Angling Reports
Markus Müller reports
week ending 22 August 2010
Important Notices
Anglers are advised that the bag limit is 1 fish per day from 1 September, 2010 and anglers fishing on after killing a fish must practice catch and release, using single barbless hooks and there is a ban on the use of worms. All fish must be handled carefully and should not be removed from the water prior to release. The above restrictions refer to salmon (any size) and sea trout over 40 cm.
Anglers are also advised that fishing for any kind of fish on the River Deel is prohibited between 1 September each year and 31 May the following year.
River Moy
The Moy system accounted for a reported catch of 308 salmon for the week and fishing conditions were good throughout the entire system with a very good show of fish. This brings the annual rod catch on the Moy to a staggering total of 9,612, which is already more than 3,500 salmon above last year’s catch! With 4 weeks remaining until the salmon season closes the Moy once again proved its reputation as Ireland’s most prolific salmon fishery!
The Moy Fishery had a total of 32 salmon for the week and conditions were perfect for the fly. The Ridge Pool produced 10 fish including a salmon each for Northern Ireland fly anglers William Holmes and Mickey Keenan. On the Cathedral Beat, Scott Greenway, UK, Dominic Conlon and Ted Walsh, both Kildare all had grilse, while Gregg McCreight and Brendan Kearnan, both Northern Ireland caught and released a grilse each on the Spring Wells.
Reasonably good fishing was reported form Mount Falcon and the Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water with bubble & fly one of the most productive methods. Coolcronan also enjoyed good sport with Stephen Murphy, Northern Ireland, catching a 6 lbs. salmon on prawn.
However, the catch of the week was undoubtedly a salmon caught on the Cloongee Fishery by Thierry Coulm, Foxford & France who reported its weight as 24.5 lbs. Unfortunately, the fine fish which took a Rolla Silver Bullet spinner was not weighed on certified scales and not witnessed for registration as a specimen. Other anglers who caught fish on Cloongee included Emmet Stagg, Hollymount, with 3 salmon on worm and Dr. John Hanaghan, Newport with 2 on spinner.
Angling was also good on the East Mayo Association Water where German fly angler, Manfred Kauert had 3 grilse while his country man, Sebastian Libbert, caught two on spinner, best at 10 lbs.
Elsewhere, the Mayfly Hotel, Foxford hosted a fundraising angling event on the River Moy on Saturday, 28 August. A total of 61 anglers including 4 juniors participated in the event which was won by Rob Shepard. In second place was Ray Steward with lady angler Bernie Johnson winning third place. A total of €2,400.00 was raised between the angling event and an auction which followed in the Mayfly Hotel. Angling beats for this fundraising event were made available by Foxford Anglers, Gannon’s, Armstrong’s, Byrne’s, Knockmore Anglers and Inland Fisheries Ireland (Cloongee Fishery).
Lough Conn
Due to the bright sunny weather it was a rather quiet week on Lough Conn. As a consequence, only very few anglers ventured out. However, anglers who persisted were rewarded with some nice catches. Out of Pontoon Bridge, Chris Byrne, Roscommon had 2 trout to a wet Green Peter. Participating in the “Catch & Cook” class, Tom Templeton, Dublin and Ellie Campbell, Roscommon caught a total of 3 trout, best at 1.5 lbs.
Elsewhere, local angler Peter Roche, boated 4 trout best at 2 lbs, all caught on dry Daddy Longlegs along the Brackwansha Shore.
Ballisodare River
The Ballisodare Fishery reported a total of 25 salmon (22 released) for the week. The heaviest fish of the week was caught by John Collins with a weight of 5 lbs. Club member, Paul Colreavey was also successful catching 2 fresh grilse.
Glencar Lake & Drumcliff River
The Drumcliff River and Glencar Lake continued to fish reasonably well during the week with some fine sea trout and salmon reported by anglers. Amongst the successful anglers was 11 year old Paddy Bird, Sligo, who boated his first ever fly-caught salmon during the week. His grilse took a Clan Chief fished on the top dropper. Well done Paddy!
Owenmore River
Despite dropping water levels, the Owenmore River continued to fish very well for the week. On the Bangor Angling Club stretch some anglers were rewarded with amazing catches. Amongst the successful anglers were Mark Mason, Northern Ireland, with 11 fish (9 released) for his week and Cathal Gallagher, Newry and Bangor Erris, with two fine salmon at 8 lbs. and 10 lbs. Also successful were Michael Levin, David Benny and Andrew Thomson, all UK, with a total of 8 salmon averaging 6 lbs. Best flies for the Owenmore included Yellow and Orange Flame-throwers, Silver Wilkinson, Foxford Shrimp, Usk Grub and Ally’s Shrimp patterns.
Ballin Lough
Seventeen rods fished the lake during the week landing a total of 16 rainbow trout (3 released). Amongst the best catches were: Mattie Foley and boat partner, Roscommon, who caught 6 fish, best at 3 lbs. Most successful flies included Muddler patterns and Minkies.
This prolific rainbow trout fishery remains open till the end of October. To book a boat on Ballin Lough, anglers should contact Mrs. Gill, beside the lake, on 098-26128.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 22 August 2010
River Moy
Angling effort on the River Moy continued to drop as the season wanes towards a close on September 30th, despite this the system has reported 307 salmon for the week. IFI would like to remind all anglers that the River Deel will be closed for angling from the 1st September, and a daily bag limit of one salmon or one sea trout over 40cm will be in operation on all waters from the 1st September.
The Moy Fishery continued to fish well over the week. The Ash Tree Pool produced good numbers, with 16 reported in total. Trevor Greene, N.Ireland had two on the fly from the Ash Tree Pool, with Gordon Sheedy, Limerick and John Delaney landing two salmon also. Several fish were taken on the Spring Wells, including one of 6.5lbs for George Dawson, N.Ireland and two for Peter Johnston, England, all taken on the fly.
The Cathedral Beat produced 17 salmon, including three for Rob Porter, Cork, and two for James Adamson, N.Ireland. The Ridge continued to fish well, accounting for 30 salmon, where Trevor Greene again had success, taking two on the fly, with Michael Wymes, Dublin also accounting for two fish.
The Ballina Anglers’ water produced good fishing, as did Mount Falcon, where Bill Whitwell and party of seven anglers form the UK accounted for 50 salmon for a week’s angling, including one of 10lbs for Lady angler Debbie Bowie, which was just one of an impressive week’s total of 9 salmon for Debbie. Knockmore, Attymass and Coolcronan remained consistent in their catches, with Tommy Henderson, N.Ireland taking two on the worm at Coolcronan.
Byrnes reported several salmon, while Armstrong’s and Gannon’s had a relatively good week also. The Foxford Fishery produced good numbers, where Patrick Stiegher, France caught three to the spinner on his first day salmon fishing. Rinanney and the Foxford Town fisheries fished well. East Mayo Anglers also reported a good week, with Cecil Allen banking two with the fly.
Lady angler Debbie Bowie and Ghillie Michael Wilson,
with one of nine salmon Debbie caught during her
week at Mount Falcon.
Lough Conn
Lough Conn and Cullin Anglers Association recently held the annual Paddy McDonnell Memorial Cup angling competition. Twenty-two anglers fished the competition, with a total of seven trout caught. Michael Monaghan, Knockmore, won the competition with a trout of 1.9lbs, runner up was Padraig Traynor with a trout of 1.7lbs and third was Dominic McGowen with a trout of 1.5lbs.
Moy Estuary
The Moy Estuary Sea Trout and Boat Club held an angling competition on Saturday 21st with 28 anglers taking part, including three ladies and three juveniles. Angling was tough, with no large sea trout being taken. However good sport was had by all. The heaviest fish competition was won by Anthony McHale, with a trout of 1.58lbs, second was Dessie Padden and third Mark Campbell. The heaviest bag was won by Mark Campbell with six fish for 3.3lbs and second was John Fitzpatrick with five trout for 2.75lbs. The ladies winner was Marion Fitzpatrick and winning the junior section was Cian Dolan, second Anthony McHale and third Daniel Devine.
Ballisodare Fishery
Over the week 30 salmon were caught at Ballisodare, with over half of these being released back into the system. Club angler Josie Trotter caught one salmon on a green Cascade fly. Visiting angler Paul Mc Glory also successfully caught and released two fresh salmon during his day’s fishing at Ballisodare.
Drumcliff, Glencar and Bonet Systems
The Drumcliff River produced some great fishing over the week, with some anglers lucky enough to land up to three salmon per day. Early in the week, Michael Whimsey caught one of 7lbs at Hudson’s Bridge, Padraig McKenna also caught one of 6.5lbs at ‘The Lurgan’. Later in the week, Tony Donnelly caught one at 7lbs at the Lurgan while over the weekend Brian McNeill had great success catching three between 4lbs and 5lbs downstream of Hudson’s Bridge. Victoria Kernaghan, Manorhamilton, also had great success catching one of 5lbs.
On Glencar Lough, journalist Chris McCully, UK, and Gardiner Mitchell, N.Ireland, had good success for a day’s angling. They boated three sea trout, the best two weighing close to 2lbs, rose over ten more and broke on a good sized fish. They also had 15 brown trout to the boat for the day.
On the Bonet River, Kevin McDonnell, Cavan, had great success landing a salmon of 9lbs at McGoraty’s, and a further one of 11lbs at Cloonaquinn on the Manorhamilton waters.
Lough na Liebe
Lough na Liebe hosted the 6th leg of its angling competition on Sunday 22nd August, with weather conditions very suitable for angling. 36 rainbow trout were caught during the competition, with Martin Lawrence winning the day with 15 fish. Alan Spencer totaled 10, with Tommy Lynch and Bernard McDermott landing five apiece. 70 rainbow trout were caught on the lake for the week, with 62 of these being released. Daddies, the Kingsmill, Shipman’s and Shuttlecock buzzers proved successful flies.
Owenmore River
Water levels on the Owenmore remained consistently suitable for angling for the past several weeks. The past week saw the best angling so far with large numbers of salmon caught, many of which were into double figures. Amongst the successful anglers was Diarmuid Maguire, who successfully landed a great fish of 13.5lbs.The fish was caught on an Ally’s Shrimp tube-fly.
Diarmuid Maguire with his impressive catch of
13.5lbs from the Owenmore River.
Burrishoole Fishery
The Burrishoole Fishery reported a good run of salmon over the week, with one party boating a total of five salmon. Sean O’Malley, Westport caught and released one salmon of over 4lbs, while Martin McCoy, Derry had one of over 3lbs, with Neil Berwick, Dublin boating a grilse also. Sean and Michael Smith, UK, had five grilse between them, releasing two.
Ballin Lough
Seven anglers in total fished Ballin Lough for the week, catching a total of seven trout, five of which were released. Pat Murphy and boat partner, Castlebar had four rainbow trout, releasing two, with their best weighing 2.5lbs. Philip McGing, Westport caught and released three in total.
Sea Angling
Belmullet Sea Angling Club
The Belmullet Sea Angling Club and Broad Haven Bay Hotel held its 39th Annual Sea Angling Festival recently, finishing the week was a two day boat angling competition on the 21st and 22nd. Conditions were far from favorable, with big swells rolling in from the west. Despite this, over eighty anglers took part over the two days, with more than 15 species recorded for the weekend.
In the Open Section, the greatest variety over two days was won by Anthony Matterson, Belmullet S.A.C, second was Kevin Walsh, Belmullet S.A.C and third was Tony Lally, Belmullet S.A.C. In the Out of State section, the greatest variety over two days was won by Chris McEleavy, East Belfast S.A.C., the Ladies section was won by Cora Talbot, Belmullet S.A.C. and the Juniors section was taken by Diarmuid O’Donnell, Belmullet S.A.C.
The heaviest fish section on Saturday was won by Chris McEleavy, East Belfast S.A.C, while on Sunday this award went to Padraic Munnelly, Killala S.A.C. The Out of State section, greatest variety was won by Billy Holland, East Belfast S.A.C on Saturday and on Sunday, was taken by Mark Smylie, Belmullet S.A.C. The Boatman’s Prize went to Steve Boyle on Saturday and on Sunday, John O’Boyle was the winner.
Killala Bay
Donal Kennedy, skipper of the ‘Leah’ reported some good angling in Killala Bay of late, with species taken including red gurnard, tub gurnard, whiting, conger, cod, pollack, pouting, ling and of course, mackerel. During recent trips the boat has taken a number of ling to 7lbs, a cod of 8lbs (plus numerous codling – all released), pollack up to 14lbs, and a conger of 40lbs plus, and a second, larger conger which broke at the surface.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 15 August 2010
River Moy
Despite a reduced angling effort on all fisheries during the week the River Moy still returned a reported catch of 331 salmon. The Ash Tree Pool produced its share, with seven salmon reported for a successful County Cavan contingent of four anglers. Among those to have success at the Ash Tree were Patsy Smith, who had three salmon to the fly, and Patrick Bannon, who had two also to the fly, his best weighing in at 6.5lbs.
The Spring Wells yielded one for Jeffery Holton, England, while at the Cathedral Beat, 20 were caught. David Elliott, N.Ireland, caught one salmon of 5lbs on the Cathedral, Padraig McKenna, Mayo, had two, his best at 6.7lbs, while Jude Nevin, Longford also had one. The best catch of the week on the Cathedral went to Ronan Gibbons, Westport, fishing the beat for the first time. Ronan landed a nice 9.8lbs salmon on a size 8 Bann Special, using a single handed rod, and also caught a grilse.
Cathedral Beat Ghillie Declan Hughes with Ronan Gibbons,
Westport and his fine 9.8lbs salmon
On the Ridge Pool, a total of 27 salmon were landed, including one for David Gault, England, one of 5.8lbs for Eamon Sheehan, England, while Mark Foster, also England had three salmon to the fly. Upstream, the Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water continued to fish well, as did the Mount Falcon Fishery, where Rodger Morris and friend, U.K had a total of 14 salmon over two days. Knockmore and Attymass waters fished well as did the Coolcronan water, where 14year old Nathan Rodgers, Dublin had one salmon and Tony Furlong, Wexford had three salmon.
Byrne’s, Armstrong’s, Gannon’s, Rinanney the Foxford Fishery and Foxford town waters all continued to yield salmon. On the East Mayo Anglers’ water angling remained steady with John and Fred Crowe, U.K. catching a salmon each on the fly, while John Geary, Dublin had two. Finally, John Buckley, Athlone landed one nice fish of 6lbs on the East Mayo water.
Lough Conn
Despite a drop in angling effort, some areas of Lough Conn produced good catches over the week. Participating in the “catch and cook scheme” from Pontoon Bridge, Paul Fearon, Dublin, had one trout while Tom Templeton also of Dublin, had two trout trolling Rapalla lures. James McWalter, U.K. also angling out of Pontoon Bridge had two trout on dry flies.
Angling from Kelly’s Boat Hire, Cloghans, Gerry Scott, Belfast, had two trout of 1lb each, with Martin Cawley, Cloghans, catching two, his best 3lbs taken on a Green Peter in Cloghans Bay. John Warren had good success on the Abbey shore, boating 5 trout in quick succession on a wet Green Olive pattern.
Ballisodare Fishery
A persistent northerly breeze made angling conditions difficult for fly anglers. However, 44 salmon were reported for the week. Catches this week included two grilse of 4lbs and 3lbs for Ian Martin, Antrim, and one superb fresh run 9.5lbs salmon for Mark Graham, taken on the fly. With heavy rain promised for the week ahead it is hoped that fishing will improve once again.
Lough Arrow
Angling on Lough Arrow has continued to be sporadic, yet some anglers have reported good success. Noel Clinton had four trout over the week between 2lbs and 3.5lbs on a dry Wickham’s Fancy size 16 while Damien Smith, Dublin had two at 2lbs and 3.5lbs. However, Peter Dunne enjoyed the greatest success of the week, boating four fish, two of which were 2lbs, one at 3.5lbs and the best reported of the week, a trout of 4.5lbs.
Lough Doon
Anglers who availed of this managed wild brown trout fishery enjoyed some success. Paul Campbell, Tyrone, caught and released two trout which came to Daddies, while boat partners Kevin Keane and Kyle McCallan caught 6 trout, all to a Water-boatman. Kyle again had success fishing with David Gerity, catching 6 trout between the pair, for a total weight of 8lbs, all taken on black and red nymph patterns.
Ballin Lough
A total of 27 anglers fished Ballin Lough for the week and reported 32 trout, 8 of which were released. Roland Seeler, Germany boated 4 rainbow trout, with his best 3lbs. Emmet Stagg had three trout, his best weighing 3.5lbs while John Fullard had 3 also, his best weighing just over 3lbs. The most successful flies for the week were Green Peters, Bibios, nymphs and muddlers.
Sea Angling
Belmullet Sea Angling Club held its annual Shore Angling Competition on Sunday 15th in Broad Haven Bay, with anglers enjoying fine weather and excellent conditions for shore angling. Seven species in total were caught during the competition, which was won by Shane Gilvarry, Newport S.A.C with six varieties. Michael Dunleavy, Belmullet S.A.C took second with four varieties, with Kevin Walsh, Belmullet S.A.C taking third with three varieties. The heaviest fish prize went to Tony Lally, Belmullet S.A.C with a Pollack of 5.8lbs.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 8 August 2010
River Moy
Water levels on the River Moy have been consistent and very suitable for angling throughout the week, despite this, angling effort is down considerably. A total of 494 salmon were reported for the week on the Moy, with the Moy Fishery accounting for 116 of these fish, with the Cathedral Beat producing 45 and the Ridge Pool yielding 44. Wexford pair James and Chris Ryan had one each on the Ridge to the fly, while Bill Campbell, Scotland had a total of three with the worm. Sean and Barry Price, England, also had success on the Ridge, with David Evans, England landing one salmon on the fly of 6.1lbs. Sean and Barry Price had greater success on the Cathedral Beat, landing a total of nine between them, while Bill Campbell also had better success there, catching three.
The Spring Wells fished well, with fly anglers Barry Corrigan, N.Ireland and Frank Woods, Co.Louth both having success, while Brendan Lowney, Wexford landed one at the Ash Tree Pool.
Upstream, the Ballina Salmon Angler’s waters continued to produce good numbers, as did Mount Falcon. Knockmore, Attymass and Coolcronan all enjoyed a successful week, with Byrnes also producing fish. Gannon’s Fishery also had its share, while at Armstrong’s, Anthony Murphy, Dublin had three on the worm. The Foxford Fishery also fished well, where Trevor Bolton and Harry Cliffe, England, had 12 salmon for four days angling. Rinanney and the Foxford town waters continued to produce their share. However the catch at Cloongee was significantly down due to low numbers of anglers on the beat. East Mayo Anglers water continued its positive trend, with good numbers reported. Among those to have success at East Mayo were Shane, Paul and Joe McNamee, Dublin who had two salmon each, with Sean Quinn, Meath and John Little, N.Ireland also having success.
