BigKev on this forum, he might know more...

FWIW...

[kieran]

Thanks Kieran.
Had a few trips around Dingle peninsula with Big Kev in the summer.
had a few nice wrasse but most fish fell to Kev.
Just waiting to hear from Kev if can make it to Kilteery this weekend.
Might start at Kilteery this weekend and work my way down the Estuary whenever i can get a day off from work.


Regards,
Dave

[kieran]

Carraig Island, Co. Limerick 26 June 2003 low water, daylight

Fished Carraig Island (west) on the rocks for an hour at dusk at low water looking for conger and bull huss. One bite to chicken fillet bait (seriously) and not a lot else. Does anyone dig bait to sell around Limerick any more?

Found a nice tackle shop in Listowel and armed with squid and mackerel, went back to Carraig Island with a view to trying the east side. Easterly wind up overnight. Very desolate place so I hightailed it back to Tarbert.

Reports of bass in the water outlet from the power station were verified by a friend who said they are small, many undersize which has not stopped some twits from taking them anyway. Will people ever learn?

Finally ended up fising Kilterry pier on a rising tide for four hours and fed the crabs liberally with mackerel and squid. Not a sausage. Bait was not in great condition - fresh mackerel is so superior to the frozen muck... but on both marks I was pestered by sea trout, and John from Castleview B&B on Carraig Island said that there was a nice run of grilse too on the far side of the bay... presumably heading for the Maigue!

Really disappointed but to be fair the conditions were awful, the bait was awful, so I can hardly be too surprised. Lots of comments from local fishermen that the area has declined, especially at Glin and Kilterry and that Carraig Island is the only mark worth fishing apart from Foynes... and that there are large ray to 30 lbs being landed in Labasheeda Bay.

[kieran]

Glin, Co. Limerick 11 March 2003 daylight


Was down in Kerry last week for the start of the salmon season in the river feale.

I got there a day early so decide to try a bit of beach casting in Glen got 20-30 witting none too big do. The local say this quite a good spot do, with large fish all year. Used the usual Sand eel and mackerel and mussel.

The tide here is a monster so if you go down have plenty of large weights.

Dermot B

[Donagh]

Rinnena Creek, Shannon Airport, Co Clare 4-6 pm 23.11.2003

Fished for flounder in Rinnena Creek (it took me about an hour to find the place) the Back Of Shannon airport from 4 to 6 pm with high tide just before 6 with frozen Mackerel. Got a couple of bites but no hook ups. Plenty of crab especially near the bank. At high tide bank was flooded ( rubber boots a must) and decided to stop as the ledge in the creek was impossible to see the dark.

[bigkev]

Carrig Island West, Co Kerry 23.11.2003 Low Water

Fished at low water with sand eels and light leads. A couple of doggies with the first cast mislead us into thinking the fishing would be hot.
It wasnt. No more bites were forthcoming , and as the tide started to flood, we were undergeared tackle wise. 6oz leads are needed here when the tide starts to run. After 3 pointless hours of feeding this tackle graveyard, we were beaten and left to fish Kilteery Pier in the hope that the whiting have turned up.
Well, they havent
So, another poor day on the shannon, and the burning question

Where have all the whiting gone ?

Fed up, Im now abandoning the shannon to head back to my beloved Dingle for some decent fishing
Watch this space

[Dave_B]

Carraig Island East, Co Kerry 7.12.2003 Low Tide up

Fished Carraig Island East from Low tide to High tide.
Using Squid and Sandeel as bait.
Day started off very well, with the two of us landing 2 doggies on the first cast. Another 3 landed soon after. After that everything went quiet with the very occasional doggie taking a bait.

Dave

[Donagh]

Kilteery pier, Co Limerick 11.12.2004 6-8 pm around high tide

Fished from just after 6pm to just after 8pm using frozen mackerel brushed with pilchard oil. High Tide was before 8 with a breeze coming in on the shannon. Lower hook was savaged by crabs and was dispensed with. Caught 2 6oz whiting on snood about 4 foot from bottom before 7pm. Plenty of bites after that but spent much of the time that messing around with mackerel with very cold hands. Its alot easier to bait up when still frozen.

