Irish Specimen Fish Committee

Annually, the Irish Specimen Fish Committee, who ratify specimen and record fish in Ireland, publish a list of all the big fish submitted to it at the start of the year.

Anglers can examine the annual report to see what shore marks, charter boat piers, rivers and lakes have produced specimen fish and where most of the big fish were caught the previous year.

You can access this information by logging on to http://www.specimenfish.ie and you can look at the catches of specimen fish recorded from 1999 to the present year.

Recent specimen fish news

Deadline for Specimen Fish claims is approachingOctober 8, 2025-Irish Specimen Fish Committee 2025 – closing date for submission of specimen claims is 31 Oct 2025. The deadline for submitting specimen claims is approaching fast. If you were lucky enough to catch a specimen fish this year and want to claim it, get your paperwork into the ISFC as soon as possible so that the […]

Big Smoothhounds for Mariners in DonegalAugust 20, 2025-The Killybegs Mariners have been getting some great hound fishing off the Donegal beaches of late. There have been numerous 90cm+ fish landed, but there have been a few bigger ones, including a fine 109cm fish for Darren Rawdon and an even better 112cm fish for Proinnsias Doherty, which established a new club record. There […]

Specimen mullet for Gavin Fitzmaurice with Angling Adventures West CorkMarch 13, 2025-David Norman of Angling Adventures West Cork, reports from West Cork… Just completed four short sessions during which I introduced returning young angler Gavin Fitzmaurice from Co Galway, who generally fishes for Pike in his home waters, to the delights of early season West Cork, Mullet fishing. Despite the generally cold and windy weather, we […]

Two new Irish records in the 2024 Irish Specimen Fish Committee Annual ReportJanuary 15, 2025-It has just been confirmed by the Irish Specimen Fish Committee that Patrick Lombard, Co. Cork, who caught a Gilthead Bream of 4.37 kg at Clonakilty Bay in April 2024, has smashed the existing Gilthead Bream record by over ½ kg. Another record breaker is Dubliner Ronan Doherty, who caught a superb 38 cm Shore […]

Irish Specimen Fish Atlas back on saleDecember 6, 2024-The Irish Specimen Fish Committee published a Fish Atlas towards the end of 2023 and it sold out a lot quicker than expected. Given the demand, the ISFC decided to get a number of extra copies printed, and these are now on sale again. Click this link to purchase… The Irish Specimen Fish Committee has just […]

ISFC awards day scheduled for for February 15, 2025November 14, 2024-The Irish Specimen Fish Committee have announced that the awards ceremony for the 2024 season will be held in the Clayton Hotel Leopardstown on the 15th of February 2025 at 14.30. You’re invited All anglers who caught a specimen fish will be invited to attend to claim their cert and award. Please note that the venue is Leopardstown (not […]

Overnight session brings spectacular results for anglers fishing with West Cork ChartersJuly 9, 2024-Dave Edwards of the West Cork Charters reports on an exceptional overnight session from Sunday afternoon into Monday morning:   First, we headed South, where the five anglers onboard Silver Dawn shared 6 Blue Sharks, including 2 specimens. As darkness fell, we headed back inshore to anchor for Skate. It didn’t take long before our […]

First time fish of a lifetime for junior Dublin Pike AnglerFebruary 7, 2024-Senior members of the Dublin Pike Anglers held a competition recently on the Erne system, where they mentored some of the up and coming junior members of the club,  passing on their pike fishing knowledge to the next generation. Fishing under the watchful eyes of old hands Godfrey Donohue, Paddy Burke and Gavin Downey, junior […]

Weather finally breaks for Wicklow Boat ChartersFebruary 6, 2024-After a frustrating month, during which Wicklow Boat Charters couldn’t fish the prime marks due to weather, leading to plenty of cancelled days, things finally came good for the lucky anglers fishing at the weekend. In a short, 2.5 hour session, the guys managed around 30 spurdog, with 11 of them reaching specimen size.  A […]

Spur season in full flow for Wicklow BoatsJanuary 10, 2024-After last week’s first specimen spur of the season, things have kicked on a bit, and it’s fair to say that the spurdog season is in full flow for Wicklow Boat Charters. In recent days, another four specimens were landed, falling to Clyde McElwaine (2), Bert McGregor and Brian Cooke, none of them strangers to […]

Wicklow Boat Charters play tag with big topeOctober 19, 2023-Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters thinks that this month has been the best ever October for big tope on the Irish east coast. Kit had the UCC tagging team aboard last Thursday and four super Tope were caught – all specimens of course, including one fine lady at 170cm x 70 girth, touching 70lb. […]

85cm bass for Keith Barker in WaterfordOctober 10, 2023-Keith Barker is no stranger to big bass but at the weekend he he surprised even himself by beating his PB by 5cm… I would like to report my fish caught at the weekend from a shingle beach in Co. Waterford, taken on light lure gear, on a neap tide on the 6th of October […]

Irish Specimen Fish Committee Fish Atlas PublishedOctober 2, 2023-🎁🎄🎁14 Dec 24: With Christmas only round the corner the Irish Specimen Fish Atlas would make an ideal present for that special angler in your life. Click this link to purchase…  The Irish Specimen Fish Committee has just published a new book documenting and analysing specimen fish catches in Ireland from 1955 to 2019. It […]

Specimen smoothhounds hit the beaches as the sun comes outSeptember 4, 2023-Dawid Kopczynski was back in touch with another great report from the east coast… With the return of long awaiting but late summer to the Irish coast loads of anglers flocked to the beaches. Stuart and Josh Maher were among them. Duo specialise in specimen hound fishing. The spirits were high and the fish didn’t […]

Specimen tope tagging for Kit in WicklowJuly 31, 2023-Its been a tough week in Wicklow for Kit Dunne of Wicklow Boat Charters, with winds making things tricky offshore, but local knowledge and persistence meant that the fishing still came good despite the conditions. Kit reckons that the Tope fishing is still very good at the moment with plenty of pack and young tope […]