Galway Fishery

Water levels are perfect at the moment, although grilse numbers are still not great for this time of year. After an initial run last week, the big run has not yet materialized, and anglers are keenly awaiting the arrival of the annual bonanza.

There were 45 salmon landed for the week, mostly between 4-6lbs, but some good fish up to 8.5lbs also. Jim Barry from Dublin had fish of 8.5lbs, 6.5lbs and 4lbs on fly, while Eoin Cosgrove from Tuam landed 2 grilse of 5.5lbs and 4.5lbs on fly. Eddie Kelly from Cavan had 2 nice grilse on fly, while Eugene Murphy from Meath had 2 grilse to 7lbs on shrimp. Local man Fintan Murphy had 2 good grilse on shrimp, while Wexford angler James Ryan had 2 grilse on fly. Seamus McEleney from Donegal took 3 grilse to 7lbs on fly, and UK angler John Stevenson had 3 grilse on shrimp over a couple of days. Brothers Dave and Declan O'Reilly from Dublin had a grilse each, with Declan beating David on weight this time, while local man Dave Lenihan had a nice 6lbs fish on fly. Jimmy Scotson from Monaghan landed 2 fish on fly, including a fine 8lbs fish, and Tom Coogan from Monaghan had 2 grilse on fly to 7lbs.

With weather and water conditions so good, as soon as the main run of grilse hits the river I would expect catches to increase substantially, and fishing prospects here are looking very good.

M. Rogers - 16lbs fish

Lough Corrib is very quiet this week, with very few boats out. Trout are still being taken on fly, however, despite the lull, although trolling for ferox trout is slow at the moment. Some mayfly are still hatching, and if the weather remains broken fly fishing should still produce the goods.

I fished a day with angling journalist Terry Jackson for ferox with no success, and I believe we weren't the only boat to blank. However, Patrick Molloy guided 2 German anglers, and they landed a nice trout of 11lbs taken by Jochen Numrick, fishing out of Lakelands in Oughterard. I heard of a 19lbs ferox taken the previous week by a Welsh angler guided by John Fahy in Cong, so perhaps Terry needs a better guide next time! A German visitor, Orthud Wentl, landed 3 fish on dap for a day, best fish 2.5lbs, while Mike Faherty and a friend had 3 trout for a day dapping, and Glen O'Connell from Shannon had a 4lbs trout on the troll. The best return of the week in the Oughterard area was to Martin Coughlan from Offaly on the 15^th, with 8 trout to wetfly, best fish 3.5lbs, and all sportingly returned.

Over on the Cornamona-Greenfields side, there were good mayfly hatches on a couple of days, with fish taken on wet and dry flies, although dry fly is proving best at the moment. There were returns for 39 trout caught by 29 anglers in 42 rod-days. Patsy Deery's party of 4 from Cookstown, Co. Tyrone landed 15 trout over 3 days for approx.. 25lbs, all returned again. Eamonn McCarthy from Ennis had a nice trout for his day of 2.75lbs, and Sean Dixon from Ennis had 2 trout for 3.25lbs. Phil Gradwell from Doorus fished 4 days and landed 9 fish for 15lbs, while Frank Reilly and Peter McGuinness landed 2 trout for a day for 3.25lbs. Mayfly patterns were most successful, with dry fly proving more effective than wets.

 Connemara

The rain of the last week has kept water levels up, and fresh fish have been running most of the rivers in Connemara. Jim Stafford, manager of the Erriff Fishery, reports that good numbers of salmon and sea trout are going through the counter there, and fishing is picking up. One angler had 3 fish on Friday, with another one hooked and lost, so sport can be hectic at times. There is plenty of availability during the coming weeks on the fishery. To book fishing on the Erriff or accommodation at Aasleagh Lodge, contact Jim at +353 (0)95 42252, or email erriff.fish@iol.ie

Fishery manager Simon Ashe reports from Ballynahinch Castle: The spring salmon fishing at Ballynahinch turned out to be the best since 1987 with some really fabulous springers taken in May and early June.  The grilse have now started running over the past week, right on cue!  4 grilse have been landed over the past four days with all fish between 5lbs and 6.5lbs. 

Simon Ashe had a 6lbs sea-sliced grilse from Stanley's Run on Beat 7 on a Badger, Tom McManus took a 5lbs fish from the stream of Beat 1 and Cyril Biggins landed a fine 6.5lbs fresh grilse from Sna Beg, also on a Badger.  Only an hour ago, Ulrich Treusch brought a fine 5lbs fish into the hotel.  Ulrich caught the grilse on a Monkey fly from the stream on Beat 1.  The prevalence of such large grilse arriving early in the run is very encouraging indeed. 

Whilst it does appear that the grilse are running quite late this year, we have had our best start to the season in 10 years.  A nice drop of rain last night brought the river up to near-perfect levels and the counter saw a real jump in salmon numbers passing upstream.  Unsettled weather for the coming week should bring some great fishing.

The strong sea trout run continues with large fish still running on every tide.  A fine 45cm (approx 2.5lbs) sea trout was released yesterday from Beat 2 by a regular French angler.  In the space of an hour during the week I landed 9 sea trout up to a pound from the Dentist's Pool on Beat 7.  When the sea trout take so freely it can be the most enjoyable type of fly fishing bar none!

