Huge numbers of small fish on Mask as bigger fish avoid the sun

Ronan Cusack reports that the good fishing experienced over the past number of weeks has begun to slow a little, mainly due to more challenging weather conditions. The bright sunny days over the weekend kept the bigger fish well hidden under boulders, yet large numbers of small trout are still willing to come out and play. Water levels continue to drop and hatches of mayfly have been described as reasonable. Towards the end of last week there were excellent hatches of fly in the Bay of Islands, in the north western corner of the lake. Local Ballinrobe anglers Michael Vahey and Kevin Egan spent a day pulling wet flies in among the islands and they had 8 fish for their day (best fish 1.75lbs, all returned). Conor O’Mahony and Ian Keating, Partry, also spent a day in the same area and they also had 8 trout on wet mayfly (best fish 2lbs). Father and son Val and Dave Egan from Ennis had a good day in Rosshill on Friday with 7 fish, mainly on buzzer (best fish 2lbs, all returned). Mark Rogan and Ronan Cusack had good fishing on Saturday with 7 good fish again mainly on buzzer (best fish 3lbs, all returned). Sean McAvoy from Ballinrobe had 7 nice fish in Cahir Bay on dry mayfly patterns on Sunday last (best fish 2.25lbs). UK anglers Phil Brooks and Pete Dighton enjoyed what they described as their best Mask fishing for years, with fish of 2lbs each day and countless undersize fish. Mark Surtees and his son Nicholas (England) stayed at Hall’s Angling Centre over the past week. The father and son team had 28 keepers for their week (best fish 2.25lbs, most returned) Young Nicholas (aged 11 and fishing Mask for his first time) had 5 fish on wet flies (best fish 1.5lbs).

Neil Spellacy from Moycullen fished with Brendan Burke and another friend, and they recorded over 40 trout for their day, with the vast majority being undersize fish.

Bill Scorer (Dublin), a life-long Mask visitor, described his mayfly fishing on Mask this year as the best he has ever had. Bill and his fishing partner had 32 fish over the week (best fish 4lbs). Dave Hall and angling partner Frank Doyle spent the day on Mask on Sunday and they had 7 fish for the day (best fish 1.75lbs). Northern Ireland angler Dennis Hill spent his usual week at Hall’s with 5 fishing buddies and they had 35 fish for the week (best fish 2.5lbs). To book fishing or accommodation at Hall’s, contact David or Helen on 094 9541389 or check www.lakeshoreholidays.com

 

Ronan also guides on Mask and can be contacted on at 087 2869487 or by email at [email protected]

 

Margaret Gorman reports that fishing out of Dringeen Bay remained challenging at times, despite the improvement in conditions.  Some good fish were had, however the trend continued with all anglers reporting huge numbers of small fish and bigger fish being hard to find.  Most fish were taken on a mix of olive and mayfly patterns.  Some good trout were also caught on dry fly.

Isham guest Gerry Glover, from Northern Ireland, caught his first fish ever on Lough Mask fly fishing.   His companion at the house, Alan Murphy from Belfast had a very enjoyable week on Lough Mask retaining just 3 trout and returning numerous small fish on both wet and dry patterns.  Alan was joined during the week by a friend from the UK and he had some success on the dap.

Stephen Neylon and Aidan Kelly fished for a day and caught 2 nice trout and returned 10 fish. Maurice Dallaghan, Dublin fished for a day and caught 5 trout, all returned. UK anglers Mark, Alec, Ronnie, Duncan, Paul and Roger, staying at Fairhill House Hotel, Clonbur fished from ‘Isham’ Angling Centre, Dringeen Bay and they had a very enjoyable day.   Their best fish was 2.25lbs and they returned a large number of small fish.   Best fly for the group was a dry Muddler pattern.

Kevin Synott and Gareth O’Hare from Dublin fished from Dringeen Bay and Gareth had 1 fish 1.5lb and returned a lot of small fish. Richard Donnelly and his wife Joan had a nice evening reporting lots of activity to dry fly. Pat and Adrian Gorman fished during the week and had some nice trout.  Their best fish was 2.5lbs and all fish were returned. For Aaccommodation, boat hire and angling information available on site see www.congselfcatering.com or  phone 087 7908107, or email [email protected]