Galway Weir

The Galway Fishery produced 9 salmon for the week, with Brian King's 13.5lbs fish the pick of them. Limerick man Brian landed his fine springer on shrimp. PJ Taylor from the UK had a grilse on fly, as did Brian O'Rourke from Tuam and local angler Declan Tuffy. Galway man Michael Barry landed a fine 10lbs fish on fly, while John McCarthy Sr. took an 8lbs fish on shrimp. Salthill resident Dave Lenihan had a 5.5lbs fish on shrimp, while Galway man Michael Cunningham would have made his late friend Jimmy Dunne proud with his 8.5lbs salmon taken on shrimp. Midlands angler Simon Cassidy fished the fly and was rewarded with a lovely 11.5lbs salmon.

Water levels are perfect for flyfishing at the moment, and with plenty of fish running the river and such good conditions, angling prospects in Galway are very good for the coming week.

Connemara

Robert Price with his fine salmon of 10.75lbs taken from Beat 9 on the River Erriff. Also in photo is angling guide Robert Gillespie.

The Erriff Fishery produced a couple of spring fish over the last week, with John price from the Wirral in England landing a fine 10.75lbs sea-liced springer on Beat 9, in the company of well-known angling guide Robert Gillespie. The fish took a Yellow Shrimp pattern in the Gauge Pool. Local man Peter Coyne also landed a nice fish off Beat 9 over the weekend. There is very little angling pressure on the Erriff at the moment, and given a bit of water, anglers could be well rewarded here.

To book fishing on the Erriff or accommodation in Aasleagh Lodge, contact fishery manager Jim Stafford on 095 42252, or visit www.aasleaghlodge.ie for details. The lodge and fishery also have a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AasleaghLodge

Delphi produced a number of salmon during the week, and Ciaran Boland definitely ended up top rod by landing two double-figure salmon. It goes without saying that Ciaran was a happy man when leaving.

Ciaran had his first of the week on Finlough. The fish was taken on a Gowla Temple Dog, measured 85.5cms i.e. approx. 14lbs 12oz and was sea-liced. His second was again on Finlough, weighing in at 11lbs and half an ounce and was again taken on a Gowla Temple Dog.

After a few dry days Leigh Hookes got fishing back on track with a nice fish from the Turn pool on Monday. The fish weighed in at 6lbs and was taken on a Monkey Dog. On Wednesday Steve Harrod had one of the better fish of the year so far in landing his first ever salmon, a sea-liced 12lbs 3oz fish off Finlough on a Silver Stoat variant. Leigh Hookes struck once again with a fish of 10lbs 1oz on an Executioner from Finlough. He was aided in this task by his boat partners, John Tappin and Robbie Burton. Christopher Jarman proved once again why he is one of Delphi's top anglers in landing 2 fish. The first of approx. 9lbs came off the Turn pool on a Snake tube and the second a sea-liced fish of approx. 9lbs from the New Island pool on a Silver Stoat. On Thursday Christopher Jarman had another fish, this time off Finlough of 8lbs 13oz on a Silver Stoat, Chris Wathen had a fish off Finlough, also on a Silver Stoat of 6lbs 2.5oz, and finally Tony Whitehouse accompanied by Peter Milne had a fish off Doolough of 8lbs3ozs.

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

Lough Mask Still Producing Excellent Sport
Ronan Cusack reports that the rise in temperatures this week has reflected in a slight improvement in mayfly hatches. Anglers fishing the southern end of Mask in particular reported seeing plenty of fly on the warmer days and trout responding well.

Nicolas Boireau from Paris, with his 14lbs 88cm trout taken on Lough Mask, while guided by angling guide Jean Philippe Carnet.

The Tourmakeady Angling Club held their annual European Cup over the weekend. This event is run on the combined weight of the catch over the 2 days. 62 anglers took part with a total of 133 trout weighed in. First place went to well-known Lough Mask angler Pat Feerick, with 8 trout for 10.14lbs. Second place went to Pat's younger brother Martin, who also had 8 trout for 9.12lbs. Club chairman Eddie Gibbons took third place with 6 trout for 8.10lbs. Overseas French angler Yan Le Fevre took the heaviest fish prize with a fine trout of 3.13lbs. The main topic of conversation on the shore in Gortmore on both evenings was the countless number of undersized trout that anglers were returning each day. Conditions were excellent over the weekend with plenty of wind, broken cloud and a good sprinkle of fly.

Dublin anglers Jeff Matthews and his son had a day to remember on Sunday last while fishing with Noel Moran. They had 8 fish for 15.5lbs on a combination of wet flies and dapping. Kevin Sheridan, Ballinrobe, also had 8 fish on dries, on Sunday last (best fish 4lbs, all returned). Kevin had a total of 40 trout for his week. Noel Lowry from Northern Ireland fished with Martin Carney from Dublin on Saturday, and they had 6 trout for the day on wets and dries (best fish 2.5lbs).