Lough Conn
Angling on Lough Conn has been notably quiet for the time of year. However, as always there are a few exceptions to the trend. Angling with the School of Fishing at Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Tom and Lola Jordan had three to wet flies, while Mark Walsh had one on the Green Peter. Regular visitors to Murphy’s of Massbrook, Liam McHugh, Co.Offaly and Mick Sweeney, Loughrea had a total of four trout over two days to wets. In the northern end of the Lough, Padraig Traynor had two trout to wet flies, near Castle Island. Angling out of Cloghans, Sean Creane had one of 2lbs while Joe Quinn had good success, boating five trout for a day’s fishing. The catch of the week on Lough Conn undoubtedly goes to young Ruadhán O'Gráda of Clonskee Co. Dublin, who, while angling under the guidance of Padraic Kelly, Cloghans, hooked and successfully boated a magnificent trout at the mouth of Cloghans Bay weighing 5lbs.
Ruadhán O'Gráda of Clonskee Co. Dublin and
his fine 5lbs trout caught on Lough Conn
Bilberry Lake and Lough Lannagh
Bilberry-Lannagh Angling Club held its annual charity competition on Sunday the 8th and great sport was had by those participating. Peter Byrne won the competition, reaching the bag-limit of 6 trout for a total of 10lbs, with his best fish just over 3lbs. Peter Gray took second with 6 trout for 8.2lbs and third went to Ian Wise with two trout for 4lbs. Green Peters, Bibios and Silver Dabblers were the most successful flies on the day. For boat hire on the lakes contact Kay McGrath on 098 26128.
Ballisodare Fishery
Over the past week 124 salmon were caught on the Ballisodare System with 60 of these fish released. For the second week in a row Dermot Glennon has landed the heaviest salmon with a weight of 12lbs. This salmon was caught on a green-butt Cascade fly. Visiting angler John Blake also caught a fine fresh fish of 8lb. A number of anglers have also been successful with the prawn, including Bernard Harte who caught and released two fish. Prospects for the week ahead look very good as many fresh fish continue to enter the system.
Lough Arrow
Angling has slowed somewhat on Lough Arrow, with only a few fish reported for the week. Among those to have success was Peter Dunn who had three trout weighing 2.5lbs, 2lbs and 3lbs, while Jimmy Frazer had one of 2.5lbs. Green Peters proved again the successful fly, despite sedge hatches becoming rare.
Owenmore River
The Owenmore continued to fish well over the week, with water levels very suitable for angling. In total forty salmon were caught, including a nice fish of 10.5lbs taken by Rory Murray, Co.Dublin.
Newport River
Angling effort was very low on the river this week, among those to catch fish were David Nevin, Newport who had a 2lbs grilse and Graham Wright who caught a 1lbs sea trout.
Burrishoole Fishery
A total of five salmon were caught on the Fishery for the week, including catches for Martin Hughes, David Nevin, Eamonn Kennedy and Michael Healy, Derry.
Ballin Lough
A total of 66 trout were caught on the lough, by 25 anglers. Mattie Foley had 6 trout, with his best at 4lbs. Willie Scully, Tom Wright and Dave Jackson had a total of seven to their boat, with their best 3lbs while M. Quinn and friend had 8 trout in total, releasing four of these.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 1 August 2010
River Moy
Angling effort was down considerably once again on the River Moy in comparison to previous weeks, with very few anglers fishing over the Bank Holiday weekend. Despite this, the Moy reported 741 salmon, with the Moy Fishery accounting for 104. A total of 54 were caught at the Ridge Pool, where George Heuston, Donegal had two to the fly, his best 4.5lbs while Edward Kelly, Cavan, had one of 4lbs on the fly. Trevor Wylie, N.Ireland had success on both the Ridge Pool and Cathedral Beat, catching one of 6.6lbs with a spinner on the Ridge, beating this with a nice salmon of 8.6lbs from the Cathedral. Father and son Shane and Jan Jenkins, Wexford, both had success while fishing the Cathedral Beat, with Jan catching two, his best 4.5lbs and Shane catching and releasing one of 3lbs.
At the Ash Tree Pool, George Heuston again had good fortune, landing two with the fly while Seamus McEleney, Donegal, also had two. The Freshwater Beat also produced a few fish, where Bernard Mannion banked two with the spinner, his best 5lbs.
Upstream, Ballina Salmon Anglers water continued to fish well, and Mount Falcon had a very successful week, where the Miller/Perks party of four from the UK had great sport, catching a total of 69 salmon for the week, 26 of those on the fly, and releasing 39 of these. The Knockmore and Attymass waters continued to fish well, as did Coolcronan, where the Jenkins pair from Wexford again had success.
Byrne’s, Armstrong’s and Gannon’s also produced their share for the week, as did the Foxford Fishery, where Brian Fozard, UK, had three while Dermot Lavery, Monaghan had two. Rinanney again had a bumper week, while Foxford Salmon Anglers water and the Foxford town water enjoyed good fishing. At Cloongee, father and son Hans Jürgen and Oliver Vollbrecht, Germany, had two apiece, with Michael Conway also catching one. The East Mayo Anglers’ water also fished well, where Dermot Drain, N.Ireland caught two, James Bonner, UK, also had two while Achim Roos, Germany had one on the fly.
Lough Conn and Cullin
The Loughs fished well over the week, including some interesting results during recent ladies and juvenile angling competitions. Fishing out of Gortnorabbey, Ian Wise had one trout just under 2lbs taken on a dry fly, while Padraig Traynor had two trout totaling 3lbs. Fishing out of Kelly’s of Cloghans, Peter Rooney and daughter, had four trout over two days, their best 1.5lbs, while Gerry Fox, Sligo had two trout for 3lbs, while Lawson Clements, also Sligo had two trout for 4lbs. From Pontoon Bridge Hotel, regular visitors from Cavan, Neil Shevlin and Ian Daly enjoyed success catching five trout over two days on Conn and Cullin, all to dry flies, with their best weighing 1.5lbs.
Both a junior and ladies angling competition were held on Lough Conn recently, in conjunction with Crossmolina Annual Festival. In the junior competition, 45 competitors took part, fishing from 22 boats. A total of 32 fish were caught and weighed, ranging from perch to pike and trout. The winner of the competition was David Crean, Cloghans, with a pike of 8.5lbs, second place went to Luke Browne, Brackwansha with a pike of 7.4lbs while third was won by Lorcan Loftus, Crossmolina with a pike of 7.1lbs. In the ladies competition, Merel Taal (originally of Holland) took first with a pike of 6.6lbs, second went to Mary Mulligan, Crossmolina while third went to Caoimhe Loftus also of Crossmolina.
Ballisodare Fishery
The Ballisodare River continued to fish very well with 189 salmon caught for the week and 114 of these fish released. Dermot Glennon landed the heaviest salmon of the week weighing 10lbs, caught on a Willie Gun. Fly fishing was once again popular in Ballisodare with John Scanlon and Niall Corrigan both successfully landing salmon of 7lbs on the fly. Visiting anglers Clive O’Neill and John Fahey caught and released 2 salmon each while father and son, Denis and Gary Barrett enjoyed their day’s fishing at Ballisodare catching and releasing three salmon apiece.
Lough Arrow
The hatches of sedges on Lough appear to be fading, with trout now feeding on perch-fry, despite this some good angling was had on Arrow. Peter Dunn had four trout, between 2lbs and 3.5lbs. Dave Cadnam had a good week, catching six in total, his best weighing 4lbs. David Gray again had good sport, catching four up to 3.5lbs. Thomas Walsh had two trout for the week while the best trout caught was a fine 5lbs trout for Francie White.
Lough na Leibe
Fishing improved slightly last week, where large numbers of damsels and olives continued to hatch. Early morning and late in the evening had fish up feeding in the surface. The damsel nymph fished well in the shallows, with a number of large rainbow trout coming to the net. For trout feeding in the surface a size 14 Olive Shuttlecock Buzzer and a size 14 Olive Shipman’s Buzzer produced good results. A total of 22 trout were caught for the week with 17 trout being returned. The 6th leg of the Lough na Leibe fly fishing competition will be held on Sunday 22nd August at 12.30pm, where all members of the Ballymote and District Angling Club are welcome to take part.
Owenmore River
Frequent showers in the Bangor Erris area have kept the Owenmore topped up throughout the week, leaving it in great condition for migrating salmon, and in an almost ideal condition for fly fishing. Among those to catch salmon this week were David Solomon, U.K. who landed a fine fresh run 7lbs salmon, and pictured below, Markus Müller, Bangor, who landed a magnificent
11lbs fish.
Markus Müller, with his magnificent 11lbs
salmon from the Owenmore.
Newport River
Water conditions on the Newport River have been described as ‘ideal’ over the week, despite this, few anglers took to the water. However, those who did fish enjoyed good fishing, with Dr Noel Cahill catching two grilse of 3lbs and 3.5lbs. Kit Westropp had three sea trout weighing between 1lbs and 2.75lbs, while Barry Kenny had a good week, catching three grilse at 3lbs, 3.5lbs and 5.5lbs.
Burrishoole Fishery
Plenty of salmon were observed in Lough Furnace over the week, however only four were caught for the week. Dermott Seymour, Galway caught two at 4lbs and 4.5lbs, while Bill Bullick also had one of 4.5lbs.
Ballin Lough
Ballin Lough fished well over the week, with 36 anglers averaging two trout each on their excursions. A total of 72 trout were caught, with 37 of these released. Jimmy Gibbons caught and released six trout in total, the best of these weighing 4lbs. Mattie Fahy and friend, Roscommon had a total of nine trout, with their best 3.5lbs. Gordon Mc Nicolas and Timmy Deasy had eight trout, releasing six and their best was also 3.5lbs. Nymphs, Muddlers and Daddys again have proved the most successful flies.
Sea Angling – Belmullet Area
Michael John Nallen of the Belmullet Sea Angling Club has provided a round-up of sea angling in the Belmullet area over the past few weeks. A group of local juvenile anglers enjoyed a great day on Broad Haven Bay under the guidance of Pat Ruddy and Kevin Walsh, boating a total of seven species for the day. Recently the club hosted its second ladies outing of the summer again all anglers had a great day, with six species caught, including some very good sized pollack, and ling up to 12lbs.
The Belmullet Sea Angling Club also held its fourth men’s boat angling competition of the summer, aboard the Gearóidín in Broad Haven Bay. Winning the day was James Mangan with ten varieties, and second was Anthony Matterson with nine varieties. Species caught on the day were red, grey and tub gurnard, pollack, ling, wrasse, whiting, pouting, coalfish, dogfish, flounder and dab.
The 15th-22nd of August will see the Belmullet Sea Angling Club host its annual angling festival, with a full calendar of events throughout the week. On the 15th the shore angling competition will be held, while the 21st and 22nd will see the 39th Annual Sea Angling Festival, Two Day International Boat Competition take place. For entry or further information on the week’s events, contact M.J. Nallen on 097 82093 or Tony Lally on 097 81778.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 25 July 2010
River Moy
Angling effort and reported catches on the Moy have dropped somewhat over the past week, however with a reported catch of 1,139 salmon, the River Moy remains unrivaled as Ireland’s premier salmon fishery. The Moy Fishery itself accounted for 160 salmon, with the Ridge Pool producing over 100 of these. Emmet and Henry Stagg, Kildare had two salmon apiece on the Ridge while visiting Belgian angler Roland Capouillez had a total of five salmon on the fly. Lal Flaherty, Galway also had success on the fly catching three, with his best weighing 5.89lbs.
On the Cathedral Beat, Welsh pair Julian and Jeremy Collins had great success, catching seven salmon, with their best at 9.1lbs, caught by Julian on a spinner. Fellow Welshman Clifford Turner also enjoyed good sport catching four to the spinner, with his best 7.8lbs. The Point and the Freshwater Beat also produced their share, with Gerard Reidy, Limerick catching two on the Freshwater Beat.
The Ballina Salmon Anglers water continued to fish well and Mount Falcon Fishery also enjoyed a very productive week, where David Lambert and party of three from the UK caught a total of 15 salmon. The Knockmore and Attymass water yielded good numbers, as did Coolcronan where Ian Adamson, N.I. was among those to have success. The week proved very productive for Armstrong’s, at Gannon’s Paul Hamilton, N.I. was among those to land fish, catching three with the worm. The Foxford Fishery had a good week, while Bakers New Fishery produced a few fish. Rinanney fished well, while the Foxford town fisheries continued to produce good numbers of salmon. Cloongee proved very productive for Brian Corrigan, Co. Monaghan, who caught eight salmon over three days, with his best weighing 10lbs. Peter Taylor, England also had success, catching one salmon of 5lbs on the spinner. East Mayo Anglers’ water fished very well, where Fred Thompson, Dublin had two salmon, his best a fine fish of 12lbs, while John Geary had success on the fly, catching two of 6lbs and 9lbs.
Owenmore River
Water levels on the Owenmore have been very suitable for angling over the past week, with occasional showers adding fresh water each day. Twenty-five salmon were reported for the week, with weights averaging 4lbs. Among those to catch salmon was Dawid Lotz, Scotland who landed a great 10lbs fresh run salmon. Visiting journalist Bernd Taller, Germany also had great success, fishing the Owenmore for the first time and landing a salmon.
Dawid Lotz, Scotland, with a cracking 10 Bernd Taller, Germany, with two fine
pounder from the Owenmore River Owenmore Grilse
Carrowmore Lake
Angling effort on Carrowmore has slowed somewhat over the week, with a total of ten salmon reported, averaging 3.5lbs in size. Eamon Giblin caught and released one salmon, while Frank and Declan Dooley of Dublin had two, with both fish released. Sea trout continue to enter the lake, providing great sport under the right angling conditions.
Newport River
Some good angling has been reported on the Newport River, despite little angling effort. Eamon Kennedy had great success catching two fine fresh run salmon of 9lbs and 14lbs, while David McClune, Co.Down had one salmon of 9lbs. David Nevin, Newport, also had success catching two grilse of 3.5lbs and 5lbs.
Burrishoole Fishery
Salmon are showing often on Lough Furnace, with a total of nine salmon reported over the week, with an average size of 3lbs. Dermott Seymour, Co. Galway had two salmon while Kieran McGilligan, Co. Derry, had one. Ken Whelan enjoyed great success on the fishery, catching a total of five salmon.
Ballinlough
Angling on Ballin Lough has been productive, with nineteen anglers catching a total of 45 rainbow trout. Those fishing have been pleased with the size of their catch, with many taken exceeding the 2lbs mark. Peter Grey, Castlebar, had seven trout with his best weighing 3.5lbs. J McCarthy, Co. Galway had nine with his best 2.5lbs, while Larry McCarthy and friend had five, their best also weighing in at 3.5lbs.
Ballisodare Fishery
Angling in Ballisodare remained very productive this week. Two hundred and two fish were caught on the river and below the falls, with 121 of these being released back into the system. Among those with notable catches were Liam Gilsenan and Val Tyrrell, who both landed fine salmon weighing 8lbs. Fly fishing once again proved to be the most popular form of angling at Ballisodare and those to have success on the fly included Brian McDonagh, Tom O’Callaghan and Tom Kenny who each landed salmon of 7lb. German visitor Günter Hommer also enjoyed two days angling at Ballisodare where he caught and released 6 fish.
Lough Arrow
Angling in the late evenings has proved successful for some, fishing the Green Peter. David Gray reported seven trout over the week, up to 4lbs while Peter Dunn also had success boating three trout, with his heaviest 4.75lbs.
Sea Angling – Killala Bay
Skipper of the ‘Leah’, Donal Kennedy, has provided an insight into the status of sea angling on Killala Bay over the past few months. The extreme winter has pushed the appearance of many species back considerably, with angling slow to kick off in April. Despite this he has reported good catches of pollack, and ling up to 7lbs and numerous pouting and small coalfish. Mid May saw the arrival of shoals of spurdog into the bay, providing good sport for anglers. Tope also started to make their presence felt, presenting great challenges for those angling on lighter tackle. In June the variety of species greatly increased, with red, grey and tub gurnard being taken, along with whiting, pouting and wrasse. Some nice ray were also reported, with both thornbacks and blonde being caught. Plaice and turbot up to 3lbs have been caught as well as lesser spotted dogfish.
Pollack up to 10lbs have also been caught, with the occasional cod, the largest of these weighing in at 14lbs. A rare species in recent times in the Bay has been the John Dory, not encountered by Donal Kennedy in twenty years. However, angling with a party of local anglers, a 2lbs John Dory was boated on the 10th July.
On the weekend of the 24th /25th July a party of anglers from Drogheda enjoyed some great fishing with pollack up to 10lbs and ling up to 7lbs. They were joined on Sunday by three young anglers where conger eel was the quarry of choice. Young Luke Nugent of Co. Westmeath, caught and successfully boated the fish of a lifetime on his first sea angling trip. Luke captured and safely returned a great conger eel of 60lbs. Pollack, pouting, cuckoo wrasse and dogfish were also boated on the trip.
An impressive 60lbs conger eel caught A rare sight in Killala Bay, a 2lbs John Dory
recently onboard the Leah
A fine 14lbs cod taken onboard the Leah, in Killala Bay
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 18 July 2010
River Moy
Sporadic heavy rainfall over the week helped maintain the high water levels on the Moy, with many anglers enjoying very good sport, with salmon taken on the fly, spinner and worm. These exceptional conditions which have followed the long period of drought have allowed an exceptional number of grilse to run the system in a relatively short period of time. Throughout the system angling effort was heavy resulting in a reported catch in excess of 2000 salmon.
The Moy Fishery enjoyed another very successful week, with 275 salmon caught, with the Ridge Pool accounting for 210 of these. Steve Hazeldine, England had one off the Ridge and had success on the Cathedral Beat also, catching a further three. On the Ridge Pool, English anglers John Cartwright and John Faith had three apiece, the best of these weighing 7.8lbs.
Michelle Moss, Melbourne Australia, had success landing two on the Ridge Pool, while Adrian Geary caught his first ever salmon, shortly followed by another two. Welsh pair Jeremy and Jolian Collins had one each on the Cathedral while Jim Bell, Scotland caught two. The Freshwater Beat also produced its share, with Gino De Carlo, Italy, landing two with the spinner, his best 6lbs and Gian Luigi De Nardo, also Italy, banking three with the spinner.
All of the other fisheries of the Moy have reported staggering numbers, with a few recording catches in excess of two hundred salmon. At Coolcronan, Paddy Rice, Bob Bell and John James, all of the UK, had a total of nine salmon to the worm, while Jack Charlton had two of 5lbs and 6lbs. At Gannon’s, Andy Major, England, landed one of 6lbs while at the Foxford Fishery Gerard Greene, U.K. had a very successful week banking a total of 14 salmon (6 released) on both the spinner and worm. At Cloongee, Steve Hazeldine again had success with a 7lbs fish, Francis Higginbottom, N.I. had one fine fish of 10lbs as did Uwe Steffen, Germany, who also landed a further four. At the East Mayo Anglers water, John McDonagh, Galway caught two, while Roy Wilson, N.I. had two of 5lbs and 6lbs to the fly.
