Galway Weir
Strong northerly winds kept water levels slightly higher than usual, with a bit of colour in the water also caused by the wind on the shallow lower lake, but good runs of spring salmon continued through the week, and there were 16 salmon landed, with good numbers taken on the fly, and shrimp also doing well. Water levels have dropped now with the lighter winds, with one gate open and less water coming over the other gates.

Michael Rogers had a 7lbs fish on fly, Eoin Dunne took a 9lbs fish on spinner and PJ O'Connor had a 6lbs fish on shrimp. German visitor Urs Leibundgut landed an 8.5lbs salmon on fly, and Frank Poland had a fine 11.5lbs fish on shrimp. John Hetherington took an 8.5lbs fish on shrimp, and Clifden angler Jasper Matthews had a lovely 11lbs fish on fly. Jon Menzies from Loughrea had a 10-pounder on shrimp, while Brian King had a 9.5lbs fish, also on shrimp, and Pat Kane took a 9.5lbs fish on fly. There were early grilse, or small springers, for James Doherty, who had a 6.5lbs fish on fly, and Fintan Murphy, who took a 6lbs fish on shrimp, while local angler Simon Lenihan had a lovely 11lbs fish on a Silver Stoat fly. The fish of the week was landed by Gerry Hartigan from Limerick, a fine 12lbs spring salmon taken on shrimp.

Lough Corrib is at a very low level now, and with no significant rain forecast, water levels should remain perfect for flyfishing, and with good numbers of spring salmon running the river, fishing prospects in Galway are very good for the coming weeks.

Connemara
A prolonged dry spell was broken in earnest on Sunday night, and the River Erriff rose to 1.4 on the gauge on Monday, fining down to lovely fly water over the next 24 hours. Niall Wickham from Drogheda took full advantage, landing a 6lbs sea-liced salmon from the Coronation Pool on Beat 8. The fish took a Gold Willie Gunn tube fly. Niall also landed an early sea trout from the Bridge Pool on Beat 9.

There is good availability on the river and in the lodge over the next few weeks, contact fishery manager Jim Stafford on 095 42252 for details, or check www.aasleaghlodge.ie . The fishery is also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AasleaghLodge

Delphi was also suffering from low water conditions, but have reported a few salmon over the last week. Even with the river at 0 on the gauge, two Dublin anglers, Alan Molloy and David Dunne, managed to winkle out 3 salmon, all very fresh and 2 with sea lice. David had 2, one of 5lbs 1oz in the Turn Pool and the second of approx. 7lbs in the Whin Pool. Both fish were taken on a Cascade. Alan also had his in the Turn Pool. It weighed in at 7lbs 13oz and was also taken on a Cascade. Alan had another sea-liced fish from the Whin Pool later on in the week. It was taken on a Cascade and weighed in at approx. 6lbs. The river at this stage was at -3.

John Gode also managed to land his first ever salmon on Doolough this week. The fish weighed in at 8lbs 15oz and was taken on the troll. Finally, on Sunday night Delphi received some rain, which brought the gauge to 15, and Jens Kober took advantage on his first visit to Delphi, within 15 minutes of starting he landed a sea-liced fish of 6lbs on a Collie Dog from the Whin Pool.

To book fishing or accommodation, contact Delphi Lodge at 095 42222, or check www.delphilodge.ie

Colin Folan reports from Lough Inagh on a fabulous brown trout from the lake for visiting French angler Eric Tournaire. Eric fished Lough Inagh on Sunday and decided to concentrate on the brown trout, as there has been little or no rain in the last few weeks. Within 3 minutes of the first drift he hooked a cracking trout of 6-7lbs. After a few photos the fish was returned and Eric was thinking that maybe he was in for a bonanza of a day. Unfortunately it was the only fish of the day. In common with other Connemara fisheries, Inagh has suffered from drought conditions lately, and the fresh rain this week may stir things up and get some fish moving.

To book fishing or accommodation, contact Lough Inagh Lodge at 095 34706, or check www.loughinaghlodgehotel.ie

Lough Mask Producing Excellent Sport
Ronan Cusack reports that Mask remained in top form again this week with some excellent catches reported. Water levels remain low, but good hatches of Olives and the odd Mayfly continued from midweek. Ballinrobe & District Anglers held their annual 2-day pairs development competition over the bank holiday weekend with excellent results. 66 anglers took part, with 135 fish weighed in over the two days, giving a rod average of 2.05. First prize went to Noel Moran, Ballinrobe, and Billy O'Brien, Wicklow, with a total of 13 fish for 18.12lbs. Derek Madden and Thade O'Mahoney took second prize with 13 fish for 16.73lbs. Third place went to Paul Loscher and Francis White with 11 trout for 14.02lbs. Mick Savage, Dublin, took the heaviest fish prize with a fine trout of 3.27lbs. Best individual Ballinrobe angler was Noel Moran with 6 trout for 8.42lbs.

