Lindsey Clarke reports from LOUGH MELVIN – Monday 22ndto Sunday 28th April 2013.
Melvin was fairly quiet over the week and few rods ventured out. I have heard of two salmon caught to date however one of which was Noel Johnston’s 6¾lb salmon caught along the Garrison Shore. There is little to report on the trout fishing front I’m afraid.
For bookings/guides etc on the Rossinver Fishery contact Bill McNeary, Tel: 071 9854930 or Jim Hoye, Tel: 0831197428
For info see http://www.rossinverfishery.com/
Joe Keena, secretary of Derravaragh Anglers Association reports on the fishing for April 2013
Lough Derravaragh
Lough Derravaragh is a fairly sizeable piece of water located in the centre of county Westmeath and is considered to be one of the best pike fisheries in Ireland but trout anglers need to sit up and take notice as this lake is also a much underestimated wild trout lake as well. Steeped in myths and legends on the map Derravaragh resembles Italy in shape and can be easily divided into two parts – the large and shallow bit in the north-west and a much lower, deep funnel like stretch towards the south. The large shallow part can be very productive throughout the spring and early autumn whereas the deep southern bit works much better in the cold, winter months. All in all, Derravaragh holds great stocks of pike but also an increasing number of beautiful wild trout but it is a hard water to fish made much easier by getting a good knowledge of the water before you go out.
Renowned Multyfarnham angler Christy “Black Jack” Cox struck gold when he connected with this beautiful 4¼ trout during the Gibson Daly Brown Trout Competition at Derravaragh.
Thirteen anglers competed in this annual event competition was held on the 28th April 2013. Water levels within the lake were quite low and weather conditions suited brown trout angling with strong westerly winds, heavy showers and occasional sunshine.
Christy was fishing a Sooty Olive variant on an intermediate line along the Derrya Shore. Fellow competitors looked on as Christy battled with this fine wild trout for over 10 minutes before it came to the net to be landed by angling partner Liam Gilsenan. In true sporting fashion John Mulvaney also returned a takable trout whilst other anglers also reported that they had returned undersized fish and lost others.
The local anglers are keen to point out that despite what you might have been told Derravaragh holds a reasonably good stock of quality wild brown trout. The lake is very much under fished for trout and is well worth a visit when angling conditions suit. Fly anglers should try fishing a team of three or four wet flies comprising of a Claret Dabbler, Silver Dabbler, Bibio, Sooty Olive and Hares Ear. If you do visit Derravaragh try to practice catch and release and please retain scale samples from all brown trout for the genetic and abundance study. Scale samples can be given to Dermot Broughan of Inland Fisheries Ireland (087 2595286) or they can be left at the lake with Karl for collection.
Christy Cox with his winning 4 ½ lb trout at the Gibson Daly brown trout competition on April 28th
Joe Keena, Secretary of Derravaragh Anglers Association, Tel: 086 8722449 E-Mail:joekeena@eircom.net
Lindsey Clarke reports from the RIVER DROWES Monday 22ndto Sunday 28th April 2013.
The river had lovely water conditions last week. The gauge read 0.62 metres on Monday and had fallen to 0.56 by the end of the week. There were a number of rods out fishing over the week and fair numbers of salmon recorded. On Tuesday, Brian Cherry lost a big salmon at the net after a 25 minute tussle! He was not deterred however and went on to record two salmon caught for the day weighing 10 & 9lb caught from the Wee Drain & Grimes Island respectively. On Thursday, Chris O’Doherty logged a 10lb salmon caught on a fly from Red Roof. A. Connelly registered a 9½lb salmon caught on prawn from the Money Hole and Tim Bowman accounted for an 8½lb salmon also caught on prawn from the Money Hole. On Saturday, Marty King recorded two salmon caught on shrimp. The fish weighed 10lb & 8lb and were both caught from The Washstones. Marty Bohon logged an early 5½lb grilse caught on a spinner and John Crossley also accounted for a 5lb grilse caught on a spinner. On Sunday, P.J. Bailey recorded a 10lb salmon caught on worm from The Blackhole.
There is rain forecast for the week which should keep the river at desirable levels although air temperatures are set to remain cool. Prospects look good for the coming week.
For info/bookings etc on the Drowes Fishery & Lough Melvin see the website: http://www.drowessalmonfishery.com/ or Tel: +353 (0)71 9841055 (8 am to 12 noon).
Lough Glore is a small 90 acre lake tucked in along the Oldcastle Castlepollard road, this understated lake contains trout averaging 2lbs and a good stock of pike and is carefully looked after by a small but growing angling club – the Lough Glore Angling Club.
Along with the weather the Glore Angling Club are starting to warm up as the 2013 fishing season progresses. This small but growing fishing club started off the year with a competition in mid-February on Lough Glore and despite inclement weather ten hardy anglers took part with Colm Potterson from Trim taking first with a nice 5lb 10oz pike.
