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 8lbs fresh run salmon. Visiting journalist Bernd Taller, Germany also had great success, fishing the Owenmore for the first time and landing a salmon.

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 Kenny, 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. Pollock, pouting, cuckoo wrasse and dogfish were also boated on the trip.

A fine 14lbs cod taken onboard the Leah, in Killala Bay

Bernd Taller Germany with two nice Owenmore grilse

Dawid Lotz, Scotland, with a cracking 8 pounder from the Owenmore River

An impressive 60lbs conger eel caught A rare sight in Killala Bay, a 2lbs John Dory recently onboard the Leah

An impressive 60lbs conger eel caught on board the Leah