Meath Area Guide - Fishing

Kiltale Holiday Homes are located at the heart of the Boyne Valley fisheries. Indeed, at Kiltale House & Cottage, we welcome and make special provisions for angling enthusiasts. Close to the house, you'll find a purpose built angling/tackle house (pictured) which incorporates a drying room, wash area, bait fridge, freezer and all the other facilities to satisfy specialists, experienced and novice anglers alike. Hiring of fishing rods, packed lunches, river and lake maps and a guide can all be arranged.

One of the great advantages of coming to County Meath to fish is that you can avail of the expert advice of Mr. David Byrne - Boyne Fishery Manager who can be contacted as follows:

Tel / Fax :  +353 (0)46 73375
Mobile : +353 (0)87 2746127

 
Salmon fishing on the Boyne improved during the week ending 16th September with good numbers of fresh fish being reported taken in the Oldbridge area. Gerry Martin from Drogheda landed two fish on each of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Gerry’s success was attributed to a small shrimp fly. All these fish were fresh and were taken on the fly. On Tuesday, 11th, Martin Connolly from Drogheda had a nice 7 lb fish on the fly. Martin also had another fish of 6 lb on the Wednesday. On Friday, 14th, Michael Mullen from Drogheda caught and released four salmon which he had caught on the fly. All fish were slightly red and were released back to the river. This is now becoming a more common practice among salmon anglers. On the same day Michael also had a beautiful fresh run sea-trout which weighed in at 3.5 lb, the sea-trout also fell to the shrimp fly. On Sunday, 16th, Johnny Campbell from Drogheda landed two nice fish from the flats below the Curley Hole.

Conditions on the Kells Blackwater remained low and clear with the weather being very changeable. Danny Fitzsimons and his wife, Maurine from the USA visited the Kells Blackwater on the 10th, 11th and 12th of September. Together they landed a total of 51 trout, fishing catch and release. Danny’s best three fish measured 13.5”, 14.5” and 14.5”. Maurine’s three best fish measured 13” and two of 14”. On Sunday, 16th September, Peter and John Te Moller from Holland visited the Kells Blackwater River at Mabes and Lloyd Bridge. Conditions were difficult with a very strong north wind, which did not help with the prevailing temperatures. However, the duo managed to catch and release a total of 22 trout from 6” to 12”. Best flies for the period included the Pale Watery, the Olive emerger and Caddis pattern.

Marc and Beatrice Souliard from France visited the Kells Blackwater on Monday, 13th August. Water was low and clear and weather was unsettled, being very windy with a severe cross wind. The sky was dark and overcast but it was quite warm and humid. Marc had a total of 35 trout from 7” to 15” with nine of these fish measuring between 10” and 15”. Marc’s best fish was a beautiful 1.25 lb wild brown trout. All fish were taken on dry fly patterns with the Olive Dun and a Brown CDC Sedge proving most effective. Beatrice who is a fly-fishing novice had six fish from 6” to 9” on wet-fly patterns. The Greenwell’s Glory and Sooty Olive proving most effective. Also visiting the Kells Blackwater was Phil Auchaire who fished on the 13th and 14th of August. Phil had a total of 69 wild brown trout. Phil’s best fish weighed 1 lb and 1.25 lb. These two fish were caught at the Mabes Bridge and Headford areas. The most successful flies were the Olive Klinkhammer with the Goldhead Nymph also producing a number of fish.

  
On Thursday, 5th July, John Ryan from Dublin had two beautiful salmon on the Boyne at Oldbridge. John’s fish weighed in at 14 lb and 9 lb. On Sunday, 8th July, Bill Cragg caught a great sea-trout which weighed in at 4 lb 2 ozs. Bill caught this fish on worm. The Kells Blackwater produced some great wild brown trout during this week. The weather was quite cool and windy. Water conditions were low and clear. The best fish of the period fell to Pa Tormey from Kells, Co. Meath. This fish which weighed in at 5 lb 2 oz was taken on dry fly at Mabes Bridge. Pat McLoughlin from Kells also had two fine fish weighing 4 lb 13 oz and 3 lb 6 oz respectively. Another local angler, Billy Rennicks caught three trout weighing between 3 and 3.5 lb as well as many smaller fish. Stephen McManus also from the locality had a fine 3 lb 8 oz fish at Mabes Bridge. This fish was taken on a wet Olive pattern. A total of seven trout were recorded over a period of three rod days with a combined weight of 27 lb. 12 oz.

In the week ending 15th July, salmon fishing on the River Boyne improved dramatically with good numbers of fish being caught between Slane and Oldbridge near Drogheda. Water conditions were low and clear and the weather was quite unsettled, being cool and overcast. Michael Mullen from Drogheda caught five salmon at Oldbridge in three days. Michael’s catch consisted of two 12 lb fish, a nice 9 lb fish caught on the fly (Ally’s Shrimp, size 12) as well as another two fish which weighed in at 6 lb and 7 lb respectively. The smallest fish was taken on worms but all other fish were taken on the shrimp. On Monday, 8th July, Martin Connolly from Drogheda had a nice fresh fish on shrimp at Oldbridge, which weighed 9 lb and Martin followed this up on the Tuesday with another smaller fish of 7 lb. Dick and Will Den Held from Brussels, Belgium, visited the Kells Blackwater this week. Water conditions were low and clear. Weather conditions were quite good. It was warm and windy with some scattered showers. Wil and Dick weighed in a total of 27 trout in six rod days. The best fish, taken by Dick Den Held, was a lovely 16” wild brown trout which weighed in at 1 lb 8 oz. Dick had a total of 14 trout for his visit whilst Will had 13. All fish were taken on dry-fly.

In the week ending 22nd July, water conditions were still low and clear but the weather became a little more settled and the outlook was good. On Sunday, 22nd July, a total of 12 salmon were taken between Slane and Oldbridge. A number of fish were reported taken on the fly at the Curly Hole at Oldbridge. John Murray had a good fish of 14.5 lb on Saturday, 21st July at Oldbridge. On the upper Boyne at Bective, Trim, Inchamore, Longwood and Edenderry, wild brown trout ranging from .75 lb to 1.5 lb were being caught by all methods.

In the week to 29th July a total of 28 salmon have been caught in the Oldbridge and Marry’s pool area of the River Boyne. Many of the fish were caught in the Curly Hole or on the Flats, which is the deep water below this famous salmon pool with some fish reported as far upstream as Slane. Small numbers of sea trout have also been reported. Salmon are not travelling up the system because of low water conditions and salmon fishing in the Navan area is poor at the moment due to the low water conditions. However, some sea-trout are being reported in the Navan area, around Dunmoe.

Brown trout fishing is good throughout the system with wild brown trout between 1 lb and 3 lb in weight being reported from Bective, Effeknock, Kilnagross and Muchwood areas. The Upper Boyne tributaries are relatively quiet but good trout are being reported on the Yellow River in the Clongall area.