Angling News
Angling News Mayo/Sligo - 6 June 2011
By Bryan Ward
8, Jun 2011 - 16:35

Salmon Angling

River Moy

Once again, the mid and upper beats of the Moy produced the best fishing of the week, with more quality grilse in the 5lbs to 7lbs range being caught. The combined catch for the Moy system for the week totalled an impressive 296 salmon. The Ballina Salmon Anglers' water also produced good fishing, with Waynne Lawerenson, South Africa banking a grilse of 5lbs on the worm. Mount Falcon and Byrne's each produced a few fish, while Armstrong's and Gannon's produced good numbers. At Armstrong's, Gilles Bodinier, France, had three salmon of 10lbs each. The Foxford Fishery again produced good sport, with Ian Ford, Co. Dublin, among those who had success, with a 12.5lbs salmon on the worm. Rinanney also produced good angling, where Thomas Murtagh, Germany landing one of 9lbs to the worm, and fellow German Frank Geib caught one of 11.5lbs on the prawn.

Cloongee Fishery also produced good numbers, with over 28 fish reported. Among those to have success were Michael Timlin, England, with a salmon of 11lbs, James Corr, N.Ireland had two of 10lbs and 13lbs and William Sheppard, N.Ireland, also banking two of 8lbs. a group of French anglers also enjoyed good sport at Cloongee, where Thiery Colum, had one of 10lbs on the bubble and fly, Andre Jegouzo had two of 6lbs and 8lbs. Phillippe Deziterre landed one of 9lbs to the spinner. Daniel Duguin had three of 6lbs, 7lbs and 9lbs.

The East Mayo Anglers' water once again out fished all other fisheries on the system, with good numbers reported. Manfred Kauert, Germany, had success on the fly with a fish of 12lbs, while Gerard Malcoste, France also found the fly productive, with two salmon of 7lbs and 12lbs. Mark Toquard, France caught a 10lbs salmon on a spinner, while U.K. anglers Mike Dench and David Causen, both had a salmon each.

Ballisodare River

The Ballisodare Fishery continued to produce good numbers of salmon, with 89 caught for the week, 58 of these were released. Sean Mitchell had success with fly, landing a 10.5lbs salmon, while Sean Maye, also had one of 6lbs to the fly which was released. Chris Kitchen had one of 6lbs to the prawn and visiting angler Suzanne Simpson had one of 5lbs on worm. Roy Simpson also had good sport at Ballisodare, with a fish of 10lbs to worm.

Visiting juvenile angler, Lorna Brady, Athlone enjoyed her trip to Ballisodare, where she caught a salmon of 5lbs with the worm. Paul Kilreevey released two fish of 4lbs and 5lbs which were also taken on the worm, while Jimmy Cuffe had two of 5lbs and 6lbs.

Lough Beltra

Beltra once again proved a successful venue for many, with nine salmon caught for the week. Malcolm Killeen had two salmon of 7lbs and 12lbs, while regular angler to the lake, Rocky Moran boated a 6lbs salmon. Another regular, Eamon Kennedy, Newport had two, a fine 15.5lbs salmon and a fresh run grilse of 3.5lbs. Martin Hughes, Newport also landed a fresh run fish of 5lbs. Finally Ian Conn, Brian Clayton and Niall Berwick had a salmon each, weighing 6lbs, 7lbs and 8lbs respectively.

Newport River

The Newport River produced five salmon for the week, among those to have success was Cameron Brandt who had one of 6lbs. David Nevin also enjoyed excellent sport landing two fish, of 10lbs and 15lbs.

Carrowmore Lake

The windy weather of the early part of last week made Carrowmore unfishable, up until the weekend. Mervyn Corway enjoyed great success when conditions did improve, with five salmon boated, four of which were returned, weighing between 8lbs and 10lbs. Ger Ruane, Castlebar, caught a great 18lbs to 20lbs hen fish, which was sportingly returned. Ronnie Mayock, Co. Dublin had two salmon of 8lbs each, while Mel Parrot also had two, weighing 7lbs and 8lbs. Michael Cunningham, Castlebar also had success on the lake, with a salmon of 8lbs.

