Salmon Angling
River Moy

Anglers were treated to unprecedented fishing on the mid and upper Moy of late, with the consensus among anglers being that the river is experiencing the best run of spring salmon in years. At the Foxford Fishery, "Wind Power wins out with the capture of a specimen salmon". Manager Granville Nesbitt reported that on Saturday the 28th master angler and ghillie Vincent McDonnell hooked what appeared to be a reasonably sized salmon. He immediately handed the rod to guest Eddie O'Connor who played and landed a beautiful 20.11lbs specimen size salmon. Granville also reported that of the 22 salmon taken on the Foxford Fishery over the week, 13 were over 10lbs.

Mr Eddie O'Connor and Mr. Vincent McDonnell, with the magnificant specimen salmon captured at the Foxford Fishery.

Water levels have risen and fallen several times over the past week, and with Loughs Conn and Cullin still relatively high, anglers have concentrated their efforts on the fisheries upstream of Ballina. However, the Ballina Salmon Anglers' water did fish relatively well, with Noel Maloney among those to have success, with a 10.5lbs salmon caught on the worm. At the Coolcronan Fishery, Ursula Westhoff, Germany and Eoin Farrelly, Dublin both enjoyed their stay, and each had a fine 10lbs fish. At Armstrong's Fishery, Michael Bruen, Germany had two salmon of 10lbs, with Emily Bruen also banking two grilse. Gannons also fished relatively well, where Pat Healy, Co.Roscommon had a great fish estimated to have weighed at least 18 lbs. The Foxford Salmon Anglers' water including Rinanney also fished well, with over 20 salmon reported.
The Cloongee Fishery, managed by Inland Fisheries Ireland, fished extremely well for the time of year, with over 39 salmon reported for the week. Visiting anglers enjoyed excellent angling at Cloongee, with many quality salmon caught. Harry Neumuller had one of 11lbs, Phillippe Deziterre banked two which weighed in at 8lbs and 12lbs. Daniel Duguin also had success with two salmon of 8lbs and 10lbs. Francis Higginbotham, N.Ireland, also enjoyed a double capture with two salmon of 7lbs, taken on the worm and spinner. Keith Wignall, U.K., had an 8lbs salmon to the spinner, while Leslie and David Robinson, N.Ireland, had salmon of 11lbs and 7lbs respectively.
The East Mayo Angers' Association water produced remarkable angling with over 100 salmon caught for the week and approximately 10% of these were released. The quality of fish encountered was excellent, with a very large proportion of those caught weighing in at over the 10lbs mark. Among those to enjoy the unprecedented run were Ross Thornton, U.K., who had two salmon of 9lbs and 10lbs, Alex Clements, U.K., had two of 7lbs and 9lbs to the spinner, Michael Hodges U.K., also had success on the spinner with a 7lbs and a nice 15.5lbs salmon, while Mark Tromme, Belgium had a fine 16lbs salmon to the worm. Mark Toquard, France, also enjoyed double success, with two fish of 10lbs and 12lbs on the spinner. Local angler Kieran Reid, Bohola, took an excellent salmon, estimated to be in excess of 17lbs and Co. Kildare angler John Colgan enjoyed great sport taking three very good salmon at10lbs, 11lbs and 12lbs.

Prospects look excellent for the coming week on the Moy, and the catch to date supports the consensus that the 2011 season thus far has indeed seen an excellent spring run. Compared to the same period last year where 360 salmon were reported at this time, the mighty Moy has produced 998 salmon this season thus far, reaffirming its status as Ireland's and Europe's premier salmon fishery.

Lough Beltra and the Newport River
Both the Newport River and Lough Beltra have fished well over the past week, with the Lough producing 10 salmon and the river five. On Beltra, Frank Dooley, Dublin had success once again with three salmon weighing 6lbs, 7lbs and 9lbs. Brother Declan Dooley, Rocky Moran - Castlebar, D. Hamman, John Campbell - Westport, Ben Baynes and Noel Napier all had fish off the Lough. The best of 8lbs and 7 lbs taken by the latter two angles at the quarry and dock respectively.

