Eamon Walsh reports that it seems that the best of the fishing has come and gone without any real explosion of activity. Many anglers are having to try different methods of fishing to find the most productive. This too varies depending on the area of the lake being fished. The numbers of boats seen dapping has dropped off dramatically in the past week; this has as much to do with the lack of wind as it has with the availability of mayfly. The week began with some good hatches but died away as the temperature rose and the winds fell over the weekend, with little or no mayfly hatching on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday.
The early days of the week proved to be the best in the Cornamona area. Regular visiting angler Keith Curtis from the UK, fishing out of Dooras with boatman Pat Egan, had his best results of the week between Monday and Thursday taking several fish up to 3lbs on the dap, while also having a fine 4lbs trout on Tuesday. Keith estimates that he returned over 15 sizeable trout for the week along with countless undersize fish. Michael and Eugene Casey from Clifden had some good fishing in Inis Dooras accounting for 5 trout between 1.5 and 3lbs on Friday. James McDonagh from Cashel had 4 decent fish up to 2.5lbs on Monday to the dap in Cornamona Bay.
Cornamona Anglers ran a heaviest fish competition on Bank Holiday Monday in which local angler Peter Curran kept up his winning run with a fine trout of 7.25lbs.
The story is much the same in other area of the lake. Declan Gibbons informs us that it was once again the opening day of the week which proved most fruitful. On Monday, Harold O’Toole and Stephen Greaney had 9 fish to buzzer in the Greenfields area; Harold also managed a further 9 on Thursday between Ballycurran, Greenfields and Kenny’s Bay. Garry O’Brien and Kenny O’Toole had excellent fishing midweek, catching 10 fish on Wednesday and a further 13 on Thursday, switching between dry fly and buzzer. Also on Thursday, Robert Reilly, his son Ciaran and nephew Oisin had 4 trout between them all on dry mayfly.
A party of 4 fishing out of Corrib View lodge in Glencorrib had a good weeks fishing in the lower lake. Capturing up to 35 fish of varying sizes to dry olive and buzzer patterns. Some of the party even managed personal bests; Vaughan Rutley must have been delighted with his beauty of 6.7lbs. Richard Haskin and Bill Browne also broke personal records with trout of 4.2 and 4.4lbs respectively. US anglers Pattie and Terry Donaghue had 8 fish to dry olives on Sunday and a further 2 on Monday, also to olive patterns. Damien O’Leary and his father Mick boated 7 good fish, including a fine trout of 4lbs for Damien on a dry olive pattern. To book fishing or accommodation at Corrib View Lodge contact the lodge on 093 31718, or check www.corribangling.com
Ballindiff Angling Club ran a competition on Sunday, where 19 anglers returned 4 trout over the limit. Joe Trill came out on top with a fine trout of 3.5 lbs.
Cong Anglers also ran their annual Whit weekend competition on Sunday in which families featured heavily. In the senior category, Gerry McDonald came out on top with 4 fish for 7lbs 3oz. In second place was John Fahy with a fine trout of 5lbs. Gerry’s son Caolan won the juniors with 3 fish for 5lbs, and John’s daughter Sarah came second with 2 fish of 3lbs 7oz, while her mother Niamh won the ladies competition with 1 fish of 1.5lbs.
In the Oughterard area, Tommy Kelly reports that there are still some good hatches of mayfly, but the clam weather has seen them leaving the water very quickly. Michael Harrington and partner had 5 fish on one outing, the best being 4lbs on wet and dry mayfly patterns. David Walsh from Portacarron had 3 fish on the dap with one beautiful trout of 7lbs. Donal O’Brien and 2 friends had 16 trout for about 25lbs over 3 days. Donal also managed to have 5 trout for 8lbs on another occasion. Another group of English anglers had 40 trout for a week’s fishing, with fish up to 4lbs. I have reports of good fishing to spent gnat over the last few evenings in the warmer weather also, and the current hot spell should see good hatches of Campto buzzer in the late evening and into darkness in many bays.
Mary and Paul Miller were also in touch to advertise a great offer for beginners to flyfishing. Paul, who is a registered casting instructor with GAIA, offers casting and flyfishing instruction for total beginners, or for anglers who wish to improve their skill level. In an effort to encourage more youngsters into the sport, Paul is offering that adults booking a half day course for the great price of €50 can bring along a child (between 10 and 16 years old) for free instruction. All equipment is provided as part of the course. For more details check their website at www.loughcorribflyfishing.com