Trout Angling

Loughs Conn and Cullin

Once again, the windy weather and waves did not deter many dedicated souls from venturing on the Loughs, and those who fished were rewarded for their efforts. However, anglers are reminded to take care when fishing the larger lakes. Always wear a life jacket when boat angling, and please check the weather forecasts before venturing out, as fast moving low pressure systems can quickly change conditions on the Loughs.

Anglers enjoyed good fishing out of Cloonamoyne Fisheries, Enniscoe, where Dermot Mc Aleese, Co. Dublin and party enjoyed three productive days angling. They caught a total of 38 trout of retainable size, on wet flies, with all but three released. Canon John Flynn and son Robert had good angling in Bog Bay on dry flies, with 20 trout boated, 7 of which were keepers. Gary Crossely, Enniscoe had two trout, his best 2lbs and Ian Wise had three trout for the day on a Sooty Olive.

Fishing out of Kelly's, Cloghans, Walter Byrne had 15 trout over four days on wet mayflies, while Dr. O'Connell, Arklow, fishing with Patrick Kelly had two trout each. Seamus Kelly also had success in Cloghans Bay, with three trout up to 2lbs.

Massbrook Bay proved productive for Co. Tipperary anglers Michael Moclair and Gerry Keating, who had 11 trout on Saturday 4th, all of which were released, while John O'Donnell, Edenderry had two trout. Fellow Edenderry anglers Liam McHugh and Ned Tyrell, had success in Colemans Shallows, where they boated 14 trout. Boat partners Graham Williams and Jack Lynch had good angling in Sandhouse Bay, where they caught 4 trout on a grey Wolff.

Angling out of Pontoon Bridge Hotel, Elliot Darlington, U.K. and John Beattie, Co. Dublin had two trout each to mayflies, as well as a sea trout taken on a Zulu. Sean Murphy, Co. Cork also had success, catching four trout for 10lbs which fell to the Royal Wolff, while fellow Co. Cork angler Jim Rooney had 5 trout, his best 2lbs. Chris Wathen, England enjoyed five days fishing, producing a total of 20 keepers, his best weighing 4lbs. Stuart and Wendy Lyons, Scotland, also enjoyed four days angling out of Pontoon Bridge, where they had a total of 25 trout, their best 2.5lbs and also one sea trout of almost 2lbs. Harry Goddard, Co. Dublin, also had good success on the Grey Wolff, with three trout. Ceri Jones, journalist with the Trout Fisherman magazine enjoyed good angling with the Golden Olive Bumble (size 12), boating 6 trout for 9lbs, while Derek Evans, writer for the Irish Times, had three trout, his best was 2lbs.

May 31st and June 1st saw Lough Conn host the Annual Garda Competition, with forty anglers participating over the two days. The team event was won by the Galway West team, while the individual event was taken by Bob Bradley, Co. Galway, with four trout for 4.95lbs. Second in the individual event was Peter McGinley, Co. Galway, with three trout for 3.35lbs while the retired member's event was won by Seamus Kelly, Co. Galway with two trout for 3lbs.

The annual IFI-Ballina vs IFI Galway inter-region competition was held on the 3rd June, with 24 anglers participating. Winning first place on the day was Kevin O'Boyle, Ballina with two trout for 1.250kgs, second place went to Stephen Neylon, Ballina with two trout for 1.085kgs. Third and fourth place were won by Galway anglers Tom Kelly and John Walsh, while John Mc Neely, Ballina took fifth.

Conn and Cullin Anglers Association held their annual Whit weekend competition, with 105 anglers taking part over the two days. 74 trout in total were recorded, with the largest fish caught by Francie White, Co. Sligo with a trout of 1.560kgs. Dorrie Gibbons, Cong, took first in the ladies competition wit one trout for 0.540kgs. The main competition was won by John Mc Googan, N.Ireland, with six trout for a total of 3.335kgs. Seamus Kelly, Cloghans, clinched second with five trout for 2.215kgs with Basil Shields, Co. Galway winning third with three for 2.150kgs. Fourth place went to John Purtill, Co. Tipperary, with four trout, in fifth was Francie White, Co. Sligo and sixth went to Gerry Mc Cormack, Co. Louth.