Adrian Geary (15) from Dublin pictured with his
impressive catch of 3 grilse caught whilst fishing
the famous Ridge Pool on 17th July 2010.
Ballisodare Fishery
Ballisodare Fishery continued to produce good numbers of salmon, with an impressive 237 salmon caught over the course of the week, 90 of these were released. Heavy rainfall over the week led to the reopening of the Ballisodare river, which is now fishing very well. Among those to have success on the river were visiting anglers Günter Hommer and friend, Germany. Miguel A. Diaz, Spain also enjoyed his time at the river landing a total of 5 salmon over the course of his 3 days fishing, the best of those weighing 7lb.
Ballisodare Fisheries annual juvenile fishing competition was held on the 14th July. A total of 86 children participated in the event, with 83 salmon being caught on the day. The majority of these fish were caught on the worm. There were 24 prize-winners including Jamie Moore who landed the overall heaviest fish and was the recipient of O’ Donovan’s perpetual trophy; his fish weighed 6.1lb. Other prize-winners included Kyle Carty who caught the heaviest fish on the worm, weighing 4.9lb; Joe Mc Hugh came 1st in the club angler section landing a salmon of 4.3lb; Darren Mc Neilis received 1st prize for his 3.97lb salmon that was caught on the prawn; Connor Brune caught the heaviest salmon on the fly, with a weight of 4.97lb; the smallest salmon was 1.1lb and was caught by Nicholas Laverty; Rachel Moore was placed 1st in the ladies section with her 5.5lb salmon and Jack Collins took 1st prize as a visiting angler with his 4.6lb salmon. The youngest angler on the day was 3 year old Annabelle Moore; she caught a very impressive 3.8lb salmon.
The McGoldrick family of Ballintogher, Paul, Claire, Jason and Laura, each with their
first ever salmon, caught at the Ballisodare Fisheries Juvenile angling day.
Paddy Bird with his fine 4.3lbs salmon at the Ballisodare Fishery Juvenile angling day.
Carrowmore Lake
Blustery winds on occasion have churned up the Lake somewhat making angling difficult. Despite this, nine salmon were caught for the week and numerous sea trout. Mark Corps, Enniskillen boated and returned a total of one salmon and five sea trout while Eamon Giblin and Marvin Corway caught five salmon, returning four. Frank and Declan Dooley, Dublin had two salmon, returning both while Pat Foley had one salmon of 7lbs which was also returned.
Owenmore River
The Owenmore River experienced its first good spate of the summer, with numerous grilse entering the system. Angling conditions were close to ideal as the spate began to recede and good angling was had. Trevor Greene, N.I had great success catching a 12lb 9oz on a size 10 Claret Bumble, with Frank Dooley also banking a fish on the river. Rory Murray caught two salmon while Mark Mason had three which were sportingly returned.
Newport River
The varying water levels assisted angling on the Newport River, where a total of 13 salmon were caught as well as numerous sea trout. Des Cloughlan of Newport enjoyed good angling catching five sea trout and one salmon of 6.5lbs, while Kevin Clayton had a good week catching three salmon of 4lbs, 5lbs and 6.5lbs.
Burrishoole Fishery
Angling at Burrishoole has improved again since last week, with 33 salmon and some sea trout being caught over its four day open period. UK angler Tim Aldiss caught seven salmon while Niall Berwick, Dublin had two. Michael Healy had success catching three and releasing two, with Stephen Bird, N.I. also catching two.
Lough na Leibe
The fifth leg of the Lough na Leibe fly fishing competition was held on Sunday 18th July and conditions were perfect with a slight southerly breeze on the water. The competition got under way at 12.30pm, with a number of anglers taking to the water. The first fish of the competition was taking by Tommy Lynch on a bead-head damsel nymph. Martin Lawrence, fishing his first fly fishing competition of 2010 on Lough na Leibe was next to catch a trout, this time the fish fell to a well positioned Green Peter. Martin was to catch another 2 trout on a Kingsmill and Green Peter and this was enough to win the 5th leg of the fly fishing competition. Tommy Lynch finished in 2nd place with 2 trout for the day bringing the total catch to 5 fish caught during the competition.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 11 July 2010
River Moy
The Moy Fishery fished extremely well throughout the week, with 467 salmon caught, the majority taken on fly, with most of these being released. Tuesday past, saw the Cathedral Beat host the annual Juvenile Angling Competition, where 44 juvenile anglers took part, with a total of 33 salmon caught between them. The Cathedral Beat continued to fish well for the remainder of the week, with two on fly for Colin Lynam, Dublin, including this year’s heaviest to date from the Cathedral Beat, a fine specimen of 13.5lbs. Pollnamonagh produced fish, with two caught by Geoff Belcher, England. The Spring Wells yielded salmon with Andrew Pearse, England catching one on fly, as did the Ash Tree pool. The Community Beat, the Black Banks and the Point also proved successful beats for some. The Weir Pool had a good week, with Jesus Ugatte, Spain, catching three, releasing two, while Joze Ocvirk and Borut Jerse, both of Slovenia, caught and released a total of 4 salmon. However, the Ridge Pool had a very successful week, with over 180 salmon caught, including three for Jack Charlton whose best was 6.7lbs. Rene Roche, France also with three to the fly as did Antonio Rabel Pastor, Spain. The Freshwater beat produced its share also, with four apiece for Stuart Sumnall and Andrew Green, both of England.
Colin Lynam, Dublin and his 13.5lbs salmon
with Cathedral Beat Ghillie, Declan Hughes
As part of the Ballina Salmon Festival, Ballina Salmon Anglers’ hosted an under 16 Festival Fishing Competition which was held on Saturday at the Canal side Park, with parents and children alike enjoying a fine morning. Forty-five children in total fished the competition which was won by Wynne Dempsey, with two salmon. Mathew McHale was second and Morgan O’Malley was third. Heavy rain on Saturday evening led to flood conditions on Sunday, causing an extremely large run of salmon through Ballina, coupled with a very heavy angling effort, as anglers from all over the country and beyond congregated on the Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water. Mostly fishing worm, large numbers of salmon were taken in these conditions.
Upstream at Mount Falcon angling improved, where Andrew Wisharp N.Ireland had three, with his best at 6.5lbs. The Knockmore water, Attymass, Byrne’s and Armstrong’s all continued to yield fish and at Gannon’s the trend continued, with Cecil Nixon, N. Ireland catching one of 5lbs on the worm. At the Foxford Fishery, Michael Raper and party of four had 43 salmon for the week, releasing twelve. Rinanney had a very successful week and the Foxford town fisheries also produced fish. At Cloongee, David Robinson, UK and Brian Corrigan, Monaghan, were among those to land salmon. East Mayo Anglers’ water fished reasonably well, including fly caught salmon for Billy McGhee, Ballyvary and Sean Garvey, Louth.
Ballisodare Fishery
Ballisodare continued to produce great fishing, with a total of 165 caught for the week, 74 of these safely released. A group of four visiting French tourists enjoyed a very successful trip to Ballisodare, catching a total of 32 salmon and releasing 14. R.Kelly, Co.Antrim caught a 7lbs salmon on the prawn while Paddy Byrne, Strokestown had a very nice fish of 9lbs on fly. Local Angler Seamus Brogan also had a fine fish on the fly, weighing in at 10lbs.
Burrishoole Fishery
The Burrishoole Fishery continued to improve from last week’s result, with 24 salmon caught for the four day open period. Dermott Seymour enjoyed success catching four salmon in total, while Pat Byrne, Cavan had three. Eamon Giblin, Clare, Tim Aldiss, England and Martin Hughes all did well, catching three salmon apiece, while Oliver Corcoran had one.
Ballin Lough
Angling on Ballin Lough improved somewhat from last week, with 26 anglers catching a total of 56 trout, (31 released). Pat Murphy and boat partner had 8 rainbow trout; releasing 6 with their best fish at 3lbs. Ten trout (8 released) were caught by Ruth and John Mattlea, Leitrim, with their best fish 2.5lbs. Cork anglers Ian Wilson and friend had 6 trout, with their best at 2.5lbs.
Loughs Billberry & Lannagh
The 16th annual McConville Cup was hosted on Billberry and Lannagh Loughs between Friday 9th and Sunday 11th July. This year saw a record entry of 142 anglers taking part in the competition which proved testing. Derek Madden was this year’s winner, with two trout for 3.38lbs, Alan Brown was second with two for 3.32lbs while Seamus Kelly took third with two for 2.82lbs. Tom Carroll of Islandeady won the prize for heaviest fish, Juliet Jerry won the best lady angler section while Shane Walsh won the best club member section.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 4 July 2010
River Moy
Recent rainfall led to a small rise in the Moy towards the end of the week where the grilse run appears to be well under way. The Moy Fishery provided fantastic fishing with a total of 215 salmon over the week. On the Ridge Pool, father and son Peter and Andrew Wilson, Dublin, had five salmon between them on the fly, while James Orde and Alfred Edwards, England, caught two each. The Weir Pool also fished well, where Garry Perks, England, had five salmon to the fly (all released), as did the Cathedral Beat, where John McConigley, Australia landed two, with his best weighing 6.5lbs. The Spring Wells continued to produce salmon and the occasional sea trout. At the Ash Tree Pool, German pair Hans Bender and Andre Babik had success catching three salmon with their best weighing 8lbs.
Andre Babik, Germany with his fine catch (fish released) from
the Ash Tree Pool and angling guide Paddy McDonnell
The Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water returned its share of salmon over the week, as did Mount Falcon, Knockmore and Coolcronan, where Alan Jones, UK, was among those to score. Armstrong’s produced good numbers of salmon as did Gannon’s, where Paul Confrey, Dublin, caught his first ever salmon. The Foxford Fishery also provided a first ever salmon for Colm Gordon, UK, and also accounted for numerous other captures. Rinanney fished very well throughout the week, including one of 10lbs for Horst Weigal, Germany. The Foxford town area also fished well, as did Cloongee and the East Mayo Anglers’ water, where Eddie Preston, N.I. had success. Despite the blustery winds, the Moy Estuary continues to fish well for sea trout.
Lough Conn and Cullin
Changeable and blustery winds over the week led to mixed conditions on Lough Conn. However some anglers took advantage of breaks in the weather and did venture out to fish.
Fishing out of Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Ken Oliver, Scotland, had success on dry flies, boating two trout for 5lbs while Colm Corbett, UK, had three to the Golden Olive. From Kelly’s boat hire, Cloghans, Patrick Kelly and Sean Creane had two trout each for an evening’s fishing, their best weighing 1.5lbs. However, early morning proved even more successful for Sean who boated a great 6lbs trout in Cloghans Bay to a dry Wulff. In Victoria Bay, Joe McBride, Dublin and Crossmolina, had success with the Grey Wulff catching a fine 3lbs Gillaroo trout.
Carrowmore Lake
Blustery weather over the past week has churned the lake significantly, decreasing water clarity and making angling difficult. As a result few anglers ventured out on Carrowmore, where only two salmon were caught. Rainfall over the weekend has added freshwater to the system which should encourage more grilse and sea trout to run.
Lough Arrow
Late evening fishing on Arrow has been successful for some, where Green Peters have been hatching in abundance on the Lough. Fishing the Green Peter, David Gray boated four trout, with the heaviest weighing 4lbs.
Ballisodare Fishery
The Ballisodare Fishery continued to fish exceptionally well for the week, with a total of 191 salmon being caught, 98 of these being released (average weight was 4.5lbs). Rainfall over the weekend led to a substantial rise in the river on Sunday past enticing more salmon into the system. Among those to catch fish were David Ollives who had two to the prawn, one of 11lbs and the second 7lbs. Graham Tuck, UK, had a fine fish of 11lbs to the fly, which also proved successful for Dermot Glennon, who captured one of 8lbs.
Burrishoole Fishery
The Burrishoole Fishery opened again on the 1st July, with Lough Furnace opening now from Thursday through to Sunday. Twelve salmon were caught since opening day, with five of these being wild grilse. Martin McCoy, Derry, had good success catching four salmon, David Nevin, Newport, catching two and Martin Hughes, Newport boating one. Eamon Kennedy, Newport, had two while Westport angler John Campbell had one. Seamus O’Neill, Cavan, and Professor Ken Whelan also had one salmon each.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 27 June 2010
River Moy
With the region and Ballina in full preparation for the upcoming Ballina Salmon Festival (2nd-11th July), a Fly Casting Day on the banks of the Moy will be the first of a number of special events organised by The North Western Regional Fisheries Board and will take place at the Point, Quay Road on Saturday the 3rd July, 11.00am-5.30pm. The Casting Day will feature the Irish Open Spey Casting Competition, casting and fly tying demonstrations, free casting tuition, various casting competitions as well as a toddlers’ fishing pool and a bouncy castle. The Board will hold a Juvenile Salmon Angling Day on the Cathedral Beat of the Moy Fishery on Tuesday the 6th July. This day is free and will commence at 8am, however spaces are limited and booking is essential. Please contact the Moy Fishery Office at info@moyfishery.com or call 096 21332 to book a place. An “Evening with Fisheries Experts”, will feature presentations on aspects of fisheries management and angling, which will take place on Friday the 9th July at the Kennedy Glasgow House, Quay Road, Ballina. This event will commence at 7.30pm and again, entry is free. For full details on the Board’s Festival events please see www.northwestfisheries.ie
Angling on the lower Moy continued to improve greatly, with the Community Beat, the Black Banks and the Point all producing salmon. Good numbers of sea trout were taken on the Estuary, along the Ice House and the Black Banks. Sea trout are now being observed in the lower beats, especially at the Spring Wells, which is now also producing salmon, with ten being taken for the week. Among those to have success at the Spring Wells were Harry Hutcheson, Scotland, who landed a salmon of 8lbs and Wayne Lawrenson, Dublin, who had two for the week, with one weighing an impressive 11.3lbs.
The Cathedral Beat and the Ridge Pool are now fishing very well, with the Cathedral Beat yielding twenty-nine and the Ridge Pool, an impressive sixty! On the Cathedral Beat, among those to catch was local lad Andrew Langdon, who, while fishing as part of a “Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ireland” event, caught and landed his first ever salmon. Young Leah Calnan also taking part in the event, caught her first ever salmon during the evening session. Anyone interested in volunteering their time over the summer to teach teens the skills of angling should contact the BBBS Project Officer, Louise Tuffy on 096 22012.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ireland project members Lee Jackson
and Andrew Langdon, pictured with Andrew's first ever salmon
caught during a recent event on the Cathedral Beat.
Roy Taylor, England, enjoyed his time on the Cathedral beat, landing four to the fly. On the Ridge Pool, Angus McArthur, Scotland, had two as did William Wells, England. However Sean Maye, Sligo, once again had great success on the Ridge, catching a total of four, with his best fish at 9lbs.
Despite the low water conditions, Ballina Salmon Anglers’ Water returned good numbers of fish, with the Mount Falcon, Knockmore and Armstrong Fisheries also providing good angling. Gannon’s also fished well, with Eric Fabre, France catching seven salmon for his week, as did the Foxford Fishery, where another French angler, Fredric Menade had a total of five for his week, the best weighing 8lbs. At Rinanney, great numbers were reported, including one of 9lbs. for Jürgen Babel, Germany. Further upstream, Cloongee fished well with over fourteen reported, as did the East Mayo Anglers’ water, where over thirty were recorded.
Lough Conn
Angling on Lough Conn remained unpredictable, yet productive for some, with trout still being taken on Mayflies, dry Bumbles and various other dry fly patterns. Out of Kelly’s Boat Hire, Cloghans, Jack Gillespie, Belfast, and Padraig Kelly had two trout each on dry Mayflies, totaling 5lbs. Bill Coughlan and boat partner also had two each on dry Bumbles for a total of 6lbs. In north Conn at the Black Rocks, Peter Byrne also had success with Mayflies, boating three trout with his best at 3.5lbs, while at Bog Bay, John Warren, Crossmolina had one 1lbs trout.
Castlebar Angling Club recently held its Juvenile Angling Competition, with twelve competitors taking part. First place went to Christopher Finnerty, Knockmore with a trout of 1.75lbs and in second place was Kevin Gallagher, Knockmore, with a trout of 1.25lbs.
Carrowmore Lake
Carrowmore is now yielding some fresh run grilse despite the low water conditions, as well as an average of thirty sea trout per day. Among those who had success was Pat Foley, who caught and returned two salmon. Other successful anglers included Tom Gallagher, Derry, John Long, Dublin, and Eamon Giblin, Clare.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 20 June 2010
River Moy
Another week has passed without any significant rain and the Moy system is now at an extremely low level. Some grilse have entered the system despite the low water and anglers on the Moy Fishery continue to catch these fresh-run fish. The Black Banks and the Point produced a few fish over the week, with the Cathedral Beat yielding twenty-seven, including fish for visiting anglers Felix Grestmair, Germany, Rolf Gloor, Switzerland and Robert Smith, England. On the Ridge Pool, a total of 34 were caught, including four for Dublin angler, Paul Wymes and two for Carlos Ramos Arenas of Spain, whose best fish was just over 12lbs. The Weir Pool accounted for five salmon for the week.
Upstream of Ballina, the Ballina Salmon Anglers water produced fish, as did Knockmore, Coolcronan and Armstrong’s. At Gannon’s and the Foxford Fishery, good numbers of salmon were caught, where Barry Turnard, England caught one of 8lbs on the fly, and Jack Mc Donald also having success catching three salmon on the worm.
Rinanney continued to fish well over the past week including one at 9.5lbs on the spinner for a visiting German angler. Both Cloongee and the East Mayo Anglers’ water provided good sport for anglers, with good numbers of salmon reported.
Sea trout angling on the Moy Estuary remained steady, despite blustery northerly winds. Some good catches of sea trout have been reported, with most being caught on sand eel or mackerel strips.
Lough Conn and Cullin
Fishing was slow but steady over the past week on the Loughs, with Dry Mays and Spent Gnats still tempting fish to the surface, despite the reduction in fly hatch. In north Conn, Joe Moffatt and John Warren had two trout on dry flies in Victoria Bay, with their best fish weighing 2lbs. Angling out of Murphy’s boat hire, Massbrook, Chris Dick, James Nixon and Mike Griffiths, U.K. had nine trout over three days, with their best weighing 2lbs and all being taken on dries, while Ian Bertie, Scotland had ten trout over five days on dries with his best 2.5lbs. Fishing out of Pontoon Bridge Hotel, John Beatie and Martin McLoughlin, Scotland had five trout over two days, again all to dry flies.
On Lough Cullin, Graham Williams, Pontoon, and Jack Lynch, Donegal had four trout to dries with their best 1.5lbs.
