2008-08-13
by Kevin Crowley
Galway Weir
The deluge of rain over the last week has brought an abrupt halt to fishing in Galway, with 12 weir gates now open and the river in flood. 11 salmon were landed up to the weekend when the gates were opened, but no one is fishing now with the high water, and most fish will run upstream with the fresh water. Craig Orr from Vancouver in Canada landed a 4lbs grilse on fly, while Stephen Oliver from Northern Ireland had a 3.5lbs fish on fly. Jim Ryan from Tipperary landed a 4.5lbs fish on fly, while father and son Neil and John Campbell from Northern Ireland both had grilse of 5lbs on fly. Des Bluett from Galway had a nice grilse on fly, as did Bernard Keegan from Longford. Kevin Finnegan from Dubdalk landed 2 grilse to 4.5lbs on shrimp, but catch of the week this week goes to young Andrew Lynas from Belfast, who landed his first ever salmon on fly, under the watchful eye of proud dad Dexter, who is a regular visitor to Galway.
Western Lakes
Following the World Cup last week, Mask has now gone quiet again, with few anglers out. Very good sedge hatches and some mayfly were reported, with some nice fish landed. Wetfly was the preferred method, with sedge patterns most successful. Mick Dunne from Tourmakeady landed a cracking trout of 7.5lbs on wet fly on Saturday. Sean Dolan and Eamonn Kennedy from Newport had one trout for 2.5lbs to wetfly, while John Moroney from Ennis had 3 trout to 1.5lbs to wetfly. Sean Coyne and Junior McGahan landed 3 on Sunday to 1.5lbs, also to wetfly.
Over on Carra, fishing was also very quiet, although with very good sedge hatches there are probably good trout to be caught. The only report available is from Joe Conroy who fished with Malcolm Roche from the UK, and they had 2 trout on Monday for almost 5lbs, caught on wetfly.
Anglers are reminded that new byelaws are now in place on the western lakes and all tributaries. A 4 fish bag limit now applies, as well as a 13-inch size limit. It is also prohibited to take more than one fish over 10lbs weight. The Cong River, Canal and Finny River will be closed to fishing in September, and the Maam River will be fly-only for September. There are also restrictions on the numbers of rods that can be used by individual anglers. Full details of the byelaws will be available shortly at www.wrfb.ie
Connemara
Fishery manager Colin Folan reports from Lough Inagh: I am delighted to report that the rain we have so desperately prayed for has come in great quantity. We have a full flood at present and I am glad to see hordes of fish entering Lough Inagh. The lake is high at the moment and as soon as it falls there will be fantastic sport!.
10 anglers from the Cornamona Angling Club fished Inagh for a day, and recorded 24 sea trout to 2lbs and a cracking brown trout of 8.25 lbs which took a Bibio. Michael Heery and Dennis Murphy (Dublin) landed 17 sea trout and a grilse of 6lbs for their day on Inagh, best fly for them was a Cinnamon Dabbler size 10. Leo Casey (Dublin) caught his first salmon on Inagh on a size 10 Daddy. Vincent Foley (Dublin) fished the Derryclare Butts for a morning and landed 2 grilse on a cascade to 6lbs. Finally, Eugene Casey (Galway) fished Inagh and released a 6lbs grilse.
There are 5 boats for hire on Inagh and 4 river beats, Ghillees available on request,
Bookings and info Lough Inagh Lodge Hotel 095 34706, inagh@iol.ie , 086 8679459
Further downstream at Ballynahinch, Simon Ashe had this report: The beginning of August started with low water levels at Ballynahinch as the terrible deluges skirted around Connemara. The rain finally arrived on 9th August and we certainly got enough water! The first two days of August were blank days, however from 3rd - 12th there has not been a blank day for salmon. The best day was Sunday 10th when 7 salmon were caught. The total for the month so far is 17 bringing the season total to 65.
The water is currently very high and there are still large numbers of fresh fish running the system. Prospects for the season remain for it to be the best in 12 years. The sea trout have mainly pushed up the system towards Lough Inagh, however, there are still some finnock being caught coming in off the tide. Top rods at the hotel are Nicky and Derek Strauss who have 9 between them for the season.
For hotel and fishing reservations, contact Ballynahinch Castle on +353 95 31006 or bhinch@iol.ie . Check out regular online updates at www.ballynahinch-castle.com
Sea Angling
It has been a great season so far for shark fishing in Galway, and Spiddal skipper Kevin MacGabhann has landed a good number so far around the Aran Islands. This week he had a great specimen to report, with a porbeagle shark estimated at 160lbs caught on Tuesday the 12th. Another large shark was also hooked and lost, probably a porbeagle also. The shark was landed by Johannes Baader who lives in Barna, Co. Galway and is a regular client of Kevin’s. The shark took a full mackerel fished at 50 to 60 feet, and took an hour and a half to land on 30lbs mainline. The fish circled the boat at least 5 times, making several runs, and it took 4 men to get the fish aboard when it finally tired.
Kevin’s anglers have also been enjoying great reef fishing, with pollack the main species, as well as good wrasse and a mix of other species. For details or to book fishing with Kevin or Max who run trips out of Spiddal, you can contact Kevin at 091 553888 or 086 8547890, or Max at 086 3234638. Their website is www.galwaybayfishing.com and is regularly updated with catch reports and photos.
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