Galway Fishery

Anglers have been having great sport in Galway over the past 2 weeks, with most meeting fish, if not several, and plenty of fish landed too. There were 34 fish banked for the period, with some fine spring fish among them, as well as some early grilse.

Henry Cosgrove from Tuam had good sport, landing fish of 10.5lbs on shrimp, 11lbs on fly and 7lbs on spinner. Dave O'Reilly from Dublin had 2 good fish of 9lbs and 9.5lbs on fly. Dexter Lynas from Northern Ireland set a new personal best with a 12.25lbs springer, caught on a fly he tied himself.

Dexter Lynas with a 12.25lbs springer, caught on a fly.

Brian King from Clare landed a 10lbs fish on shrimp, and Ted Walsh from Co. Kildare took an 11.5lbs fish on fly. Pat Kane from Northern Ireland landed an 8-pounder on fly, while local angler Sean O'Toole landed salmon of 13lbs and 11.5lbs on fly and shrimp, as well as a 6lbs grilse on fly.

Gerry Hartigan from Limerick took a 10.5lbs fish on spinner, while local angler Tony Kavanagh had a 10.5lbs fish on fly. Simon Lenihan had 2 fish of 7lbs and 6.5lbs on fly, followed on another day with an 11lbs fish on spinner. Young Cian Gargan from Bushypark landed a nice 7.5lbs salmon on spinner, while Michael Rodgers from Dublin had a 9.5lbs fish on spinner. UK angler Peter Taylor landed a 10-pounder on fly, and Loughrea angler John Menzies had an 8lbs fish on spinner. Damien Nolan from Clare landed two fine 8lbs fish, both on spinner, while Padraic O'Connor from Limerick had a 10lbs fish on shrimp, and Westmeath man Gary Kilroy took an 8lbs fish on spinner.

There is a great head of spring fish in the river at the moment, with fresh fish coming in on every tide, and with just 2 gates open on the weir, fishing prospects for the next few weeks are excellent.

Western Lakes

Ronan Cusack reports Lough Mask fished very well over the last 2 weeks, following a slight lull. The change in wind direction to a more favourable southerly direction, and the arrival of good mayfly hatches, resulted in some decent catches. Local Ballinrobe angler Frank O'Hara had 4 good trout (best 2lbs) for his day. Kevin Sheridan, also from Ballinrobe, fished dry mayfly patterns on the same day and he also had 4 good fish (best 3lbs). Ronan Cusack from Ballinrobe fished on Thursday evening and had 2 fish (best 2lbs). Pat and Adrian Gorman from Dringeen fished in difficult easterly winds over the weekend and had 4 trout over the two days (best 3lbs). Over the last few days, the fresh south-westerly winds coupled with grey skies made for ideal wet-fly and dapping conditions. Mayfly hatches were less prolific, with the best hatches reported from the southern end of the lake. The Tourmakeady angling club held the European Cup on Saturday the 14th. This year's winner was Jackie Coyne from Renvyle with 3 fish for 7.04lbs, Jackie successfully explored around Burkes Island and Burnthouse bay to earn his prize. Second was Pat Feerick from Partry with 3 fish for 6.00lbs, and third was Pat's brother Martin Feerick from Partry with 3 fish for 5.00lbs. The heaviest tish winner was Johnny Flaherty, another Renvyle native, with a fine 3.02lbs trout taken to a refined dabbler. Best overseas angler was Colin Woolcock from Wales with 3 fish for 3.13lbs.

71 rods fished for the 7 hour day which at times was quite breezy, with 48 fish weighed in, and plenty of undersize fish released back which was a great sign of stock levels on the lake.

Tom Sweeney from Macroom and Mike Hegarty from Killarney had 20 keepable fish to the boat last Friday fishing on the lake. Ronan Cusack ghillied for two UK anglers in the early part of the week and reported some fantastic sport. Both anglers had fish over 2lbs and returned numerous under size fish each day. John Tomlinson and Chris Wright, also from the UK, fished from Dringeen Bay on Monday and Tuesday last and landed 6 good fish for their efforts up to 2.5lbs.

