Clare River Fishing updates

fishmanbin

Would like to hear how everyone is doing this year on the Clare, where ye are catching the fish and how! And also if there are runs of salmon and trout to let us know

viper123

fishmanbin wrote: »

Would like to hear how everyone is doing this year on the Clare, where ye are catching the fish and how! And also if there are runs of salmon and trout to let us know

What section of the river do you fish?

fishmanbin

viper123 wrote: »

What section of the river do you fish?

Normally from the bridge in lackagh right through to the bridge in corbally. it was to high last week it's sort of coming right now though, 3 trout under a pound is all released again. where do you fish it?

jack01986

A bit of a thread resurrection but I'm in Galway in a week or so and was thinking of getting a day ticket for the Clare River. Can they be purchased anywhere?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

jack01986 wrote: »

A bit of a thread resurrection but I'm in Galway in a week or so and was thinking of getting a day ticket for the Clare River. Can they be purchased anywhere?

Unless there is substantial rain I wouldn't fish any river at the moment. Try local tackle shops for permits.

viper123

Havent been down recently but I'd say the water is drastically low. As for permits it depends on which spots you intend fishing a lot of it is club waters from athenry down to claregalway

jack01986

Ye I was thinking there would be low water. Will see what the weather does before I make any plans. Any spots you'd recommend?

viper123

You might be better off just trying to get out on Corrib for a day. I'd offer to bring you but not sure when I'd be next down there.

jack01986

No worries Viper thanks for the help.

Zzippy

The river is too low to fish at the moment and will need serious rain to get it back to fishing level. The first big rain will see a filthy flood too and make the river unfishable. No sign of any of that on the horizon, however.

vloops

Regardless of the current situation. My advice would be don't bother with the Clare river at all. It's a seriously ugly river that has been destroyed by having the bottom ripped out of it and thrown up on the bank in the name of flood relief. The OPW are doing a great job of making it worse at the moment. A lot of it is difficult or uncomfortable to fish with the fly. Unless you want to put significant time in or get local knowledge I wouldn't bother with it.

Zzippy

vloops wrote: »

Regardless of the current situation. My advice would be don't bother with the Clare river at all. It's a seriously ugly river that has been destroyed by having the bottom ripped out of it and thrown up on the bank in the name of flood relief. The OPW are doing a great job of making it worse at the moment. A lot of it is difficult or uncomfortable to fish with the fly. Unless you want to put significant time in or get local knowledge I wouldn't bother with it.

There is some great fly water on the Clare. Yes it can be difficult to fish if you can't spey cast or roll cast, but if you can it opens up a lot more fishing to you. Like any river, if you put the time in it will reward you. The Clare is probably one of the most prolific salmon rivers in the country. Despite all the OPW has done to destroy it.

vloops

The most prolific salmon river in the country and great fly water? I honestly couldn't agree with that. There is little competition these days I suppose. A few spring salmon do run the river but fishing for them is an endurance sport. There is occasional grilse fishing given a good flood in July. 2015 was the last time. After July you will be fishing largely over stale fish. Cregmore and the syndicate below Corrofin have a handful of nice pools for the fly but they are way over-subscribed and it is always busy there when any fish are around. 
A full range of casting techniques is essential to cover any river but roll/ spey casts require the use of water surface tension and that doesn't work standing on a 10-15 foot high bank above the river with huge mounds of rock and barbed wire fence behind.  Wading is not fun or safe at 1.2- 1.3m on the gauge. 
I don't dispute that it can be fished with the fly but for the most part it is a very difficult place to fish.  If I was advising a beginning or intermediate fly fisher for somewhere to go, the Clare river would be down the bottom of the list. If you wanted to catch good numbers of grilse in a day, the Dawros in Connemara would be much better.
Apart from that. It is disgusting the way the river has been abused by OPW and IFI and so many people are wasting their energy blaming Pike for issues with our game angling.

Zzippy

vloops wrote: »

The most prolific salmon river in the country and great fly water? I honestly couldn't agree with that. There is little competition these days I suppose. A few spring salmon do run the river but fishing for them is an endurance sport. There is occasional grilse fishing given a good flood in July. 2015 was the last time. After July you will be fishing largely over stale fish. Cregmore and the syndicate below Corrofin have a handful of nice pools for the fly but they are way over-subscribed and it is always busy there when any fish are around. 
A full range of casting techniques is essential to cover any river but roll/ spey casts require the use of water surface tension and that doesn't work standing on a 10-15 foot high bank above the river with huge mounds of rock and barbed wire fence behind.  Wading is not fun or safe at 1.2- 1.3m on the gauge. 
I don't dispute that it can be fished with the fly but for the most part it is a very difficult place to fish.  If I was advising a beginning or intermediate fly fisher for somewhere to go, the Clare river would be down the bottom of the list. If you wanted to catch good numbers of grilse in a day, the Dawros in Connemara would be much better.
Apart from that. It is disgusting the way the river has been abused by OPW and IFI and so many people are wasting their energy blaming Pike for issues with our game angling.

I fish both those stretches mentioned, wading is reasonably good IMO and there are more than a handful of pools that are good for fly fishing. Yes if you're a beginner, or don't want to put the time in, other rivers will be more easily fished. I love the Dawros too, lovely water.

BTW I said "one of the most prolific", not the most prolific, and in terms of numbers it is probably in the top 5 rivers in the country - Moy, Laune, Blackwater and Cong the only ones I can think of where more fish are caught.

