Angling News
Angling News - WRBD Galway 15 Aug 2013
By Kevin Crowley
16, Aug 2013 - 08:32

Lough Mask

Ronan Cusack reports that fishing on Mask this week is beginning to show signs of improvement with a change in weather conditions. The recent rainfall and drop in air temperature has cooled the water slightly, which should encourage the fish to go back on the feed.

Ballinrobe angler Kevin Sheridan spent 3 half days fishing dry sedges this week and he had 4 fish for his efforts. Kevin's best fish was 2lbs, all the fish were returned.

The Biggins family of the Corner Bar Ballinrobe sponsored a competition on Saturday last, in memory of the late Sean Biggins. It was fished from Cushlough with just over 50 anglers participating. The competition was a pair's event and the winners on the day were Ray Broughton and Kevin Beattie, both local Ballinrobe anglers. They had 1 fish for 4.28lbs on dries. Second place went to Tom Doc Sullivan and Mike Keady from Galway, with 3 fish for 3.81lbs. Third position went to Mayo footballer Donal Vaughan, Ballinrobe, and his uncle Michael Twohig from Cork, with 2 trout for 3.06lbs. Dennis Kelleher from Ballinrobe took the heaviest fish prize with a trout of 2.32lbs.

Partry brothers Pat and Martin Feerick fished on Sunday last and they had 4 good fish in the shallows (best fish 4lbs, all returned). Sedge hatches have been described as poor but hopefully with the change in weather all that will soon change.

Ronal also guides on Mask and can be contacted at cusackronan@gmail.com

Lough Carra

Joe Flannelly from Keel River Lodge reposts that with lower temperatures and more "normal" summer weather, Lough Carra is beginning to give some action again. Dutch angler Rob Lamans had 6 nice trout for one afternoon. They ranged from 1lb to 2.5lbs on a Grey Duster (size 14). All were returned to the water.

Thomas Flannelly had 3 good trout over the weekend. All the trout fell to a Claret Muddler on the top dropper.

On Sunday 11th Michael Moroney from Leixlip Co. Kildare, fishing from Keel River Lodge Ballinrobe, had a good day with 3 fish for 3.75lbs.

Successful patterns were Green Peter (Red-Arsed) and Claret Muddler. Conditions were good with cloud and a fresh westerly wind.

To book self-catering accommodation, or to arrange fishing, contact Joe at 353 (0) 94 9541706 or check www.keelriverlodge.com

Lough Corrib

Fishing has really picked up on Corrib with the return of more broken weather, and as usual at this time of year, anglers are returning to the lake after the summer lull to be greeted by, of all things, hatches of mayfly. Some good angling has been had, particularly in the Oughterard area, by anglers fishing dry mayfly patterns. Dappers are also having success with dapped grasshoppers, a usual offering that tempts trout at this time of the season.

Gary Costelloe from Lakeland Angling Centre reported on some good fishing for some of their guests. Last Thursday Noel Kerins and Paddy Curran landed 4 trout for 6.5lbs on the dap (all returned). Out again on Saturday, Noel and Paddy landed 3 trout 5.5lbs, again all returned. The same day Victor O'Loughlin had 3 trout for 5.75lbs while dapping. Ian Garratt fished with well-known guide Patrick Molloy, and he landed 6 fish to 3lbs on dry mayfly patterns, while Patrick had 4 fish to 2lbs. The following morning they had 4 fish in the boat by lunchtime to 1.5lbs, again all on dry fly.

For further information on accommodation and boat hire please contact Gary on mayfly@eircom.net , call 091 552121, or check www.lakelandanglingcentre.com

Erriff Fishery

Martin Weinzerl and Gernot Lipp first salmon Erriff August 2013.

Fishery manager Jim Stafford reports that fishing on the Erriff was much quieter last week, compared to the previous week as water levels continued to drop during the week. Tobias Stern brought a group of Austrians to the Erriff for the first time. They caught 4 salmon and 3 sea trout including first ever salmon for Martin Weinzerl and Gernot Lipp - the fish were caught in the Coronation Pool on Beat 9 on Ally's Shrimp and Cascade. The group were unfortunate to part with several more fish during the week. Richard Daly, Dublin lost a fish estimated at 10lbs which he hooked in the Falls Pool on Beat 9.

Arthur Muckian, Dundalk landed 2 fish - best 8lbs, caught on a small Stoat's Tail in the Coronation Pool on Beat 8 - his son James caught a fresh-run grilse in the Washing Pool on Beat 4 on a Tosh. The Broken Bridge Pool produced a nice 5-pounder for Oliver Ross, Northern Ireland - the fish was taken on a size 14 Stoat's Tail. Fishing Black Banks on Beat 6 Mick Burt, Yorkshire U.K. caught a grilse on a Gold Shrimp pattern and rose three more fish which did not take.

The catch for the week was 9 salmon and 8 sea trout. At the time of writing the report there are lots of fish showing through the beats but the river needs rain or lots of strong upstream winds to improve angling conditions.

To book fishing or accommodation at Aasleagh Lodge, contact Jim at +353 95 42252, or check www.aasleaghlodge.ie for details.

Ballynahinch Castle

Fishery manager Simon Ashe reports on a record week at Ballynahinch Castle:

35 salmon have been landed over the past 9 days at Ballynahinch, including a massive 17lb fish from Beat 6. This incredible tally is on the back of a very healthy run of salmon over the counter, coupled with large numbers of resident salmon in the Castle stretch. Beats 4, 6 and 7 have a fantastic stock of fish and perfect fishing conditions have brought smiles to many anglers' faces.