Garth Love and Ivor Hazlet, Northern Ireland, had 17 good fish over their 6-day trip to Mask last week. Garth had a grin like a Cheshire cat on the second last day of their trip, when he landed his best trout to date on Lough Mask weighing 3.5lbs.

Hall's Angling Centre had a busy week this week with plenty of good fishing to report. A group of 5 retired banking staff had 40 fish for their week (best fish 6lbs). A French angler also staying at Hall's had over 20 trout for his 7 day holiday. To book accommodation or boat hire at Hall's, contact David Hall at 094 9541389 or visit www.lakeshoreholidays.com

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 reports that all of their anglers are having lots of enjoyable days on the lake. Isham guests Des McDonough and a party of anglers from the Waterford/Cork area had a fantastic week accounting for 40 trout for the week. Cris and Edith Loots from Belgium had 2 days fishing with 16 fish recorded. They also reported many small fish. Most of their catch was returned.

Pat Gorman had a nice evening on Saturday with a good trout of almost 3lbs to a Green Dabbler and numerous small fish all of which were returned. Conor Dennedy and his father Bert, Eoin Kelly and his friend Patsy fished on Monday with a lot of small fish coming to the dap and wet fly methods. They kept just 2 fish for their day.

Best flies for the week were Olive/Dabbler patterns with fish also being taken on the Mayfly. For boat hire and angling information available on site see www.congselfcatering.com, phone 087 7908107 or email isham@eircom.net

Eric Houalet from Greenlands Tours, a company catering for French visitors in the Mayo area, sent in a photo of a fine trout taken by one of their guests, Nicolas Boireau from Paris. Guided by Jean-Phillippe Carnet from Greenlands Tours, Nicolas hooked and played the fish which measured 88cm and was weighed at 14lbs, and is one of the best fish taken this year on Lough Mask.

Lough Carra
Mayfly hatches on Lough Carra remain sparse. Local Ballinrobe angler Greg O'Donoghue, who fishes Carra regularly, maintained the cold spell we experienced in early May has set Carra back a couple of weeks, so the main mayfly hatch may be still to come here. Greg spent a day fishing dry fly last Monday and returned 7 keepable fish (best fish 1.5lbs). Two Loughrea anglers fishing from Keelriver Lodge had 6 fine trout for a day last week (best fish 3lbs). Thomas Flannelly spent a day guiding on Monday with a visiting angler from Northern Ireland and they had 3 fish for the day (best fish 3lbs).

For all your self-catering needs, boat hire and angling information contact Joe and Lucy Flannelly at 094 9541706 or 087 6387701, or email keelriverlodge@eircom.net

Lough Corrib warms up but still produces the goods

Donal Connolly from Nonaim Lodge in Glann, Oughterard reported on fishing for his guests over the last week in the Glann area. There were still some good hatches of mayfly and good sport, however fishing was very variable with some very good days and then a slow day with the trout reluctant to move to the flies.

Donal was guiding Marc and Olivier from France on their last day before going home, and they landed 7 trout, mainly on wet fly with a couple also on dry fly. They also lost a couple of bigger fish. The average was not huge at approx. 1.25lbs but they all fought well, and all were released. Marc ended his trip with 12 trout for 3 days fishing, best about 1.75 lbs, and all released.

Earlier in the week Sean and John Maher, Pat Lynch and Mike Fogerty, Tipperary, had excellent fishing ending with 30 trout, best 2.5lbs. on wet and dry fly and dapping, they also had a large number of smaller fish. Roger Thomson, Lurgan, had 2 trout for 4.75lbs including a nice 3.5lbs trout on wet fly.

Paul Joyce, Glann, had a number of trout on wet fly as well as a salmon of 6lbs on a Toby, while his 10 year old brother Shane had a lovely 2lbs trout on the dap. Dave and Tom Gilpen, Hampshire, had 4 trout on dry fly, all released, on Monday. Hammy Hamilton, Cul Aodh, also had 2 trout on dry fly 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

Eamon Walsh reports that during a week in which was patchy at best, some anglers managed to find good fishing in the Cornamona area, but as always they were slow to reveal their secret locations. The first few days of the week saw good fishing in the Cornamona Bay area and along the south shore of the Dooras peninsula. Tom Sommerville had 8 fish for 2 days while dapping with his children, sizes ranged from 1.5lbs up to 3lbs, John Sommerville also had some luck with the dap, taking one nice fish on an evening's fishing. Padraic O'Malley from Maam, along with 3 friends, had 7 fish, returning 6, also fishing the dap on the south side of Dooras. Wednesday proved a very frustrating day for many anglers with large hatches of fly but with no wind to drift onto feeding fish. While meeting anglers on the lake shore it was clear to see trout rising to fly just off shore. This was very evident along the Carraig shore where a group of 4 brothers, the Babuarys from Westmeath, Killkenny and Kildare reported averaging 3-4 fish per boat per day between Saturday and Tuesday.