Carrowmore Lake
The bright weather of the past week has discouraged many anglers from venturing out on Carrowmore Lake and combined with the extremely low water levels, it appears that few fresh grilse have entered the system. Good numbers of sea trout have moved in however, with some nice catches of 2lbs and 3lbs being reported by anglers, including one of 3lbs for a Mr Harper of England. A total of five salmon were recorded for the week, with Gerry Deane, Castlebar, and John Mc Bride, Bangor Erris being two of the lucky anglers to boat salmon.
Ballisodare Fishery
Angling remained steady at Ballisodare however with low levels in the river, most salmon are moving in and out with the tides and are readily being taken with the prawn and worm. There has been some notable catches on the fly also, with Eddie Harte landing a fine fish of 12.5lbs. A. Murray caught one of 9lbs on the fly and a 7lbs fish fell to Trevor Goulding. An 8lbs salmon was taken by visiting angler Fr. Mc Keown on the worm.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 13 June 2010
River Moy
Moy Fishery continued to produce good numbers of salmon throughout the week, with the Black Banks, The Point and Spring Wells all yielding salmon. At the Spring Wells Eoin Little, Tipperary, enjoyed his first success at salmon fishing, catching two at 4lbs and 6lbs. The Cathedral Beat had fifteen for the week, including one for Paul Ainley, England and three on the fly for Gareth Ruigrok, Dublin, whose best weighed in at 9.5lbs. The Weir Pool produced three, with one for Colin Lynam, Dublin. However, the Ridge Pool fished very well, yielding thirty-three. M.J. Child, UK had one off the Ridge Pool, as did Robert Sztorc, USA, who landed a good fish of 8.4lbs. Brendan Garland, N.Ireland, had the best success of the week on the Ridge, catching and returning four salmon.
Further upstream, Armstrong’s and Gannon’s both reported good numbers of salmon, including one of 9lbs for Christophe Leven Berger, Switzerland to the prawn. The Foxford Fishery also had a successful week including another first ever salmon for Wexford angler Philip Stafford who caught one at 5lbs while spinning. At Rinanney, the angling was very good, with some larger salmon being caught. Francis Fulton, England, landed one at 8lbs while Raymond Dreano, France had one at 11lbs and Dr John Ferguson, Scotland caught a fine fish of 12lbs.
Cloongee continued producing fish, with over twenty again reported for the week, including two salmon of 5lbs and 9lbs for Gary McNamara, Offaly, one salmon for Raymond Saliou, France at 8lbs and three for fellow French angler Lionel Jaffrain taken on the fly. East Mayo Anglers’ water also enjoyed a good week, with John C. Coulan, France and Mick Child, England among those enjoying success.
Sea trout angling on the Moy Estuary remains steady, however cold and blustery northerly winds have impacted somewhat on the angling effort.
Lough Conn
An Garda Síochána held its annual fishing competition on Lough Conn recently, and fifty-two anglers participated in this event. A total of 26 trout were caught and the honors went to Mick Bradley, Galway who took first place with three trout for 4.2lbs. In second was Seamus Kelly, Galway, with two trout for 2.84lbs and in third was Michael Benson, Mayo who had one trout of 2.75lbs (Michael also won the heaviest fish prize).
Eoin Little, Tipperary, with his first ever salmon,
angling guide Paddy McDonnell and Declan Little
Paul Ainley, England and Ghillie Declan Hughes
Carrowmore Lake
The bright sunshine and changeable winds, from blustery northerly’s to flat calm conditions, experienced on Carrowmore over the past week have impacted on the angling effort somewhat. Few boats ventured out over the last week and as a result only eight salmon were reported, four of which were released with the best weighing in at 8lbs. Good numbers of sea trout continue to run into the system, despite the low water conditions.
Ballin Lough
Angling remained steady on Ballin Lough, with a total of fifty-three trout being caught by twenty-one anglers over the week. P. Munroe and friends, Castlebar had a total of seven for their day, with their best rainbow trout at 3.5lbs. Martin O’Rourke and friend, Kildare, had a total of eleven, as did Mattie Foley and friend, Roscommon. Flies producing fish over the past week were the Whiskey Fly, Pearl Dabbler and other Dabbler patterns.
Ballisodare Fishery
The Ballisodare system has experienced very low water conditions, however with high tides over the weekend, fish continued to move into the fishery. Fishing remained very productive with an average of 14 salmon being caught per day. Among those with notable catches were P.Cullin who had a 10lbs salmon to the fly early in the week. Local angler John Benson caught one at 8lbs on the fly while Graham Sage had one of 6lbs. James Cuffe and Michael Smith also had success on the fly as did Dennis Crawley, who landed a fine fish of 9lbs on Sunday.
Coarse Angling
Good coarse angling has been reported from a few venues recently, and in particular, Fin Lough, Co. Sligo. As part of the Fisheries Awareness Week members of the Youth Action Project (Y.A.P.) Sligo were treated to tuition in coarse angling by members of Ballymote and District Angling Club. For some of the participants who had never fished before, a great day was had and within minutes of taking their pegs, the tench began to take with floats bobbing with almost every cast. Local angler Robbie Cording also had a great day’s fishing on Fin Lough, on one morning session he had a total bag of 25lbs 6oz of tench with a few rudd also included. For details on angling coarse angling in the Ballymote area please contact Ballymote and District Angling Club at ballymoteangling@gmail.com or see ballymoteangling.com.
Good pike angling has also been reported from Levally Lake, where angling guide Kenny Sloan had eight pike on his first day out and six the next all taken while trolling in 3ft to 6ft of water. Boat hire for fishing Levally is available from K.Sloan who can be contacted at ksloan@eircom.net or on 0879670310.
Robbie Cording and his recent bag of tench
which totaled 25lbs from Fin Lough.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 6 June 2010
River Moy
With water levels at present very low on the River Moy, rain would be welcome to entice more fish to move into the system. However, despite the levels, angling on the Moy has generally been good over the past week. The Moy Fishery fished well for the week, with thirty-two salmon caught, including five on The Point and thirteen off the Cathedral Beat, including one for Bodo Sander, Germany, and John Harmon, Drogheda. The Weir Pool produced just one while the Ridge Pool yielded fifteen for the week. Among those to have success on the Weir Pool were Ewan Grierson, Scotland, with a salmon of 10.4lbs and fellow Scot Alan Dillon, who had five salmon, the best weighing 7.3lbs.
Upstream on the Moy, the Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water fished well with the Knockmore and Attymass waters also producing fish. Armstrong’s also yielded some fish over the week and Gannon’s also fished very well. The Foxford Fishery had a good week, including one salmon of 10lbs for local angler Donal McCurtain. At Rinanney, anglers had a good week with large numbers of salmon reported. Visiting German anglers Frank Geib and Gunther Geib had three salmon ranging between 10 and 12 lbs.
The Foxford town beats all produced fish and at Cloongee fifteen salmon were caught including three for French angler Jean Michel Gieslin on the bubble and fly, one salmon of 7lbs for Eric Weisser on the spinner and four salmon for two days for Damien Quigley, Co.Laois, ranging from 4lbs to 10.25lbs. East Mayo Anglers’ water also continued to fish very well where Noel McManamon, Kildare, had three to the fly, Roger Janneua, France, caught two as did Marc Throme, Belgium.
With mid-summer now approaching fast, the sea trout angling on the Moy Estuary has improved greatly, with mackerel strips and sand-eel remaining the most successful methods.
Lough Conn and Cullin
Changing wind direction, some northerly winds and sporadic hatches on the loughs have made angling somewhat difficult. However, some anglers did enjoy some good fishing. Angling from Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Geoffrey Cook, UK, had twenty-one trout over five days all taken on the Grey Wolf while Peter Shaller and Bernard Aurhammer, Germany had three each also on the Grey Wolf, with their best fish weighing 2lbs. Derek Evans, Dublin, had two trout as did Derek Davis also of Dublin. Fishing Lough Cullin, James Mc Walter had 12 trout taken on the Octopus and Extractor. A few trout have been reported from the Brackwansha shore and also off Poteen Island. Fishing out of Kelly’s boat hire, Cloghans, Bill O’Connell, Arklow had ten trout over three days, Joe Mulligan, N.Ireland, had four trout to the Bibio while Jack Gillespie, Armagh, had three trout totaling 5lbs. At Gortnorabbey, Padraig Traynor had three for one evening all on the Golden Olive Muddler while Ivan Scott and Ian Daly, Donegal, had two taken on dry flies. Fishing out of Gerry Murphy’s, Massbrook, Dominick Colcannon, Derry, had six for one day’s angling while Mike Reed, UK, had two. Paul Heaney, Galway had four trout totaling 5lbs while Mr. Muller, Germany, on his thirty-seventh visit to the region had twelve trout over his stay.
The Lough Conn and Cullin Anglers’ Association held their annual fly fishing competition over the Whit weekend, where a total of 108 anglers took part, catching forty-six trout over two days. Most fish caught were taken on dry flies, mainly Mayfly patterns. In first place was Andy Duncan, Mullingar, catching four trout totaling 2.3kgs, in second was Aidan Heffernan, Dublin, with two trout for 2.1kgs and in third was Basil Shields, Galway, with two trout for 1.6kgs.
Carrowmore Lake
Carrowmore continues to fish very well with twenty-seven salmon caught over the week as well as numerous sea trout. Of the salmon caught, the average weight was approximately 7.5lbs. Pat Foley, Cavan, enjoyed his trip to Carrowmore catching two salmon as did Mervin Corway, Bangor Erris. Michael Noone, also of Bangor Erris had one salmon while Declan Dooley and Rory Murray of Dublin had a total of nine salmon to their boat.
Ballin Lough
The Lough continues to fish well with twenty-two anglers catching a total of 63 rainbow trout. Robbie Pitman and boat partner, Galway, had nineteen trout releasing eighteen, with their best fish at 4lbs. Cameron Brant and friends (four rods), USA, also had success catching a total of twelve trout with their best at 2.5lbs. The best flies over the week on Ballin Lough were the Clan Chief, Green Peters, Muddlers, Damsels and Nymphs.
Lough Arrow
The hatches of mayfly on Lough Arrow have now begun to decline. However, the occasional hatch is still bringing some trout to the surface. The Murrough fishing has now begun, with Noel Clinton catching two fine trout of 5lbs and 5.5lbs in the late evening on the Murrough, Peter Lynch also had some success on L.Arrow, catching two trout both over 4lbs.
Ballisodare Fishery
Water conditions on the Ballisodare system are now very low, however, the fishery is still reporting very good catches with some days producing up to twenty salmon. George Thornsby had a fine fish of 10lbs on the prawn, while fly angler Michael Burke had one of 7lbs. Other anglers to have success on the fly include Stephen Moore with a salmon of 10lbs and John Connolly with a great fish of 14lbs. Roy and Sue Simpson both had success with the worm, with both angler’s catching two salmon each.
Bilberry and Lough Lannagh
Bilberry/Lannagh Angling Club will be hosting its 16th annual McConville Cup angling competition on the 9-11 July. The three day event includes two qualification days following which half the anglers will make it through to the final competition day. First prize for the event is the prestigious McConville Cup and a 19ft Angler’s Fancy boat. Second and third places will receive outboard engines. The entry fee is €100 and each entrant will also receive a free Airflo fly line. For further details or to enter contact Matt Fahey on 087 2982717 or email him at bilberrylannagh@gmail.com.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 30 May 2010
River Moy
The River Moy fished well throughout the week, with the Moy Fishery yielding nine salmon, four being taken on the Ridge Pool including two for visiting French angler Gerard Groult, who had one of 5.2lbs and one of 8.9lbs and one each for Claude Lemeslie and Jean Cardon also from France. The Cathedral Beat produced two, including a first ever salmon for twelve year old Fergus McDermott-Quinn of 6lbs10oz, who was taking part in the Juvenile Angling Day on the Moy run as part of National Fisheries Awareness week. Congratulations to Fergus on his achievement.
Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water fished well and upstream Byrne’s Fishery and Armstrong’s also yielded good numbers. At Gannon’s fishery an increased angling effort paid off, with thirty salmon being caught for the week, where Yann Bouanchaud and party of seven anglers from France had twenty salmon for the week. Rinanney also fished very well, with over twenty salmon being caught including a nice fish of 12lbs for Horst Weber, Germany, and two salmon of 12lbs and 13lbs for Claude Ranec, France, taken on the prawn.
The Cloongee fishery also fished well for the week, with over 22 salmon reported including two of 8lbs and 10lbs for Andre Rolland, France, two for Fabrice Perinet, France and one of 6lbs for Francis Higginbotham, N.Ireland taken on the bubble and fly.
The East Mayo Anglers’ water fished well over the week, with visiting anglers again enjoying success on the fly, with Reto Coutalides, Switzerland, landing two, Mark Toquard, France also landing two, including one of 10lbs and Claude Grosjean, Belgium catching one of 6lbs.
Fergus McDermott-Quinn, with his first ever salmon of 6lbs 10oz
caught on the Cathedral beat during Fisheries Awareness Weeks’
Juvenile Angling Day
Carrowmore Lake
Excellent angling was had on Carrowmore, with a total of twenty-seven salmon being caught over the week, eleven of which were returned and averaged between 6lbs and 8lbs. Martin Mc Donnell, Glenamoy, had a fine salmon of 10lbs while Tony Coakley, Cork, had two fish. Declan Dooley, Dublin, had a good week, boating seven salmon and returning five. Rory Murray, Dublin, had four salmon, returning one while Kevin O’Sullivan and party, Waterville, had three salmon and also a fine sea trout of 4lbs which was sportingly released.
Ballin Lough
Fishing on Ballin Lough was productive over the past week, with a total of 35 anglers catching a total of one hundred and forty rainbow trout of which 116 were returned. Matt Foley and friend, Roscommon, had seventeen trout, releasing 13 with their best fish at 2.5lbs. Dublin Anglers Tony and Eugene McGrattan boated a total of 18 trout, returning fourteen of these, with their best fish 4.9lbs. Willie Scully and friend, also of Dublin had twenty-three to the boat, releasing 19 with their best at 3lbs. On Thursday, 27th taking part in a Fisheries Awareness Week event on Ballin Lough, Juvenile angler Ethan Barrett, Castlebar, caught his first ever trout to the fly following expert tuition from John Fahy and staff of the NWRFB who were providing free demonstrations of fly tying and casting on the shores of Ballin Lough.
Lough Arrow
Lough Arrow continued to fish well, with large hatches of Mayfly and falls of Gnat being reported in the afternoons. Visiting anglers Wim Schoors and Dirk Zonnekein, Belgium, enjoyed good angling catching trout of 1.5lbs, 3lbs and 4.25lbs with their fish falling to green dry flies and spent Gnats. Sean Dunne also had success on the spent Gnat with a fish of 2lbs while Michael Gunning had a trout of 2lbs to the Murrough. Shane Kelly, Clare, enjoyed a good week on Lough Arrow with nine trout coming to the boat, with his best 3.5lbs while Brian Kelly, Boyle had a great days fishing on the 30th, boating seven. The catch of the week, however, and quite possibly the season thus far on Lough Arrow was taken by Philip Murray, Co. Louth, who took a wonderful trout of 8lbs 3oz on the spent.
Philip Murray and a magnificent wild brown
taken on Lough Arrow on the spent Gnat.
Ballisodare Fishery
Fishing remained steady on the Ballisodare fishery where over fifty salmon were caught for the week. Early in the week catches averaged 5-7lbs, however, by mid week, some larger salmon were caught including a 12lbs fish by Paul Brady, Galway, taken on the worm and a fine 10lbs fish taken on the fly by Anthony O’Sullivan also of Galway. Susan Simpson landed a nice 10lbs salmon fishing the worm while Oliver Dillon had one at 7lbs to the fly. Sunday 30th saw the appearance of some larger salmon, with a 14lbs fish falling to Richard Ryan and Neville Aston, N.Ireland, landing one of 12.5lbs on the fly. Local angler Anthony McCann had a double success catching one of 12lbs on the fly and a second of 9lbs on the prawn.
Sea Angling
As part of the National Fisheries Awareness Week, Belmullet Sea Angling Club in conjunction with the NWRFB and Broadhaven Bay Hotel held an introduction to Sea Angling on Broad Haven Bay on Sunday the 30th. Three chartered boat trips were organized and departed from Ballyglass Pier and a total of 19 juveniles and 15 adults took part. The juveniles were treated to fishing tuition onboard, and throughout the day, all participating caught a range of fish. Species boated included mackerel, coalfish, pouting, pollock, ling and one conger eel. A great day was had by all participants and once ashore, the juveniles were presented with a trophy for their efforts by the Belmullet Sea Angling Club.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 23 May 2010
River Moy
The continuous dry spell experienced over the past week has not seriously impacted upon angling on the River Moy, where the Moy Fishery continued to produce good numbers of salmon. The Point returned four salmon for the week while the Cathedral Beat had nine. The Ridge Pool yielded six to fly anglers including one for Gerard Coyle and a fine fish of 11.63lbs for Robert Logue, N.Ireland. The low water conditions appear to be helping efforts on the Weir Pool, where eight were caught over the week, with John McKinley, Athlone, catching a total of three salmon and visiting angler Kluas Wolf-Friebertshauser, Germany, had one of 8.34lbs. Armstrong’s and Gannon’s Fisheries continued to fish well with notable catches for James Francis, Athlone, who had an 8lb salmon on the worm and Alex Schmidt, Germany, also having success on the worm. At Gannon’s Gerrard Bonnett, France had an 11lbs fish on the prawn. The Foxford fishery also fished well over the week as did Rinanney. At the Cloongee Fishery Thierry Colm, France, had a very successful week catching one salmon of 11.5lbs with a bubble and fly and one great fish of 13.5lbs on a spinner. Fellow French angler Patrice Boisadan also had success at Cloongee as did Thomas Steinger, Austria. East Mayo Anglers’ water proved successful for Belgian pair Sergo Pedezani and Claude Grosjean, who both caught two salmon each.
Lough Conn and Cullin
Some good catches have been reported from these loughs over the past week, however with very bright conditions and low water levels, angling has been difficult. There have however been good hatches of mayfly, with many trout being taken on dry mayflies.
Fishing out of Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Martin Heath, Cork, had two trout for 2.5 lbs to Mayflies while Stuart Lyons, Scotland, had two for 2 lbs. Fishing from Murphy Boat Hire, Massbrook, Denis Gallagher, Donegal, also had success on the mayfly catching two trout for 3 lbs, while Seamus Corrigan, Mullingar, had four trout totaling 4lbs over two evenings to wet Mayflies. Anglers fishing out of Clonamoyne Fishery, Enniscoe, Crossmolina also had some success. Gary Crossley had two trout for 2 lbs to Sooty Olives while the Flynn family, Meath, had two trout for 1.5lbs and 1.75lbs taken at Woodford on black Pennels. Angling in the Cloghans area out of Kelly’s Boat Hire, Martin Connor, Meath, had six trout with his best 2lbs while and John Mc Donnell, Kildare, had four trout taken on Olives. Bert Carlyle and party of six from N.Ireland boated twelve keepers, sportingly releasing all.
