Salmon fishing has been much quieter over the last two weeks, as the main run of grilse slowed somewhat after 6 weeks of excellent fishing. There are still a lot of fish in the river, although the high temperatures and bright sunshine earlier in the week has meant very few fish caught.
For the 6th to 12th July, there were 64 fish landed, including 4 for long-time visitor from the UK Laurence Flood to 4.5lbs on fly and shrimp. Loughrea man Willie Cullinane landed 3 to 5lbs on fly, while Athenry angler Declan Tuffy had 2 fish to 4lbs on fly, and son Adam made a welcome return to the weir, landing a nice grilse of 4.5lbs on fly. Phil O’Donoghue had a 5.5lbs fish on fly, and Galway man James Dunne landed 2 fish to 7lbs on shrimp. Moycullen angler John Anderson caught and released 3 grilse to 5.5lbs on fly.
The following week up to today has seen 35 fish landed. Noel Power landed 2 grilse on fly, as did UK angler David Christie, and Cork angler Tom Beecher. Wicklow man Killian Garvey landed 3 fish to 4lbs on fly and shrimp, and UK visitor Michael Righton had a nice grilse on fly. Eamon Power landed 2 to 5.25lbs, releasing one, while Tipperary angler Denise Curran had 2 grilse on fly also. Kevin Mitchell landed a nice 7lbs fish on fly, and the best fish of the week, a nice 8.75lbs salmon was taken by Henry Cosgrove on fly.
The coming days will see cooler, fresher conditions with rain at times, which should improve conditions for angling. With a great head of fish in the river, the weir is still well worth a visit.