I get the OPW have a lot to answer for, but how have IFI abused the Clare?

vloops

IFI have refused to do any further work with the OPW  ( due to resources they say). It would seem they want to avoid any recrimination if flood damage occurs in the future. So the current run of works on the Clare are happening unchecked. They no longer provide ANY instream works or consultancy to mitigate that damage. If IfI want to do any repair works now they have to apply for their own funding under the NSAD. You couldn't make it up! IFI are also forcing clubs to apply for planning permission from county councils to repair rivers that have been damaged by drainage before granting funding for projects from the salmon stamp fund. The councils don't want anything to do with it. So we are now in a situation where no instream enhancement projects have been carried out in the last 2 years and the money you pay on your salmon license is going towards everything bar fixing fish habitat. IFI are no longer an organisation fit for purpose.

Zzippy

vloops wrote: »

IFI have refused to do any further work with the OPW  ( due to resources they say). It would seem they want to avoid any recrimination if flood damage occurs in the future. So the current run of works on the Clare are happening unchecked. They no longer provide ANY instream works or consultancy to mitigate that damage. If IfI want to do any repair works now they have to apply for their own funding under the NSAD. You couldn't make it up! IFI are also forcing clubs to apply for planning permission from county councils to repair rivers that have been damaged by drainage before granting funding for projects from the salmon stamp fund. The councils don't want anything to do with it. So we are now in a situation where no instream enhancement projects have been carried out in the last 2 years and the money you pay on your salmon license is going towards everything bar fixing fish habitat. IFI are no longer an organisation fit for purpose.

Fair enough points looking at it from the outside. I would have a bit more insight into how those decisions came about that I'm not going to get into on a public forum, but I can understand your viewpoint. There is an element of catch 22 from IFI's perspective and it definitely leads to frustration among the public and staff.

vloops

Do you work for IFI? Are you are saying that the reasons are different to those that IFI have given to stakeholders? Explain how there is a catch 22 situation? IFI are there to protect and enhance and they are stealthily backing away from their core duties. The management in IFI are demonstrating that they are only interested in sitting behind screens. Have a look at their corporate strategy. Look at the state of the Bandon, the Dodder, the Clare. It's sickening! When asked about the issues with instream works, IFI senior management suggested going to the Wild Trout Trust for the resources! There is no will to address the serious issues with our aquatic habitat. I have absolutely no faith in IFI where once upon a time I was a fan.

Zzippy

vloops wrote: »

Do you work for IFI? Are you are saying that the reasons are different to those that IFI have given to stakeholders? Explain how there is a catch 22 situation? IFI are there to protect and enhance and they are stealthily backing away from their core duties. The management in IFI are demonstrating that they are only interested in sitting behind screens. Have a look at their corporate strategy. Look at the state of the Bandon, the Dodder, the Clare. It's sickening! When asked about the issues with instream works, IFI senior management suggested going to the Wild Trout Trust for the resources! There is no will to address the serious issues with our aquatic habitat. I have absolutely no faith in IFI where once upon a time I was a fan.

Like I said I'm not going to get into it on a forum. Catch 22 refers to issues like the planning permissions you referenced. Would you complain that a local authority required someone to obtain planning permission before building a house? If legal advice is that instream works require planning permission, should IFI ignore this and grant funding willy nilly? It is frustrating, but there are governance and compliance issues that cannot be ignored by any State agency.

Anyway, this is going well off topic. Sorry mods. Looking forward to a bit of rain so I can get the switch rod out to fish the Clare.

vloops

If someone damaged your house should you require planning permission to fix it? As I mentioned before, the councils don't want to know. Why aren't you prepared to discuss this on a public forum? It's a state agency so everything should be in the public domain anyway. This is the problem with IFI they operate in a nontransparent back room manner.

vloops

BTW I don't think that this discussion is off topic ...it's related to the health of the river and the state body charged with protecting it.

Squatman

Thread resurrection again...

I'm looking to fish immediately opposite the castle in claregalway, iv the salmon licence got. Does the below permit allow this

https://permits.fishinginireland.info/product/castle-fishery-adult-season-permit/

The wording is a bit vague, upstream of the bridge, downstream to the Corrib.. iv heard local stories that I might need to be a club member, but not sure what club, or where to find out either.... Any help appreciated

Zzippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120203541#Comment_120203541

Yes, that permit covers where you want to fish. The castle fishery permit extends from the drain upstream of Crusheeny/Kiltroge bridge downstream to the lake.

Squatman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120244708#Comment_120244708

excuse my ignorance, but where is the drain, is that the low lying area that was dug out? im told that any area thats not covered by the permit, will be signposted? from memory, as far upstream as I have walked, i havnt seen any signs. Thanks Zzippy

Zzippy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120246287#Comment_120246287

53.339364, -8.900918 Put that into Google maps and click Satellite view. Upstream of where that drain enters the river is Cregmore Athenry club water.

Squatman

Thanks a million Zzippy., really appreciate it.

OwlEye

Hoping to try the Clare for a few hours on friday (26th), water levels on the Corrofin gauge currently reading 1.36m and dropping slowly. Will be spinning for salmon but giving time constraints I'm not sure where would be the most productive between the Clare Galway castle beat or the Joyces beat of the Cregmore section. Have fished both sections a handful of times over the last few years but have yet to have any success. Anyone have any advice on how the river is fishing at the moment?

Much appreciated.

Squatman

havent fished it this year. i fished it a lot last year. No luck, anyone i met hadnt caught anything either…. i heard up around the sewerage treatment, 3 salmon were caught, but that was 3rd hand or more information.

OwlEye

Thanks, didn't bother fishing it today. Called into the fisheries office yesterday for advice. Four gates open and high water, and even with big tides no fish being caught or seen traveling. Should be back again in a month or so, will give it another go then.