Loughs Conn and Cullin

Congratulations to the Irish Team on winning the I.T.F.A. Home International Angling Competition held on Lough Sheelin recently. The team was Captained by Cloghans angler Seamus Kelly, who was joined by fellow Cloghans anglers John Walsh and Patrick Kelly also Joe Quinn, now of Ballina. An excellent result for the National team and a great honour for the area to have four local team members who were instrumental in the victory at this prestigious competition.

On the Loughs, fishing out of Pontoon Bridge Hotel Steve Wright, Dublin, had five trout on the Grey Wulff, his best was 1.25lbs. Jean Regis Tarasewicz, France, also had five trout, all on dry mayfly with his best 1.5 lbs. Geoffrey Cooke, Lincolnshire, U.K., had a very successful week, boating fifty-four trout for six days fishing with Vinny O’ Boyle, all on the dry Wulff, his best was 2.25 lbs. Michael O’ Beirne, Co.Meath, had eight trout (his best at 2lbs) and also one salmon, all on dry flies on Lough Cullin over two days. Glen Allen and friend David Orsler, Cheshire, U.K., had 24 trout over a few days on Conn.
Stewart Lyons, Scotland, had six trout on his first day on Lough Conn, with numerous smaller fish returned, all taken on dries. Finally, from Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Chris Watten, London, had four on his first day, his best 2 lbs also all on dries.

Stephen Browne and Adrian Murphy, Cloghans, boated four trout each on south Conn, mostly around Cormorant Rocks on dry mayfly, their best was 2 lbs. Mick McNeely and Brendan Breslin, Cloghans, enjoyed a good week, averaging five trout each for each trip over the past week. Padraic and John McNeely, Brackwansha, had a few trout for an evening’s fishing, their best weighed 1.5lbs.

The Lakelands Anglers had their annual day out on Lough Conn, with eighteen anglers taking part. They recorded eleven trout over 3 days. The overall winner of their competition was Sammy Smyth with three trout for 4 lbs. Nicky Shaw captured the heaviest fish, weighing 1.5 lbs.

Lough Arrow

Lough Arrow has seen great hatches of mayfly over the past week, with the appearance of a few spent gnats also. Unfortunately, dry fly fishing has been somewhat sporadic, with some anglers reporting better sport on wet flies and buzzers. The fish do not appear to have come on to the mayfly fully yet. However, some anglers did well on dries and reported good fishing on the dap. Dirk Zonnekein and Wim Schoors, Belgium, accounted for four trout, their heaviest weighing 2lbs, while Michael Gunning had six trout, his best 3.5lbs, all taken on dry mayflies. John Hargadon boated one of 2.5lbs on the dap while Tommy Noonan Sr. and Tommy Jr. had four, their best was 2.5lbs. Thomas Walsh and John Joe MacDermottroe fishing together had two great fish while dapping, one of 5.75lbs and one of 6.5lbs. 

Moy Estuary – Sea trout

Local sea trout angling guide Judd Ruane reported on a great week on the Moy Estuary, where he recorded fifty-nine sea trout, seventeen on of which were retained. Water conditions were conducive for good angling, with weather predictions indicating that this should remain the case for the coming week. Des McDonagh and friend, Co. Kilkenny had 22 trout in total, retaining four, all caught on mackerel strips. Charles Campion, star of ‘Master Chef’ and three friends accounted for nineteen trout for two days angling, seven of which were retained. Again these were caught on mackerel strip. Anglers are reminded that all sea trout over 40cm in length must be tagged and logged in the anglers log book, and that Bye-Law no. 887, 2011, has been enforced since 1^st January 2012, restricting the daily bag limit of sea trout to three fish on any given day.

Bryan Ward
IFI-Ballina .
email: [email protected]