Ronan Cusack has mixed reports from Mask this week as weather conditions were far from ideal for mayfly fishing. Fly hatches were sparse with the best of the fly along the south eastern part of the lake.

Tom Sweeney and Michael Hegarty from Cork had a good day on Friday last, landing 10 trout on wets (best fish 2.5lbs). Joe Fitzharris fished with UK angler Adrian Blackwell for a few days last week, and reported having plenty of action in the shallows on days when conditions were right. Adrian’s best fish was just over 4lbs, taken on a buzzer pattern.

Annual visitors from Scotland John Webb and Mike Donaghy spent 3 days on Mask this week with Ronan Cusack fishing a mixture of wets and dries. Their best fish for the trip was a lovely 4.5lbs trout caught on a wet mayfly.

 

John Webb from Scotland with a nice Mask trout
John Webb from Scotland with a nice Mask trout

 

Billy Graham and a group of friends from Northern Ireland stayed at Halls Angling Centre last week and they had some good buzzer fishing throughout the week (best fish 4.5lbs). Local anglers Denis Kelleher and Matty Lally had 5 good trout on wets along the Rocky Shore in windy conditions over the weekend (best fish 1.75lbs).

 

Young Darren Sweeney from Cork with his first Mask trout
Young Darren Sweeney from Cork with his first Mask trout

Tourmakeady Angling Club held the European Cup last week which was supported by 98 anglers. This competition is a heaviest fish competition with a 15” size limit. In first place was well-known angler Joe Creane from Roundstone, with a trout of 3.07lbs. Second place went to Niall Burns with a trout weighing 2.09lbs, and in third position was  Anthony Corcoran with a trout of 2.08lbs.

 

Joe Creane (on left) winner of the European Cup on Lough Mask for 2019
Joe Creane (on left) winner of the European Cup on Lough Mask for 2019