River Moy

Angling catches improved on the River Moy when compared to the previous week, with a steady run of fish moving in the river and salmon reported caught in all the fisheries. Water levels continued to drop throughout the week, leaving ideal fly angling conditions on the fisheries with fly water.

The Moy Fishery had a much improved take of fish during the week. On the Ridge Pool 11 year old Northern Irish angler, Peter Murphy, caught two salmon on the fly. Swiss angler, Christian Berger had two salmon while fly fishing for 4.26 & 4.3 lbs. Bill Cleary had a fantastic weeks fly fishing on the Moy Fishery, catching 3 salmon on the Ridge Pool and 3 on the Cathedral Beat. Also on the Cathedral Beat, Peter & Annie Taylor, from England, had 1 fish each. The Spring Wells and Ash Tree Beat started to fish well this week. On the Spring Wells Beat, Spanish angler, Matthias Jacob had 1 fish on a spinner and Jon Freestone had a fish on the fly. Keith Hudson from England found some good fishing on the Ash Tree Beat, catching 3 salmon while fishing the fly.

The Coolcronan Fishery will provide special memories for father Mr. Rodgers and 10 year old son Nathan Rodgers as they both caught their first ever salmon. The Coolcronan Fishery also accounted for two salmon for Steven Richardson from the North of Ireland while on Armstrong's Fishery, Raymond Caley, from the Isle of Man, banked two grilse.
Paul Tibbetts of the UK had a grilse on the fly at the Foxford Fishery. Cloongee was the kind to visiting German Angling Journalist, Bernd Taller. Bernd caught a grilse while getting to grips with fishing the "Bubble & Fly" method as before Bernd had never fished a fly like this. Also on Cloongee, Dublin angler, Bill O'Regan had a 5 lbs fish and Robert Locke from the UK a 4.5 lbs salmon. Four salmon were caught by Northern Irish angler, Dermot Drain while he was fishing at the East Mayo Angler's Fishery.

Moy Estuary

Angling on the Moy Estuary has remained very constant over the last number of weeks. A large number of small fish are still holding in its waters and boat partner, guided by Judd Ruane, enjoyed very good sport on the fly.

Lough Conn

Few anglers fished Lough Conn this week apart from the Irish Youth International Fly Angling team. They were in practice for the up coming Youth International competition that will be fished on Lough Conn on the 30th of July. Elsewhere Edward Michaels and his wife Frida from Austria, boated 4 trout for 6 lbs, the best a 2.2 lbs fish.

Carrowmore Lake

Excellent Sea trout angling was once again the order of the day for Carrowmore Lake. Anglers out on the lake encountered a fine head of fish in good taking form. Fermanagh angler, Mark Corps, managed to land 18 sea trout, and return 14 of these. Oisin and Eamon Giblin from Clare boated 2 grilse and 7 sea trout between them while on a different day Eamon had another grilse and 4 more sea trout. Westport anglers Brian Hope and Toby Gibbons had 8 sea trout between them selves.

Owenmore River

Angling conditions on the Owenmore river were generally good if a little on the windy side during the week. A number of fish were caught with Richard burgess 1 grilse, 8 lbs, Larry Mitchell 1 grilse, 7 lbs and Martin Rouland, Bangor, 1 grilse 4 lbs having the best of the fishing on the Bangor Club water.

Lough Furnace

The good head of fish that had been holding in Furnace Lough over the last number of weeks finally came on the take. Moderate westerly winds meant angling conditions were ideal. Once again the ever popular Ally's Cascade and Green Peter fly patterns proved to be the most successful flies for the week. Tim Aldiss from the UK caught the best fish of the week on the Lough, a lovely 7 lbs grilse. Tim also caught 2 other salmon for 6 & 4 lbs. Sean Smyth from the UK and Billy Bullick from Northern Ireland both had 3 grilse while Cavin angler, Mark O'Regan, landed a grilse.

Ballin Lough

The angling on Ballin Lough remained steady during the week with 13 anglers fishing and 22 trout caught. Martin McGuire from Newport boated 3 trout the best a lovely 5 lbs fish while Matt Fahy had 4 trout, the best for 2.5 lbs. Best flies for the week were Green Peter, Butcher and Dabblers.

Bilberry Lough

The Mc Conville Cup was fished on Bilberry Lough on the week ending 13th of July. The winner of the Mc Conville Cup and the 19ft angling boat was Pat Day, Headford. 2nd Padraig Mulgrew, Ballymacragh, 3rd Peter Byrne, Castlebar.

A junior competition was held on the 20th of July. Under 10s; 1st Gavin Hastings, Enniscrone, 2nd Aoife Gray, Castlebar, 3rd Coleen King, Castlebar. Over 10s; 1st Claire Walsh, Ballymacragh, 2nd Jarlath O' Malley, Mountdaisey, 3rd Dean Carney, Cloggernagh.

Ballisodare River

The angling on the Ballisodare River continues to be extremely good, with many fish caught and a very high percentage of these released. Low water levels have lead to excellent fly angling conditions on the Fishery. A Juvenile angling day was held on the Fishery, with junior angler, Sean Gallagher catching the biggest fish of the week that day, a lovely 8 lbs salmon.

Lough Arrow

The Green Peter fishing on Lough Arrow remains good with anglers willing to fish late in the evening rewarded with some very nice trout, many over the 2 lbs mark. Peter Dunne, from Leitrim, had the best of the fishing with 7 trout for the week, from 2 lbs to 3.75 lbs. David Gray had 2 trout for 4.2 and 4 lbs while Mary Gunning caught a 3 lbs fish on the wet fly.

Drumcliff River

The Drumcliff River started to produce salmon over the week. Local angler, Johnny Lockney, landed a 6 lbs salmon on worm while fishing high up on the system on the Lurgan stretch.

River Bonet System

Water conditions on the Bonet were ideal over the week and, as a result, salmon were caught. Juvenile angler, Jamie Conlon, had a good salmon upstream of Dromahair village, to a Flying C while 3 salmon were taken from the Garravogue River.

Lough Bo

Lough Bo has been stocked with 200, fine quality trout and as a result would be well worth fishing. You can arrange fishing on Lough Bo by contacting Mary McDonagh at 071-9165126.

Balla & District Angling Club hosted the All Ireland Pike Fly Competition on Sunday, 20 July 2008 - Bodo Funke, Boyle, pictured here finished in second place with this fine 11.5 lbs. pike

Pike Angling

Balla & District Angling Club hosted the All Ireland Pike Fly Competition on Sunday, 20 July at Carrowmore Lake, Manulla. Twenty-five anglers took part in the event and a total of 20 pike were caught and safely released after weighing. Angling journalist, David Gray won the competition by a narrow margin of just 0.25 lbs. with a pike weighing in at 11.75 lbs. Professional angling guide, Bodo Funke, Boyle, finished in second place with a fine 11.5 lbs. pike.