Although the mayfly hatch is petering out this week, it has been a fantastic mayfly season for most anglers on Corrib, with very good average catches and plenty of big fish caught too. The broken weather with showery, cool conditions has certainly prolonged the hatch, and even up to the last couple of days anglers were taking fish on mayfly. The cool weather prevented many mayfly returning to the lake to lay eggs, and with the milder conditions this week some spent fishing may be possible now the chill has gone from the evening air.
Angling guide Tom Doc Sullivan, fishing with Malcolm Patrick, boated 10 trout on Saturday, including 9 taken on dry mayfly and 1 on buzzer before the hatch got going.
Deirdre Forde from Camillaun Lodge, Angling Centre and Boat Hire – (091 552678, www.camillaun.com) reports that this is the first time in years that the mayfly season has spanned three months! It kicked off the last week of April and there are still fish to be caught on mayflies now in June. The fact that temperatures have remained low has significantly helped and there was no heatwave like in recent years.
The last few days have seen some very stormy conditions, but the fishing has continued despite this. Neill Spellacy and friend had 6 nice trout for a day. John McGee, first time visitor to Camillaun caught some lovely trout with 2 around 2lbs – all caught close to Oughterard despite their desire to head back down the lake.
Greg Forde had 6 fish, keeping just one on Saturday, with many rises and actively rising fish amongst the islands during the afternoon. Unfortunately the bank holiday ended with a blowout on Monday and no-one ventured out on the lake. Angling pressure this week was very low despite good fishing conditions for the most part. This is due to people moving their fishing trips earlier in May trying to catch the peak of the fishing. There are a few days left in it yet with continued broken weather and low temperatures. In recent days the dap has consistently out fished the wet fly and this year dry fly anglers have fared least well due to the nature of the wind and weather.
Mike Holian, from Bayview Angling Centre and B&B near Cong, was in touch to report on catches for his guests over the last week. Ben and David Williams, Dublin had 22 trout for the week, mostly returned, best fish 3lbs and 5 more around 2lbs, all caught dapping. Jim Shalliker and Vic Hartley, England, released about 15 over 6 days and kept 4 trout for 6lbs, all taken dapping mayfly.
Sean Dalton and his wife, from Tipperary, landed 6 trout over 2 days to wetfly patterns. David O’Neill and his son, from Dublin, had 7 trout over 2 days dapping mayflies. Sean Keenan and friend, Dublin, boated 6 trout over 2 days on wetfly. Ian Craig and friend, Sligo, caught 5 trout on Saturday, all on wetfly.
Paddy Nicholson and sons, from Galway, landed 12 trout for 5 days, trying both dapping and wetfly. Ivor Cox and Eddie Blanch, Laois, took 5 trout over 2 days, all on wetfly. Karl Piscator, Germany, had 9 trout for 6 days dapping mayfly, also releasing a lot of undersize trout. Charles Haase and his French party of 6 rods fly fishing, landed 15 trout over 2 days, all between 35cm and 48 cm.
To book fishing or accommodation at Bayview, contact Mike Holian at 087 2130416 or check www.bayviewangling.com