Stephen Cullinane, landed a 17lb salmon from Frank's Rock on Beat 6, having lost 2 more fish in the previous 30 minutes from the same place. Stephen's salmon was the largest fish taken from Ballynahinch in over 15 years. There have been 2 or 3 other large fish lost that would reputedly have rivalled Stephen's haul; poor nylon is being blamed!

Tom McManus was top rod for the week with 7 fish to 8lbs, followed by Paddy Corcoran with 5 salmon to 9lbs. Kevin Keaney and club member Nigel McCorkell fished together for the week and had a joint tally of 7, whilst the Markes brothers had 3 fine salmon to 6lbs from Beat 4. Other captors include Nicky and Derek Strauss, Ann Corcoran, Frank Flaherty, Cyril Biggins and Eamon Mannion.

Water levels have dropped below the optimum height and the fish are not taking as freely as earlier in the week, however, with broken weather conditions forecast for the next 10 days at least combined with the numbers of resident fish we are confident of this fantastic season continuing. Lough Inagh, Kylemore and the Erriff Fisheries are all reporting fantastic seasons to date, so a trip to Connemara over the coming week or so for some great fishing would be well worth it.

Whilst we are very busy for the coming weeks there are still some slots available on the river and I would envisage some fantastic angling so long as the weather remains unsettled. Contact the hotel reception on 095 31006 to make a reservation, or check www.ballynahinch-castle.com.

Lough Inagh

Fishery manager Colin Folan reports from Lough Inagh, with relief that the prolonged hot spell has passed at last. Recent rains have brought the water levels up, and the water temperature down. The temperature of the lake is now 16.7 degrees C (down from 22C, two weeks ago). Large numbers of sea trout and salmon have entered the lake lately, but they are slow to rise to the fly at present. I am sure of a good September on Inagh, and although it has not been a great year for fishing, we are on course to end up with a respectable number of salmon in the book for 2013.

9 salmon and 81 sea trout were landed for the week for 50 rod days. John Dardis (Kildare), fished the Derryclare Butts for two half days and landed a fish each day, weighing 4.5lbs and 7lbs. Both fish took a size 12 Cascade. Peter McGuinness (Galway) landed his first Inagh salmon during the Galway Garda Anglers annual outing on Inagh this week, the fish weighed 4.25lbs and took a Gold Dabbler. Michael Heery and Dennis Murphy (Dublin) fished Inagh for 2 days and recorded 16 sea trout to 2.5lbs, mostly on a Green Dabbler. Colin Folan managed a 4lbs brown trout from Corloo Beat on a Sunray and finally Andy Walsh (Galway) had sea trout of 3lbs and 3.5lbs on a Telephone Fly.

We could do with a few more days rain to get things going again, and September should be worth a visit to Connemara.

For bookings and enquiries call the hotel on 095 34706, or Colin at 0868679459, or check www.loughinaghlodgehotel.ie

Owenwee (Belclare) River

Fishery manager Tom Bourke reports that the Owenwee River was quiet for the first few days of the week, but has livened up since the weekend.

Mick O'Toole had 2 fish for the week, one of 7lbs from Killenacoff and another of 5lbs from Arnold's below Belclare Bridge. Vincent Piriou from France returned on 3 occasions and has reported 2, one from Brackloon a small fish on Thursday the 8th, he also had several sea trout within the wooded area of Brackloon forest and hooked and lost 2 grilse in Owenwee and spotted several grilse in this area 8 miles upriver. This is great as it shows many of the fish running throughout the last month have spread throughout the catchment, and bodes well for the coming weeks!

Another fish was reported by Vincent Piriou from the Bridge Pools below Belclare Bridge to a trotted Allys Shrimp on Sunday 11th August, a fish of over 8lbs which was quickly released back to the water. 4 more fish have been reported by the local community but the anglers are not known, one of 6lbs from Kerrigans in Owenwee and another of 8lbs in Knappagh from Sidney Costello's pool below Knappagh bridge. Another 2 fish were caught below Belclare Bridge.

Vincent Piriou reported another of 6lbs whilst Mick O'Toole reported 4 more below Belclare Bridge, the largest in excess of 10lbs, all to the fly and returned back once more to the water. One fish was approx. 5lbs and was badly injured by an otter or mink but recovered pretty rapidly on returning to the water and swam back freely.

Returns to date have been the best since 1997, with a return for the week of 13 grilse and salmon. The seasonal tally now stands at 79 salmon and grilse.

Enquiries to Tom Bourke 086 8331586 or by email to tombourkefishing@hotmail.com, or to Vincent Bourke at 098 27103. Season permits, day or club membership can be obtained on enquiry

Galway Fishery

By this stage of the season, salmon angling in Galway has usually slowed right down, however this has been a bumper season and anglers are still enjoying good sport. There were 26 salmon landed for the week, with more fish hooked and lost. Brian O'Rourke and Tom Cogan has a grilse each on fly, as did Eddie Corry and Declan Tuffy. Wayne Wilson and Aodh O'Donnell, who were visiting from the US, both landed grilse on fly, including a nice 6.5lbs fish for Wayne, while Bart Lynch from Galway took 2 fish on shrimp. Gerry Kelly landed 2 grilse to 6.5lbs on fly, while Northern Irish visitors Ian Jefferson and J. Davison also had 2 grilse each on the fly.

With some fish still running and water conditions perfect for the fly, I would expect more good sport in Galway for the coming week.