The second leg of the Grauvell West Coast Shore League was hosted by Killala Boat Club on Saturday last, with fishing on Lacken beach from 6-10pm. A lively surf on the evening promised good fishing, and conditions were perfect with a light onshore breeze and mild temperatures. The good fishing did not live up to expectations, however, with flounder hard to come by and many anglers going long periods without a bite.
The winner of Zone A was Denis Quinn from Killala BC, with 4 fish for 142 points. Second in Zone A was Jamie Devers (Killala BC) with 4 fish for 109 points.
Zone B was won by Peter Atkins (Galway Bay SAC), with 6 fish for 167 points, while second place went to Josie Barrett (Killala BC) with 5 fish for 131 points.
The overall winner was Kevin Crowley (Galway Bay SAC) with 10 fish for 278 points.
The winner of the junior section was Mark Hughes (Newport SAC) with 3 fish for 86 points. In second place was Kaylem Feeney (Galway Bay SAC) with 2 fish for 77 points, and third was Joe Chambers (Newport SAC) with 1 fish for 40 points.
The next leg of the league will be held in Ballyreen, Co. Clare on Sunday 24th June. Anglers can still enter the league, with 6 scores out of 8 to count, and only 2 competitions fished so far. The competition is also an open comp, open to anglers who are members of clubs anywhere in Ireland.
Full details of the West Coast Shore League are available from www.galwaybaysac.com
Donal Connolly from Nonaim Lodge in Glann, Oughterard reported on fishing for his guests over the last week in the Glann area. There were still some good hatches of mayfly and good sport, however fishing was very variable with some very good days and then a slow day with the trout reluctant to move to the flies.
Donal was guiding Marc and Olivier from France on their last day before going home, and they landed 7 trout, mainly on wet fly with a couple also on dry fly. They also lost a couple of bigger fish. The average was not huge at approx. 1.25lbs but they all fought well, and all were released. Marc ended his trip with 12 trout for 3 days fishing, best about 1.75 lbs, and all released.
Earlier in the week Sean and John Maher, Pat Lynch and Mike Fogerty, Tipperary, had excellent fishing ending with 30 trout, best 2.5lbs. on wet and dry fly and dapping, they also had a large number of smaller fish. Roger Thomson, Lurgan, had 2 trout for 4.75lbs including a nice 3.5lbs trout on wet fly.
Paul Joyce, Glann, had a number of trout on wet fly as well as a salmon of 6lbs on a Toby, while his 10 year old brother Shane had a lovely 2lbs trout on the dap. Dave and Tom Gilpen, Hampshire, had 4 trout on dry fly, all released, on Monday. Hammy Hamilton, Cul Aodh, also had 2 trout on dry fly on Monday.
Eamon Walsh reports that during a week in which was patchy at best, some anglers managed to find good fishing in the Cornamona area, but as always they were slow to reveal their secret locations. The first few days of the week saw good fishing in the Cornamona Bay area and along the south shore of the Dooras peninsula. Tom Sommerville had 8 fish for 2 days while dapping with his children, sizes ranged from 1.5lbs up to 3lbs, John Sommerville also had some luck with the dap, taking one nice fish on an evening’s fishing. Padraic O’Malley from Maam, along with 3 friends, had 7 fish, returning 6, also fishing the dap on the south side of Dooras. Wednesday proved a very frustrating day for many anglers with large hatches of fly but with no wind to drift onto feeding fish. While meeting anglers on the lake shore it was clear to see trout rising to fly just off shore. This was very evident along the Carraig shore where a group of 4 brothers, the Babuarys from Westmeath, Killkenny and Kildare reported averaging 3-4 fish per boat per day between Saturday and Tuesday.
Colin McRory and party from Glasgow had 42 fish over a 6-day stay for 8 rods, while Keith Nicolson and 6 friends for Tunbridge Wells, Kent had 48, both parties fished out of Tom “Doc” Sullivan’s in Dooras. While numbers of fish may have been down on previous weeks, the reports are that all fish are very well fed and showing great condition.
Fishing in the Derrymoyle/Oughterard area shows no sign of slowing, with all anglers reporting excellent fishing, large hatches of fly and plenty of trout of all sizes rising to them. One angler claimed that this year has been one of his best in almost 50 years. John Jack of Scotland and Larry Kelly of Dublin had over 50 fish for the week, with Jack having 2 trout over 6lbs. A group of 3 anglers from the Barrow Angling Club had a good 3 days, with 38 fish up to 3.5 lbs.
Anglers fishing out of Currarevagh House also reported excellent returns. Michael Jenkins had 8 fish, 4 returned for one day with his best being 2.5lbs. The Prendiville party had 14 fish for 2 days, most of which were returned.