On Sunday April 21st this angling club held the second of their competitions on the ‘competition stretch’ of the River Inny which attracted 10 anglers. The winner of this event with was Trim man Peter Smith with an impressive 18lbs 4oz pike, second place was another Trim man Mickey Rispin who caught two pike at 2 and 2 ½ lbs. This club are planning another competition tentatively scheduled for May 12th at Float Bridge, all those interested should contact Eddie O’Donnell at 087 7761970.
All these competitions are for club members only but it’s not a difficult or expensive thing to become a member and you get a great sense of community spirit and involvement from this club and their enthusiasm and passion for this lake is infectious which can only be a very positive thing.
Hatches are well behind on Corrib, with olives only making their first appearances this week. Some fish have been spotted feeding just under the surface, presumably on olive nymphs, although in the windy conditions hatching fly were difficult to observe. Donal Connolly from Nonaim Lodge was out with guests Engue and Olivier, from France, on Sunday. The day was cold with strong north west winds, but they landed 3 trout, and moved a few more. Donal reported little or no fly hatches in the cold wind, but they did see a few fish moving and taking just below the surface. Donal and his wife Connie run a guesthouse at Glann, Oughterard – to book fishing or accommodation contact them on +353 (0) 85 7364830, or check www.fishingcorrib.com
The Cornamona Anglers held their annual Hospice Competition on Sunday, raising much-needed funds for the Galway Hospice. The event is run on a catch-and-release basis, with fish length being used to score. Tom Doc Sullivan reported on the competition for us:
This event has gone from strength to strength each year, and this year we had an entry of 31 teams of two, making up 62 rods on the day. The lake is currently at that difficult stage where there are no major hatches of fly, we are still waiting for the olives to hatch and there are no sightings at all of any Mayfly. It is interesting to note that the competition, on the same date last year was fished with the Mayfly hatch well up! Not so this year thanks to the cold weather. With a fresh north westerly wind and cloud pulling wet flies was going to be the order of the day, and this method accounted for virtually all of the fish caught on the day
The event was won by Seamus Kelly, Oughterard and Joe Crane of Roundstone, popular winners. Seamus and Joe have supported the competition from its inception, and have come close to the top spot on a number of occasions, finally making the breakthrough this year – the two anglers had a total of 6 trout for 1,180 points. Second place went to Mike Coyne, Renvyle and Tom Carroll, Westport, continuing their recent good run having won the Oughterard 50, with 4 trout for 980 points .Third place was Phillip Rooney, Leitrim, former World Cup winner and Irish Ladies International Dorrie Gibbons from Cong, with 4 trout for 980 points
In total the 62 rods recorded 62 trout which considering the lull in fly activity was a decent return. The longest fish of the competition was shared between Martin Kinneavy and Phillip Comer who each had a trout measuring 47cm. The average length of the fish was 36cm.
On a side note Tom Sullivan of Cornamona landed a 9.5lb springer on an Olve Bumble while fishing the competition! All proceeds of this event go to the Galway Hospice and the event could not be run without the generous sponsorship it receives for the prizes.
The Garda club held a competition on last Friday, with 14 anglers recording 7 trout over the limit. Barry Carolan took top honour with 2 trout for 3.5lbs, with Mick Bradley in second with 2 trout for 3lbs.
The Braithreach na Coiribe club, based in Galway City, also held a competition on Sunday. The top boat was Nick and Mark Hanley, with 5 fish for 11.5lbs. Harold, Kevin and Hazel O’Toole were second, with 3 trout for 6.2lbs, and third place went to Mike and Pat McGrath with 1 trout for 1.25lbs.
The only other report of fly fishing came from Gerry Dixon, who landed 4 trout for approx. 6lbs to wetfly.
Karel Sourek from the Czech Republic, who readers may remember caught the 25lbs monster ferox trout a couple of years ago, was back recently to visit his friend Emil Bucko, who lives in Oughterard.
This was his fourth year in a row visiting Corrib in springtime, and while the high winds were not helpful, they still managed to land some great fish. This time the best fish was a beautifully-marked 15lbs trout. As Karel is a firm believer in catch-and-release, the fish was sportingly released again after a quick photograph.
Karel Sourek, from the Czech Republic, with a fine 15lbs feroc trout caught on Lough Corrib recently.
Ronan Cusack reports that angling on Mask last week could only be described as “hot and cold”. The low air temperatures and relentless northerly winds have kept both angling and fly hatches to a minimum. Winds subsided and temperatures rose a little on Wednesday, which brought a sparse hatch of olives and Campto buzzer in some of the sheltered bays.
Hall’s Angling Centre had a busy week, with anglers enjoying some good sport. James Craig from the UK stayed at Hall’s and he had 6 fish on Sunday, best fish 1.75lbs. Mr Martin from France, also fishing from Hall’s, had a great day on Monday with 8 trout, best fish 3lbs. To book fishing or accommodation at Hall’s, contact David or Helen on 094 9541389 or check www.lakeshoreholidays.com
Sean O’Loughlin from Galway had 7 fish to 2lbs for 2 days on Mask last week. Frank Reilly From Headford fished with Stephen Cole on Saturday and they had 6 trout on wets (best fish1.5lbs, all returned). Padraig Kerrigan and Ronan Cusack fished buzzer on Wednesday evening and they had 4 fish (best fish1.75lbs, all returned).
