Eamon Walsh reports that Lough Corrib is still to come to life with the arrival of the much anticipated Mayfly. Reports from around the lake suggest that the cold water temperatures are holding back its arrival for the time being.
Some anglers are reporting seeing only a scattering of fly on the water during the early part of the week, with the exception of some isolated areas. This did improve as the week progressed with good hatches of Olives being reported almost everywhere. But wet fly fishing has been difficult to say the least.
Larry McCarty informs us that despite a very late start in the season Olive and buzzer fishing has produced some great catches. Things are starting to improve on Lough Corrib. Matthew Griffiths had a beautiful Corrib trout while fishing out of Corrib View Lodge with Larry McCarthy.
Gareth Jones, Sales Director with Airflo Fishing had a memorable trip to the mighty Lough Corrib, with his best catch being a superb 5lb 15oz brown, which went back like a rocket.
In the Corrnamona area Tom Sullivan highlights the difference one year can make. Every year is different! Brothers, Chris and Craig Oliver, have been coming the same dates for the last 3 years always around the first weekend in May. Last year they hit good fishing on Mayfly experiencing big hatches of them when they visited as it was well up. Well not so for this year as there’s not a sign of Ephemera danica yet. However there have been some decent Olive hatches and the lads got good sport over the 2 days with a lot of action on the wets and plenty of fish in the pound and quarter to two pound range and other undersize fish.
On Sunday the 5th of May, Corrnamona & District Anglers held their annual Wet Fly competition, 32 anglers took part accounting for 25 trout. With some lovely conditions on the morning, plenty of wind and cloud spreading from the west, many anglers expected an excellent day out. With the majority of anglers concentrating on the North Lake, from Dooras to Carraig, those who ventured to the south side fared better. Cormac Dunleavy was the eventual winner with 4 trout of just over 3kilo fishing out of Corrnamona Bay.
Reports coming to us from the Headford area are of tricky conditions during the week with some day of proving very wind. This did however suit some traditional anglers who produced a lot of small fish to wet fly patterns.
With reports of some very mixed weather being forecast for the coming week, the arrival of the mayfly could well be delay for another while.
Gary Costelloe from Lakeland Angling Centre, Portacarron Bay ( tel. 091 552121, [email protected] for accommodation and boats) was in touch to report on good fishing for guests at Lakeland.
Anglers fishing out of Lakeland Angling Centre have reported that Olives are still the favourite of the trout this week and only a few Mayfly have been seen coming off Portacarron Bay so far.
Anthony Forster from Newcastle in the UK fished Lough Corrib with his dad for 4 days and had 4/5 fish each day.
The two Douwes, Douwe Van Sinderen and Douwe Wiesrtra, from The Netherlands, on their second trip to Corrib this season had a much more productive couple of days than during their March outing, the smile says it all below
Also fishing from Lakeland Angling Centre this week Peter Weisman from Switzerland trolling for Ferox had 4 fish the largest weighing in at 14 lbs.,
IFI officers are currently out and about carrying out Operation Ephemera – this involves spot checks on anglers to make sure regulations are being complied with. Over recent years anglers have been requesting more protection of trout stocks, with complaints of some taking undersize or too many fish. Anglers are reminded that they should be familiar with all byelaws pertaining to trout fishing and abide by these. Non-compliance can result in on-the-spot fines or worse!
For the Corrib catchment, a catch limit of 4 trout per angler per day is in force. Only one of these trout may be over 4.54kgs/10lbs weight. The minimum size limit is 13 inches/33cm. Anglers trolling are restricted to 2 rods per angler, up to a maximum of 3 rods per boat. Anglers are also reminded that it is a legal requirement to wear a lifejacket or personal flotation device!