The reports from the Headford/Greenfields area have been patchy at best, with some anglers reporting difficult conditions in the middle of the week. Activity picked up somewhat towards the weekend. The Headford Mayfly Cup team event was run on Sunday with 20 anglers returning 24 fish. The winning team was Basil Shields and Tom Coyle with 3 fish for just over 3kgs, Martin Murphy and Colin Doherty were second with 4 fish for 2.7kgs, third were Martin Molamphy and Ray McSharry with 3 fish for 2.4kgs.
Craig McKirdy and Dutch angler John Skines had 6 fish over the weekend with 5 returned.
The expected big rise in temperatures may see hatches petering out over the next week, with evening buzzer hatches starting to figure in angler’s plans, but it is safe to say that even if mayfly hatches continue for another while, this has already been one of the best mayfly seasons for many years on Corrib.
Tomi Kurman from the Corrib Predator Team emailed to let us know of the great fishing that some Czech visitors experienced with himself and fellow guide Jack Gorny over 2 days recently. Between the 2 boats they landed 19 Trout, including 7 over 70cm long. The best 3 fish measured 75, 78 and 83 cm, weighing up to 16.5lbs. Conditions were perfect for ferox fishing, and their guests were dedicated to catch some monster ferox. All fish were released safely.
Two Czech anglers had a great experience on Lough Corrib, when they landed 19 ferox trout over 2 days up to this 16.5lbs 83cm fish. They were guided by Tomi Kurman and Jack Gorny of the Corrib Predator Team. the fish was released following the photograph.
Raymond Dawes from North Norfolk in the UK, a regular visitor to Lough Corrib and in his 93rd year caught a wonderful Corrib trout on the dapped mayfly on Thursday the 17th. It weighed in at 4.5lbs after a heroic battle. Raymond said: ‘It was the expert knowledge of our guide Gerry Molloy from Glann, Oughterard that made it at all possible as conditions on that day were very far from ideal!’ He went on to say he will be back next year for another foray on the lake at this glorious time of the year.
92 year old Raymond Dawes, who visits Corrib every year, with a fine 4.5lbs trout taken while dapping mayfly with guide Gerry Molloy on Lough Corrib, May 2012
Bright warm conditions combined with a lack of fly life made angling difficult on Carra this week. Jim Stafford, Brownstown, fished for a day midweek and he had 3 nice fish (best fish 2.5lbs). Jim also reported returning 10 undersize trout the same day. Three anglers from Northern Ireland fished out of Brownstown on Wednesday last, and they had 3 fish over 13 inches. They also returned numerous undersize fish throughout the day.
Patrick Thomson from Armagh stayed at Keel River Lodge this week and he had 9 trout on wet flies for his stay (best fish 2lbs). Patrick said the Green Peter and Claret Bumble accounted for most of his fish.
For all your self-catering needs, boat hire and angling information contact Joe and Lucy Flannelly at 094 9541706 or 087 6387701, or email keelriverlodge@eircom.net
Ronan Cusack reports that the rise in temperatures this week has reflected in a slight improvement in mayfly hatches. Anglers fishing the southern end of Mask in particular reported seeing plenty of fly on the warmer days and trout responding well.
The Tourmakeady Angling Club held their annual European Cup over the weekend. This event is run on the combined weight of the catch over the 2 days. 62 anglers took part with a total of 133 trout weighed in. First place went to well-known Lough Mask angler Pat Feerick, with 8 trout for 10.14lbs. Second place went to Pat’s younger brother Martin, who also had 8 trout for 9.12lbs. Club chairman Eddie Gibbons took third place with 6 trout for 8.10lbs. Overseas French angler Yan Le Fevre took the heaviest fish prize with a fine trout of 3.13lbs. The main topic of conversation on the shore in Gortmore on both evenings was the countless number of undersized trout that anglers were returning each day. Conditions were excellent over the weekend with plenty of wind, broken cloud and a good sprinkle of fly.
Dublin anglers Jeff Matthews and his son had a day to remember on Sunday last while fishing with Noel Moran. They had 8 fish for 15.5lbs on a combination of wet flies and dapping. Kevin Sheridan, Ballinrobe, also had 8 fish on dries, on Sunday last (best fish 4lbs, all returned). Kevin had a total of 40 trout for his week. Noel Lowry from Northern Ireland fished with Martin Carney from Dublin on Saturday, and they had 6 trout for the day on wets and dries (best fish 2.5lbs).
