Ronan Cusack has mixed reports from Mask this week, as the mayfly make their first real appearance of 2017. Decent hatches of fly have been reported around the Saints Island / Ballykyne end of the lake and trout are beginning to respond.
Weather conditions varied from strong easterly winds and bright sunshine to flat calm over the week, which made for difficult fishing.
The calm conditions suited the buzzer anglers with some good bags reported, whereas the windy days provided some good fishing on wets in the shallows.
Westport Anglers fished for the Broddy Gibbons Cup on Sunday last in Tourmakeady, a competition supported by 26 club members. In first place was Toby Gibbons with 4 fish for 6.04lbs. Second place went to Ronan Gibbons with 3 fish for 5.07lbs and in third place was Tommy Carroll who also had 3 fish for 5.02lbs. David Lennon had the heaviest fish which weighed 3.06lbs.
Gerry Moran from Ballinrobe had a cracking 4lbs trout on Saturday last in challenging conditions. Local guide Michael Vahey was out most days last week and averaged 3 fish each day, mainly on wet flies. A group of 12 anglers staying at Hall’s Angling Centre (www.lakeshoreholidays.com) had roughly 50 trout for 3 days last week. Ray Broughton reported good fishing on wet and dry mayflies in the southern end of the lake over the weekend (best fish 2.9lbs). Oliver Wickham from Partry had 3 nice fish on wets on Sunday (best fish 1.75lbs).
Anglers who are out regularly have reported releasing large numbers of undersize fish on a daily basis. All anglers are asked to handle these fish carefully (wet hands) and return them to the water as soon as possible.
Water levels on Mask are also extremely low at the moment, so extra care should be taken when moving about. Some rocks are closer to the surface now and anglers may get caught out, so take care!
