Declan Gibbons reports on a week of cold, sometimes stormy conditions, but fishing was good on some days and has picked up well since the bank holiday.
In the Cornamona area Tom Doc Sullivan (087-6113933 for guiding & boat hire) reported a good day’s fishing in the Cornamona Anglers Annual Wet Fly Competition, with 30 rods landing 45 trout on the day. First place went to Gerry McDonnell with a bag of 4 trout for 7.59lbs, second place went to Joe Quinn with 4 trout for 6.29lbs and third place to club chairman Mairtin Kinneavy who also had 4 trout weighing 5.7lbs. The heaviest fish on the day went to Dooras man John Diskin with a trout of 2.85lbs.The average weight on the day was 1.52lbs.
Also in the Cornamona area Richard Molloy of Ballard Shore Boat Hire & Self Catering (087-2879339) reported visiting Northern Ireland angler Colin Wilson catching 3 lovely trout in the Carrick area on wets, and visiting Swiss anglers catching plenty of trout on wets and trolling – all sportingly released.
In the Oughterard area Gerry Molloy (087-9190673; www.loughcorriboughterard.com) Self Catering & Boat Hire hosted two visiting Swiss anglers who enjoyed a day’s fishing with him, which saw them land 4 trout for their day, sportingly releasing two of them back into Lough Corrib. Also in the Oughterard area Basil Shiels of Ardnasillagh Lodge (086-0869758) reports excellent olive hatches but the fish being somewhat moodier than the abundant fly life, with temperatures not helping, but fortunately these look set to rise in the coming week. Those who fished out of Ardnasillagh Lodge during the week gone by included Coleman Counihan from Gort, who had 7 fish for 2 days fishing with his best fish 3.5lbs, all on buzzer. Mick Kelleher from Clare had 2 fish for his day’s outing with the best fish being 4.25lbs. Joe Barry from Cork had 6 fish for 2 days – best fish around 2.5lbs. Joe Murray from Shannon had 2 fish on buzzer with his best fish being 4.5lbs
Staying in the Oughterard area, an International Angling/Golfing Competition on Lough Corrib was held on Saturday and Sunday last. 24 rods participated in the angling section of the event catching 45 trout for the two days with a total weight of 56lbs. Average weight of the fish was 1.25lbs.
First place went to Gerry Dixon, Oughterard and Johnny Flaherty, Renvyle with 11 trout for 14lbs.
Second place went to Toby Bradshaw, Moycullen and Joe Creane, Roundstone with 5 trout for 12lbs.
Third Place went to Oughterard brothers Tom and John Kelly with 8 trout for 10.5lbs.
Raymond Lee Oughterard had 4 trout for 7lbs on wetfly day last week, and visiting Northern Ireland angler Gerry Sands and partner had 8 trout for 13lbs for 2 days fishing.
In the Cong area Frank Costello (087-2524253) reported slow trout fishing activity in the area due to the weather and sparse hatches. On Sunday last he had one guest out Michael Harvey, from Castlerea, Roscommon who finished with 2 trout on dabbler patterns.
Mark Wilson was also in touch with a report on a good day’s sport for himself and family member Martin. Martin had 3 lovely trout on wetfly, best fish 2lbs on a Fiery Brown. Conditions ranged from winter to spring to summer in the one day! They saw few olives but did see some early mayfly in the afternoon in the lee of some islands, with the odd trout starting to come to them. It won’t be long now!
Mayfly Festival Time
The Oughterard Anglers are also hosting the International Mayfly Competition this weekend, as part of the Mayfly Festival, which will see a hive of activity in the town from Thursday evening through to Sunday. The angling competition, which is the main event, takes place on Sunday, with fishing from 10.30am. Entry is €25, which includes a BBQ steak dinner. Full details of all the festival events can be found here http://www.discoveroughterard.com/international-mayfly-festival.html