Cavan anglers Cian Murtagh, Daragh Murtagh and Vincent Kelly spent two days on Mask this week with Ronan Cusack. They landed a total of 51 trout with 17 exceeding the 13 inch legal limit (best fish 2.5lbs). Gerry O'Brien, Ballinrobe, had 4 fine trout on Thursday evening last on dry fly (best fish 3.5lbs, all returned). Kieran Biggins and Artie Pyke fished Mask for a half day on Tuesday and they had 7 trout (best fish 1.5lbs, all returned). Paul Loscher and Greg O'Donoghue, Ballinrobe, spent a day on dries and nymphs on Wednesday last, and they had 10 good fish (best fish 3.5lbs, all returned). Four UK anglers fished out of Cushlough with Sean Maloney and Joe Fitzharris on Monday/Tuesday and they had 14 keepers together with numerous undersize trout over the 2 days (best fish 1.75lbs). Pat Noone and a friend from Kildare reported having 40 fish on a mixture of wets and dries over the Bank Holiday Monday with approximately half exceeding the 13 inch limit (best fish 4lbs all returned). Two Norwegian anglers fished from Hall's Angling Centre during the week and they had 12 trout on dries (best fish 5lbs). To book accommodation or boat hire from Hall's contact David Hall on +353 (0)94 9541389 or check www.laksshoreholidays.com
Kevin Sheridan Ballinrobe had 22 fish over the week (best fish 3lbs all returned). Kevin also mentioned that in all his years fishing Lough Mask he had never seen the lake fishing so well.

Ronan also guides on Mask and can be contacted at cusackronan@gmail.com or on 087 2869487.

Margaret Gorman from Isham Self Catering and Angling Centre at Dringeen Bay on Lough Mask, reports that their guests enjoyed great fishing this week. All Anglers reported lots of activity with large numbers of small trout coming to wetfly and dap, and some good quality fish among them. Ian and Rosie Gordon, Northern Ireland, and Roderick & Caroline Murphy, Kilkenny, staying at ‘Isham' had some nice periods of dry fly fishing with some good quality fish.

On Sunday, 6th May, Paula Gorman landed her first trout to a natural mayfly while dapping.

Thomas Burkart from Germany had 10 trout for a number of day's fishing. His best fish was 4.5lbs.

On Friday, 4th May, Headford anglers Michael Flaherty and John Minnock had a super day on Lough Mask where they recorded a catch of 19 trout, most of which were returned to the water. Their best fish was 6.5lbs.

For Boat Hire and Angling Information available on site see www.congselfcatering.com, phone 087 7908107 or email isham@eircom.net

Mayfly Hatches Increasing on Lough Corrib
Trout catches in the Corrnamona area were good during the early part of the week, with many fish over 3lbs being taken on the dapped natural. Connla Geoghegan and Patsy Coyne had 7 fine fish with the best being over 3lbs. Tony and Gerry Walsh also had trout of 4 and 5lbs towards the end of the week, while relasing many in the 1lb to 1.5lb size range. Swiss anglers, fishing out of Carraig had good fishing throughout the week, they reported that while they caught fish on wet and dry fly, the dap was the most productive. Cornamona & District Anglers ran their annual Wetfly Competition on Sunday with 20 anglers taking to the water, 12 fish were weighed in for a total of 20.77 lbs. Peadar Breathnach came 1st with a beautiful trout just shy of 4.5lbs, Tom Sullivan was 2nd, also with one fish of 3.75lbs, Peter Curran took 3rd with 3 fish weighing close to 3lbs. The best fish of the week must surely go to Declan Cooke who landed a superb spring salmon on a Golden Olive Stimulator pattern. Declan had a mighty fight on his hands, as it took him almost 2 hours to land the 12-pounder. Many others have not been so lucky, with some losing whole casts of flies in salmon while trout fishing.

Frank Reilly reports from the Headford and Greenfield areas that while fishing had been generally good, Friday was the best day of the week. Of some 25 anglers who were fishing over the bank holiday period, 49 fish were caught. Some of the best catches included, Paul French from Dublin and David O'Conner from Trim, who landed 9 trout of 11.5lbs over two days fishing wet fly. David Egan also recorded 9 fish, his best was a fine 4.25lbs trout caught on a dry fly. Brian McEntee & Patrick O'Loughlin had 5 trout averaging 1lb 10oz each.

Donal Connolly from Nonaim Lodge in Glann, Oughterard, also reports on some great fishing for his guests over the last 2 weeks. Hugh McLean and Paul Docherty from Letterkenny had 5 trout, best 1.75lbs on wetfly and dry fly, and lost a few more on Saturday 28th April. Hugh also had one trout on wetfly on Sunday 29th April in horrific conditions.

Marc and Katell Salaun from Brittany had 2 trout while dapping, and lost several more and moved fish on almost every drift. This was their first experience of dapping and in the very difficult conditions on Sunday they coped successfully, especially 14-year-old Katell who with 2 trout, out-fished her father - much to his delight! All fish on the 2 days were released to fight another day.

Donal had 12 on wetfly on Thursday 3rd May out with Marc Bennett, Brighton, averaging about 1.25lbs, with a few up to 1.5lbs, all great fighting fish for their size and all released. Marc also had 5 on Wednesday the 2nd, which were also released.

Newcomer to fishing, Colin Richardson, Dun Laoghaire and Brighton had 3 fish - all released - on Wednesday and Thursday, one of which was on a dry fly. Over the last few days the bigger fish have started to show with a far bigger average size, Mark Sims from Lancashire had excellent fishing on Sunday with 5 trout caught in bright sunshine and mainly flat calm conditions, best was 3lbs, he also had a lovely 2lbs plus fish, the rest were in the 1.25lbs bracket, he also had 3 trout on Monday for 4lbs, all were released after a quick photo.

Seamus McBrearty, Ravensdale, Co. Louth, had 3 trout for 4.25lbs on the dap on Saturday, while Ciaran Gallagher, Killarney, had 2 trout on dry fly for 2.25lbs, on Monday. Young local anglers Paul Joyce and Liam Butler, Glann, had 2 trout on dry fly for 3.75lbs on Monday.

To book fishing or accommodation with Donal and Connie, contact Nonaim Lodge at Tel: +353 (0)85 7364830, email info@fishingcorrib.com or check www.fishingcorrib.com