Galway Fishery

Salmon fishing was very good in Galway over the last week, with 27 fish landed and many more fish met by anglers. Water levels were good up to yesterday, but the heavy rain of the last couple of days has seen levels rise, and there are now 6 gates open. Despite this, there were 4 fish landed already today, and plenty of salmon are showing in the river.
Jim Delahunty from Kilkenny landed salmon of 8lbs and 8.5lbs on spinner, while Paul Smyth from Tullamore had a fish of 9.5lbs on shrimp. French visitor Jean le Moal took salmon of 5lbs and 11lbs on shrimp, and Brian King from Clare had 2 fish of 8lbs and 7.5lbs on shrimp. Gerry Hartigan had a good day on Saturday, landing fish of 12lbs on spinner, 5lbs on fly, and 11lbs on shrimp. Local angler Declan Tuffy fished the fly and landed fish of 4lbs and 8lbs, while Padraic Corrigan from Dublin landed a fine fish of 12lbs, as well as a 6lbs grilse, both on fly.

Midlands angler John Bradley took a 9.5lbs salmon on shrimp, and Martin Kiely from Limerick had fish of 12lbs and 9.5lbs on spinner. Clare man Michael Browne landed a fine 13.5lbs salmon on spinner, and Dublin angler Ray Foster was very happy with his fish of the same weight, 13.5lbs, taken on shrimp.

Ray Foster with a 13.5lb salmon taken on a shrimp.

Weather conditions are very changeable this week, with high water levels, but the fishing doesn't seem to be affected, and we are seeing great runs of spring salmon and some early grilse, so the prospects for the coming weeks are very good.

Western Lakes

Ronan Cusack reports from Lough Mask that south-westerly winds early on in the week eventually developed into storm force gales on Mask over the weekend, but despite these inclement weather conditions there was no interruption to the good fishing on the lake.

Ivor Hazlet and Gareth Luve, from Northern Ireland, fished out of Cushlough last week and averaged 5 good fish per day. They also reported returning large numbers of under size trout over the week. British anglers Michael Boyd and George Lemont fished Mask on Tuesday and Wednesday last and landed 13 good fish for the two days (best fish 3lbs). Sam Proctor and his son from Co Down also fished Mask for the week and reported some excellent fishing. Two Scottish anglers fishing with Ronan on Friday and Saturday enjoyed some excellent sport, with plenty of fish up to 2lbs and again returning large numbers of juvenile trout. Wicklow angler John Doyle and three friends fished Mask for the first time ever on Thursday, guided by Ronan, and John landed a magnificent trout of 9.5lbs for his trouble, taken on the troll.
Despite the time of year sedges and small olives dominate the fly hatches on the lake and mayfly numbers still remain poor.

John Foyle with a 9.5lb trout from Lough Mask.

To book fishing with Ronan Cusack, call him on 087 2869487 or email cusackronan@gmail.com

Meanwhile, mayfly hatches are just petering out on Lough Corrib, although there were still prolific hatches up to last weekend, and some anglers are still meeting good numbers of fish. The storm on Monday has probably signalled the end of the mayfly here for this year, after a generally very good few weeks. The cold blustery weather made fishing difficult too, with fewer boats out, and anyone who was mad enough to go out on Monday would probably be better off trying extreme sports!

Larry McCarthy reported 27 clients landed 54 trout over 49 rod-days, all on fly, including Tim Rowey and Terry Lusby from England, who landed 22 fish over 12 rod days to dry fly, all sportingly released. To book fishing or accommodation with Larry, check www.corribangling.com or call +353 (0)93 31718.

Tom Bell's party of 4 anglers landed 8 good fish over 4 days, including a fish of 4.25lbs. Vincent and Mattie Hughes landed 4 trout for a day for 8.5lbs The Jack Kelly dapping competition was won by Ger Walsh, with 4 trout for 4.9kgs. Second place went to Eamon Waldron, with 2 trout for 2.18kgs, and third was Martin Murphy, with 2 trout for 1.6kgs.

At the time of writing the wind is howling again, and rain showers have been frequent, but if the weather would warm up slightly the fishing should remain reasonably good for the next couple of weeks.

Sea Angling

The Connacht Closed Gold Medal Shore competition was held over the weekend, with competitors fishing 3 venues over the 2 days, and having a few welcome pints in the Helm in Westport in between. Fishing was very tough, with incessant rain and wind on Saturday morning making for miserable fishing on Cross Strand near Louisburgh. Anglers were split into 2 zones for each session, with points awarded for placings in each zone.

The opening session on Cross was won by Peter Atkins (Zone A) and Mike Curtin (Zone B), with Peter taking a fine flounder of 41cm to win his zone.

The evening session on Saturday was fished at 2 venues in inner Clew Bay, with the fish seemingly not on the feed at all, and only one thornback ray was reported, taken by veteran angler Fergus Collins from Furbo. Scores were updated on Saturday night back at base in the Helm, and it was all to play for on Sunday, with at least 8 anglers in with a chance of winning the competition, and several more well placed to qualify for the team.

Conditions were much more benign on Sunday, with sunshine and just a few showers making for a more enjoyable day on Whitestrand beach. From the start, fish were coming in on Zone A, while Zone B was plagued with floating weed. The weed soon made an appearance on Zone A, with Ed Kilroy at the end troubled most by it. Ed, however, had landed enough fish before the weed moved in to win the zone, while Padraic McKenna took Zone B.

Back in the Helm, where anglers were welcomed with delicious soup and sandwiches, scores were quickly totted up, and the winners announced. The winner of the Connacht Closed Gold Medal for 2011 was Ed Kilroy from Newport SAC, with a total of 48 points. Padraic McKenna (Newport) was second, on 46 points, while Peter Atkins (Galway Bay SAC) was third, with 43 points. Brian Reidy and Chris Feeney (both Galway Bay SAC) also qualified for the Connacht team for next year's inter-provincials. Chris Feeney also won the under-21 Gold Medal.

Ed Kilroy presented with the Ray Toner Cup by Ray's daughter Rebecca.

Ed Kilroy was presented with a new trophy, the Ray Toner Memorial Cup, for his achievement. The cup was commissioned in honour of Ray Toner from Renmore, Galway, a longtime stalwart of the shore scene in Connacht, who passed away tragically last year. The cup was presented by his daughter Rebecca, and it was great to see Ray's family there to see Ray being honoured.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.