One of the biggest trout ever from Lough Conn - 14.88 lbs - caught last week by Jim McDonnell, Manulla, while trolling for salmon. Photo shows Jim flanked, left and right, by Peter Collins, Inspector, NWRFB, and John Walkin, Chairman, NWRFB.

River Moy

The Moy enjoyed its best week so far with 140 salmon recorded for the week including several fish over 11 lbs. and one weighing 16 lbs. Salmon were caught right throughout the system, from Ballina to the East Mayo Anglers water. At the Weir Pool in Ballina, John Howley had a 7 lbs. salmon worm and on the Ballina Salmon Anglers water, Eddie Doherty caught three on worm, weighing 10.5 lbs., 13 lbs. and one at 7 lbs. which he released. On the Knockmore Club water, an un-named angler caught a 16 lbs. salmon. One at 11 lbs. was recorded on Byrne’s Fishery, one weighting 11 lbs. on Armstrongs and one at 13.5 lbs. on Gannons. There was also a 13.5 lbs. fish recorded on the Foxford Fishery by David Chatterton, England, on a spinner. On the same fishery, Geoff McMorrow, Isle of Mann, had 3 salmon at about 10 lbs. each and one of 12 lbs. all on worm. On the Foxford Salmon Anglers water, Sam Hull, N. Ireland, had a fine salmon of 14 lbs. on worm and Anne Keogh, Multifarnham, Co. Westmeath, had one of 11 lbs. also on worm. On Cloongee, Peter Reintjens, Holland, had a 10.5 lbs. salmon on worm and Paul Wymes, Dublin had two, one at 6 lbs. on a spinner and one of 7.5 lbs. on worm. On East Mayo Anglers water, Rene Keonigs, Germany, had a fine salmon of 11 lbs. on fly, Thomas Pleger, Germany, had one of 9.75 lbs. on fly and Ed Ledesama, Dublin, had another at 9.75 lbs. also on fly.

There was some good fishing on both Conn and Cullin with many more anglers taking to the water. There were may fly hatching on Cullin but trout had not started to feed on them. Nonetheless, the Albert Berry group had their annual competition on Cullin and 128 rods caught 134 trout over two days with several fish over 2 lbs. and the best weighing 2.75 lbs. The bulk of the catch was taken on Saturday with fishing much slower on Sunday despite favourable conditions. On Conn, the highlight of the week was, undoubtedly, the massive trout of 14.88 lbs. caught by Jim McDonnell, Manulla, while trolling for salmon. The trout (photo attached), one of the biggest ever caught on Conn, was caught on Six Arch Bay. Elsewhere, on Conn, Padraic Traynor had 3 trout for 3.5 lbs., John Burke had 2 for 4 lbs. and Joe Quinn and Michael Monaghan had 8 of which 3 were around 1.5 lbs. each and the rest returned. Mickey Kelly, Dublin, had 5 trout from 1 lb. to 3 lbs. and David Browne had 5 trout for 5 lbs. Anglers fishing with Harry Feeney on Friday and Saturday, in poor conditions, had 3 trout each day and all were returned. Trout were caught on Sooty Olives, Silver Dabblers, Fiery Browns and Golden Olive Bumbles. Over 200 trout, weighing 213 lbs., were recorded on Conn. The may fly hatch has not commenced on Conn, which is always a few weeks later than Cullin, but a few fly were spotted on Bog Bay.

The Bonet had some good fishing during the week and 19 salmon have now been recorded on the Dromahair Anglers fishery in recent weeks. Patsy McCarty and Joe Goldrick had salmon of 8 and 9 lbs. respectively and a young local angler had another salmon.

The new season opened on Ballisodare on Monday, I May and 39 salmon were recorded during the first week and about half of these taken on fly. The fish were mostly in the 6-p lbs. range but Karl Quigley landed a fine salmon of 12 lbs. salmon.

Unsuitable weather conditions resulted in little activity on Carrowmore this week and attention switched to the river, which produced 4 salmon. Bangor Angling Club Fishery Manager, Seamus Henry, had a fish of 9.75 lbs. and Clive White, London, had one around 9 lbs.

Beltra again produced three salmon for the week. David Eddis caught one of 7 lbs., Declan Dooley, Dublin, had a fine salmon of 14 lbs. and Michael Dolan, Dublin, had one at 9.75 lbs. on this "fly only" fishery.

Cool, wet and windy conditions kept angling activity fairly low on this rainbow trout fishery for much of the week. However, twenty-eight rods accounted for 40 trout of which 19 were released. Most were in the 1.5 lb. to 2.5 lbs. range. David McDaniel had his first ever trout, a fine fish weighing 5.75 lbs. but the heaviest fish was taken by Tommy Brennan, Kildare, whose fine rainbow trout weighed in at 7.5 lbs. With milder conditions on the way, fishing on this lake should improve considerably over the coming weeks. However, access is strictly limited and, in order to book a boat, intending anglers should contact Mrs. Gill at the lake (tel. 098-26128).

This small lake, near Drohmahair, Co. Leitrim, enjoyed some excellent fishing during the week with good numbers of wild brown trout caught. Local angler, F. Tone had nine trout for his day of which he retained three and returned the rest. There is a hatch of may fly on Doon at present and trout are feeding on them. To book a boat on Doon, contact Mrs. Martin, beside the lake, on 071-9164989.