Connemara

There's only one word to describe the salmon fishing this year in Connemara, and that is fantastic. Record-breaking might be another description, and this certainly applies to Lough Inagh, who have just smashed their previous record for salmon caught in a season, with several weeks left to go. Elsewhere, Ballynahinch, Erriff and Delphi all report excellent fishing and big improvements on previous years, with fresh fish coming in all the time. The heavy rain this week has brought big floods in all fisheries, and once the water settles fishing should be excellent for the next week.

Erriff

Fishery manager Jim Stafford reports from the River Erriff on fishing up to Saturday last:

Water levels varied on the river during the week with a good spate fining down on Saturday the 3rd. Robert Devriese, Dublin caught 5 fish for 3 days fishing on a Silver Cascade and Shrimp Fly. Tobias Stern, Austria, a regular annual overseas rod on the Erriff caught 7 for the week - mainly on various Cascades and Shrimp patterns. Dr. John Casey, Clifden caught 3 in 1 day on a Collie Dog in Nee's Run and the Colonel's Pool on Beat 6. Conor O'Leary, Dublin returned one of 6lbs taken on a Daddy in Yellow Banks on Beat 5.

Patrick Gorman, Cong had 2 in a morning's fishing on Beat 9. Enda Kenny, Enfield, Co. Meath caught a sparkling fresh grilse in the Coronation Pool on a Shadow Cascade. Rene Boutonnet, France, another annual overseas visitor to the Erriff caught 5 and 1 good sea trout and lost several more good fish for the week - Rene caught 3 salmon in one day in the Upper Garden Pool on a Shrimp Fly.
It was a red letter day for Derek Killeen, Dublin who caught his first ever salmon and went on to catch another 2 - all fish were taken on a Claret Dabbler on Yellow Banks on Beat 5. Richard and Hugh Maguire had one each taken on a Silver Stoat and Cascade in the Sally Pool on Beat 7. Local angler Stuart Fleming and Paddy Lynch, Dublin caught six brown trout on Derrintin Lough in an afternoon.

The catch for the week was 28 salmon (16 released) and 9 sea trout which includes 1 salmon and 4 sea trout from Tawnyard Lough.

At the time of writing the report there is a massive spate of 2.1 meters so water levels will be good for the next number of days

To book fishing or accommodation, contact Jim at Aasleagh Lodge on 095 42252, or email erriff.fish@iol.ie

Inagh

Fishery manager Colin Folan reports from Lough Inagh, that the previous season record of 85 salmon has been smashed in style, with 8 fish landed by 5 rods on Monday to bring the season total so far to 91 salmon. The record-breaking 86th fish was landed by ghillie Ulrich Treusch, a 6lbs fish taken at the Glendallogh Butts on a Cascade. It was Ulrich's second fish of the day, having earlier caught and released a 7lbs fish at Greenpoint. Colin himself had a fish from Corloo on a Stoats Tail, weighing 6lbs. Matt Davy (Dublin), caught his personal best fish yesterday, weighing 7.75lbs from The Derryclare Butts on a Claret Shrimp. Water levels have risen dramatically now on Inagh, and good fishing is expected for the coming week, when it is possible the magic 100 fish barrier may be broken for the first time.

To book fishing or accommodation, call Lough Inagh Lodge Hotel at 095 34706 or check their website at www.loughinaghlodgehotel.ie

Delphi

David McEvoy reports on fishing for the month of August at Delphi, which is experiencing a good year:

August was typically August-like for fishing, frustrating, especially in the last 10 to 12 days of the month. There were plenty of salmon to be seen but they proved extremely difficult to catch. Sea trout were disappointing overall but there were a few high points especially towards the latter part of the month.

The weather was even difficult to describe. A tourist would say it was terrible with lots of rain but the monthly total was only 178.7 cms or 7" which by our standards is not a lot. It also felt quite autumnal a lot of the time.

Total salmon catch for August was 82 which is actually not bad but all but 14 of these were caught by close of play on the 19th. Fish of the month was without question Barbara Cellier's 13lbs10ozs fresh fish off Finlough on the 15th. It was taken on a Silver Stoat.

Other notable salmon catches for the month included the Beattie party, who landed 11 fish for their stay, the Ganly party landed 6 while Urs Liebundgut landed 16, the Brennan/Morris party landed 7 and William Hamilton landed 2.

Sean Moogan and his grandson Daniel Feehan landed 5 salmon to 5lbs off Doolough and Nicholas Laverty, John Mill's grandson landed his first ever on the fly off the Turn pool.

First ever salmon were taken by father and son team of Ron and Scott Borrie from New Zealand, Haruro Onda from Japan and Jordan Green.

Sea trout were an improvement on July which wouldn't be hard but were still well down on last year with only 181 compared to 208 last year. Most notable catches were the Ganly party who had 36 sea trout up to 3lbs. Bernard Barton and family then had a day with 15 including one of 7.5lbs approx. (male probably ferox) and one of 3lbs 4oz approx.

This week we had Tom and Shirley Morrison, sea trout experts of old. They fished solely for sea trout and managed 22 in four days.

Total sea trout catch for the last week was 55 which is not bad considering the condtions.

Total salmon catch so far this season is 426, so hopefully we will reach the 500 mark before the end of the season.

To book accommodation or fishing at Delphi, contact the lodge at 095 42222, or check the website at www.delphi-salmon.com

Sea Angling

John Brittain's clients have been enjoying some fabulous fishing over recent weeks, with plenty of blue shark being landed, as well as excellent mixed species fishing for cod, pollack, ling - as good as John remembers it in his 15 years skippering a charter boat in the area. Stephan Lamb from Leixlip brought a group over for the weekend, and Bar Kennedy was lucky enough to land a cracking blonde ray, which was released again, but probably weighed close on 20lbs.

Bar Kennedy with his catch and release Blond Ray.

Anyone looking for a day afloat with an excellent skipper should contact John at 095 21073, or check www.bluewaterfishing.com . John also has regular updates on his Facebook page, just search for Bluewater Charter Fishing.

Western Lakes

Fishing is reasonably good on Corrib at the moment, and John Walsh reports from Cornamona-Greenfields that 19 anglers reported 35 trout in 41 rod-days, mostly taken on wetfly, predominantly dabblers and Green Peter patterns. A party of 3 rods staying at Larry McCarthy's Corrib View Lodge, John Cash, Vaughan Rutley and Richard Haskins from the UK, landed 8 good fish over 3 days fishing, including a nice trout of 3lbs. Frank Guilfoyle Sr. and son Frank Jr., from Ennis, landed 3 fish for their day out, while Sean Dixon from Ennis had 2 trout for his day on the lake. Mike Lambert and Jack Coyle from Antrim landed 5 trout for 8.25lbs over 2 days, and Michael Jones and Christopher Dodd from Wales landed 7 trout over 2 days, all sportingly released again.

September is usually a good month on Corrib and Mask, with water temperatures cooling down slightly and fish becoming more active, so fishing prospects here are pretty good over the next few weeks.