Pike Comp 2012

Hi All
The Pike competition was a success again this year with a good turn out and some nice pike caught as well. Donals cooking was again a resounding success and a welcome winter warmer on a chilly day, many thanks to Donal & Dave for the BBQ.
A good few pike were caught and the best of which was caught by Tom Connelly who won the event for a second time well done Tom.
That wraps up another year of competitions only Christmas left to sort out before the thoughts of a new season are upon us,  lets pray next year is a better one (fishing wise anyway) we don't ask for much.
Dont forget the fly tying is now in full flight the usual spot at the rear of leixlip GAA Thursday nights all welcome in particular beginners.
Have a great Christmas & a Happy New Year

p.s. If any of our members have any winter fishing pics/stories to share please email them to leixlipanddistrictanglers@gmail.com and we will post them here on the blog.

Donal & Dave working hard at the welcome BBQ

Good flow on the Cascade 

A good turn out on the day

 John Brennan presents Tom Connelly with the winners trophy

Pike Comp 2012

Hi All
The Pike comp will take place this Sunday 25th November Fishing from 10am - 3pm with the traditional BBQ around 1pm. It will take place in the normal venue of the Carton House Lake, many thanks to Carton House again for allowing us to hold the comp there.
Normally one of the best attended comps of the year some say its for the Turkey & Ham but we all know its for Donal's Cooking.
Hope to see you all there tight lines.
L&DAA

AGM 2012

Hi All
The AGM will take place this Friday the 23rd of November in the back room of Leixlip GAA.
Any issues you wish raised must be sent to the club Secretary Matt Cunningham in writing before the meeting Email will suffice to leixlipanddistrictanglers@gmail.com and it can be passed on to him.
During the meeting there will be a presentation by Martin O'Grady CFB relating to on going research into Trout genetics in Ireland, which by all accounts is very interesting.
Hope to see you all there.
Tight Lines

Fly Tying 2012

Hi All
The fly tying will kick off for another winter in the usual room at the back of the GAA club from 8pm on Thursday the 1st of November. All are of course welcome the more the merrier, you might even catch (excuse the pun) some of the tried & tested Rye patterns. Hope to see you all drop in over the winter.
Tight treads.

Last Chance 2012

Hi All
The last chance comp was fished on the 16th of September sorry for the delay in results but better late than never. There was a good turn out for the last Trout comp of the year however the trout didn't turn out in numbers though, that didn't stop Kevin McLaughlin who won this event with John Brennan following up in second place. Hope you all have your fingers crossed for a better years fishing next year although that wouldn't be hard. Anyway theres always the Pike comp to look forward to dates of which are to be confirmed.

Tight Lines

Last Chance Comp Lough Owel

Hi all
The Last chance competition has been changed from the 9th of September to the 16th of September meet in Jack Doolins fishing from 11am until 5pm. Contact Dave Gadd to organize a boat, motors can also be arranged but are limited. If any one wants to fish in the Liffey Shield for the club on the 9th of September please contact Matt Cunningham.

Trout League 19/08/2012

Hi All
The Trout League was held on Sunday the 19th of August, it was a lovely evening with warm conditions however the rise was not as good as expected but some anglers had a good night. This round was won by Kevin McLaughlin who had a fine haul of 6 fish for his evenings fishing. With the last league evening on the river now finished we can but hope a better year lies ahead next year as this year has been a bit of a wash out. Again the river is in flood today, we have lost count of the amount of flood days this year. With good weather forecast in the near future maybe there is a few good days fishing left in the river yet. The League table is now fully up dated to include the other anglers missing from the green peter, looks like its all wrapped up at the top after the last river round with only the Last Chance comp to go one last outing before the winter is upon us. In other news the new Hawthorn Cup finally arrived and was presented to Michael Callaghan check out the picture in the Hawthorn cup post update.

Tight Lines

Green Peter 2012

Hi All
The Green Peter was fished on loch Owel on the 21st July 2012 a good night was had by all with the traditional BBQ and fishing talk rambling well in to the wee hours. Owel didn't fish as well as previous years but that didn't stop Hugh Bassett catching some fine trout and winning him the competition. Michael Callaghan was second also with a nice fish on a tough evening, that place moves Michael in to clear second place in the league closing the gap to Jason, with 2 more events to happen before the end of the season the league could become quite tight before the end. Hope to see you all at the Sedge on the 19th of August and it looks like the conditions are at last turing in our favor with the river looking the best it has all summer. Please note there are some peoples points missing off the current league table don't worry these will be included before the next competition I only have the results of 1st & 2nd at the moment the rest will be filled in after our next meeting.

