Martin Conroy with the first salmon of the year from the Moy.

The first salmon of the 2004 season on the famous River Moy was caught on Tuesday, 17 February, at the weir in Ballina. The fish, a beautiful spring salmon, weighing 9lbs, was caught by local angler Martin Conroy, who also caught the first Moy salmon of the Millennium four years ago. Although angling conditions have been far from ideal since the season commenced on 1 February, the recent spell of fine weather allowed water levels to drop and salmon are now starting to lie in their traditional spots, making for an increasingly good outlook for angling prospects on the Moy.

Mr. Declan Cooke, River Moy Manager, said that the 2004 angling season was now under way on the Moy and he hoped that the good work carried out by the Board in protecting and developing the river would ensure that it continued to enjoy good runs of salmon. However, Mr. Cooke said the Board had concerns about the poor level of spawning in some parts of the Moy catchment last year and stressed the need for conservation measures by anglers and fishery managers.

Meanwhile, Carrowmore Lake, in West Mayo, has also produced its first salmon of the season, a fish weighing 8.5 lbs., which was taken by local angler and Fishery Manager, Seamus Henry. There has also been a big improvement in salmon fishing in the Sligo area with Lough Gill having produced four fish in the past week and the Garavogue River and the River Bonet yielding one each.

The water levels are dropping rapidly due to the cold dry weather and now the river is in great shape for fishing mainly with spinners and worms, however it would be worth giving the fly a try on the upper stretches. The first recorded fish of the season was caught on Tuesday Feb. 17^th by Martin Conroy Ballina and weighed 9lbs - see photo and article above.

This can be disputed by Bill Ashton Ballinrobe as he caught a fish a few days previously weighing approx. 10lbs which he sportingly released and he did not take a photograph of the fish.

Mervyn Reape Foxford caught the first salmon in the Foxford area. It weighed 8.5lbs. and was caught on a red flying "C", Mervyn also caught a 3lb. brown trout on the same bait.

Albert Bradley Attymass caught a 12lbs. salmon on Sunday behind the boxes on a worm.

The outlook is good for the coming weeks.

Lough Conn

Few anglers on Conn yet due to the cold weather, however one hardy individual namely John Walsh Cloghans went out on the opening day and caught a trout weighing 1lb. on a Kate McClaren. John had a good two hours sport as he hooked 3 other fish and rose two more