Angling News
NW Angling News - 16 May 2010
By Bryan Ward
21, May 2010 - 08:36

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.