Angling on Lough Cullin, Stephen Neylon and Gavin Manix had success fishing the Grey Wulff, boating a total of ten trout with the heaviest two fish weighing in at 2lbs each. These anglers reported good hatches of Mayfly off the Dance Hall shore.
Foxford Angling Club hosted the Foxford Lodge Cup competition on Sunday the 23rd. Twenty-seven anglers took part and first place went to Padraig Traynor, Crossmolina with one fine trout of 4.01lbs, Billy McGee, Foxford took second place with a trout of 3.56lbs, third was Stephen Brown, Cloghans with three trout totaling 3.46lbs and in fourth place was John O’Carroll, Pontoon, with a trout of 1.01lbs.
Carrowmore Lake
Despite the bright conditions, angling remained good on Carrowmore, and with some rainfall last week, a slight rise in the system encouraged some fresh fish to run. A total of twenty-one salmon were caught on the Lake, with Tosh Kellet, Meath catching two as did Vincent Rigney, Westport. Gerry Deane, Castlebar also had success on the lake catching two salmon averaging 5.5lbs.
Ballin Lough
Ballinlough, as always continued to produce good bags of fish for those who ventured out, with a total of twenty-six anglers catching sixty-six rainbow trout. Brendan Ryan, Castlebar and boat partner had a total of twelve trout, while UK anglers John Hown and partner had ten trout. Les Ever, UK and friend also had success catching a total of five trout. The best fish of the week weighed in at 3lbs and successful flies included Buzzers and Muddlers.
Lough Arrow
Lough Arrow continued to experience great hatches of Mayfly, and falls of spent-Gnat. However the bright conditions made angling difficult. Despite the tough conditions, many anglers enjoyed successful fishing, especially in the late evening. Buzzer fishing also proved successful for some, with David Gray catching and releasing seven trout to the buzzer, ranging from 2lbs to 4.25lbs. Nick Lovegrove, Switzerland, had two trout of 2.5lbs and 3lbs on the Mayfly while Shane Kelly, Clare, also had two trout. Brian Kelly, Boyle also had a nice fish of 2.5lbs while Ken Murray had an excellent catch of 5.25lbs taken on the spent-Gnat.
Ballisodare Fishery
Despite very low water levels at the Ballisodare fishery, angling remained productive over the past week where over forty salmon were caught. Fishing the fly proved successful for James Cuff who landed a fine fish at 14lbs on a Willie Gunn while N.B. O’Sullivan also had a fish of 10lbs on the fly. Visiting angler Tom Grylls, UK, had two fish over the week, one of 8lbs and a second of 9lbs both taken on the worm. The prawn also proved successful for some with Anthony McCann and J.Wilson both banking salmon. Taking part in the Fisheries Awareness Week Open Day at the Fishery, juvenile angler Conall O’Dwyer was delighted to catch his first ever salmon.
Conall O'Dwyer and his first ever salmon,
caught during Fisheries Awareness Week at the
Ballisodare Fishery Open Day with Mr Dermot Glennon.
Lough na Leibe
The 3rd leg of the Lough na Leibe rainbow trout fly fishing competition was held on Sunday 23rd May. Flies that proved successful during the competition were Olive dry flies, sizes 12 & 14, Olive wet size 12, green & black lures, F- fly in brown & olive size 14. The successful anglers on the day were Tommy Lynch with seven fish, John Presley six fish, Francis Brady two fish, Bernard Mc Dermott with two and Alan Spencer with one.
Sea Angling
The Sea Angling Liaison Committee (S.A.L.C) held the Home International Boat Competition on the 21st and 22nd of May on Broadhaven Bay. The event was hosted by the Belmullet Sea Angling Club in conjunction with the Broadhaven Bay Hotel, a great honour for the club as Connaught only plays host to the competition every sixteen years! The Irish team comprised of Captain Shane Gilvarry, Josie Barrett representing Connaught, Liam Longmoore, Ulster, Liam O’Callaghan, Leinster and Henry Ross, Munster. A total of fifteen fish species were caught with 843 fish being caught on the Friday and 689 on the Saturday, an astounding number considering only fifteen anglers took part! The Irish team excelled in their home waters winning first place, England taking second with Wales third.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 16 May 2010
River Moy
Water levels on the Moy have now dropped to normal summer levels, however good numbers of spring salmon continue to enter the system. The Moy Fishery continued to produce good numbers of fish, with The Point producing its first salmon of the year, The Cathedral Beat yielding six and the Weir Pool five including one caught by fly angler Gareth Ruigrok, Dublin. The Ridge Pool produced eight salmon with Michael Dench, England, landing two and Sean Maye, Sligo, catching a fine fish of 11.76lbs on the fly.
Upstream, Armstrong’s and Gannon’s Fisheries have yielded good catch numbers with visiting anglers Jean Polis, Belgium, capturing a 7lbs salmon on the spinner and Jan Bouanchaud, France, landing one at 10lbs. The Foxford Fishery also had a successful week, with Michael Rapier, England, and party catching a total of nine salmon for three days with their best fish weighing in at 12.5lbs. Rinanney continued to fish very well as did Cloongee where Paul Wymes, Dublin had two fish and Dr John Hanagan, Newport, also having success. Fly anglers fishing the East Mayo Anglers’ water continued to enjoy good catches, with Brian McClashan, Scotland, landing a 9lbs salmon and Mallet Perrie, France, catching one at 6lbs. Fishing the worm, Marcel Jacquim, Belgium, had a salmon of 7lbs.
Lough Conn and Cullin
Lough Conn hosted the International Fly Fishing Association Spring International on Friday 14th May. This catch and release competition had a 30cm minimum size limit and Mayflies again proved the most successful flies for competitors. It was the Scottish team who won the event, with twenty trout for a total length of 698.2cm. Ireland took second place with 18 trout for 615.5cm, Wales came third with 17 trout for 570.6cm and England was fourth with 13 trout for 439.2cm. Individually, Michael Roberts representing Wales, had the best catch total of five fish for 163cm while Robert King, Ireland, had the largest trout at 49cm. The best boat man award went to Adrian Murphy, Cloghans with six fish for a total of 185.9cm while the best boatman for Officials was Kevin O’Boyle, Cloghans with four fish for 160.3cm.
Elsewhere on the Loughs angling remained steady, with anglers having success in all areas, where Mayflies and Golden Olives accounted for the majority of catches. Notable catches for the week included Tim Olsen, Connecticut, U.S.A. Tim had 1 trout of 1lbs and 1 Salmon of 6lbs taken on the Mayfly on Lough Cullin. Stephen Neylon and boat partner Michael Lennon also had success on Lough Conn, while fishing the Inishlee shore, boating four trout, with Stephen hooking and catching a fine fresh salmon of 9lbs on a Golden Olive Bumble.
Carrowmore Lake
Carrowmore continued to produce good numbers of salmon, and with June approaching anglers await with anticipation the main sea trout run. Over thirty salmon were caught on the lake for the week, with a party of anglers from Navan, catching six salmon averaging 7lbs and Mary Harkin, Dublin, catching two at 6lbs and 7lbs. Carrowmore Lake was also visited by His Excellency, Ambassador Robert Devriese of Belgium during the week and his trip to the West was well rewarded with the Ambassador catching a fine 8lbs springer.
Ballin Lough
The rainbow trout angling on Ballin Lough remained exciting, with a total of sixteen anglers catching forty-four fish for the week. Fishing partners Mr. McMillan and Mr. Tomlinson caught fourteen trout with their best fish 2.5lbs. Joe Gibbons, Westport, had eight trout his best weighing 2.5lbs while Joe O’Malley and friend had a total of fourteen with their best at 2.0lbs. Best flies included the Viva, Green Peter, Bibio, Duckfly, Black Gannet and Black Cormorant.
Ballisodare Fishery
Water levels on the Ballisodare River are now extremely low and despite a lower angling effort as a result, the Fishery still produced over thirty-five salmon for the week. Fly anglers who were successful included J.P Chenux, Switzerland, catching a salmon on the Willie Gunn, while Philip Soden had one of 5lbs on an Ally’s Shrimp. Spanish angler Miguel Gomez also had success catching a 6lbs salmon. Other anglers successful fly anglers included Jimmy Cuff, Heather Chambers, Sligo, Dermott Glennon and Billy Dullaghan.
Lough Arrow
The Mayfly continued to hatch with abundance on Lough Arrow, particularly in the southern end of the lough, providing great sport for anglers. David, Jonathan and Ivan Frazer had good sport dapping, catching a total of 18 trout for the week. Their catches ranged from 1.5lbs to 4lbs. Noel and Karl Clinton had success on dry flies, catching ten trout between 2.5lbs and 5.5lbs, while Sinead Kelly also had luck landing two trout for 1.5lbs and 4lbs.
Lough Arrow Fish Preservation and District Angling Club will host its annual Mayfly Competition on Sunday 23rd May, all entries to be made through committee members.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 11 May 2010
River Moy
Water levels on the River Moy have continued to drop over the past week and are now approaching normal summer levels. Anglers accessing the Board’s web-site www.northwestfisheries.ie can view real time water levels on the Ridge Pool and also access information on tide and weather conditions. This drop in levels has not impacted the salmon run, with large numbers continuing to move into the system and good numbers being caught by anglers.
The Moy Fishery enjoyed exceptionally good catches with a total of 23 salmon caught for the week. Both the Ridge Pool and Weir Pool had six salmon each with Paul Mc Crory, Louth, catching a 9.17lbs fish on the fly and releasing one other on the Ridge. On the Weir Pool, fly angler Gareth Byrne, Offaly, had one at 9.5lbs and John Binns, Foxford took a fine fish of 12.43lbs on the worm. The Cathedral Beat accounted for eleven salmon with Gareth Byrne, Offaly, again landing a salmon of 11.65lbs. Ballina Salmon Anglers water had four salmon for the week and Mount Falcon Fishery had its first salmon of the season caught by John Flynn, Dublin.
Further upstream, Gannon’s Fishery continued to produce good numbers with twenty-one salmon being caught including a 10lbs fish landed by Trevor Stewart, N.Ireland, on the worm with Johannes Konrad, Austria, also catching a 6lbs salmon with the prawn. The Foxford Fishery had seven salmon and at Rinanney five were caught including a cracking fish of 17.75lbs for Xavier Le Corre, France. The Cloongee Fishery had a great week with seventeen salmon caught with Ian Forde, Westmeath, catching one at 11lbs, John Hehir, Offaly, catching one of 10lbs and Benny Hopkins and Peader Duffy both of Monaghan catching a salmon each at 8lbs. On the East Mayo Anglers water Louis Lecour, France had a salmon of 5lbs and local angler Ian Guegan having a successful week with three salmon in total weighing 10lbs, 15lbs and a great fish of approximately 20lbs.
Visiting French angler Xavier LeCorre and his 17.75lbs
salmon caught at Rinnaney, River Moy 9.5.10
Lough Conn and Cullin
Continued cool north-easterly winds and bright sunshine remained a significant factor affecting fishing throughout the week on the Loughs, making angling difficult. However some anglers enjoyed good late evening fly fishing. Others had some success while trolling, with Peter Boylan, Dublin, boating a 7lbs salmon near Pontoon.
The Albert Berry annual angling trip to Lough Cullin was well attended with 64 anglers taking part over two days, landing a total of 39 trout with the best at 2lbs with the majority being taken on Mayflies. All trout were released. Micky Kelly, Dublin, had a total of seven trout on Lough Cullin with his best at 2lbs.
On the northern end of Lough Conn anglers had some success with trout being taken on the Wickham’s Fancy and Mayfly, with local anglers Ian Wyse and John Warren enjoying a great evenings fishing, boating 15 trout with the best at 2lbs and all fish being released. On the western shores in the Cloghans area Noel McLaughlin, N.Ireland and friend had five trout in one evening on the Mayfly while local angler Seamus Kelly and Barry Fox, Sligo, had four trout each for an evenings fishing with successful flies being the Silver Invicta, Mayflies and Green Peters.
Carrowmore Lake
Carrowmore Lake continued to produce great catches with thirty-one salmon being caught for the week. Visiting anglers enjoyed success with Adrian Blackwell and Brian Ward, England, having caught three salmon averaging 7lbs and Andreas Lyche and friend, Norway, catching fish at 5.5lbs and 6lbs. South African anglers Wyane Laurenson and Wyane Oldfield also had success catching a salmon each at 6lbs and 7lbs.
Lough Beltra
Lough Beltra continued to produce sizable salmon with Paddy Kelly, Dublin, catching one at 9lbs and Alan Donaghue landing one at 12lbs from the Glenisland Co-op water. Jonathan Murray, fishing out of Newport House had a very successful week catching three in total with his fish weighing in at 8lbs, 8.5lbs and 10lbs.
Ballin Lough
Despite the cool winds and bright conditions of the past week, Ballin Lough has produced good fishing for those who ventured out. A total of twenty-four anglers accounted for 68 rainbow trout, with forty-two of these safely released. Vincent Roche, Harry Lloyd and Alan McGurdy had 10 trout, with their best weighing in at 2.5lbs. Tommy Carrol and friend, Islandeady, caught 13 with their best at 2.75lbs while Matt Foley and friend accounted for 10 with their best at 2.5lbs. Most successful flies on Ballin Lough were Dabblers, Nymphs and Cat’s Whiskers.
Ballisodare Fishery
The Ballisodare system continued to fish well, with over 50 salmon caught for the week. Eddie Harte had a salmon of 10lbs taken on an Ally’s Shrimp while Lindsay Luney also had a 10lbs fish on the worm. Fly angler Noel Barber, Knock, enjoyed great sport catching a fine 14lbs springer on the Willie Gunn, the same pattern proved successful for Anthony McDonnell who landed a 12lbs fish.
Noel Barber with a fine 14lbs springer
taken on the Willie Gunn, 5.5.10
Lough Arrow
Lough Arrow had some good angling for the week, with some sizable trout being caught on the fly. Peter Dunne had ten for the week with two weighing in at 4.5lbs, all taken on Buzzers, with John Hargadon also boating one at 4.5lbs. Thomas Walsh had three trout while Francie White had two all fallen to wet flies.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 2 May 2010
River Moy
Dropping water levels on the river coupled with an increased angling effort, particularly over the Bank Holiday weekend allowed for a total of 111 salmon to be caught throughout the Moy system for the week. The Ridge Pool had its first salmon for the year, caught by none other than Ridge Pool Ghillie John Howley who had a fine 9.75lbs spring salmon, taken on a size 8 Ally’s Cascade fished with an intermediate line.
Chrispin Rodwell, N.Ireland, also had a fish of 7.94lbs off the Ridge Pool and on the Weir Pool, Gareth Byrne, Offaly, also had a salmon on the fly. The Cathedral Beat also had its first fish for the year, caught by Robert Babington, Co.Louth, with the fish weighing 6.57lbs and taken on the spinner.
Ghillie John Howley with the first salmon of the season
from the Moy Fisheries Ridge Pool.
The Ballina Salmon Anglers water reported 11 salmon for the week, with Noel Slowey, Steve Rushworth, Brendan McNamee and Val Mitchell all reporting catches.
Further upstream, the Attymass Fishery reported three salmon, while at Armstrong’s five fish were caught including a fine 12lbs salmon. The lucky captor was fifteen year old Rory Hoy, N.Ireland, who took his salmon on a spinner. Other successful anglers included Anthony Murphy, Dublin with two salmon of 11lbs and 12lbs and Michael Murphy, Dublin who landed an 8lbs fish. Gannon’s Fishery fished well with a total of ten salmon reported for the week, with James Cornally, Offaly, catching one at 12lbs. Barry Leach, Westmeath, had an 11lbs salmon from the Foxford Fishery, while Bakers New Fishery accounted for two salmon.
Around the Foxford Town area good angling was enjoyed with well over twenty salmon being reported for the week including two for Alain Ramerez, France who had success on the spinner and also Michael Tiernan who landed a fine fish of 9.5lbs on the fly. The Cloongee Fishery produced a total of 15 salmon with many visiting anglers having success. Barry and Graham Rogerson, England both had a salmon each as did Jez Leech, England, who had a fish of 10.5lbs. Bernard Merzic, France had one salmon of 6.5lbs as did Ray Hynes, Offaly who landed a fish of 10lbs.
The East Mayo Anglers waters continued to fish well throughout the week with a reported catch of 16 salmon, including a few salmon at 11lbs weight and probably the best fish of the week for the Moy system, caught by John Buckley, Athlone, who had a great catch of 14.5lbs caught on the fly.
Michael Tiernan with his 9.5lbs salmon caught on the fly near Foxford Town
Lough Conn and Cullin
Angling on Lough’s Conn and Cullin is improving steadily, but perhaps the best news of the week is that Mayfly have started to appear with fish being tempted by Mayfly patterns! On Lough Cullin some good catches have been reported, including David Mangan and son Jonathan, Galway who had three trout for 3lbs on Olives while John Harrison, Dublin and Brian Fox, Athy had a total of six trout for 8lbs. Michael and Maggie Woods, Westmeath, had three trout for 3lbs on Sooty Olives and Bibios, while Dominic Concannon and son had two trout for 2lbs on Olives.
On Lough Conn visiting anglers James White and Stephen Coffey, Liverpool fishing out of Pontoon Bridge Hotel had two trout for 3lbs taken on Green Peters, while Hartley Smyth, N.Ireland, fishing out of Murphy’s of Massbrook had three trout to Bumbles weighing in at 4lbs total. Darragh McDermott, Athlone, Ronnie Mayock, Foxford, Mike Sweeney, Loughrea and Liam McHugh, Edenderry all had success on Lough Conn catching trout. In the Enniscoe area, Crossmolina, Gary Crossley had trout in the evenings in Bog Bay while Ronnie Chambers had five trout for 6lbs all taken on Mayflies.
Fishing the Cloghans area local angler, Padraig Kelly and Bill Collohan, Claremorris had four trout over two evenings taken on Green Peters and Silver Invictas. Gareth Byrne, Edenderry, had four trout for 4lbs while Stephen Brown, Cloghans had two trout on Olives for a total weight of 3lbs.
Two competitions were held on the lakes over the weekend by Lough Conn and Cullin Anglers Association; the first on Saturday being Dublin Anglers vs. Lough Conn and Cullin Anglers a competition now in its 37th year. A total of forty anglers took part with twelve fish being weighed in. Winning was Padraig Traynor, Crossmolina with two trout for 1.3kgs, in second was John Warren, Crossmolina, with two trout for 1.24kgs and third was Joe Quinn, Cloghans with two trout for 0.98kgs.
On Sunday, forty anglers fished for the Pratt Cup with a total of 17 trout being weighed in. In first place was Seamus Kelly, Cloghans, with two trout for 1.12 kg, second was Ian Rowland, Dublin with two trout for 1.09 kg and third was Stephen Brown, Cloghans with two trout for 1.07kgs.
Finally, form Lough Conn Pat Dunning, Athlone, had two salmon while trolling Massbrook Bay.