Lough Arrow

Murrough fishing has proved successful on Lough Arrow for visiting and local anglers alike. Craig Edmeades, Norway, boated a fine fish of 4lbs to the murrough, while Wim Scoors, Belgium had one of 1.5lbs. Peter Dunne also had success, with four fine trout ranging from 2.5lbs to 3.75lbs. The wet fly proved productive for Vincent Conlon and Pat Beggan, who had four trout ranging from 1lbs to 1.5lbs.

Ballin Lough

Ten rods fished the lough for the week, catching a total of 40 trout (28 of which were released). Mattie Foley and boat partner landed four trout, best fish 1.5lbs. Paul Caslin and boat partner had a total of 17, releasing 15. Their best fish weighed 2.5lbs. Finally, Mike Cazabon and boat partner, Westport, had 12 trout, with their best fish 2lbs. The most successful flies were the Dabbler, Bibio, Whiskey and the Alexander.

Pike Angling

A group of guests from America opted for a half day guided pike fishing with Angling Services Ireland, while on a recent trip to Charlestown, Co. Mayo. Professional angling guide Bodo Funke had the four anglers fishing one of the regions pike lakes, and the pike did oblige on the day. Bodo and Angling Services Ireland part- time guide Brendan, had the group of four fishing from two boats, where they nearly all got hooked into some nice pike on the day. However, it was Patrick that boated the best fish, his first Irish pike measuring exactly one meter, taken on a cast lure.

For guided pike fishing trips contact angling guide Bodo Funke of Angling Services Ireland on +353(0) 866011878 or visit www.anglingservicesireland.com for further details.

Sea Angling, Blacksod

First time visitors to County Mayo, Patrizia Lehmann and Lukas Doerflinger, Bellach, Switzerland were accompanied by their hosts in Ireland, Heather Stevenson, Co. Down and Seamus Ward, Co. Tyrone on their first ever sea angling adventure. The party departed from Blacksod on Friday, 3rd June and were met with a heavy sea fog, which gave an eerie atmosphere to the voyage. Travelling around the Inniskea Islands, then north to Frenchport, the group enjoyed the wonderful scenery as well as fantastic fishing onboard the Dúlra na Mara, skippered by Anthony Irvine. It was not the variety of fish boated that impressed the party, but the sheer size and strength of pollack they met, with several in the 10lbs to 12lbs range (many hooked in pairs and trebles) , and the rest weighing in at between 5lbs and 10lbs. Some fine mackerel were also landed, as well as coalfish up to 5lbs. For guided sight seeing tours of the Inishkea's, wildlife tours and quality sea angling contact Dúlra Nature Tours on +353(0) 876656114 or email info@dulranaturetours.com.

Lucas Doerfliger, Switzerland, boating a fine double of pollack.

Heather Stevenson, Co. Down with one of her many fine pollack.

Belmullet Sea Angling Club Competition results

Over 30 anglers took part in this open boat international, a two day competition held over the 4th and 5th of June. Weather conditions were favourable and the anglers enjoyed excellent fishing over both days. There were over sixteen different species of fish landed, including pollack, coalfish, cod, haddock, dogfish, ballan wrasse, cuckoo wrasse, grey gurnard, red gurnard, tub gurnard, whiting, dab, flounder, megrim, ling and thornback ray. The heaviest fish on Saturday was caught by Lisa Carolan, Belmullet S.A.C and on Sunday, Anthony Matterson. Bellmullet S.A.C boated the heaviest.

Robert Barrett, Belmullet S.A.C took first place in the greatest variety, juvenile section, with Rowan Barrett, Belmullet S.A.C. taking second. The ladies section of the greatest variety competition was won by Sheila Wilson and Sharon Talbot, Belmullet S.A.C. The greatest variety, out of state section was won by Michael Selfridge, East Belfast S.A.C. First place in the overall greatest variety section was won be James Mangan, Belmullet S.A.C.; second place was won by Anthony Matterson, Belmullet S.A.C. and third went to John Munnelly, Killala Bay S.A.C.