Kevin O’Boyle reports from the River Moy…

River Moy Angling Report week ending 03/07/2022

Over 1000 salmon caught in the Moy catchment for week ending 3rd July 2022.

916 salmon were reported caught on the main River Moy, while 110 salmon were reported caught between Lough Conn, the River Deel and the Ballyvary River, bringing the total to 1026 for the  Moy catchment.  A big summer flood brought salmon running in from the Moy Estuary and most fisheries saw good results.

Starting on the Monday morning water levels at Ballylahan Bridge were already high at 1.455 m and rose and fell over the next few days to 1.037m tailing off towards the weekend to 0.71m on Sunday night.

A graph showing the spike in water levels for last week on the River Moy taken from www.waterlevel.ie

Ballina Salmon Anglers reported 81 salmon caught, averaging 3-5 lbs, mostly caught on the worm.

Mount Falcon Fishery reported 36 for the week, with Chris Dowlen from the U.K. having 3 salmon over 3 days all on the fly.

Attymass Anglers recorded 40 salmon for the week, most caught on spoons.

Knockmore Salmon Anglers reported 57 salmon from their waters, best weighing 12 lbs.

Coolcronan Fishery reported 48 salmon, mostly caught on the prawn, the best fish weighing 4 lbs.

Armstrong’s Fishery had 40 salmon, all averaging 3-5 lbs, the best fish weighing 8 lbs, caught on a worm.

Gannon’s Fishery reported 17 salmon, caught mostly on the worm and bubble & fly.

The Foxford Fishery reported 74 salmon for the week, the best weighing 11.5 lbs, caught spinning a copper and silver spoon.

Foxford Salmon Anglers reported 122 salmon caught for the week.

Reports suggest that at least 50 salmon were caught in Foxford town water.

Reports from Cloongee Fishery say that 37 salmon were caught with 15 released.

East Mayo Anglers recorded a record 254 salmon, with 96 of these released.

EMAA haved been running an initiative for the last few years, the Swinford 250 C&R cup which is presented to the person (EMAA MEMBERS ONLY) who catches and releases the largest fish caught that season. Anyone who caught and returned a fish of 7lb or greater was also entered into the draw which was held at the end of the season for prizes to the value of €1,000. 

The competition has proven to be successful, so in an effort to keep the focus on C&R the committee has decided to change the format of the competition to make it more inclusive and recognise anyone who returns a fish, whether it be a spring fish or grilse. 

For the last 3 months of the season and going forward next year EMAA will have a monthly draw. Therefore, If you return a fish and have satisfactory evidence of this, by way of a witness or photo/video your name will go into the hat towards the monthly prize of €100 euro of tackle vouchers. 

So, why not try and get your name in that hat. If you catch and return a fish please get in touch with the office of EMAA at [email protected] or Paul Kelly on [email protected] or Brendan Wilson on [email protected] with details of your success. This competition is open to EMAA members only.

Approximately 20 grilse were caught upstream of the Railway bridge on the Lake River and approximately 30 grilse were reported caught at Pontoon Bridge.

Reports from Lough Conn say that 30 salmon were caught, all trolling.  Windy weather and choppy waters kept a lot of anglers off the lakes.

At least 40 salmon were reported from the upper River Deel, mostly above Crossmolina town.

Reports in relation to the Ballyvary River indicate that at least 10 salmon were caught for the week.