Garth Love and Ivor Hazlet, Northern Ireland, had 17 good fish over their 6-day trip to Mask last week. Garth had a grin like a Cheshire cat on the second last day of their trip, when he landed his best trout to date on Lough Mask weighing 3.5lbs.
Hall’s Angling Centre had a busy week this week with plenty of good fishing to report. A group of 5 retired banking staff had 40 fish for their week (best fish 6lbs). A French angler also staying at Hall’s had over 20 trout for his 7 day holiday. To book accommodation or boat hire at Hall’s, contact David Hall at 094 9541389 or visit www.lakeshoreholidays.com
Ronan also guides on Mask and can be contacted at cusackronan@gmail.com or on 087 2869487.
Margaret Gorman from Isham Self Catering and Angling Centre at Dringeen Bay reports that all of their anglers are having lots of enjoyable days on the lake. Isham guests Des McDonough and a party of anglers from the Waterford/Cork area had a fantastic week accounting for 40 trout for the week. Cris and Edith Loots from Belgium had 2 days fishing with 16 fish recorded. They also reported many small fish. Most of their catch was returned.
Pat Gorman had a nice evening on Saturday with a good trout of almost 3lbs to a Green Dabbler and numerous small fish all of which were returned. Conor Dennedy and his father Bert, Eoin Kelly and his friend Patsy fished on Monday with a lot of small fish coming to the dap and wet fly methods. They kept just 2 fish for their day.
Best flies for the week were Olive/Dabbler patterns with fish also being taken on the Mayfly. For boat hire and angling information available on site see www.congselfcatering.com, phone 087 7908107 or email isham@eircom.net
Eric Houalet from Greenlands Tours, a company catering for French visitors in the Mayo area, sent in a photo of a fine trout taken by one of their guests, Nicolas Boireau from Paris. Guided by Jean-Phillippe Carnet from Greenlands Tours, Nicolas hooked and played the fish which measured 88cm and was weighed at 14lbs, and is one of the best fish taken this year on Lough Mask.
Nicolas Boireau from Paris, with his 14lbs 88cm trout taken on Lough Mask, while guided by angling guide Jean Philippe Carnet
Matt Campbell reports that he and Brian Mc Shane returned to the River Boyne on Monday. This followed their visit to the River for Sundays Fisheries Awareness Event which was hosted by Navan and District Angling Association. The water continues to fall and clear and there have been good hatches of olives and mayfly throughout the week. During his visit Matt managed to land 11 small wild brown trout of circa .5lb in weight and a couple of nice fish over one pound. Brian McShane had a total of 17 trout with three over 1lb, one fish of 1.5lbs and a real beauty that weighed in at 1.75lbs.
Gilbert and Belinda from Belgium with some of their Tench.
Fishing in and around Longford has been very good the last few weeks which has produced some great catches of Tench to 55 cm long, Bream, Hybrids, Roach and Rudd have also featured. At the time of writing the weather has changed things a little for the Bream, Hybrids and Roach fishing, with hot bright sun the fish in some places are sure to start spawning. However the Tench are still showing in most places and fish to 6lb are being caught, a couple from Belgium who are here just for the Tench fishing have been having great catches on prebait swims. They are here for two weeks so next week we will report how they have done on their second week.
Gilbert and Belinda from Belgium with some of their Tench.
Another day and more Tench for Gilbert and Belinda.
Gilbert and Belinda from Belgium this year decided to spend their two weeks fishing holiday with Kevin and Jane at Melview Lodge in Longford, Kevin said after arriving all they wanted to catch were Tench as they don’t have very many in Belgium. So off we went to show them a few venues to choose from, we then prebaited them and it has been non stop Tench some of them to 6lb and 55 cm long. Next week we will see how they get on in their second week of fishing.
Kevin with a few bonus Tench
Kevin Lyons Melview Lodge
Drumlish Road, Clonrollagh, Longford, Co. Longford. Tel : +353 (0)43-33-45061 Mobile : +353 (0)87-268-7441
Email: info@melviewlodge.comWeb: www.melviewlodge.com
Skipper of the Leah Donal Kennedy reported from Killala Bay that on Sunday 20th May, a group of anglers left Killala Harbour for a day’s fishing. The weather was fine, slightly overcast with moderate southerly winds. The fishing was described as slow but steady. Many mackerel were taken initially, and set the trend for the day. Some fine pollack were caught up to 8lbs, along with many more averaging around 4 lbs. Coalfish up to 3lbs were also caught. Other species caught included turbot, flounder and lesser spotted dogfish.
Pictured left to right are Bob Bell, U.K., Paddy Rice, Co. Dublin, and John Evans, Wales,who proudly display their catch of fine sea trout from the Moy Estuary.