Carrowmore Lake
Angling effort was slow on Lake Carrowmore until the weekend when once again some anglers had great success catching up to four salmon each! Stephen Corr, Belfast, had one salmon of 7.5lbs as did Alan Watson, N.Ireland who had one at 7lbs. Eamon Giblin, Co.Clare had two fish at 5lbs and 6lbs, Mike Egan had one of 7lbs while Mark Corps of the CFB had four salmon in total, with his best weighing at 7lbs.
Lough Beltra
Conditions on Lough Beltra continued to be suitable for angling. Despite this only one salmon was reported for the week. The 7lbs fish was caught and returned by Martin Hughes near the ‘Red Shed’ on the Glenisland Co-op/Beltra East waters. Other fish were sighted and lost around the Morrison’s area. For further information on fishing Lough Beltra, please contact Glenisland Anglers’ Co-operative on (094) 9021302.
Ballin Lough
Ballin Lough continued to fish very well for rainbow trout, with a total of 118 trout being caught for the week with 28 anglers fishing. Muddler Minnow patterns, Whiskey Fly, Green Sedge and Olives are flies which have proved successful recently.
Ivan Pollard and friend, Co. Offaly had a total of 10 trout, with their best weighing in at 2.5lbs. Paul Caslin, Castlebar, and friend had a total of 13 trout, releasing 9 with their best at 2.5lbs and finally Tommy Brennan had a total of 14 Rainbow trout releasing 10 and again his best was 2.5lbs.
Ballisodare Fishery
Ballisodare Fishery reported good numbers of fish running through the system, with water levels still good for angling and assisting fish movement upstream. A total of fifty-four fish were caught for the week, with twenty four of these being released. Among those to catch salmon on the Ballisodare water were J.P. Chanaux, Switzerland, who had a 9lbs salmon on the fly. Noel Barbour also had a 9lbs fish on a Willy Gunn, as did Dermot Glennon and Seanie Maye (both fish at 9lbs). Thomas O’Donovan Jr. had a 7lbs salmon taken on the fly while Anthony McCann, Sligo, caught a 10lb salmon on the worm. Finally, fly anger Gerry McHugh had a 12lbs salmon taken on a Gary Dog.
Lough Gill
Only two salmon were reported for Lough Gill for the week, the first fell to Noel Dingo Cawley who had a salmon of 8lbs from Racecourse Bay while the second was caught by Paul Mulligan and weighed 9lbs. Both fish were caught while trolling.
Lough Arrow
The Duckfly fishing on Lough Arrow appears to be tailing off, with more fish now being reported to the wet fly and buzzers in the late evenings. Of those who had success on Arrow were Gerard Martin who had one fine trout of 4.5lbs and Francie White, who had two trout averaging 2lbs each.
Lough Na Leibe
High northerly winds and cool evening temperatures disrupted angling on Lough na Leibe somewhat earlier this week; however some good fishing was enjoyed by those fishing Buzzer Emerger patterns in the evenings. Throughout the weekend however good fishing has been reported with the first hatches of Olives observed, promising better angling to come as temperatures rise. Fly patterns which proved successful on the Lough included Emerging Buzzers, Pheasant Tail nymphs, Shipman’s Buzzer, Mallard and Claret and Olive patterns.
Lough Doon
Only two boats fished Lough Doon for the week; however those who did fish were well rewarded for their efforts. Conor Walsh, Mayo, caught and released nine trout in total, with his best at .75lbs all taken on the Duckfly Emerger. Joe Elliott, Sligo, had ten trout in total, releasing eight with his best at 1lbs caught on the Olive Quill and Duckfly.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 25 April 2010
River Moy
Water levels continued to drop on the Moy throughout the week and, with a total of forty salmon reported, the spring run appears to be well underway. Large numbers of returning kelts are still being reported in the river so anglers should use caution. Any kelts hooked should be quickly released.
Ballina Salmon Anglers reported four salmon for the week, with Donal McCurtain, Foxford, landing one salmon of 7lbs taken on the worm. The Scott-Knox-Gore water at Knockmore reported three salmon while the Attymass water yielded two salmon. Armstrong’s Fishery reported two salmon with Gilles Bodinier, France, catching both fish, one at 6lbs which was released and a second at 10lbs, both caught on the spinner. Gannon’s Fishery also reported two salmon, with Geordie McLucas, N.Ireland, catching one at 10lbs on the worm. At the Foxford Fishery, Granville Nesbitt had one salmon at 8lbs taken on a spinner. At Bakers New Fishery, The Foxford Rocks, two salmon were caught and the Foxford Salmon Anglers water at Rinanney also had two. On the N.W.R.F.B and Foxford Salmon Anglers water a total of five salmon were reported. A further two salmon were reported for Foxford Town while Beat 1 of the Cloongee Fishery produced two salmon. Beat 2 produced four salmon, with Jim Murray, Foxford, catching a fine fish of 13.5lbs on the spinner and Maurice Walters, England, catching a salmon of 10lbs also on the spinner. The East Mayo Anglers water continued to fish well with a total of eight salmon being reported. Lothar Waldeck, Germany, had success with two salmon taken on the fly, with his best at 9lbs. Tom Fennelly, Carlow, had one salmon of 6lbs and Enda Conroy, Knock, also had success on the spinner catching one salmon of 10lbs. Finally the Ballyvary/Clydagh Fishery reported one salmon for the week.
Lough Conn and Cullin
Lough Conn experienced a slow drop in water levels over the past week; however, with many days dominated by bright sunshine and cooling easterly winds anglers were slow to venture out on the lake. Fishing out of Pontoon on Lough Cullin, Neil Shevlin and Ian Daly, Louth, had five trout for a total weight of 5lbs, all taken on wet flies and released.
From Crossmolina, John Warren and Ian Wyse fishing Bog Bay had two trout each taken on buzzers. Angling in the Cloghans Bay area Martin Cawley and Padraig Kelly had two reasonable sized trout while releasing a further 10, all taken on Green Peters and Bibios. Seamus Kelly also had two trout for 2lbs taken on Bibios. John Quinn had three trout on one evening all taken on Golden Olive Dabblers. On the Brackwansha shoreline Brendan Bresslin and Mick McNeely had six trout all taken with the Connemara Black and Bibio. Francie White also had good fortune while trolling the Northern shores of Lough Conn, catching a 10lbs salmon on a Silver Spoon.
Sunday the 25th saw two trout angling competitions held on the Lough. Foxford Angling Club hosted the Devenny Cup Competition with twenty-five anglers participating and a total of seven fish being weighed in. In first place, winning the cup for the second time was John Burke of Toomore, Foxford, who had three trout for 3.04lbs all caught on a ‘Just Add Water’ fly. Second place went to Joe Quinn, Cloghans, who had two trout for 2.90lbs and third was Adrian Murphy, Cloghans, with one trout of 1.01lbs. Castlebar Angling Club also held a competition which was won, for the third time, by Joe Quinn, Cloghans, with two trout for a total of 2.9lbs.
Carrowmore Lake
Angling in Carrowmore has really taken off this week with large numbers of salmon being reported, particularly at the weekend. In total, Carowmore produced an astonishing 53 salmon for the week. Many local anglers and visitors had fish from the lake, ranging in size from 4lbs to 9lbs. David Malpass, England enjoyed good fishing with three salmon between 4lbs and 7lbs as did John Cosgrove, Bangor Erris, who also had three salmon with his best at 8lbs. Mark Mason, N.Ireland, also landed three weighing between 5lbs and 7lbs. Wayne Oldfield, South Africa, caught a salmon of 6lbs as did John Donnellon, Co. Clare, who caught his first ever salmon which weighed in at 6lbs weight. The most successful angler of the week however was Pat Foley, catching an impressive six salmon and safely releasing five. The flies which proved successful included Clan Chief, Green Peter and Claret Bumble, fished on intermediate or sink-tip lines. For further information on Carrowmore Lake please contact Seamus Henry of Bangor Angling Club, Bangor Erris, Co. Mayo on 097 83487 or see www.bangorerrisangling.com.
Lough Beltra
Only two salmon were reported for the week on Lough Beltra, those coming from the Glenisland Co Op waters, Beltra East. Those who had success were Jackie Diffley, Glenisland, with a salmon of 8lbs and Eamon Kennedy who caught one at 7lbs.
Ballin Lough
Ballin Lough again fished well for the week, with a total of 21 rods fishing and landing 104 rainbow trout, eighty of these were released safely. Ronan Gibbons and friends, Galway, had a total of 22 rainbows, releasing 21 of these with their best fist at 3lbs. Jimmy Gibson, Westport, had 11 trout with his best at 2.5lbs while Tommy Carroll and friend, Islandeady, had 13 trout, releasing 12 and their best being 1.5lbs. Best flies for the week included Cat’s Whiskers, Black Dabblers, Buzzers and various nymph patterns.
Bilberry Lake/Lough Lannagh
The first competition of the season was held by Bilberry and Lannagh Angling Club on Sunday April 25th. Winning first prize was Andy Walsh with a total of five trout for 6.4lbs, second was Liam Walsh with five trout for 6lbs and third place went to Peter Byrne with four trout for 5.4lbs. The best junior angler prize went to Dean Carney, Islandeady, with a trout weighing 1.5lbs.
Ballisodare Fishery
The Ballisodare Fishery continued to yield consistent numbers of good sized spring salmon, with a total of 20 salmon being reported for the week, 16 of those being safely released. Among those to have success were visiting anglers Frank Allen and Chris Kitchen, N.Ireland who both caught salmon, Frank’s weighing in at an impressive 12.75lbs while Chris caught one at 7lbs with both taken on the worm. Also tempting the salmon was Sean Maye, who caught and released a 9lbs fish which took a Willie Gunn fly.
Chris Kitchen with his 7lb Salmon and Frank Adams
with his 12.75lbs Salmon, both caught
at the Ballisodare Fishery with the worm.
Lough Gill
Lough Gill produced a further five spring salmon with Wayne Conway catching two for the week. Wednesday 21st saw Wayne landing a gleaming silver fish of 12.5lbs while trolling and, again on Friday, Wayne had success with a second salmon. Thomas O’Donovan and Brendan Gordon also landed a salmon each on the 23rd and on the 25th Tony McLoughlin had an 8lbs salmon.
Lough Arrow
Lough Arrow is now producing some good fishing for those who venture out. Peter Dunne reported fourteen trout over the past two weeks, averaging in size at 2lbs, with the best weighing in at 2.5lbs. Gerard Martin also reported trout of 1.5lbs while Noel Clinton had two trout at 1.5lbs. The late evening duckfly fishing produced the majority of catches to date on Lough Arrow.
Lough Na Leibe
Lough na Leibe hosted the second leg of its fly fishing competition on Sunday the 18th April. Several anglers took part with a total of 15 rainbow trout being caught. First place went to Tommy Lynch who landed a total of 6 fish (Tommy is also the 2008 and 2009 Lough na Leibe fly fishing champion), Francis Brady landed three as did Alan Spencer, Bernard Mc Dermott had two fish and Colm Walsh had one. There will also be a litter clean up on the shores of Lough na Leibe on Sunday the 2nd May from 2.00pm-3.00pm and all members are encouraged to participate.
Pike Angling
Reports of great pike angling in the Castlebar area continue to come in, with the Manulla and Castlebar lakes providing some great sport. Local pike angling guide Kenny Sloan reported great angling for pike with the fly while guiding two Co.Wexford natives, David Anchell and Jim Hendrick. Over twenty pike came to their boat over two days angling with the biggest weighing in at just over 20lbs. The Castlebar Lakes are “fly only” waters. Kenny Sloan can be contacted on 094 9256501.
Pike angling guide Kenny Sloan and guest with
a 20lbs pike taken on the fly
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 18 April 2010
River Moy
With extremely Angling on the River Moy remained slow but steady over the past week, with a total of eight salmon being reported for the river. Water levels remained high throughout the week, however, affecting angling on some beats. Ballina Salmon Anglers water reported one salmon for the week while the Cloongee Fishery reported two, both taken on the spinner. Joe Mc Cann, Ballina, had a salmon of 7lbs from the Cloongee Fishery while Jack McCann, also of Ballina, caught a 5lbs salmon. Upstream, the East Mayo Anglers Association water continued to fish well with four salmon being reported for the week. P.J. Loftus, Killasser, caught a 6lbs salmon on the spinner while Mixi Clarke, Bohola, had a 7lbs salmon also on the spinner. Eddie Thornton, Ballyhaunis, also had success with the spinner landing an 8.5lbs salmon while the catch of the week on the River Moy was taken by visiting angler Jorg Benecke, Germany, who landed a fine 11lbs Spring Salmon on the Fly.
Lough Conn
Lough Conn remains unusually high despite the lack of substantial rainfall over the past week. Bright weather and a cold North Easterly airflow did not improve conditions for anglers. However those who fished had some success. Gerard and Joseph Gallagher, Turlough, fishing out of Pontoon, had three trout for a total weight of 4.5lbs. Harry Godard, Dublin, also had success with a mixed bag for his day, catching a 1lbs trout to the Claret Mallard, a 10lbs pike and an 8lbs salmon both taken on a silver spoon.
Fishing out of Cloghans Bay, Stephen Browne and Joe Ferguson, Cloghans, had a total of four trout averaging 1.5lbs each taken on the Duckfly and Bibio while Neil Rooney, Dublin, had one trout for 1.1lbs.
Lough Cullin
Fishing from Pontoon on Lough Cullin was Robert and Michael Butler, Clare, who had 3 trout on the dry Duckfly weighing in at 1 lb each.
Carrowmore Lough
Carrowmore produced five salmon for the week in total. Larry Mitchell, Belmullet, had one salmon at 8lbs while Michael Mc Donnell, Glenamoy, had one weighing 6lbs. Michael Quirke caught one salmon at 7lbs and Michael Naughton, Bangor had great success catching two salmon at 6lbs and 8lbs.
Lough Beltra
Lough Beltra produced a total of three salmon for the week, with James O’Hora, Glenhest, landing one at 9lbs. Jackie Deffley, Glenisland, Castlebar, also had a salmon for 9lbs while Eamon Kennedy, Newport had a fine salmon of 12lbs.
Ballin Lough
Despite the bright conditions over the past week Ballin Lough continues to improve with a total of 18 anglers fishing during the week, catching a staggering 114 Rainbow trout of which 79 were released. Jimmy Gibson, Westport had a total catch of 30 Rainbow trout with the best fish weighing in at 4lbs. Gerry Madden and James McStay, both from Co. Kildare, had a total catch of 18 Rainbow trout with their best at 3.5lbs. Tommy Brennan and John Shaughnessy landed 20 Rainbow trout, with their best at 3lbs and George McLoughlin and friend had 17 Rainbow trout, the best weighing 3.5lbs. The most successful flies for the week were Buzzers, Cats-whiskers, the Whiskey fly and the Montana Nymph.
Ballisodare Fishery
Ballisodare Fishery continues to yield impressive catches with a total of twenty salmon reported for the week and, of these, 8 were released. Thomas O’Donovan Junior had a 9lbs salmon on the prawn while Trevor Goulding, Garyderg, had a salmon for 9.5lbs. Dermott Glennon also had an impressive catch, landing a fine 14lbs salmon which took the fly.
Lough Doon
Lough Doon has proved successful for those who have ventured out with Dereck and Tom King releasing three trout, with their best weighing 1.3lbs. Simon Beamet and Koln Kiskings, Belgium, had ten trout for their day, releasing nine with their best at 1lbs. Stephen and Lieben Dierick also of Belgium had five for their day, releasing four with their best measuring 32cm in length and weighing 1.2lbs. Dillon Henry, Co. Leitrim, caught and released five trout with his best 1lb while Gerry Bird had three trout with his best at 0.75lbs. Finally, Jarleth Devanny, Dromahair, caught and released two trout. Flies which proved successful through out the week included the Nymph Emerger, Claret Bumble, Black Pennel, Olives, Bibios and Duckflies.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 11 April 2010
River Moy
With extremely high water at the start of the week few anglers ventured onto the Moy. However, towards the weekend weather improved greatly and water levels are slowly receding. The Ridge Pool has yet to yield its first fish for the season so a reminder to all anglers that the Ridge Pool remains free to fish until the first salmon is caught.
A total of four salmon were reported for the week on the Moy, two of those being caught on the Ballina Salmon Anglers water. A further two salmon were caught on the East Mayo Anglers water, one by Ian Guegan on the spinner and another by Jim Ruane, Castlebar, on the fly. Both fish were released.
Lough Conn
Lough Conn continued to fish well throughout the week, with fish being taken on Buzzers, Duckflies, Bibios and even some being caught on dry flies! In the Bog Bay area John Cooney, Chicago, had one trout at 1lb while Mike Murray, Leeds, had three trout totaling 4lbs and all fish were tempted by Bibios. In the Cloghans area Stephen Brown had two trout for 4lbs on Buzzers. Susan and Walter Byrne, Co. Offaly, fishing in the Cloghans area, had a total of thirty trout for a week’s angling with fish being taken on both wet and dry flies. Seamus Kelly, Cloghans, had six trout all over 1lb.
Fishing out of Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Hans and Achim Bauer, Germany, had two trout for two pounds. Finally, Fred Finlay, Crossmolina, had success while trolling off Inishlee catching a fine 10lbs salmon.
Carrowmore Lough
Angling on Carrowmore remains slow with two salmon being reported for the week. Peter Maguire, Dublin, had one salmon at 7lbs while Declan Dooley had one salmon also weighing 7lbs.
Lough Beltra and Newport River
Beltra continues to yield some good catches of spring salmon. Fishing out of Newport House, James O’Hora caught a fine 13lbs salmon at Morrisons and David McClune, N.Ireland, had one salmon at 9lbs. On the Glenisland Co-Op waters, on Beltra East, Declan Dooley, Dublin caught a 7lbs salmon, Rocky Moran had one at 6lbs and Michael Dolan had one salmon at 8lbs. All fish caught on Beltra this week were safely returned as required by law up until 11 May.
A total of four salmon have been reported for the Newport River for the week. Alistair McClune had one salmon at 8lbs while Mike Stuart, Dublin, caught one at 7lbs. A Mr Cahill landed one salmon at 8lbs while a Mr Haywood had one salmon at 6lbs.
Ballin Lough
Ballin Lough has continued its good start to the season with a total of twenty one rods fishing for the week, accounting for a total catch of 61 Rainbow Trout of which 41 were safely released. Brian Mc Gowan had a total of 12 Rainbow Trout with the best fish weighing 4.2lbs. Orla Walsh and friend caught 6 trout with their best weighing at 3.5lbs. C. Mannion and friends, fishing three rods, had a total of 9 trout with the best of their catch weighing 2.5lbs. Finally, Tommy Carroll and friend, Islandeady, had 8 trout for their outing with their best weighing 3.5lbs.
