Young anglers enjoy the bounty of Galway's salmon run
Salmon fishing has been very good over the last 2 weeks in Galway, with Seamus Hartigan reporting 71 fish from the 8th to the 15th, and 140 fish over the last 6 days to the 26th.
Water levels increased slightly around the 9th, after a numbers of days of heavy rainfall, with water spilling over the closed gates, making the fish a little more unsettled in the river. That coupled with an increase in temperatures, both air and water resulted in reduced catches. Nevertheless some decent fishing was had by some during the period.
Dublin anglers Michael Rogers and Paddy Murray accounted for a pair of fish during their visit, as did father and son John Carroll Senior and Junior from Tipperary, with John Jnr catching his first salmon, a trip to Galway he will always treasure and remember. Another young angler who caught his first salmon was David Donoghue from Athenry, fishing with his father Phil, who acted as mentor and netted his sons fish, making his day one to remember.
Another Athenry resident Declan Tuffy grassed a treble on the fly, engaging several more during his session. Martin Kiely from Limerick also got into to action taking three fish during his trip to the Weir, as did Kevin McCrossan from Donegal who had good sport on the fly. Sebastian McMichael kept the flag flying from north of the Border with two nice fish on the fly in trying conditions, with thundery weather dictating matters for the number of days.
The following week saw more settled water levels, and fish responded accordingly, with 140 fish caught. Dave O’Reilly landed 3 grilse on fly, as did German visitor Werner Meckle on his regular visit. Regular angler brought in his son Michael and grandsons Blair and Conor, home from Dubai on a visit, and all 3 managed their first salmon!
Local angler Adrian Murphy caught 3 grilse to 6lbs on shrimp and fly, and Clare man John Murphy also had 3 grilse to 6.5lbs on fly. Waterford anglers Paul Whelan and Eamonn Power had a fun-filled visit, both landing 5 grilse each on the fly, and possibly enjoying a few pints of “Barrys Tea” as well.
Regular visitor from Belfast Dexter Lynas fihed with son Andrew, and although Andrew had 2 grilse to 5lbs, Dad can still pick out the better fish, Dexter landing a fine grilse of 7lbs, all on the fly.
Clare man Eddie Corry also had a good fish 8lbs on the fly, while Limerick man Martin Kiely had 3 fish to 6.5lbs on fly and shrimp. Laois man John Hetherington also had 3 grilse to 7lbs on fly and shrimp, while Swiss visitors Thomas Ulbrecht and Werner Wahrenberg enjoyed their visit, both taking 2 grilse each on shrimp.
Fishery officer James Quinn had an unusual catch today, landing what he thought was a small grilse to be surprised by what looks very like a Pacific salmon, possibly a pink salmon and certainly a fish that appears to be lost. Scale and DNA samples have been taken to confirm the identification, but if confirmed, this would be a most unusual catch and begs the question of how the fish came to arrive in Galway!
The fishery is still seeing excellent numbers of fresh fish, and water levels remain good for angling, indicating great prospects for the week ahead.