Colin McRory and party from Glasgow had 42 fish over a 6-day stay for 8 rods, while Keith Nicolson and 6 friends for Tunbridge Wells, Kent had 48, both parties fished out of Tom "Doc" Sullivan's in Dooras. While numbers of fish may have been down on previous weeks, the reports are that all fish are very well fed and showing great condition.

Fishing in the Derrymoyle/Oughterard area shows no sign of slowing, with all anglers reporting excellent fishing, large hatches of fly and plenty of trout of all sizes rising to them. One angler claimed that this year has been one of his best in almost 50 years. John Jack of Scotland and Larry Kelly of Dublin had over 50 fish for the week, with Jack having 2 trout over 6lbs. A group of 3 anglers from the Barrow Angling Club had a good 3 days, with 38 fish up to 3.5 lbs.

Anglers fishing out of Currarevagh House also reported excellent returns. Michael Jenkins had 8 fish, 4 returned for one day with his best being 2.5lbs. The Prendiville party had 14 fish for 2 days, most of which were returned.

The reports from the Headford/Greenfields area have been patchy at best, with some anglers reporting difficult conditions in the middle of the week. Activity picked up somewhat towards the weekend. The Headford Mayfly Cup team event was run on Sunday with 20 anglers returning 24 fish. The winning team was Basil Shields and Tom Coyle with 3 fish for just over 3kgs, Martin Murphy and Colin Doherty were second with 4 fish for 2.7kgs, third were Martin Molamphy and Ray McSharry with 3 fish for 2.4kgs.

Craig McKirdy and Dutch angler John Skines had 6 fish over the weekend with 5 returned.

The expected big rise in temperatures may see hatches petering out over the next week, with evening buzzer hatches starting to figure in angler's plans, but it is safe to say that even if mayfly hatches continue for another while, this has already been one of the best mayfly seasons for many years on Corrib.

Two Czech anglers had a great experience on Lough Corrib, when they landed 19 ferox trout over 2 days up to this 16.5lbs 83cm fish. They were guided by Tomi Kurman and Jack Gorny of the Corrib Predator Team. the fish was released following the photograph.

Tomi Kurman from the Corrib Predator Team emailed to let us know of the great fishing that some Czech visitors experienced with himself and fellow guide Jack Gorny over 2 days recently. Between the 2 boats they landed 19 Trout, including 7 over 70cm long. The best 3 fish measured 75, 78 and 83 cm, weighing up to 16.5lbs. Conditions were perfect for ferox fishing, and their guests were dedicated to catch some monster ferox. All fish were released safely.

To book fishing with one of the Predator Team guides, contact them on 085 7318541 (Tomi) or 085 7741578 (Jack), check Jack's website at www.fishingireland.pl or find Tomi on Facebook at www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001817618251

92 year old Raymond Dawes, who visits Corrib every year, with a fine 4.5lbs trout taken while dapping mayfly with guide Gerry Molloy on Lough Corrib, May 2012

Raymond Dawes from North Norfolk in the UK, a regular visitor to Lough Corrib and in his 93rd year caught a wonderful Corrib trout on the dapped mayfly on Thursday the 17th. It weighed in at 4.5lbs after a heroic battle. Raymond said: 'It was the expert knowledge of our guide Gerry Molloy from Glann, Oughterard that made it at all possible as conditions on that day were very far from ideal!' He went on to say he will be back next year for another foray on the lake at this glorious time of the year.

To book fishing with Gerry Molloy contact him on 087 9190673. or visit his website at www.loughcorriboughterard.com

Sea Angling
The second leg of the Grauvell West Coast Shore League was hosted by Killala Boat Club on Saturday last, with fishing on Lacken beach from 6-10pm. A lively surf on the evening promised good fishing, and conditions were perfect with a light onshore breeze and mild temperatures. The good fishing did not live up to expectations, however, with flounder hard to come by and many anglers going long periods without a bite.

The winner of Zone A was Denis Quinn from Killala BC, with 4 fish for 142 points. Second in Zone A was Jamie Devers (Killala BC) with 4 fish for 109 points.

Zone B was won by Peter Atkins (Galway Bay SAC), with 6 fish for 167 points, while second place went to Josie Barrett (Killala BC) with 5 fish for 131 points.

The overall winner was Kevin Crowley (Galway Bay SAC) with 10 fish for 278 points.

The winner of the junior section was Mark Hughes (Newport SAC) with 3 fish for 86 points. In second place was Kaylem Feeney (Galway Bay SAC) with 2 fish for 77 points, and third was Joe Chambers (Newport SAC) with 1 fish for 40 points.

The next leg of the league will be held in Ballyreen, Co. Clare on Sunday 24th June. Anglers can still enter the league, with 6 scores out of 8 to count, and only 2 competitions fished so far. The competition is also an open comp, open to anglers who are members of clubs anywhere in Ireland.

Full details of the West Coast Shore League are available from www.galwaybaysac.com