Tight lines

Intel Trophy 2012

The trout league night was used to run the Intel Trophy on the night with the league night being moved to a different date. It wasn't the best night quite damp but that didn't stop the Leixlip Anglers getting the rods out. Fishing was tuff on the night with water levels a little high & cold, not a single fish was seen rising and most fishing was done by speculation. The winner was Jason Nolan with 2 fish for an enormous total of 20 inches, Mick Duggan caught his first fish on the Rye 10.5 inches which gave him second place well done to both. Hopefully conditions will improve soon and the fishing gets better we can but hope. Don't  forget the Green Peter on the 21st of this month maybe the lakes will prove more fruitful.
Tight lines.

Trout League 08/07/2012

Hi All
We are going ahead with the league night on sunday we will meet in the Leixlip church car park @ 8pm fish till 11pm. If anyone wishes to fish the Intel stretch & do not want to leave their car on Kellystown Lane we can accommodate them with a lift up & back. Hope to see you all there, with the fact that the river has been unfishable in the past weeks or is that months (I've lost track its been so long) we should have a good turn out.
Tight Lines

Rye Flood 28th June 2012

Hi All

Hope your all getting some fishing in some where, well not on the Rye and thats for sure another "Friday Flood" thats 3 in a row maybe third times the charm and this will be the last weekend washout for a while we can but hope.
Any how a few photos below of the current river condition I had to question which river was a tributary of which while taking these photos in Leixlip village yesterday evening enjoy.  No news on the car park situation as yet will keep you posted.

Festival Comp 2012

Hi All
A good turn out for the Leixlip Festival Competition Friday 1st June 2012. A good haul of fish caught by the anglers who were treated to a rare sight at the moment a low Liffey. There was a good hatch of several different species of fly with grey flags, yellow sally, Hawthorns, and small sedges so fly choice was made quite difficult on the night. We had a first for this competition on the night 2 winners both catching a 14 inch trout along with several others, they agreed to share there trophy for the year.
The winners were Brian Coffey & Jason Nolan well done to both.
The river fished well as soon as you had picked the right fly sedges worked well on the night.
No News as yet on the Intel Car Park situation we will keep you posted.
 

Intel Car Park

Hi All
More bad news for you today.
Intel have announced due to Construction Work in the North West car park, the parking facility which has been graciously extended to members of the Leixlip Anglers will discontinue on the 31st of May 2012.
An alternative parking area is currently being investigated by Intel & Leixlip Anglers and should hopefully be in place before the end of the month a text will be sent to all to inform everyone of the closure & again when a solution is arrived at.
Information will also be posted here on the blog.
Tight lines.

Poaching On The Rye

Hi All
Sorry to be the bringer of bad news.
We had a massive increase of POACHING on the river over the weekend several POACHERS were seen from Castle Park to Ryevale Lawns. Some very familiar faces who should know better at this stage were observed and the Fisheries Board were contacted to patrol the river, however their time is limited.
We are calling on all members to be extra vigilant over the coming weeks please keep a close eye on the river and report any poaching to our water keepers Jimmy Carroll & Brendan O'Reilly.
This kind of behavior must be stamped out our only weapon is constant vigilance.
Again sorry to bring bad news and hope to see you all on the river soon.

Liffey May Fly

Martin Murray was out & about around the Liffey over the weekend and captured this photo of one of the first May Fly's of the year.
Martin writes
While out for a walk along the liffey this afternoon , I  saw this mayfly - singular, not quite a hatch , but its a start !

Thanks Martin lets hope its the first of many!

Jr Comp 2012

Hi All
The Jr Comp was held on Sunday 22nd April we had a good turn out with numbers up from last year,
Everyone caught some fish and all got a prize at the end of the day, all went home happy.
From frogs to trout to salmon & deer nature was out in force to occupy young minds and if they got bored with all that there was always a tree to climb or a puddle to splash in.
Conor Callaghan caught his first trout during the competition which made him quite happy and Daddy quite proud.
Some of the more experienced lads are off with Johnny Brennan to fish in the Leinster Jr comp on lough Owel best of luck lads we all hope you have a great day.
Hope to see all of you on the river soon with a lot of rain on the way the fishing should be much better in the coming weeks.
Tight Lines.

