Fishing and Angling

This activity is what Ireland is all about and where better to come than West Cork. Sea angling can be split into 2 categories.

Shore fishing
For the shore angler, the amount and the quality is staggering. Whether you are a bait fisherman or spinner, there are places and hot spots just minutes away from the house. When tide and weather permits you can catch:

Sea Bass, Wrasse (up to 8lb in weight), Pollack (up to 12lb), mackerel (galore), Mullet, Ling, Plaice, Sole. If guests can let us know in advance of their stay, we can arrange to employ a guide, as some of the rock marks are difficult to locate and access without local knowledge.

Boat Angling
For the boat angler, there are plenty of craft available for hire all day, mornings or just a leisurely evening trip. At Courtmacsherry, there are two state of the art 38-foot fast angling craft catering for whatever fishing you would like to do. There are also a fleet of four, 16foot ouboard fishing boats available for hire. A number of the harbours also have angling craft for hire like Ring (Clonakilty), Kinsale, Glandore, Union Hall, Castletownsend and Baltimore.

Game Fishing
Within ten minutes of the house is the river Argideen, noted as one of the best sea trout rivers in Ireland.A game licence is required to fish any river for salmon or sea trout, along with a permit for permission to fish whatever part of the river you chose. The game licence can be bought at any angling shop or post office or at the club premises from the Honorary Secretary. The Bandon river still produces good catches of salmon in season.

Further west there are some fine rivers with excellent stocks of salmon and sea trout. Trout fishing does not require a licence, only permission to fish, and there is some superb trout fishing to be had in some of the smaller streams. It's just a matter of exploring the various back lanes and asking in local pubs.

Lake and course fishing
There are several good lakes to be found within an hour of the house and most of these are well stocked with rainbow and brown trout. Anglers should note that there is a wonderful smokery at Timoleague, (www.ummera.com) so your catch can be smoked and sent on to you wherever you live.

Sailing

There is a sailing school at Courtmacsherry, which teaches sailing in Laser class dinghies. They also have stocks of sailboards and wet suits, all for hire if you do not want the hassle of bringing your own. Kinsale has teaching facilities for the bigger cruisers and also bare boat charters are available for the experienced sailor.