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 1st January 2012, restricting the daily bag limit of sea trout to three fish on any given day.
Pictured left to right are Bob Bell, U.K., Paddy Rice, Co. Dublin, and John Evans, Wales,who proudly display their catch of fine sea trout from the Moy Estuary.
Angling on the River Moy continues to improve, with low water conditions beginning to suit the lower Moy Fisheries, which are now yielding bigger numbers of fish. The East Mayo Anglers’ water and the Cloongee Fishery, continue to record the greatest numbers, partly due to the fact that the heaviest angling effort is occurring there.
In lower, Ballina Town fisheries, the Ridge Pool had nine salmon with the Weir Pool producing six. On the Ridge Pool, Brian McGlashan, Scotland, had two of 3.4lbs and 5.6lbs, Alex Cruikshank, also Scotland, had one of 5.11lbs to the worm, with John Bennett, N.Ireland, and Jonathan Smith, Co. Cavan, both landing two each to the fly. Loic Barc, France, landed one of 4.5lbs to the fly on the Ridge, and at the Weir Pool, John McKinley, Athlone, John Binns, Foxford and John Bennett each had two apiece on fly.
Brian McGlashan, Scotland, pictured with one of two salmon he caught on the Ridge Pool last week
The Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water produced eighteen salmon, with the mid Moy Fisheries also yielding salmon, with John James, Wales, capturing one of 7lbs to the prawn at Coolcronan. Gilles Boindier, France had two from Armstrong’s and Brian Larrigan and Geoff Wiles, both had success at Gannon’s on the worm, landing fish of 8lbs and 11lbs respectively.
The fishing around the Foxford town area was also productive, with numerous catches being reported from all fisheries. At Cloongee, over thirty salmon were caught, including one of 8lbs for Beatrice Valaize, Brittany, to the spinner and one of 7lbs for Camille Martini also caught spinning. Andre Rolland, France banked one of 8.5lbs at Cloongee.
The East Mayo Anglers’ water recorded over sixty salmon for the week, five of which were released. Herve LeNoach, France, enjoyed good sport here with two of 7lbs and 10lbs caught spinning, while John Price, U.K. also had success spinning, with three between 5lbs and 6lbs. Some nice fish were also taken on the fly at East Mayo, with Jügen Kutche, Germany (7lbs), Henry Spring, Dublin (9lbs) and Simon Cassidy, Co. Meath (11lbs) all landing good sized fish.
Ballisodare Fishery
The Ballisodare Fishery enjoyed another excellent week, with one hundred and eleven salmon caught, fifty-one of which were released. Local anglers Eddie Harte and Ken Hunter both had good catches early in the week, with salmon of 9lbs and 9.5lbs respectively. Visiting anglers Dennis Barrett, N.Ireland, and Eugene Carroll both caught fish, as did visitor Paddy Martin who had one of 8lbs to the fly. John Murray also landed a fish on the fly, weighing 9lbs, with Peter Kramer also hooking a 10lbs salmon on fly. Dublin angler Michael Wymes had one of 8lbs to a Willie Gunn while the best fish of the week was caught by club member and local angler Sean Gallagher, who landed a beautiful 16lbs salmon on a Green Highlander.
Lough Beltra
Six salmon were caught for the week on the Newport House side of Lough Beltra. Rocky Moran had one of 11.5lbs, Robert McDonald boated one of 5.5lbs while Dr. Cahill had two, of 7lbs and 7.5lbs. Later in the week Sean Dolan had one of 7lbs with his brother Michael landing one of 7.5lbs. The Green Peter continues to be the most successful fly.
Colm Craigie age 13 with 91/2 lb springer from Shean lodge beat 2
The season started in early April when during the week of 6th April, 11 Springers were landed on the Lodge stretch and a further 5 on the Lower stretch. Because of exceptionally dry condition for the remainder of the month and for the first 10 days of May, only 11 fish were caught during this period. The river was at its very lowest during this time but odd fish were getting through, with an odd one showing. It eventually rained a little on 10th May giving a rise of 6 inches, and for the remainder of the week there were showers holding the water at reasonable levels. During the week ending 18th May there were 17 salmon landed on the Lodge Stretch, and another 9 on the Lower Stretch. The fish were all in prime condition, many sea liced, and varying from 6 to 12lbs, with one fish of 15lbs.
Colm Craigie age 13 with 91/2 lb springer from Shean lodge beat 2
Prospects look excellent with what appears to be a very good stock throughout the Fishery, but more rain is needed.
There are some vacant weeks or part weeks available on the Lower Stretch, and one week in both August and September on the Lodge Stretch. Please contact 086 6075958 or www.sheanlodgefishery.com for further information.