A good turn out all raring to get fishing

Conor with his first trout and proud Dad on hand to help                                                   

Hawthorn Cup (Trout League Round 2)

Hi All
The Leixlip Anglers were greeted with a fine day for this round of the Trout league.
The Rye was again quite low for this time of year and the temprature had dropped well down from the balmy conditions we had for the Paddy's day comp, but this was not to deter the Leixlip anglers with again a good turn out for the league.
The hatch was very sporadic with some olives coming off late in the afternoon, with the breeze blowing them away quite quickly a sheltered spot was the order of the day for some dry fly fishing.
Michael Callaghan won this round of the Trout League with a lovely 13 inch Trout to the dry fly in tough conditions. This was Michael's maiden win in a competition with the Leixlip Anglers (well fishing competition anyway he won the tackle tart of the year last year) Well done Michael those prayers to the God of fishing did not go unanswered.

Michael Callaghan finally got his hands on the cup The Hawthorn Cup that is, he had to wait a while but it got here in the end. It was formally presented to him by Kevin McLaughlin at the last Trout League night. Well done Michael.

St Patricks Day Comp

Hi All

Another winter has passed and Leixlip anglers were out in force for the first comp of the year, however it may have been the lure of a Sunday morning fry up or the beautiful weather we were graced with which had everyone in such good spirits. 

The weather as said above was beautiful big thanks to all the comity members who picked such a glorious day for the comp (Instead of Mothers Day).

There was good fly life on the river all morning however not a great rise, this didn't stop Martin Murray catching a lovely fish of 13.5 inches winning him the competition well done Martin.

Everyone caught something & nobody left the car park disappointed with their day.

Big thanks to all the cooks on the morning for a grand feed of sausages & rashers.

Here are a few pictures of the day below, see you all at the next comp on the 14th of April.

Tight Lines.

A fine turnout for the first comp of the year (or was it the weather or the fry)

Michael O'Callaghan on his knees praying to the god of fishing

Paul Hegarty enjoying the sunshine

Garreth John also enjoyed the glorious weather

Martin Murray winner (left) & Aidan Crean (right) presenting the trophy

1st of March 2012

Hi All
Well its not a rumor it is the first of March you don't have to check the calendar, another season has  begun.
A few fishing starved anglers made the best of the sunny conditions and had a fine day.
With some out as early as 8am it just so happened that the trout were awake early as well.
A good few fish were caught most falling to nymphs.
The water was 9 degrees yes your not seeing things 9 degrees, there was a good hatch of large olives around lunch and some trout were rising to them.
The water was quite clear & low for this time of year.
All the anglers we bumped into along the river had a smile on their faces and a few good 1st of March stories to tell.
Heres a few photos taken on the Rye today.
If anyone has any nice photos or stories to share from the club this season please send them to the email address in the profile section & we will post them on the blog.

An Early Start for 2 happy anglers winter was over and Barry Neavyn (above) & Jason Nolan (below) made their annual 1st of March march up the Rye the rewards were to follow.

 Gordon King with a lovely trout above the aqueduct enjoyed his first day of the season.

John Neavyn had a smile on his face the joy a new season brings.

And finally Kellystown was reached and all were satisfied with the first day of the season tired legs and tired arms and a good appetite worked up for dinner what better way to spend a day in March.

Welcome Leixlip Anglers

Hi all welcome to the new blog for the Leixlip & District Anglers.

Please bare with us while we get everything up and running all the old posts are here for you to read in the blog history - 2011 post.

All the new posts will be posted here from the comps to the league, info & lots of banter.

See you all soon  down on the river.

Cheers Jay.

Blog History 2010 - 2011

June on the Rye

Chris Haines reports from the Rye in June.

 I was out again last Tuesday evening and had two trout around 8-9 oz on olives. There was plenty of trout rising but I struggled to hook them. They seemed to be feeding on those very small white flies.Does anyone know their name and what fly pattern I could use imitate them?

Last night (Thursday 2nd June) I got out for some more fishing, again plenty of fish rising but I could not figure out what they were taking. So I got side tracked taking photos of the local wildlife. I only started catching after the sun went down. I had two clonkers on big sedge patterns. The first trout was 15-16oz and the last fish was two pounds and this fish fought like a demon.

May on the Rye 2011

Chris Haines wrote:

I took a short 3 hour session on the Rye last night (30/05/2011) between 8 and 11pm. I haven't been fishing the river in three weeks because of the wind and rain of recent weeks, unfortunately the river is still in desperate need of rain. It is amazing how fast the nettles and reeds grow at this time of year. The river has changed so much in three weeks! There wasn't much of a hatch on last night and the temperature quickly dipped after 8:30pm.

