Spring definitely sprung last weekend, with temperatures up to 14C on Saturday and Sunday, but bright sunshine and flat calm conditions made angling difficult over the busy weekend, which was the first to see many anglers back on the water. Since then the wind has turned east, and although it is milder than previous weeks, it still feels pretty chilly out on the water. Indeed I met several anglers coming in early yesterday due to the cold. I did see plenty of duckfly, though, and watched a few trout feeding on the surface from my frustrating spot on the shoreline!
Larry McCarthy from Corrib View Lodge (www.corribangling.com) reports that last week saw the duckfly hatch in full swing, and he recorded 33 trout to the boat over 7 days for his clients.
The Oughterard Angling Club held the annual Bartley McGauley Cup competition on Sunday week last, and the winner was Jim Glynn. This is Jim’s third time winning this event, and he also won the heaviest fish trophy on the day as well.
Cong Angling Club held their Annual Wetfly Competition on Sunday, in a mostly flat calm to a slight ripple kind of day! 21 anglers took to the lake and despite promising fly life, with plenty of duckfly and milder weather than of late, only 4 fish were caught – from the same boat! So congratulations to Mark Gibbons and Robbie Conneely who came first and second respectively, Mark with 2 fish for 5.5lbs and Robbie with 2 fish for roughly 3lbs. Mark also takes home the Ashford Castle Trophy Cup, to look after and polish till next year.
Ballindiff Bay Angling Club held a competition on Sunday for the Michael Smyth Cup, with a new trophy – the Denis O’Keeffe Cup for the heaviest fish, in memory of Denis who passed away last year and was a longtime and very popular visitor to Corrib. The competition was won by Anthony Trill, with Robert Reilly 2nd and Ciaran Reilyl 3rd. Anthony also won the Denis O’Keeffe Cup, which was presented by Denis’s grandson Jack Egan. Jack almost won the trophy himself with a fine trout but was just pipped by Anthony.
Advance Notice: The Corr na Mona Anglers will be holding their Annual Hospice Pairs Competition, which raises funds for Galway Hospice, a very worthwhile charity, on Sunday April 29th. There will be over €2,000 in sponsored prizes on offer, with entry just €50 per angler, and all proceeds going to charity.
