The last few weeks has seen a huge improvement in fishing on Corrib. April was an overall sunny month, with heavy rainfall in mid-month sandwiched between two periods of high pressure. Water levels were high after the wet weather but are droppng away now with the continued dry spell.
Olive hatches were reasonably good, but the weather only suited dry olive fishing on a few days, when there was sport to be had.
From mid-April onwardsΒ the Campto buzzer hatch benefited from high pressure and good conditions. Olives are still hatching off too, and mayfly are up in good numbers.
Larry McCarthy from Corrib View Lodge says the olive fishing was patchy, and weather conditions only suited olive fishing on a few days, but the fishing was reasonably good on those days. Once the Campto buzzer started hatching the fishing really took off, and it has been excellent for the last 10 days of the month. Some areas have seen heavy fishing pressure, but even those areas are producing plenty of trout in the 3lbs range. Anglers who seek out quieter spots have meet some really good fish, with quite over 5lbs and some over 6.
Mark Driver from www.piscari-fly.com enjoyed a great weekend towards the end of the month with superb fishing on buzzer. They had sport all day long, with the fish feeding high in the water at times, and trout from 3-5lbs coming to the boat. The weekend was crowned with a fantastic 7.1lbs bar of Corrib gold.
Back again this week for some fishing and still getting fish on buzzer in hot, bright conditions.
Mayfly have started hatching off in good numbers in the last 10 days, and already fish are up and feeding on fly. The weather is dry and bright, so fly are off the water quickly, but wetfly fishing is producing fish at the surface. A change in conditions to keep fly on the water longer would benefit dry fly fishing immensely.
Guide Paul Heaney of Corrib Anglers Guiding was enthusiastic about the fishing when I spoke to him, reckoning it was some of the best buzzer fishing he had seen in years, and the start of the mayfly was the most consistent fishing too. Buzzer fishing was producing bigger fish, but wetfly anglers fishing the mayfly were getting lots of trout in the 12-14 inch range. Paul says the condition of the trout this year is fantastic, well-fed fish with fat bellies and fighting hard all the way to the boat. Even 12-inch trout are fighting well above their weight class.
Two other local anglers I spoke to were very happy with the improvement in fishing, saying it was the best sport they had enjoyed on Corrib in several seasons.
After a slow start this year, itβs great to the lough fishing so well, and hopefully we get a good mayfly season to reward anglersβ patience.
Ferox
Tomi Kurman (Tomi Guided Fishing) is back on Corrib after a break this spring, and already putting his clients over some amazing fish. Despite difficult conditions at times, varying from cold and wet to hot and windless, hhhe hasn’t had a blank day yet since getting back on the water, with some fine fish to the boat. Check out the photos below for a sample…
