River Moy 

The Moy had its best week of the season, so far, with a recorded catch of 324 salmon bringing the total for the season, so far, to 1,645. A break in weather midweek resulted in the best of the fishing towards the weekend. As a consequence, there was good fishing throughout the entire system, with a good number of double figure salmon caught. 

The Moy Fishery enjoyed its best week of the 2009 season, so far. On the Weir Pool, fly anglers, Ivor Trimble and John Savage, both Northern Ireland, had a salmon each, while Roy Taylor, UK, landed a 6.19 lbs. fish on worm. On the Ridge Pool, Joe Martin caught an 8.25 salmon on fly and Gordon Sweetman, Carrickmacross, had a grilse also on fly. The Cathedral Beat also enjoyed good fishing during the week. Amongst the successful anglers was Brendan McLoughlin, Northern Ireland, with 2 salmon on spinner and worm. Also on the Cathedral Beat, Declan Foley, Kiltimagh, landed a salmon on fly weighing 7.5 lbs.  

Mount Falcon produced her first ever salmon for lady angler, Maeve Farrell, Dublin, while Estate Manager, Jim Wilson, scored with a 9.5 lbs. fish on worm. On the Armstrong Fishery, Michael Brunt, Germany and party of five, had 15 salmon for the week on worm & prawn. The Foxford Fishery had a very good week and produced some nice salmon including 7 fish for Tom & Jonathan Carthew, UK, best at 13 lbs. Horst & Jürgen Babel, Germany, were successful on the Foxford Anglers’ Rinnaney stretch, with 4 fine salmon weighing between 9.75 lbs. & 12 lbs. All four fish came to the worm. Above Foxford, Robert Smith, John Owen & Rob Dembenski, all UK, had a salmon each, best at 11.5 lbs. 

On Cloongee, Paul Wymes, Dublin, caught & released 2 salmon while spinning and visiting German angler, Fritz Edlar, landed 3 salmon, best at 12.75 lbs. The East Mayo Anglers Association water also produced some good catches during the week. Amongst the lucky captors were: Remy & Frederick Poignant, France, with a total of 8 salmon ranging between 5 lbs. & 7 lbs., Frank Papon, Switzerland, with 2 salmon at 7 lbs. each and Billy McGhee, Ballyvary, who landed a fine 9 lbs. salmon on fly. Also on the fly, Fred Thompson, Dublin, caught 2 salmon at 7 lbs. & 10 lbs. On Ballintemple, French couple, Dominique & Dominique Lemoine had a grilse each. 
 

Lough Conn & Lough Cullin 

It has been a quiet week on Lough Conn and the strong and gusty winds midweek also impacted in the fishing. 

From Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Stan Jacobson, Canada, had 3 trout over 3 days to the Claret Bumble, best at 2 lbs., while Brendan O’Kelly, Dublin & Kieran Connolly, Pontoon, caught 2 trout each, best at 2 lbs. on Bibio and Stimulator. Michael Johnson, UK, boated 2 brown trout and a sea trout, best at 2.75 lbs. and James McWalter had 6 trout (4 released). Near Six Arch Bay, Phil Cobhan, UK, landed a brown tout for 1 lb. and a grilse on the Clan Chief. From Healy’s Hotel, visiting anglers, Joachim Bauer & Hans Buhler, had 4 trout on Cullin to wet mayfly patterns, best fish at 1.5 lbs. In Crossmolina, M. J. Cawley had 2 trout for an evening’s fishing, while John Warren had some good sport around Errew Head with 3 trout (all released) for 4 lbs. to mayfly patterns. Fishing out of Kelly’s Boat Hire, Cloghans, Gerry Fox, Sligo, had 8 trout (all released), best at 2 lbs., while Paul Smyth, UK, caught 6 fish for 7 lbs. on Bibios and Green Peter. The best fish of the week, however, was caught by Peter Roche, Cloghans, in Castlehill Bay. Peter’s fine brown trout weighed in at 5.02 lbs. 

Congratulations to the local women from the Irish Ladies Fly Fishing Association who won the International on Lough Lean, Killarney, last week. Carmel Kelly, Mary Kelly Dunne and Orla Walsh, all from Cloghans, contributed to the Irish win. Well done!  
 

Ballin Lough 

Again, a good week for the Ballin Lough Fishery with 24 rods catching a total of 110 rainbow trout (81 released).

Amongst the successful anglers were Ronnie Child, UK with 23 fish (all released), best a fine 6 lbs. rainbow, Michael Sazbat & friend, also UK, with 21 trout (16 released), best at 4 lbs. and Ed Cornally, Offaly, with 13 rainbows (10 returned), best at 3.5 lbs.

Best flies for the week were Zulu, Damsels and various nymph patterns. To book a boat on Ballin Lough, anglers should contact Mrs. Gill, beside the lake, on 098-26128.  
 

Pike Fishing 

A group of visiting French anglers enjoyed some good pike fishing on Levally Lake, near Pontoon and Carrowkeribly Lake, Attymass, during the week. The group caught and released a total of m17 pike, best at 91cm.