The Moy system had a very good week with a reported catch of 674 salmon for the week. The first flood since July considerably improved fishing conditions in the freshwater section of the Moy.

The best fishing was on the Ballina Salmon Anglers water where lady fly angler, Avalon O’Keeffe from Tipperary landed a fine salmon. Avalon had an exceptionally good week with another fish from The Point beat and 4 salmon from the Ridge Pool. Terry McDermott and Gordon Wilson both from Northern Ireland also fishing the Ridge Pool had 6 salmon on fly, 5 of which they released. On the Cathedral Beat, Austen Goldsmith from England had 3 salmon on fly, all of which were released. On the Ash Tree beat, Des Edwards and Paul Wilson from Northern Ireland had a fish each fishing the worm while visiting French fly angler Mark DeVletian fishing The Point caught one salmon.

On Mount Falcon, Dublin angler Owen Cooke caught his first salmon and it didn’t take Owen long to land two more fish which he released. On the Armstrong Fishery, Charlie Dunn from Offaly landed a nice salmon at 10 lbs while Meath angler, John Clarke also caught a 10 lbs fish. Both fish came to the worm. On the Fisheries Board/Foxford Salmon Anglers water, John O’Connor, Kildare landed a fine 11 lbs salmon on worms. The Foxford Town water was the place where Michael Tiernan Jnr. had one salmon on spinner.

The fishery reported 15 salmon for the week, 10 of which were released.

After weeks of very low water levels and difficult fishing conditions the Owenmore River had the best week of the season so far. The Bangor Angling Club stretch of the Owenmore accounted for a total of 107 salmon, 75 of which were released. Amongst the successful anglers were Mark Mason, Belfast with 10 fish (9 released), Owen Turner from Cork with 7 (4 released), Liam Gilsenen, Mullingar with 6 grilse (4 released) and Brendan Corr from Belfast who landed 5 fish, 3 of which he released. Favourite flies for the week included Ally’s Shrimp, Shadow Shrimp, Hairy Mary and Thunder & Lighting.

With Catch & Release becoming more and more important staff of the Central Fisheries Board was tagging a number of salmon on the Owenmore to test the effectiveness of the catch & release programme.

The heavy rain during the week also created flood conditions in the Glenamoy River and a good run of fresh salmon has been reported. With the wet weather continuing prospects are looking good for the coming days. The angling on the Glenamoy River is managed by Glenamoy Community Angling Club and fishing can be arranged by contacting Healy’s, Glenamoy at 097 87961 or 097 87845.

Lough Furnace accounted for a total of 7 salmon for the week, including 6 ranched fish and one wild fish which was released. Michael and Sean Smith from the UK had the best bag for the week with 5 salmon in total. Pat Ruane from Foxford had one fish and visiting angler M. Reid caught a nice grilse weighing in at 4.5 lbs. Best flies were Ally’s Cascade, Green Peter, Claret Bumble, Claret Dabbler and Stoat’s Tail patterns.

Fishing has been slow on Ballinlough over the past week. However, Mr. Jonathan Broderick landed a fine 2 lbs. rainbow trout and Mr. Ronan Kelly had another rainbow trout weighing in at 1.5 lbs. Both fish took a Green Olive. Mr. Martin McElaonn had a 2 lbs. brown trout on Muddler.

Fishing on Lough Conn is picking up slowly and with the unsettled weather conditions continuing prospects are looking good for the rest of the season.

Local angler, Michael Ruthledge and Sean Goulding from Dublin who were fishing wet flies had 5 trout together weighing between 1 and 2.5 lbs. James Russell and Michael Cairns, both from Limerick had 6 trout for 9 lbs. Heinrich Strohmann and Kurt Wassermann from Germany spent a very enjoyable time on Lough Conn with 7 trout averaging 1.5 lbs. Kurt and Heinrich released all their fish. Successful flies included Dabblers, Green Peter, Daddy Longlegs, Golden Olive and Fiery Brown.

The fish of the week came to Pat McHale from Castlebar who had 4 trout for an evening’s fishing for 9.75 lbs. His best fish was a magnificent 6 lbs trout which took a Green Peter.

Fishing picked up during the week on Lough Arrow with more anglers fishing the Lough during the day. Local angler, Gavin Cogan had one trout at 2 lbs. and visiting angler, Conrad Wallace landed a trout of 2.25 lbs. Both fish came to Daddy Longleg patterns.

The Collooney Anglers are looking forward to their upcoming Annual Wet Fly Competition held on Lough Arrow Sunday next, 10 September.

Effective from 1 September, 2006, catch and release is mandatory in the Sligo Fishery District and anglers must only use single barbless hooks. The use of worms as bait is also prohibited and anglers must retain 1 tag to fish. The Sligo Fishery District includes all water bodies and estuaries flowing into the sea between Bunowna Point (immediately east of the Easky River estuary) to Mullaghmore Head.

Anglers are also advised that the bag limit in the Ballina and Bangor Fishery Districts is 1 fish per day from 1 September, 2006 and anglers fishing on after killing a fish in these districts must practice catch and release.

Guidelines on the correct catch and release methods are available at 096 22788 or email: info@nwrfb.com and can also be downloaded from the Board’s website: www.northwestfisheries.ie The above restrictions refer to salmon (any size) and sea trout over 40 cm.