Many anglers will be aware that the Galway Fishery is currently closed due to high water temperatures. We are hoping that cooler weather and fresher water will soon change that, but in the meantime here is an update from Daithi Ryan on how the fishing has been for the last few weeks before the closure.

Overall, May was a poor month for rod catches with only 23 salmon landed for the month. We began the month with 4 gates open, which limited the amount of fly anglers, but Brian O’Donoghue got us off the mark for the month with a lovely fish of 8.5lbs on the fly. On the 17th of May it went from 4 gates to 2 gates, this improved catches on both fly and shrimp. On the 22nd Billy Moylan caught our biggest salmon of the season coming in at 13.3lbs on the fly. On the 26th Niall Lynch caught a beautiful 11lb spring fish and Steve Jones caught another stunning 11.5lb spring fish.

Niall Lynch with a nice spring fish

There were 7 fish caught on the fly, 15 were caught on the prawn and 1 was caught on the spinner for the month, The most successful fly for the month was a Silver Stoat.

Steve Jones with a fine 11.5lbs springer

June continued in the same vein, with the grilse late to arrive and anglers struggling. The fly has been the most successful method, with a size 12 Munro taking more fish than any other. We have had 24 fish so far for the month, with Michael Righton’s 7.5lbs fish the pick so far before the closure on the 10th. Lewis Mathews landed 2 fish on fly, Simon Lenihan had 2 including one on fly, and Enda Scahill also had 2 fish on shrimp.

Mossy Browne from Waterford with a nice grilse on the fly

Fingers crossed the river will cool enough for the fishery to reopen soon and we will have more June fishing to report!