Salmon fishing has been excellent over the last few weeks, with a great run of grilse into the Corrib. The last week has seen catches slow somewhat, and increased water levels from Thursday on have made life a bit more difficult, but we are still averaging nearly 9 fish a day over the last 9 days, with 78 fish recorded and many more hooked and lost. German angler Wolfram Hoppe visits every year and has been rewarded with a number of fish this week, landing 2 fish on a couple of days, including a fine grilse of 7.5lbs, all on fly. Sean O’Toole doesn’t have to travel as far to fish the weir, and went home happy with 2 grilse to 6.5lbs on fly and shrimp. Fellow local angler Simon Lenihan also had a 6lbs fish on shrimp. Moycullen man John Anderson landed 2 grilse to 5lbs on fly, and former Erriff Fishery manager Jim Stafford was rewarded with a nice grilse on the fly also.

Headford angler and ace photographer Conor Ledwith paid a visit with Enda Scahill, and landed 2 fish, including the best fish of the week at 12.5lbs, caught on spinner. Enda had to make do with a more unusual catch – a second pink salmon of the week, this one a smaller specimen of about 1lb. There have been reports from Scotland of further pink salmon turning up in catches, so anglers should be on the lookout for these, and please report them to IFI if caught.

Conor Ledwith with a nice summer salmon of 12.5lbs in Galway
Conor Ledwith with a nice summer salmon of 12.5lbs in Galway

Eoin Cosgrove had 2 grilse to 5.5lbs on spinner, as did regular visitor Michael Rogers from Dublin, and fellow Dub Andy Smith had 2 to 6lbs on fly and shrimp. Brian O’Rourke landed 2 fish to 5.5lbs on shrimp, while longtime Galway angler Bertie Lynch had 2 to 6lbs on shrimp.

Gus Murphy fished shrimp and had 2 grilse to 6.5lbs, while Niall Tonge had 3 grilse to 6.5lbs on fly. Adrian Murphy had 2 to almost 7lbs on shrimp, and Spanish visitor Miguel Gomes had 3 grilse to 5lbs on the fly. German angler Jurgen Kommallen had a 5.75lbs fish on shrimp, and Tom Wallace landed 2 to 5lbs on fly.

Water levels should drop over the next few days with the OPW expected to close back down to one gate open on the weir. There are plenty of fresh fish still running, and prospects are once again excellent for the coming week.