Ronan Cusack reports that Lough Mask has been a hive of activity over the past week, with dozens of happy anglers enjoying what Mask has to offer. Mayfly hatches could only be described as medium to fair, yet the trout fishing continues to be spectacular. Olive and buzzer hatches were a bit more predictable, with lots of good trout taken on nymph and buzzer patterns throughout the week.
Annual visitors to Lough Mask, Howard Smith and angling partner Mike, from the UK, fished with Ronan Cusack for two days this week and they had approximately 30 trout exceeding the limit on a combination of wets and buzzer (best fish 5lbs, all returned). John Webb and Mike Donaghy from Scotland also fished with Ronan for 4 days recently and they had something between 50 and 70 trout for their stay (best fish 3lbs, all returned).
David Hall of Hall’s Angling Centre (www.lakeshoreholidays.com) had nothing but good news again this week. English visitors Bob Forshaw, Paul Davis, Paul Hallmark and Keith Portis had a few days at Hall’s and reported 119 fish for 6 days (best fish 3.9lbs, all returned). The lads also reported many more trout over 2lbs.
Regular visitors to Mask Denis Hill, Steve Ellis, Billy Graham and Larry Gibb from Northern Ireland had a week to remember on Mask this week, boating 120 trout during their 6 day stay (best fish 4lbs). German angler Bendiks Paul fished Mask for the first time ever this week and landed himself a lovely 5lbs trout pulling wets. Ballinrobe angler Kevin Egan had 6 good fish for a few hours on Monday (best fish 2.5lbs, all returned). Local angler Tim Hannon also fished for a few hours on Monday morning and he had 4 trout (best fish 2lbs, all returned). Ulster anglers Ivor Hazlett and angling partner Gareth Luve had a day to remember on Saturday when they boated over 20 trout exceeding the legal limit on a combination of wets and dapping. The weather looks to be quite unsettled for the next few days, so hopefully the good fishing will continue.
Margaret Gorman also reports the excellent fishing continued throughout the week for anglers fishing from Dringeen Bay. 20 trout to the boat for the day were common reports from anglers that fished from here. Huge numbers of small fish continued to be reported. While hatches of mayfly were inconsistent, trout were being caught on artifical mayfly patterns, both on wet fly and dapping. By the weekend, even though conditions were good, trout became more difficult to catch in big numbers.
Digby Lewis, UK, had a nice trout over 2lbs along with his friend Chris Huxley. Shane Ganley, Castlebar and his friend Michael had a lot of sport on their day out. Jim Dix, Cork and his friend Jack Mitchell had good success on the lake. ‘Isham’ guest, Alan Watts, Belfast and his family and friends have had some very enjoyable days fishing on Lough Mask this past week. Boats are available for Hire – With or Without Out-Board Motors. For further information on accommodation and angling advice, contact Margaret Gorman at 094 9546582 or check www.congselfcatering.com