Ballisodare Fishery
Angling effort at the beginning of the week was somewhat hampered by high water, with the river in flood up until Wednesday the 7th. Good numbers of fish continue to run the system, however, and with water levels falling, angling and catches soon resumed. Billy Moore, N.Ireland, had a 10lbs salmon taken on the worm on the 8th and the following day three salmon were also caught on the worm. These included one at 9lbs, one at 6lbs and a
8.5lbs salmon caught by John Connelly, Sligo. A total of four salmon were reported for the 10th two weighing in at 6lbs, a 7lbs fish and an 8.5lbs salmon caught and released by James Cuffe who took the fish on an Ally Shrimp. Three salmon was the total for Sunday 11th, with one at 4lbs, one at 6lbs and a fine 9lbs salmon taken by Michael Gallagher, Tipperary on the fly.
Lough Doon
Lough Doon has started to produce some good angling for those who have tried the lough. Derick King of Galway had five trout for his day, four of which were returned with the best weighing 1lb. All were taken on Olives. Peter McManus, Antrim, had a successful day catching 10 trout and returning 9 all taken with black Duckflies. Dromahair angler, Arron Devenny, had five trout on olive-nymphs with the heaviest at 1.25lbs. Finally Paul Flanagan, Sligo, had two trout on duckflies, both of which were released. For information on permits or booking a boat on Lough Doon, please contact the Blue Devon, Main Street Dromahair on 071 9164134.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 4 April 2010
River Moy
The River Moy rose dramatically in the early part of last week and with harsh weather and high water very few anglers tried their luck on the Moy. By Friday 2nd April however water levels had dropped considerably and one salmon was caught on the East Mayo Anglers water by Kieran Murphy of Wexford who landed a fine fish at 13lbs. Ballina Salmon Anglers water produced only two salmon for the week, with the fish weighing at 5.5lbs and 9lbs and both being caught on Sunday the 4th. However, by then, water levels on Sunday were beginning to rise once more.
Lough Conn
Angling effort had been somewhat limited on Lough Conn until this week. The poor weather hampered angling and, with heavy winds, rain hail and sleet showers, conditions were far from ideal. Some anglers did however have great success with buzzers and duckfly. From the northern part of Lough Conn and around Bog Bay several good days angling have been reported. On April 1st John Warren had two trout, one brown and a 15 inch sea trout taken on a yellow bibio. Padraig Traynor had six trout over three evenings fishing with the best weighing at 2lbs and all taken on buzzers, while John Burke had two trout with his best at 3.8lbs. Alex Corcoran, Crossmolina also had a trout at 1.5lbs. John Warren and Ian Wyse, Crossmolina fishing on the 4th April had two trout each, the heaviest at 2lbs.
In the Cloghans Bay area good angling has also been reported with duckfly hatches bringing trout to feed. Joe Quinn, Cloghans, had four trout over two days angling, with the best weighing at 2lbs. Michael Kelly, Balbriggan, had seven trout over two days, the best of which weighed in at an impressive 6lbs and was taken on a dry fly. Walter and Susan Byrne, Offaly also had a successful week, averaging four trout per day over five days with all fish being taken on the bibio and duckfly. Finally, Stephen Brown had two trout for his day on the Lough, with the best weighing at 2lbs. Despite being extremely low for a long period, Lough Conn has now risen substantially to a near ‘normal’ water level.
Carrowmore Lough
Carrowmore got off to a good start to the season with the first salmon being caught in the Bangor District on the 30th March. The 6lbs salmon was caught by Castlebar angler Colin McLean who landed the fish on a bibio fly at the mouth of the Glencullin River. Cold, wet and stormy weather since then has prevented anglers from getting onto the Lough.
Lough Beltra
Glenisland Anglers’ Co-Op waters had a good start to the season with two nice fish being caught on the 3rd April. Aiden Byrne, Castlebar had one salmon at 8lbs caught on a shrimp fly at the Dock, while at Morrison’s quay Eamon Kennedy, Newport also had success with a fine 9lbs salmon. For further information on fishing Lough Beltra or boat hire please contact Glenisland Anglers’ Co-operative, Glenisland Post Office, Co. Mayo on 094 9021302 or Newport House, Newport, Co. Mayo on 098 41222.
Ballin Lough
The angling season opened again on Ballin Lough on the 1st of April and despite opening day being one of sleet and snow showers, one angler ventured out and was well rewarded for the day. Jimmy Gibson of Westport was the first to fish Ballin Lough and had an impressive day despite weather conditions, with 11 rainbow trout successfully being caught and released with the best fish weighing 4lbs. The 3rd April was also a successful day for John Summerville of Cong who had 9 rainbow trout (best fish at 3lbs) and also Andrew Boyd, Athlone who had 11 rainbow trout for the day (best also 3lbs). Ken Kelly and friends fishing three rods had 8 rainbow trout, five of which were released with their best fish weighing 4lbs on Sunday the 4th April. For information on permit and boat hire on Ballin Lough, please Contact Mrs. Gill on 098-26128.
Ballisodare Fishery
Ballisodare Fishery opened for angling on the 1st April and a total of four salmon were taken on its opening day. The first fish of the season on the Ballisodare water fell to Sean Gallagher who caught his 8lbs salmon with the worm. The best fish of the day however was caught by Richie Waters who landed a 10lb salmon, two other salmon were also caught with all fish being taken on the worm. The 2nd April saw two fish being caught; again a 10lbs salmon caught by D. Harkness on the worm and the first for the season on the fly was taken by Garry Duffy who hooked his 5lbs salmon on an Ally Shrimp which was then safely released. Saturday saw another 10lb salmon falling to the worm, this time to Josie Trotter. The week ended well with a further four salmon being caught on the 4th, with one at 9lbs, one at 8lbs and two at 7lbs being reported. All of these salmon were taken on the worm.
Lough Gill
Lough Gill reports two fine Salmon for the week, both taken on Sunday 4th. The best was caught by Ronnie Gordon whose 11lbs Salmon was taken while trolling off Shell House with a Silver Dace lure. Casimer Carthy also had success with the Silver Dace, catching his 9lbs Salmon off Church Island.
Ross Carthy, with a 9lbs salmon caught by his father,
Angler Thomas Callaghan and Ronnie Gordon with his 11lbs salmon.
Both fish were taken on Lough Gill on Easter Sunday.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 28 March 2010
River Moy
The River Moy saw no significant change in water levels during the week and with bad weather now forecast, it looks set to rise significantly in coming days. With anglers now venturing to a variety of fisheries on the Moy, fish are being reported even further upstream.
The Ballina Salmon Anglers beat again produced salmon, this time for Noel Maloney who had a 5 lbs fish on the worm. At Rinanney on the Foxford Salmon Anglers water Gerry Guilfoyle of the Mid-lands caught a fine springer. The best fish of the week was caught by Jerry Deane, Castlebar who had a fine 14 lbs salmon on the spinner on the East Mayo Anglers water.
Lough Gill
Pat Kennedy had success on Lough Gill on Saturday the 24th, catching a nice 8lbs salmon while trolling off Castle Point.
Pike Angling
Changing air pressure and a slight rise in water temperatures throughout the week have encouraged pike to take more freely with some great catches being reported. The lakes of the Manulla and Castlebar areas produced some excellent pike, with anglers reporting catches of several pike per day to the dead bait weighing at between 8 and 14lbs.
Markus Müller of the NWRFB also had great success on these waters over the weekend, with a fine pike of approximately 22 lbs and 102cm length coming to the fly. The magnificent fish was tempted with a yellow/orange pike streamer, fished with an intermediate sinking line. After being quickly photographed (not an easy task when boat fishing on ones own) the pike was safely released. This catch highlights the growing number of anglers embracing pike fly fishing, where the reward can be prize fish of this size.
Local pike angling guide Kenny Sloan also had success on these waters when guiding a party of visiting anglers. They reported good fishing with lures with a few double figure pike being caught up to 20lbs weight. Kenny can be contacted on ksloan@eircom.net
Markus Muller and his 102cm fly caught pike, weighing approximately 22lbs.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 21 March 2010
River Moy
Despite the recent rains, lowering pressure and increasing winds, the River Moy continues to drop and is near to summer level. Although more rain is forecast throughout the week, it will take a considerable fall to raise water levels.
Angling on the Moy remains slow but steady. However some notable catches have been reported. The East Mayo Anglers waters produced its first fish of the season for Ian Guegan who landed a fine 9lbs salmon taken on the fly and safely released it again. Jimmy Reilly also had success on the East Mayo Anglers water catching a 7lbs fish on the worm. Ballina Salmon Anglers water again proved lucky for some as Brendan McNamee had success, catching a salmon.
Free fishing continues on the Ridge Pool until the first salmon is caught there.
Lough Gill
Lough Gill hosted the St. Patricks Day Angling Competition on Tuesday, 17th March. The top prize of the day went to Victor Fabozzi who landed a nice 7lbs salmon while trolling a Toby spinner. Victor received the Petrie Cup for his achievement.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 15 March 2010
River Moy
Water levels on the Moy have continued to drop slightly over the past week. The river is now very suitable for fly fishing and anglers are reminded that fishing on the famous Ridge Pool beat remains free of charge until the first salmon is captured there.
The Ballina Salmon Anglers water remained productive, with a further four salmon being caught for the week. Tommy Egan Snr. and Mark Beattie both had nice fish of 11lbs captured on the worm. Fergal McHale was also successful with a salmon of 9lbs as was Gerry Seck who caught one at 6.5lbs. Both of these fish were also caught on the worm. The Cloongee Fishery produced its first salmon of the season on Monday 15th March, a fine 8.5lbs salmon was caught by Jim Murray while spinning. Anglers are reminded that numerous kelts are moving downstream at present and care should be taken while angling, if a kelt is hooked it should be released as quickly and as stress free as possible.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 7 March 2010
With the days finally lengthening and warming and the Spring Equinox just around the corner, anglers all over the country are preparing for the spring season to begin in earnest.
River Moy
Water levels on the Moy system are perfect at present for angling. The first spring salmon of the 2010 season was caught on the 25th February by local angler Martin Conroy. The fish which weighed in at an impressive 14.6lbs was taken with the worm and was caught upstream of the Moy Weir. Despite some technical difficulties with the reel, experience paid off and Martin landed this perfect example of a fine spring salmon. Thursday 27th saw the second fish come off the same waters, a 7lbs salmon also caught on the worm by Albert Bradley. Another 7lbs fish was caught by Kevin Langdon on Tuesday the 2nd March with and a fine 12lbs salmon was caught by Declan Gannon on Sunday 7th. Both salmon were caught with the worm on Ballina Salmon Anglers water.
Lough Gill
Lough Gill has produced three salmon to date. The Garavogue/Lough Gill system which had previously been operated on a strict catch and release basis is now open with a small quota of spring salmon allowed to be taken this season. The first fish within the North Western Region was caught by Brendan Gordon on the 24th January. The fish weighed 6lbs 6oz and was caught off Castle Point on a trolled Silver Dace lure. Keith Trotter also had luck on Lough Gill with a fine 11lbs salmon caught on the 20th of February as did Barry Lyons who caught his 7lb fish trolling off Innishfree with a Toby Salmo lure on the 6th March.
NWRFB Fisheries
Just a reminder to anglers that all Board managed fisheries will all be open soon for angling. Lough Doon opened for angling on the 1st March, with Lough Bo opening on the 15th and Ballin Lough opening on the 1st April. Day and evening tickets are available for all Board managed fisheries. Free fishing continues on the famed Ridge Pool, in Ballina, until the first fish of the season is caught on the beat and water conditions at present are ideal. For more information on booking contact the Moy Fishery Office on 09621323 or email info@moyfishery.ie.
Pike Fishing
Water levels in all our local lakes are relatively low at the moment, due to the absence of any significant rain since the start of the year. Increasing daytime temperatures are helping to warm local waters enticing pike to move and feed. There have been reports of some good pike fishing in local waters, in particular Derryhick Lake where numerous pike have been taken recently both on dead-baits and on the fly.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 1 November 2009
Ballin Lough
Despite the time of year, unpredictable weather and quickly decreasing day length, Ballin Lough continued to fish brilliantly for those who have ventured out. The fishery closed for angling on the 31st October but, during the previous week, the fishery produced 65 rainbow trout for the 11 rods which fished it. A total of 46 of these trout were safely released. Andy Young, Dublin and K McGing had a total of twenty rainbows, eighteen of these being released with the best fish at 3.5lbs while Martin Walsh and Paddy Blaney, Westport, had a total of 18 trout, all safely released with the best fish weighing in at 4lbs. Finally a Mr Freestone, Crossmolina had a total of eight trout with his best at 3lbs. The best flies for the week on Ballin Lough were again the Bibio, Daddies, Olives and Buzzers.
Action from a juvenile anglers’ competition on Ballin Lough earlier in the season.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 25 October 2009
Ballin Lough
Ballin Lough continued to fish well despite the worsening weather conditions experienced towards the end of the week. A total of twenty two rods fished the lough, accounting for a total of 87 rainbow trout, 51 of these being safely released.
Successful anglers included Jimmy Gibson, Westport who landed seven trout all of which were released including his best fish at 4lbs. Ian Wise also had seven rainbow, five of which were released, the best of his fish weighing in at 2.5lbs. Ronan Gibbons, Galway also had a successful trip, with five trout caught, three released and his best fish a 5lb rainbow. Finally John Warren and friend had seven trout, with four being released and the biggest being 3.5lbs. The most successful flies on Ballin Lough again include the Bibio, Minkies, Nymphs and the Peter Ross.
The season on Ballin Lough ends on 31 October and the lake will reopen in Spring, 2010.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 18 October 2009
Ballin Lough
Angling at Ballin Lough remained steady over the week which is not surprising as it is the only game fishery in the region available at this time of year. Twenty three rods on the lough for the week accounted for 58 rainbow trout with 48 of those being released. Ronan Gibbons, Galway, had seven trout, the best at 5lbs while Dave Tucker had three fish, two released with his best at 3lbs. Frank Rigney and party, Galway, fishing ten rods had a total of 18 trout, all of which were released with the best of these weighing 5lbs.
The Black Pennel and Butcher have been taking fish but the best fly for the lough still appears to be the Bibio which has been accounting for the majority of fish caught.
Ballin Lough remains open until the 31st October.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 11 October 2009
I would like to remind all anglers that angling for trout/sea trout ceased on the 12th of October. However, rainbow trout can still be pursued on Ballin Lough which has reported a very busy week’s fishing for all who ventured out and remains open until October 31.
Ballin Lough
The angling on Ballin Lough proved very successful, with a total of twenty eight rods catching a total of 64 rainbow trout, the best of these weighing 5lbs. On Saturday the 10th October the final of the Newport Anglers junior angling competition was held. A number of junior anglers took part in the competition with the top prize of the day going to Ciaran Murry.
Pictured above are Joseph Chambers, Ciaran Murray competition winner,
Martin Hughes and presenting the trophy is Eamon Kennedy, Club Chairman.
Some action from the Newport Anglers Junior Angling competition,
with Mark Hughes waiting for the strike!
Sunday the 11th of October also saw intense competition on Ballin Lough with the Ballina Anglers taking to the water to determine who would bring home the Vincent Beattie Memorial Perpetual cup. The cup was donated by friends and associates of Vincent’s in memory of a renowned angling enthusiast, who was involved in the Ballina Salmon Anglers Committee for some time and also in the setting up and running of the Ballina Community Beat. The competition for the award was stiff, with Mark Beattie, Ballina and friend boating 15 trout with the best at 5lbs, Michael Swartz and G. McLoughlin catching 7 trout and the Quinn Brothers, Loughrea Co.Galway catching a total of 10 rainbow trout, the best of which was 5lbs caught by Joe Quinn.
Mark Beattie and Declan Hennigan came out on top however to claim the Perpetual cup.
The presentation night was attended by members of Vincent’s family, with his wife Martina presenting the trophy to the winners.
Successful flies over the week were the Montana nymph, Gold headed nymph and the Green Peter.
Anglers taking part in the Vincent Beattie Memorial Perpetual cup
competition held on Ballin Lough 11/10/09.
The Vincent Beattie Memorial Perpetual cup winners,
Mark Beattie and Declan Hennigan
with cup being presented by Martina Beattie.
Pike Fishing
October is regarded by many as the start of the best pike fishing, as water temperature begins to drop quickly and those large elusive pike begin to feed in earnest. Derryhick Lough, Levally Lake, Manulla, Washpool and Carrowmore Lough all contain good quality pike. For further information on pike fishing in the region see www.northwestfisheries.ie/fishing.
Foxford based pike angling guide Kenny Sloan enjoyed good sport last week while guiding two French tourists on some of our local lakes. Tomas and Henry Deveaux over the space of two days enjoyed some great battles, catching and releasing two fish at 1meter in length, two at 94cm and six others at between 70cm and 85cm. Anyone who would like to try their hand at winter piking, be they novice or experienced can get more information from angling Guide Kenny Sloan on (00353)879670310 or (00353)949256501.
Tomas and Henry Deveaux with a fine October pike.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 4 October 2009
River Moy
With the salmon angling season ceasing on the 30th September, the reported catch for the final days was 123 salmon. This brings the total reported catch for the Moy system to 7310 for 2009, which is on par with the 2008 catch. Ballina Salon Anglers’ water yielded over 30 salmon while at Mount Falcon 8 salmon were landed, with all being safely released. The Knockmore water reported five salmon captured while at Coolcronan eight salmon fell, including one for Mick Dennany, Longford, taken on the worm. Byrne’s fishery reported a catch of 4 salmon and at Armstrong’s twelve salmon were caught with six of these being released. Gannon’s produced five salmon while the Foxford Fishery had a reported catch of six.
The Foxford Salmon Anglers’ waters produced over 17 salmon, at least nine of these being taken on the Rinanney water. At Cloongee, John Walsh, Kilkenny, had a fine salmon of 7lbs, taken on the worm. The East Mayo Anglers’ water produced some fine fishing, with a total of 15 salmon reported, including two for Lothar Deeg, Germany who hooked into two salmon on the fly, the best at 9lbs. Fellow German angler Matchais Engles also landed two on the fly with his best at 7lbs, while Dave Bachelor, England, also had a pair on the fly. Ian Holohan, Galway, had great success with the worm, capturing a fine fish of 12lbs.
As the season is now closed I would like to remind all anglers to forward their angling return log books to the Fisheries Board at Ardnaree House, Abbey Street, Ballina Co. Mayo by Monday, 19th October. We would like to thank all Fisheries Managers, Guides and Gillies for their efforts over the season and for supplying the much appreciated information which makes this weekly report possible!
Ballin Lough
Catches on the lough remained steady throughout the week, with twenty three rods accounting for over thirty rainbow trout, the best of which weighed in at 4lbs.
Garrett Mc Guinness and Richard Hines enjoyed some success catching a total of six trout, all but one of these being released. Mattie Foley and friend also enjoyed some great fishing, catching twelve rainbow trout with the majority of these being released.