The mayfly is up on the Liffey: 8th May

Martin Murray caught two mayflies mating today 8th May. Martin's house is almost on the bank of the Liffey at Leixlip and he keeps a close eye on the river. These two mayflies landed on his sleeve while he was at the back of his house. Its great to see Mayfly hatching in Leixlip. Lets hope the trout think so too.

Trout League 2011

On the 17th April another leg of the trout league was held on the Rye and was well attended. The water level was very low and the fishing was not easy. Dave Gadd won this leg of the competition. A lot of his fish came to the hawthorn fly. As you can see from the comments on this blog it is a good idea to have a hawthorn fly in your box if you are fishing the Rye these days. The fish in the photo was caught by Alan Doyle a few days before.

St Patrick's Competition 2011

There was a great turnout for the first competition of the year. The water was just right and running very clear. The usual fry up was organised. Some members had not been seen for many months and there was a lot of catching up to do. Peter Doherty took a break from work and fished for a short while. He landed a salmon of three pounds and five trout before he went back to work . Jason Nolan won this years event. Good catches were reported the early season fishing on the Rye has proved not to be missed yet again.

St Pat's Competition 2011 Sunday 20th March

The first competition of 2011 for Leixlip & District Angling Association will be held on Sunday 20th March. This competition is also known as the fry on the Rye because traditionally there is a fry up before the competition. Anglers meet in the north west car park behind Intel at 10am for breakfast. Fishing will be from 11 am to 3pm. As usual we encourage anglers new to the Association to come along. The social side of the gathering is far more important than the competitive side.

Rye River: Water Quality Ratings 2010

The section of the river below Kilcock Village has maintained a Q rating of 3-4 since the year 2006 when it was Q2-3. This rating means it is  slightly polluted. The aim of Leixlip & District Angling Association is to achieve a Q rating of 4 for the whole river. A rating of 5 is  achieved by pristine streams on mountain tops. A macroinvertebrate sample is taken to analyse water quality. This work is carried out by Aquens on behalf of Intel Ireland Ltd.

Pike Competition 2010

The annual pike competition in Carton Estate marks the end of the season for Leixlip & District Angling Association. This years competition was held in glorious sunshine. There was a chill factor due to the wind but all thirty -four anglers were in good spirits. There were a good number of junior anglers, two of whom got on the scoreboard. There were about ten pike caught and Jonathan Watkins retained the trophy for another year.

2

AGM 2010

The  AGM of Leixlip & District Angling Association will take place on Wednesday 17th November at St Mary's GAA Club,  Leixlip at 8 pm. The AGM is held in the room behind the club where the fly tying is done. A motion received for this year's AGM is that the Rye Water should be fly fishing only for one year and reviewed at the end of the year.

Last Chance Competition 2010: Sunday 12th September

The Last Chance Competition was held on Lough Owel. Anglers met at Jack Doolan's at 10.30 am and fished until 6pm. The conditions for fishing were perfect but the highlight of the day had to be the fry-up at the pump-house. Fish were hard to come by, with many recently stocked fish coming short or just nipping at the fly 

Lough Owel August 2010

James Ward  and his dad Jim  were out in Lough Owel on 4th August and James caught two lovely trout. The first one was 1 3/4 lbs and the second one was 2lb exactly. The  previous night Jim was out with John Brennan and caught a mighty fish 2 3/4 lb.  Two were caught on the  Green Peter Goss (wet) and coming to dark they switched to a big Murrach (dry).

Rye Wildlife June 2010

Lawrence Breen wrote,

I have attached a photo of a nice Damsel Fly which I took on Sat Night last. The river was alive with all kinds of wildlife and myself and my son Luke spent a magical 2 hours before dark. Lots of Trout rising all around to tease our unskilled efforts. I have identified it as a male Banded Demoiselle Damselfly. It was perched with some other males on some vegitation at the side of the river where it waits to attract passing females.

Intel Trophy Fishing Competition Friday 18th June

Intel Trophy Fishing Competition Friday 18th June

The Intel Trophy Fishing Competition will be held on Friday 18th June. Anglers should meet at 7pm in the NW carpark behind Intel. Fishing will be from 7.30pm to 11pm. Fish over 8 inches will count and it is the total length of trout caught that is recorded. The Rye is very low at the moment but it is still holding a good head of trout. Brian Coffey won the competition last year with a great catch on a sedge pupa.