Fishing beats are busily getting booked up for the rest of the season.  There are fantastic fishing and accommodation special offers on our website (www.ballynahinch-castle.com).  For those who are interested in reserving fishing please contact fishery manager, Simon Ashe (simon@ballynahinch-castle.com) or the hotel reception on +353 95 31006.

David McEvoy, fishery manager at Delphi, reported that they had 10 salmon for the week to June 19th, a mixture of springers and grilse, in spite of low water levels.

Bill Brown landed  a 7lbs fish off the stream in Finlough. This is Bill's second visit in recent weeks and he managed the unusual feat of catching a wild fish on each occasion. Steve Ruehr managed to land a fish in the Deadman's of approx. 4lbs. on a Collie Dog. R.T. Cardwellhad a fish of 6lbs in the Turn Pool on a Humungus, while David Hewston Brown had one off Doolough of 3lbs 8oz.

R.T.Cardwell again had a fish off the Turn Pool on a beaded nymph of 8lbs 5oz and David Hewston Brown had one of 8lbs off Finlough on a Van Beck.

Andrew Brain from USA landed his first ever salmon, a sea liced 3lbs fish off Doolough on a Cascade, and David Allcutt had a sea liced 5lbs fish off the Turn Pool on a Yellow Shrimp. Reports from Killary are that there are quite a lot of salmon to be seen and the draft nets are catching a mixture of springers and grilse.

To book fishing or accommodation, call Delphi Lodge at 095 42222, or visit their website at www.delphi-salmon.com

Colin Folan reports from Lough Inagh that while fishing was slow during the week, a deluge of rain on Monday night has given a good flood, and as the water drops fishing should really pick up. Very good sea trout are moving upstream, with fish to 5lbs observed, and fish to 3.5lbs landed. Two boats out on the 18^th both landed sea trout, with one fish of 3.5lbs landed, while Robert Brown and Greg Forde both had sea trout and moved salmon too. Young Alex Finn was guided by his granddad, Dr. John Casey, and landed a beautiful grilse of 5lbs off Greenpoint Beat, which took a size 10 Executioner. Colin himself landed a fine 8lbs salmon  this morning off the Derryclare Butts on a size 8 Silver Rat.

Alex Finn

Colin Folan

To book fishing or accommodation, call Lough Inagh Lodge Hotel at 095 34706 or check their website at www.loughinaghlodgehotel.ie

Sea Angling

The Connacht Open Shore Gold Medal competition was fished on Whitestrand beach, Louisburgh on Saturday last, in near perfect weather conditions, with a good surf and plenty of fish about. The competition was also the third leg of the West Coast Shore League.

The overall winner was Chris Feeney from Galway Bay SAC, with 9 fish for 245 points. This was Chris's second year in a row to win the Connacht Open Gold, a great achievement. Chris was pegged in Zone A, which generally fished better. Yanto Jones (GBSAC) was the zone winner for  Zone A, with 8 fish for 202 points, followed by Mike Curtin (Lisdoonvarna/Fanore) with 9 fish for 158 points, and Mike Varley (Belmullet) with 5 fish for 85 points.

Zone B was won by Kevin Crowley (GBSAC) with 12 fish for 185 points, followed by Sean Ivory (Western Vikings) on 7 fish for 147 points, and Pete Atkins (GBSAC) with 8 fish for 129 points. The junior prize was won by Kaylem Feeney, brother of Chris, with a great score of 14 fish for 311 points, followed by Paul Joyce, with 15 fish for 230 points. The senior anglers were very glad not to be competing with the juniors, going on those scores! The future of shore angling looks bright in Connacht with great young talent like this emerging.

The West Coast Shore League is now led by Sean Ivory, with 294 points after 3 legs (anglers score 100 points for a zone win, 98 for 2^nd, 96 for 3^rd, etc.). Lying in second place is Pete Atkins on 288, followed by Mike Curtin on 286, Kevin Crowley on 284 and Yanto Jones on 282. With 5 more legs to fish, competition is sure to be intense over the next few months.

Charter skipper Kevin MacGabhann, owner of the Maighdean Mara in Spiddal, reports that his clients are enjoying good fishing in Galway Bay at the moment. They are landing plenty of cod, many between 4-6lbs, as well as pollack, some nice ling, and spurdog. Mixed species fishing is just starting to pick up, and if weather permits he will be targeting tope as well over the next couple of weeks. His colleague Max Couque, skipper of the Leaca Rua, has been enjoying good ray fishing, as well as spurdog to 14lbs. To book fishing with Kevin, contact him on 086 8547890, or check www.galwaybayfishing.com , or contact Max on 086 3234638.

Meanwhile in Cleggan, skipper of the Bluewater, John Brittain, reports that weather has made fishing difficult, and they are forced to fish in the shelter of the islands most days, but at least they can still get out. They have had some very good pollack fishing, as well as cod and ling, and if the weather picks up they should see a big improvement in catches when they can get further offshore.

Hanna Hayes -Bluewater - Pollack

Paul Caffrey - Bluewater - Cod

To book fishing or accommodation, contact John or Sue Brittain at 095 21073, or check www.seafishingireland.net. They also have a facebook page where regular fishing updates and photos are available, just log on to facebook and search for Bluewater Charter Fishing.