Home Fly Fishing Two prestigious competitions fished on Lough Conn

Two prestigious competitions fished on Lough Conn

1988

Michael Murphy reports from Lough Conn…

The annual Whit weekend competition took place on Lough Conn on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd June. Eighty-five anglers took part on both days. Conditions were tough on the first day with light winds and bright sunshine. Denis Goulding led after day one with two trout followed closely by Stephen Brown. Day two was the perfect fishing day being cloudy with a nice steady wind, but the lack of Mayfly meant fishing proved very difficult even for the most seasoned of anglers. A total of thirty trout over the 13-inch competition limit were caught and weighed in over the two days. Stephen Brown came out the winner for this year with two fish weighing 1.2 kg in total with Peter Roche in second place also with two fish weighing 1.085kg.  Third place went to Denis Goulding with his two trout from day one weighing 1.035 kg. Ian Wise took the prize for the single heaviest fish weighing in at 800 g.

An Garda Síochána held the Coiste Siamsa Fly Fishing Championship 2024 on Lough Conn midweek, an annual event going out from Gortnor Abbey. A total of twenty-two trout were caught over this two-day event. Fourteen on day one and eight on day two with four competitions within the headline to be fought for.

Firstly, the retired members section was won by John Donohoe with two trout weighing 2 lbs 6.3 oz. Second was Dessie Mc Entee also with two trout weighing 2 lbs 6.2 oz and third place going to Paul Corcoran again with two trout weighing 2 lbs 5oz.

The Serving Members section was won by Colin Dodd with three trout weighing 3 lbs. Second place went to Mark Devian with two trout weighing 2 lbs 5 oz and in third place Barry Carolan with two trout weighing 2 lbs 3 oz.

The team event was won by Cavan/Monaghan with five trout weighing 5 lbs 6 oz and second place to Galway with four trout weighing 5 lbs and in third place Sligo/Donegal with three trout weighing 3 lbs 8 oz.

Peter McGuinness had the heaviest fish in the competition weighing 1 lb 14 oz.

An enjoyable and closely run competitive two days on Lough Conn with a decent return in favourable conditions.