Kevin O’Boyle reports that while conditions were not favourable for trout, in saying that the anglers who ventured out had some good sport. Extremely low water levels and calm, warm dry weather did not help. Fishing from the Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Ross Wade from Dublin had 3 keepers just above 1lb (all released) and encountered numerous more fish. Alfie Hanafin from Dublin landed 4 trout for 5 lbs on a dry daddy, mostly off Glass Island. John and Claire walsh, Kildare, landed 7 trout for 10 lbs , mostly taken on wet fly patterns. Peter Giddings, Wales, had 8 keepers on a dry daddy pattern, all around Six Arch Bay.
Elsewhere, Richard and Gary Binley, Foxford, averaged 3 keepable trout each day over 5 days, all on Daddy and dry patterns . John Powell and Ian Hanson, Cardiff, Wales, had 3 trout each, averaging 1.25lbs on various wet patterns. Kieran Concannon and Alfie Begley, Donegal, landed 3 and 2 trout respectively on dabblers. Adrian Murphy from Cloghans landed a few trout including 1 fish of 3 lbs on a Claret Dabbler.
The “Foxford Angler of the Year” Stephen Browne, Knockmore, Ballina took 5 trout over 2 evenings on dry fly.
Young junior local anglers, brothers Brendan and Cormac Murphy from Cloghans had some good evenings fishing with dad Adrian. Cormac had a trout of just over 2lbs trolling a Mepps, while Brendan had 5 small trout all around 1lb trolling wet flies.
Peter Byrne, Castlebar, landed a 3.5lbs salmon on fly in Victoria Bay while trout fishing, as did Liam Walsh, Castlebar, who landed a salmon of 6lbs, also while fly fishing for trout.