Dominic Concannon from Derry also sent in a report from his weekend visiting Lough Mask, with 2 friends - they fished 3 days out of Tom and Mary Feeney's at Aghinish, and had 31 trout for their visit up to 2.25lbs. Fishing on the Sunday was very good with 17 returned. Monday was tougher with the windy weather with 5 caught. All but 3 trout were released.

Meanwhile, the mayfly has been up for the last 3 weeks on Lough Corrib, with some fantastic sport reported. Very blustery conditions have prevailed over the last 10 days, which made fishing very difficult at times, but anglers have still met fish all over the lake. On some days they were splashing at flies and coming short, leading to much frustration among anglers, however some rods had tremendous sport. Simon Tarpey dropped me a line to tell me about the fishing his friend Paul Naessens from Oughterard had last week, landing 32 trout for a day to wet mayfly patterns, all between Baurisheen Bay and Rinneroon Bay, with at least 14 of the fish over the size limit. Paul described it as like mackerel fishing at times!

Larry Kelly also emailed me about a "very tough week's fishing" he had with his friend John Jack from Aberdeen. They fished out of Basil Shields' Ardnasillagh Lodge from Saturday 7th through to Friday 13th in very blustery conditions, especially on the windward shores. Between 2 rods, they caught and released 37 ‘keepable' fish and over a hundred 12-inch fish (the size limit is 13 inches) over the 7 days, as well as one spring salmon of 7-8 lbs. The best sport was by far around the north shore of Inchagoill which fished well for 2 days. As I said to Larry, if that's what he considers a tough week, I'd like to see what they would catch on a good week!

Tom Kelly reports from Oughterard on fishing in that area: 116 anglers reported 252 trout for 250 rod-days over the last 2 weeks, not including competition results or the reports above. The Oughterard International Mayfly Competition was held on the 15th, with 124 anglers weighing in just 41 trout, although many undersize fish were landed and returned. Michael Curran from Oughterard took top honours with 3 trout for 2.82kg, and winning the specially-commissioned beautiful Mayfly trophy. Johnny Flaherty from Renvyle was second, with 2 trout for 2.60kg, and Pat Delap was third, with 4 trout for 2.34kg.

Elsewhere, the McAllister party of 6 rods from Northern Ireland landed 44 trout for the week, returning most of the fish, with their best trout 3.5lbs taken on a spent pattern. Pat McGovern and a friend from Cork dapped for 5 days and landed 18 good trout to 5lbs. Conor McFadden from Ennis dapped for a day and 4 good trout, while Greg McArdle from Co. Down landed 18 for his week, mostly to dry fly.

John Walsh and Frank Reilly reported from the Cornamona and Greenfields area that the blustery conditions made angling difficult, although big hatches of mayfly were seen on most days, and plenty of fish to be seen at the surface. As with the other shore, many anglers reported fish coming short and just splashing at flies, so numbers of fish weren't as high as hoped for.

The European Police Fly Fishing Championships were held from Greenfields last week, with 2 days of practice and the competition itself on Thursday, fished on a catch-and-release basis. Conditions on the first 2 days were very tough, with strong westerly winds, and many of the foreign competitors were not used to that kind of fishing. Fishing was tough on the practice days, with many blanks reported, in spite of anglers seeing fish everywhere. Conditions on Thursday improved slightly, and fishing picked up in time for the competition. Top individual rod was Mick Benson from the Irish team, with 6 trout for a total length of 226cm. The runner-up was Stevie McCabe from Northern Ireland, with 4 trout for 138cm, and third was a local expert, Mick Bradley, with 3 fish for 102cm. The Irish team took the team competition, and Irish team member Christy Reilly had the best fish, a trout of 57cm.