The Westport Trout Anglers held a competition during the week for the Fitzgerald Cup, with twenty one members taking part and twenty three trout being caught, the best of these was a rainbow at 3.5lbs.
Bryan Ward reports
week ending 27 September 2009
River Moy
The Moy system yielded a reported catch of 389 salmon for the week, a considerable increase on last week’s reported catch possibly reflecting the increased effort as the season draws to a close. The total reported catch for the season now stands at an impressive 7,153 salmon.
The Moy Fishery produced a total of 16 salmon for the week with the Ridge Pool yielding 3 salmon including one for Mark Corps at 6.5lb on the fly which was released and one salmon fell to Roustand Christophe, France, at 3.56lbs caught on the bubble and fly. The Cathedral Beat produced one salmon at 8.5lbs for Ben Carvosso, Dublin, caught on the spinner while the Freshwater Beat had four salmon reported including one for N.I. angler David Kidd who landed a salmon at 3lb on the fly.
Photographed below is French lady angler Renate Sieber with her first ever salmon which weighed in at 7lb. The salmon was captured on the Ballina Salmon Anglers’ Canal Beat, just upstream of the Freshwater Beat on the 26th of September on the worm. Pictured with Renate is her local guide for the day Kenny Sloan.
Renate Sieber with her 7lb salmon
and local Guide, Kenny Sloan
The Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water fished very well for the week where a total of 91 salmon were reported, with at least 11 of these being released. The Mount Falcon Fishery recorded a total of 54 salmon for the week, 39 of which were released. Among those to score at Mount Falcon was Staurt Price who caught and released a fine salmon of 12+lbs which was taken on the fly. The Knockmore Club water reported at least seven salmon for the week while Attymass had a reported catch of at least 6 salmon. The Coolcronan Fishery had a total of 22 for the week, with Alan Caughey, Northern Ireland netting a nice salmon of 14lb which was taken on the prawn.
Armstrong’s, Gannon’s and the Foxford Fisheries all had increased catches for the week, with Armstrong’s producing at least 25 salmon, 15 of which were released. Gannon’s yielded over 30 salmon for the week, with Pierman Bouchard of Switzerland landing a fish of 10lb on the prawn while the Foxford Fishery produced 23 salmon, with Trevor Greene of Northern Ireland having a successful trip, capturing and releasing three salmon all of which fell to the fly. At Rinanney a total of 64 salmon were reported with Thomas Murtagh, Germany, landing one salmon at 10lb, caught on the prawn and Dave Hawley, England, landing and releasing one salmon at 11lb also taken on the prawn.
The Cloongee Fishery produced five salmon, with Beat 1 producing two fish for Johnathon Sykes, England, including one at 12lb, both taken on the fly and released. Beat 2 also produced two fish for Francis Higginbotham, Northern Ireland. A reported catch of at least 18 salmon was recorded from the East Mayo Anglers’ water, with Paddy McDonnell, Swinford, hooking three fish on the fly, two grilse and the third weighing in at 8lb. Lothar Deeg, Germany also banked a fish at 8.5lb on the fly.
Lough Conn
The fishing on Lough Conn was disappointing, despite temperatures being up slightly and water levels continuing to drop to near normal levels.
Pontoon Bridge Hotel had a few boats out over the week, with visiting anglers enjoying some success. Amanda Wills, London, had one trout on the Daddy Long-legs, while Kevin Mc Greevy, Leeds had a trout of 1.5lbs and Gary Flynn, Surry, boated two trout on the Bibio. Jack Mellet had some success on the dry flies, netting two trout totaling 3lbs.
Saturday the 26th also saw the annual Pontoon Bridge Hotel End of Season Competition take place, with thirty boats participating and 59 anglers competing. The competition as ever was run on a‘catch and release’ basis. The spoils were shared by Mike Shanks of the Irish Angler Magazine (three trout for a total of 103cm) who came in first and his boat partner Castlebar man Peter Byrne who took second place (three trout for a total of 102cm). The Derek Wills Cup for best visiting angler was awarded to Julian Makin, UK, who had two fish.
The Boatman Cup was awarded to Ronnie Mayock, Monaghan and Foxford, who boated the 1st and 2nd place winners in the competition, netting a total of 6 trout.
Only a few anglers ventured out from Murphy’s boat hire over the week, where Ronnie Chambers, Belfast, and partner had two trout for the day, the heaviest weighing in at 2lbs.
Kelly’s Boat hire, Cloghans had a few anglers on the Lough, one of whom had three trout for 5lbs all of which fell to the Green Peter. Dermot Dunn, Offaly, and Brendan Levins, Dublin, had four trout between them for a days fishing, while Lou Valgrooton and Paul Vangrotoon, both of Belgium, had a total of four trout for the week, with the best weighing in at 4lbs.
Owenmore River and Carrowmore Lake
Carrowmore Lake produced some good fishing for salmon and sea trout over the past week, with Martin Rouland, Belmullet and Martin McDonnell, Glenamoy having a combined catch of fifteen sea trout and four salmon ranging between 5lbs and 7lbs. The Slattery party, Loughrea Co. Galway also enjoyed good sport on Carrowmore, with a total of 20 sea trout reported and five salmon between 4lbs and 6lbs, with all trout and one salmon being returned.
The Owenmore River fished well with twenty one salmon reported in total. The Pound Pool fished very well where John Long, Dublin, Jim Mills, Bangor Erris and John Reynolds, Belmullet all had salmon. Larry Mitchell had success on Conmy’s and Maggie’s Pools with a total of three salmon, while Eddie Murphy had a 5lbs salmon from the Rocky Pool. Three salmon were caught by Mervin Corway, two of which were successfully returned.
Lough Beltra
Lough Beltra West proved successful for some visiting anglers this week, with Jonathan Smalley, England catching a nice salmon at 7.5lbs plus two sea trout. Flies which proved successful included shrimp patterns, the Beltra Badger and the Green Peter. At Glenisland Co Op, Beltra East Jackie Diffley had a fine salmon at 10lbs.
Ballin Lough
Once again Ballin Lough produced good angling for those who ventured out. Twenty one anglers fished the Lough and reported a total of 48 rainbow trout. Mattie Foley and party had fifteen trout, eight of which were released. Michael Szapag and friend, Switzerland had a total of 12 trout (seven released) while Peter Gray and Timmy Deasy, Castlebar landed five trout, with four of these being returned. The biggest fish for the week weighed in at 4lbs with Olives, Bibios, Damsels and Minkies proving the most successful flies.
Lough Bo
The Lough Bo juvenile angling competition took place on Saturday the 26th and was hosted by the Riverstown A.C. A mix of species was landed on the day and all were counted towards the total bag weight. The winners were as follows: 1st place winning the Joe Mc Gann Cup was Seamus Hailstones with a total bag weight of 3lb 1oz, 2nd place winning the Cheoltas Shield was Connor Gordon and 3rd was Stephen Meehan. Congratulations to all the juvenile anglers who took part in the competition.
Markus Müller reports
Week ending 20 September, 2009
River Moy
The Moy system yielded a reported catch of 263 salmon for the week, bringing the yearly total, so far, to 6,764, which is almost on par with the previous season. Water levels continued to drop further during the week and an increase in rod numbers towards the weekend resulted in reasonable catches mostly in the middle reaches of the river.
Fishing on the tidal beats was still impacted by high water levels with only eight salmon reported from the Moy Fishery including a grilse from the Ridge Pool for Louth angler Padge Reilly. On the Freshwater Beat, Jim McCooey, Northern Ireland, had a grilse on worm, while Melvin Hughes from England caught one on fly. The Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water fished very well, as did Mount Falcon, where 34 salmon (26 released) were reported. Coolcronan reported a very good 26 salmon (15 released) including a 9 pounder for Swiss angler, Joseph Wolfinger, while Rupert Banks, Scotland, had 3 salmon between 7 & 10 lbs. on the Foxford Fishery. Rinanney produced a 9 lbs. salmon for Frank Bastian, Germany, and an 8.50 lbs. fish for visiting French angler, Philipe Tinois. Up river, on the East Mayo Association water, Martin Curley, Galway, landed an 8 pounder on spinner, while local angler, Conor Walsh and John Quinn, Galway, had a fish each on fly.
Easkey River
The Fortland Fishery continued to fish well despite the low water conditions and accounted for a total of 12 salmon for the week. Amongst the successful anglers were Stuart Forester, England, and Paddy McGowen, Northern Ireland who both caught their first ever salmon.
Owenmore River & Carrowmore Lake
Despite the fine, dry weather and low water levels a few fish were caught on the Bangor Club water. Eddie Nixon, UK, did very well with 3 grilse (2 released), averaging 5 lbs, while Geoff Downing, also UK, caught a fine 6 pounder in the Rocky Pool. There is still a good show of fish in the Owenmore River and prospects for the final week of the season are looking good as the recent rain has helped to bring water levels up again.
There was also some angling activity on Carrowmore Lake during the week. A total of 5 salmon were caught and released. Local angler, Denis Somers, had the best bag with 2 fish at 6 & 8 lbs.
Lough Conn
Angling on the lake improved further during the week. While high water levels still hampered the fishing somewhat at the beginning of the week, the fine warm weather resulted in fair to good conditions towards the weekend.
From Pontoon Bridge Hotel most anglers enjoyed good sport. Amongst the successful anglers were: Hanna Goodland, UK and Patrick & John Wills, also UK. Kelly’s Boat Hire, Cloghans, also reported good fishing: Daniel Edwards and his brother from Wales enjoyed a fantastic and memorable day on the lake. Together they caught and released over 35 trout and also lost a salmon! From Cloonamoyne Fishery, Crossmolina, Gary Crossley had a nice 2 lbs. trout, while John & Alex Corcoran caught 2 fish for 3 lbs. Elsewhere, Joe Quinn enjoyed good sport with 11 tout for a day’s fishing. Joe was fishing in the Cuilkillew area near Massbrook.
Most successful flies included Daddy Long Legs, Green Peter, Olive Dabbler, Octopus, Olive Bumble and Bibio.
During the week, the annual “Kieran Lynn Memorial Cup” was fished out of Murphy’s Boat Hire, Massbrook. Thirty-eight anglers took part and the event was won by John Burke, Foxford with 3 trout. Second place went to Michael Noone, Lahardane (2 trout) and Gary Binley finished in 3rd place.
Lough Arrow
The I.T.F.F.A. Inter Provincial Fly Fishing Competition was fished on Lough Arrow on Saturday, 19 September. A total of 72 anglers participated in this “Catch & Release” event which was won by the Ulster Team. The Connaught team finished in 2nd place with the team from Munster in 3rd place. Angling conditions were only fair due to the bright and sunny weather and most fish were caught on wet flies. Frank Kelly, Ulster, was the best individual angler with Barry Fox, Connaught, catching the best fish, a fine 52cm brownie.
Ballin Lough
Angling on Ballin Lough remained steady during the week with 16 anglers fishing and 35 rainbow trout caught (23 released). M. Foley and party of three anglers had 11 fish (8 released), best at 4 lbs., while Peter Gray, Castlebar, boated 9 trout, best a 4.5 lbs fish. Successful flies for the week were Sedge patterns and Dial Bach Nymph.
This prolific rainbow trout fishery remains open until the end of October. To book a boat on Ballin Lough, anglers should contact Mrs. Gill, beside the lake, on 098-26128.
Week ending 13 September, 2009
River Moy
Due to the fine dry weather water levels on the River Moy fell steadily in the middle and upper reaches over the course of the week. Consistent angling was reported from the Ballina Salmon Anglers’ & Mount Falcon waters. However, water levels on the tidal beats of the Moy Fishery remained very high and as a consequence angling was still slow on the Ridge Pool and Cathedral Beat.
Fly angler, Terry McDermott, Northern Ireland, had a grilse on the Ridge Pool, while John Harmon, Louth, landed one on spinner on the Cathedral Beat. The Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water once again was the most productive stretch of the river and the catch included some fresh fish with sea lice. Mount Falcon also had a very good week with lady angler, Maeve Davidson, Northern Ireland, catching 3 salmon (2 released) on spinner. Ben Price was also successful on Mt. Falcon. The UK angler landed 8 salmon for the week. On the Coolcronan Fishery, Sean Harrison, Northern Ireland, banked a 6 lbs. grilse on spinner while Dan O’Riordan, Dublin, had a grilse on Gannon’s also on spinner. Up river, on the East Mayo Anglers’ water, Roy Wilson and John Little, both Northern Ireland, had two salmon each on fly, while Fergal Smith, Dublin, caught a fine 11 pounder on spinner.
Easkey River
The Fortland Fishery accounted for a total of 11 salmon (2 released) for the week. Roy and Sue Howell, UK, caught one fish each on fly, while Ciaran Sudway from Longford landed his first ever fly caught salmon.
Owenmore River
The Owenmore River continued to fish well for the week with 10 salmon reported caught from the Bangor Angling Club stretch. All the fish were over 5 lbs. Amongst the successful anglers was Diarmaid Maguire who caught and released two fish averaging 6 lbs. The heaviest fish for the week was caught by Castlebar angler, Michael Cunningham in Maggie’s Pool and weighed in at 13.5 lbs.
Loughs Bilberry & Lannagh
On Saturday, 12 September the now annual “Cross Border Cup” was fished on Loughs Bilberry & Lannagh. The local team competed with a team from Larne & District Game Angling Association. Honours this year went to Bilberry & Lannagh Angling Club by 2oz with both teams having 5 fish each. The “Kennedy Cup” was also fished on Loughs Bilberry & Lannagh during the week. First prize went to Peter Gray with 2 fish for 2.5 lbs. Runner up was Keith Hopkins with 2 trout at 2.2 lbs. and Alan Browne came in third.
Ballin Lough
Eight anglers fished Ballin Lough for the week and some fine rainbow trout were caught. The best fish of the week was landed by David Eddis and weighed in at 5 lbs. Most successful flies included Minkie and buzzer patterns. Angling on Ballin Lough will continue until 30 October following which it will close for the winter months.
Week ending 06 September, 2009
River Moy
The Moy system had a reported catch of 298 salmon for the week, with the best of the fishing, again, in the middle reaches of the Moy between Ballina & Foxford. While angling on the tidal beats of the Moy Fishery was not possible due to high water levels a few anglers enjoyed success on the Freshwater Beat including Sean Maye, Sligo, with a 6 lbs. salmon on spinner and Mark Stone, UK, who caught his first ever salmon also on spinner. For the second week in a row the best fishing was on the Ballina Salmon Anglers’ water, with most fisheries reporting Wednesday and Saturday as the best days. Mount Falcon also enjoyed good sport. Amongst the successful anglers was Andrew Pearson, UK, with 5 salmon (4 released) on spinner. On the Knockmore water, Thiery Colum, France, caught a cracking 15 pounder on spinner, while Jim Barry, Dublin and Dickie Harte, Northern Ireland, scored on Coolcronan. Also on Coolcronan, Ronnie Douglas and Eric Lowrey, both Northern Ireland, each caught their first ever salmon. The Foxford Fishery produced 3 salmon for John Fogarty’s party from Arklow, while Jim Martin, Northern Ireland, had an 8.5 lbs. salmon on Rinanney. Up river, on East Mayo, Paul Kelly, Sligo, caught a 7 pounder on spinner and Michael Fitzpatrick, Westmeath, landed an 8.5 lbs. fish also on spinner. With water levels dropping gradually and an improvement in the weather, prospects for the tidal beats look a little bit brighter than in previous weeks.
Easkey River
The Easkey River continued to fish well during the week. The Fortland Fishery reported 34 salmon, 8 of which were released. Robert Rountree and party of 3 from Northern Ireland had 16 fish (6 released) mainly on fly.
Lough Conn & Lough Cullin
Extreme rain and floods have hampered the fishing on Lough Conn and Lough Cullin. Water levels rose about 4ft in the last few weeks and are now at winter level. As a consequence, angling was slow during the week. However, some anglers braved the elements and were rewarded with some nice catches.
At Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Mike Murray, Dublin, had 2 trout for 5 lbs., while Trevor Shreve, UK, boated 3 fish averaging 1 lbs. Adrian and Chris Geary, Dublin, had 3 trout, best at 1.5 lbs. From Cloghans, Stephen Browne caught 2 trout for 3 lbs outside Sandy Bay for an evening’s fishing. Most productive flies included: Daddy Long Legs, Gosling and Green Peter.
Lough Conn & Cullin Anglers held the annual “Paddy McDonald Cup” on Lough Conn on Sunday, 6 September. Twenty anglers participated and the event was won by Jackie Coyne, Galway. Runner up was Stephen Browne, Brackwansha and third place went to Joe Quinn, Cloghans.
Owenmore River
Despite a good show of salmon and suitable water levels angling was somewhat slower this week. For some reason salmon didn’t seem to be in “taking mood”.
Photo:
A nice Owenmore salmon goes back.
However, eleven salmon (7 released) were reported from the Bangor Angling Club stretch. Mark Mason, Northern Ireland, had the best bag of the week with 4 salmon, all of which he returned. The “Pound Pool” produced most fish including a nice 6 lbs. grilse for local angler, Michael Noone. There are still good numbers of salmon running the Owenmore system and water levels should also remain at perfect “fly level”.
Lough Arrow
The good fishing continued on Lough Arrow with several anglers reporting fine catches, mostly on wet flies. Local angler, Peter Dunne, had a very good week with a total of 9 trout (all released), between 1.5 lbs. and 3 lbs. Visiting Swiss anglers, Alain Kunz & Sandro Wiki, who were guests of Arrow Rock Hostel also enjoyed great sport on the lake. They caught 6 trout (4 released) averaging 2.5 lbs. including a fine 4 pounder!
Fisheries Awareness Week 2009
On Saturday, 29 August Newport Angling Cub & Westport Trout Anglers in association with the North Western Regional Fisheries Board hosted a Juvenile Angling Day on the Ballin Lough Fishery near Westport, Co. Mayo.
Photo: Cathal Hoban with his 2 lbs. rainbow trout from Ballin Lough.
Twelve keen youngsters participated in the event which included instruction on fly casting by John Fahy, NWRFB, who is a qualified angling coach. After the casting training, the young anglers ventured out on the lake to put their training into practice. Good numbers of trout were seen and some of the novice anglers rose and hooked fish. However, Cathal Hoban was the only angler to land a trout. Cathal’s rainbow weighed in at 2 lbs! The day ended with refreshments at the lake shore and every participant was presented with a badge to remember the day.
Another successful “Fisheries Awareness Week” event was hosted by Bilberry & Lannagh Angling Club, Castlebar. The Club held their annual “Under 18 Fly Casting Day” on Saturday, 6 September also on the Ballin Lough Fishery. The competition was well attended and Bernard Kennedy won first prize with 3 rainbow trout weighing in at 7.5 lbs. The prize for heaviest fish went to Edward Kennedy. Edward caught a stunning 4 lbs. rainbow trout. Other category winners on the day included: Cathal Hoban, Niall Walsh, Dean Carney and Edward Moran.