Ballinrobe Anglers chairman Tom Foley, had 2 nice fish on Sunday (best fish 2 lbs, both returned). Tim Hannon from Ballinrobe had 3 fish on small dries on Tuesday afternoon (best fish 3 lbs).
The Kilbride Anglers had their annual weekend away on mask this week. 18 anglers organised a friendly competition among themselves on Saturday. They fished to a 14 inch limit with 10 trout weighed in. The winner was Martin Carney from Dublin with a trout of 2lbs.
The majority of anglers are reporting releasing up to 6 undersize trout for every trout over the legal 13inch limit, which is a similar trend to last year.
Ronan also guides on Mask and can be contacted at 087 2869487 or by email at cusackronan@gmail.com
Michael Flanagan of Midland Anglingreports on local coarse angling activity…
Our local Coarse anglers were in action recently on the magical River Inny and produced some good bags of fish. It was a tough day with strong winds, some good heavy showers, and a bit of sunshine thrown in for good measure. Killucan angler Steve Cotter was in fine form and took top rod with a combined weight of 4kg of fish. Bob McDermott of Mullingar was also fired up for the match competition and had a few nice fish including a super Roach just short of 2lbs.
Steve cotter of Mullingar Coarse Anglers
The match competition was sponsored by local tackle dealer David O’Malley and if you need any info on the Coarse angling Scene here in Westmeath drop into David and he will fill you in. Mullingar Coarse Anglers are open for membership, and if you fancy coming on board, David will give you contact details.
Stefano Belisario and pal Sandro Colangeli enjoyed Irish piking
Stefano Belisario and pal Sandro Colangeli were piking across the Midlands last week. Staying in Kerrigan’s the boys really got it hard to handle the Irish weather, and they fished in sunshine, wind, and unbelievable heavy hailstone showers. Still the crack was mighty as they say in Ireland, and they boated some fine pike. The lads are fanatic pike anglers, and love working lures. They produced quite a number of pike on a variety of colored lures, and also met some of the Midland stop pike anglers on their travels.
Stefano Belisario and pal Sandro Colangeli enjoyed Irish pikingA very nice pike caught Italian style!
On Ree they met our top predator piker Barry Darby, and the language was no barrier when it came to fishing. The lads are planning a return trip in August 2014 and hopefully the weather will be a bit kinder. They will be keeping in touch with our angling reports on line here in Mullingar, so will be up to date with what’s happening weekly.
Spring fishing on the Moy has begun to come into its own, with 28 salmon reported for the week. All hopes are that things will continue to improve into the month of May.
Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water reported four for the week, while upstream at Armstrong’s two were caught, including one for Shane Gainley who had a good fish of over 12lbs on the worm.
Gannon’s Fishery also yielded two, one each for Patrick Finnegan and Brian Larrigan, weighing 9lbs and 7lbs respectively. At the Foxford Fishery, John Chambers, N.Ireland, had a nice catch weighing 11.5lbs while at Rinanney Owen Brogan banked one of 7lbs. Three salmon were reported from the Cloongee Fishery, including one for Thiery Coulm, France, which was released.
However, once again the East Mayo Anglers’ water produced the best sport over the week, with 9 salmon recorded. Mixie Clarke, Bohola, had two fine fish of 10lbs and 11lbs while spinning, with visiting anglers from N.Ireland; Sam Morrow (7.5lbs), Pat McNulty(10lbs) and Michael Kane (8lbs) also having success on the spinner.
Another very encouraging week at Ballisodare, where 39 salmon were caught. Early in the week, Monday yielded three for Gareth Norris (5lbs), Patrick Scallon (10lbs) and Eamon Ruddy (10lbs). Better conditions the following day produced eight, four of which were released. Those to score were Eamon Gannon (5lbs), Chris Kitchen (6lbs), Stephen Moore (11lbs and 9lbs, one released), Mark Graham also had two weighing 12lbs and 9lbs (one released). Stephen Cassols and Michael Mullaney also released fish weighing 7lbs and 6lbs respectively.
There were six salmon caught on Wednesday with the majority on fly, with three salmon released. All fish ranged from 5lbs-10lbs and were hooked by John Doherty, Ken Tucker, Dennis Crawley and Noel Barbour.
With high winds and low temperatures on Thursday conditions didn’t look great, although three salmon were caught, one of 9lbs for Ken Tucker, Clive O’Neill had one of 6.5lbs while John Connolly had one of 6lbs. Three were caught again on Friday, with 10lbs salmon for Sean Maye and Jean Bernard Chenaux, while Ken Tucker had another of 9lbs.
The weekend again produced very good sport for anglers, with eight salmon (seven on fly) on Saturday and a further six on Sunday. Among those to fish Ballisodare over the weekend were well known magician and mentalist Keith Barry and his father Ken. The pair caught a very respectable four salmon between them, up to 9lbs and released all but one. The heaviest catch of the season thus far was also caught at the weekend by Vincent Brady, who landed a great 14.5lbs salmon on the fly.
Keith Barry releases a fresh salmon at the Ballisodare Fishery