Elsewhere Gerry O'Brien and Nigel Gibson from the UK fished 5 days with fishing guide Larry McCarthy and landed 29 trout on fly, all released. The Headford club held a wetfly team competition on Sunday, with Jimmy Acton and Joe Burke from Tuam taking first place, with 4 trout for 5lbs 8oz. Liam Greaney and Eugene Kenny from Headford were second, with 2 trout for 5lbs 5oz.

In the Cornamona area, Patrick and Tom Summerville had 9 trout over 2 days for approx. 17.5lbs, inclusing a fish of 4lbs, while Patrick Walsh landed 11 trout over 6 days dapping, including a trout of 4.75lbs. Tom Ormonde from Meath and Enda Browne had 18 trout over 3 days, all sportingly released.

Hatches of mayfly are continuing, and with so many fish being seen and reported, prospects for the coming week are excellent, especially if this wind would ease a little bit!

Connemara

Salmon fishing is starting in earnest in Connemara, with catches reported from a number of fisheries.

Niall Wickham who caught a sea-liced 7-pounder on the River Erriff.

Fishery manager Jim Stafford reports on the first fish from the River Erriff, as well as several more fish caught. The increase in water levels brought a much improved run of springers up to 12 lbs into the Erriff during the first week of the month. Local angler Peter Coyne caught the 1st salmon of the season, weighing 6lbs, in the Falls Pool on a shrimp pattern. Another fish was hooked and lost in the Garden Pool. Friday the 13th was a lucky day for Niall Wickham, from Drogheda, Co. Louth who caught a sea-liced 7-pounder on a Gold Cascade in the Coronation Pool on Beat 8. Niall also caught and returned another fish of 6.5lbs on a Green Butt Cascade of his own tying off Poleen on Beat 4 in the afternoon. Conor O'Leary from Dublin took a 6lbs fish on a Cascade off Beat 6, and more fish have been reported hooked and lost. Jim reports a very god run of spring fish through the counter so far this month, but angling effort is low, so there is plenty of availability at the moment.

To book fishing and accommodation, contact Jim Stafford at Aasleagh Lodge, Leenane, Co. Galway, tel. 095 42252 or email erriff.fish@iol.ie

Simon Ashe, fishery manager at Ballynahinch Castle, reported their first and second salmon last week. After a very dry spell at Ballynahinch throughout the spring, the salmon fishing got underway in earnest on 9th May. Alan Hannon, a first time fly fisherman, landed a fantastic 13lb spring fish from the stream on Beat 1. Alan was fishing for trout using a small Silver Rat on a 9' rod when he hooked the fish! The following day, Tom McManus caught his first spring salmon, also from Beat 1. This beautiful 9lb fish was sea liced and very deep. The fish was caught on a shrimp fly using an antique split cane rod. Charles McKee, a regular visitor from Vancouver, lost a good fish in double figures only a few hours after Tom's feat.

These first two springers will mark what is hopefully going to be a fantastic year of fishing at Ballynahinch. Successive good spawning years with the removal of the commercial drift net fishery four years ago bodes well for a large run in 2011.

Spaces are becoming limited in July and August and it is advisable to call the hotel on 095 31006 to reserve some fishing for this period.

Finbar and Helen McGreevy with their 11.75lb trout caught on Lough Inagh.

Upstream at Lough Inagh, fishery manager Colin Folan also had good news to report yesterday: " At last I am delighted to report that the first salmon of the season has finally been landed. The last 2 days have seen springers lost at the Derryclare Butts, but today luck was on our side. The fish weighed 11.75lbs and was caught by regular hotel guest Finbar McGreevy (N. Ireland). The fish came to a size 8 Silver Doctor and took 30 minutes to land. Finbars' wife, Helen was on hand at the net to assist her lucky husband. At time of writing the rain is pouring so I predict a few decent days fishing. Richard Maguire fished Pine Island yesterday and landed a 2.5lbs brown trout on a buzzer, along with many other smaller trout.

To book fishing or accommodation at Lough Inagh Lodge, contact Lough Inagh Lodge Hotel, Recess, Connemara, Co. Galway. Tel. (+353) 095 34706, or check www.loughinaghlodgehotel.ie