Chris Haines writes.

The attached photos are various fish caught very recently on the Rye behind Intel, all trout are released of course.

May on the Rye

Chris Haines writes.
 

Chris Haines writes.

Good to see that we can post the odd photo of trout from the Rye on your blog. The blog is looking great now. Well done!

The attached photos are various fish caught very recently on the Rye behind Intel, all trout are released of course.

Good to see that we can post the odd photo of trout from the Rye on your blog. The blog is looking great now. Well done!

 

A Tall Pike Story

John Brennan reports the story of an angler catching two pike at the same time. By all accounts one pike was being reeled in at Carton Lake when another pike attacked it and the angler landed both pike. If you look closely at the first pike you can see the teeth marks of the second pike. I think the gillies at Carton have probably surpassed themselves with this achievement.

Chris Haines writes.
Good to see that we can post the odd photo of trout from the Rye on your blog. The blog is looking great now. Well done!

The attached photos are various fish caught very recently on the Rye behind Intel, all trout are released of course.

Mayfly Trip to Corrib 2010

The mayfly trip to Lough Corrib  is organised by Aidan Crean and is open to all members. This year's trip was great fun as usual with the accommodation and arrangements being superb. Fishing conditions were quite good with the exception of a wind coming from the north. There was some fly up in Oughterard Bay but the fish were not 

Clean up on the Rye May 2010

Leixlip Anglers in conjunction with Leixlip Town Commission, Tidy Towns Association and local residence associations had a big clean up along the Rye Water last week. Leixlip Anglers responded to the challenge with great enthusiasm and effort. The other groups involved were taken by surprise by the amount of anglers that turned out to help. They were even more surprised by the amount of rubbish taken out of the river by the anglers.

Catch and Release

John Brennan sent me a few pictures of his recent catches before they were safely returned to the river. It  makes great sense to take pictures of your fish rather than bag them. I know that many anglers are doing this already and Leixlip Anglers would like to encourage it. If you would like to send me some of your fishing pictures I will try to put them on our blog. Send them to the club email address above.

A beauty from the Rye

On Saturday 17th April my son Donal had his first outing on the Rye. It was a beautiful morning and fish began rising fairly well at 1.30 pm. He covered quite a few fish, all quite small I suspect, but was unable to make contact with any of them. Then he hooked into  this  beautiful trout which was in excellent shape.

Jnr Comp 09/05/2010

The first Jnr outing this year was held on Sunday 9th May, four Jnr members and some seniors turned out for the day.

It was very bright and the river was at summer levels very hard fished, but that didn`t stop the Jnr members catching, they had one fish to hand on a gold head and a couple of fish got away, all had some action even if it was only their fly being followed by a fish

Trout League April 2010

The second fishing competition of the trout league was held on Sunday 18th April. Conditions were ideal for a bit of fishing. There wasn't a great rise of fish but they remained active from 11am until well after 2pm. Most of the lads fished nymphs and some persisted with the dry fly. There were a lot of salmon parr in the process of turning into smolts which is a great sign for the future of the Rye as the main spawning river for the Liffey salmon. All fish were returned carefully to the river.

Presentation to Donal Connolly

The Salmon Leap Pub seemed a fitting setting for the recent presentation of a framed photo on the occasion of Donal Connolly stepping down from the committee. You may notice that the photo presented to Donal by Aidan Crean was taken when Donal won the Fishing competition in Lough Owel last year with a fine wild trout.Donal was pleased on that occasion but I think he was just as pleased by the thoughtfulness of fellow committee members especially Brendan who picked the photo and had it framed.

Mink Reported in Rye Water

The Mink is a member of the weasel family. The species found along the Rye is the American Mink which is bigger than the European Mink. Mink are  escapees from mink farms which were established here in the 1950's. In general mink are about 18 to 24 inches in length, including its bushy 5- to 7-inch tail,.  Their typical habitat includes streams and rivers. I observed mink along the Rye about five years ago but it is only this year anglers are reporting a marked increase in numbers.

St Patrick's Competition 2010

The St Patrick's weekend competition, the first of the year, was held on Sunday 21st March. The day started as usual with a fry up. The day was perfect and there was a great turn out for the competition. The angling dress code was much improved from former years and members of  Leixlip & District Angling Association now look like a thoroughly professional bunch. Many different methods of fly fishing were used on the day. Jonathan O Brien was the winner with a lovley trout 12 ½ inches.