[Donagh]

Kilteery Pier, Co Limerick 18th Jan 04 up to high tide

Fished Kilteery 11am to 3pm which was high tide with a stiff breeze up river. Crabs are as active as ever here and there were very few bites but caught a 6oz(aprox) whiting to frozen sand eel and Dab to 1/2 a frozen peeler just before 2pm. The bloke fishing beside me was fishing frozen mackrel for 2 hours before I left with 2 rods without luck. He was suprised with the lack of whiting as he usually got a good few here ,even during the day and said Foynes has been good for them but he couldn't fish there as there were too many Ships in. The rain fall we've been having the last while probably did nothing for the fishing but it was great to get out fishing again after a month of Child sick/me sick/ vistors etc etc.

Donagh

[Donagh]

Kilteery Pier, Co Limerick 12.2.2004 6-9 pm flooding tide

Fished kilteery pier from 6 to 9 pm on a rising tide. Caught a few whiting early on to sand eel which had defrosted while I was at work so it wasn't the best. I had tried out keeping them in thermos cup which doesn't seem any way as good as a flask. Tried using the whiting strips and adding a star light to the bait to but caught nothing after that. Well at least I has fish for supper. Any time I catch whiting here the bait is well off the ground.

BTW When I came down there was a woman going for a swim. Must of scared off all the fish. :lol:

Donagh

[Peter]

BTW When I came down there was a woman going for a swim. Must of scared off all the fish.



Was she wearing a swimsuit ? :shock:

[Donagh]

Fortunately she was covered up. (you'd have to see the lady involved) :lol:

[Donagh]

I tried fishing Carrick Island east but the shannon FB instructions had me go on a mystery tour around the Island through mud with two rods and all my gear in hand. Not sure if I ended up at the right mark but I ended up fishing at a beach with fairly shallow water. Added to my poor casting into a fair all Nor east wind I wasn't going to catch anything so I gave up and went to carrick west. I wasn't set up for rough ground fishing but I still managed to pull a decent sized strap conger from coloured water in the first of a rising tide. I'm not sure of its weight but It was longer than 3ft and the body was big enough so that my hands didn't touch when I grabbed it to let it back in.

[Donagh]

First I went down to Glin Sunday morning for high tide but the strong wind up river was pushing the line , when casting, out from my reel up river and it was getting snagged in weed. There seems to be alot of snags and weed close into shore here. I moved on to Kilteery but couldn't fish there as there was a search for the body of the man that went missing there Thursday evening. Strangely enough I would of gone there fishing that night only for the howling gale and finding out the celtic game was on the telly.

I went onto the foynes swimming pool mark and fished 3 hours of the ebb and I blanked. There's a line of rocks that jut out that can be fished off once they dry out after high tide (very slippery otherwise) to gain an extra few yards distance. My rig seems to be pushed in to the bank here by the tide. When I fished here the last time it was on a spring and It caused alot of tackle loss. The crabs were very active so I was using large mackerel lasks on a pennel and when they didn't last I switched over to mackerel tails which came back with only the bone left after only a few minutes .

Just one of those days.

[Donagh]

Fished Glin lay-by mark from 6pm to after 9 pm with high tide at 8pm with frozen Sand eel cut at both ends. Missed one strong pull as baiting a second trace. The rest of the evening was spent looking at my rod buzzing while crabs ate my bait. I'm a crap caster but From talking to others a 50 yard cast here is supposed to get you in the fish and there was a near spring tide down on the tide table.

Donagh

[Donagh]

Fished Foynes mid day for 4 hours of the flood. Caught a small strap about 3lbs early on to squid. After attending to a call of nature a came back back and the line was completely slack. Quickly reeled in to have something bigger tumping on my line. Another Conger but I wouldn't of been suprised if it was hitting double figures again it fell to squid. Landed it but it hopped backin before I got the camera out. Very snagging around here which makes it hard to fish in a strong tide.

Donagh

[Donagh]

Got word that foynes west quay is fishing well for ray at the moment with squid being used to take them but this is from an unreliable source. It's the right time of year for it to pick up with peelers being out and about.

Donagh