Visiting angling journalist Rudy van Duijnhoven, the Netherlands also enjoyed success at Beltra, boating a fish of 7lbs, and while fishing the Newport River, Rudy also caught two salmon of 10lbs and 12lbs. Guest at Newport House, Fergus Rothwell landed one of 8.5lbs on the Newport River where Pat Smith and Cameron Brandt also had fish of 7.75lbs and a 6lbs respectively. David Nevin also had a nice sea trout form the Newport River which was returned.

Trout Angling
Loughs Conn and Cullin

With more or less constant wind throughout the week, high water levels and poor temperatures, the prospects on the Loughs did not look good for angling of late. However, many anglers who had booked to travel to the area to fish, braved the elements and were rewarded for their efforts. Wet and dry Mayfly patterns, including the Green Peter, Golden Olive Bumbles, Sooty Olives, dry Olives, Dabblers and various Wolf patterns all proved successful.
Angling out of Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Kieran Meehan, Co. Antrim had four trout over two days, his best weighing 2lbs. Annual visitors to Pontoon, Stewart and Wendy Lyons, Scotland, had 12 trout over three days while Glen Allen and David Orsler, Cheshire, England, had 15 trout over three days with their best 1.75lbs. Michael Timlin and party of four, Newcastle, England enjoyed success on the Loughs, with three trout and three salmon. Harry Rechfield, Germany had success on dries, with four trout over two days, while Guy Ververberne, the Netherlands had 18 trout over three days, his best at 2lbs.
Fishing out of Enniscoe, Desmond Perry and Paul Rubin, U.K., enjoyed success boating 11 trout over 2 days, while Patrick and Alan Heslin, Co. Cork, also had good fishing, with 14 trout over three days.

Fishing from Murphy's Bay, Massbrook, Gerry Keating, Co. Cork and Michael Moclair, Co. Tipperary had 15 trout over two days. Dave Passmore and party of 8 anglers from the U.K. also had good sport on the Loughs and despite the weather they averaged 30 trout per day over their three day visit. Regular visitors to Murphy's, Mick Sweeney, Loughrea, and Liam McHugh, Co. Offaly had one productive trip out of Massbrook, where they boated four trout and a salmon for their day.

Foxford Anglers held their annual President's Cup competition on Lough Conn on Sunday 29th. Fourteen anglers took part, with numerous small trout caught and safely returned on the day. The weigh in was held at Guirys of Foxford and first place went to John Sheridan, Foxford, with his trout of 2.8lbs, in second place was Dominic McGowan, Foxford, with two trout for 2.11lbs and third was John Binley, Foxford, with 1 trout for 1.05lbs while Peter Roche, Cloghans took fourth with a trout of 1.01lbs.

Lough Arrow
Strong winds throughout the week kept many anglers off the lake. The main Mayfly hatch has now past with only the occasional green Mayfly being observed on the Lough. However, trout are being caught on the wet fly, with wet Mays and Murroughs yielding results. Pat Beggan and Sean Corry boated three trout of 1.5lbs, 1.75lbs and 2.25lbs, while visiting angler Dirk Zonnekein, Belgium, had one of 2lbs and Peter Dunne caught two, both weighing 3lbs.

Ballin Lough
A total of 23 rods fished the Lough for the week, with very good results, accounting for 134 trout (113 of which were released). Peter Gray and angling partner, Castlebar, boated 20 trout (releasing 17) with their best fish 2lbs. Dave Jackson, Brian Sheehan and Tony Wright, U.K. caught 21 trout (releasing 19) with their best fish 2.8 lbs. Alec Percy and boat partner, N. Ireland caught 15 trout and released all, with their best fish weighing 2.5lbs. Mattie Foley and friend, Co.Roscommon caught 26 trout (releasing 20). The most successful flies of the week were Dabblers, Muddlers and the Bibio.