Written By: Rory Sheehan
On Date: 12/8/2014
Salmon Angling River Moy The low water levels continued to impact heavily on angling on all fisheries upstream from Ballina, while the tidal section of the River Moy saw a pretty good week. The Ridge Pool produced a total of 45 salmon for the week including a nice 8.5 lbs. fish for fly angler, Barry Prince, UK. Belgian regular, Roland Capouillez, was also successful on the Ridge Pool where he had 3 salmon on fly. On the Weir Pool, Rory Lawn, Northern Ireland, landed two, while Dublin angler, Garreth Byrne, had one on the Cathedral Beat.
Further upriver, catches were sparse enough with only a few fish being reported upstream from Ballina.
Burrishoole Fishery
Fishery manager, Pat Hughes, reported good fishing for the past week. Some localised heavy showers in the Nephin Beg Mountains resulted in lower salinity levels in Lough Furnace and, as a consequence, a good number of salmon were caught on the Burrishoole Fishery.
Amongst the successful anglers were S. Cassidy, T. Gibbons, D. Lennon (two fish), D. Nevin (two fish) and S. O’Malley (three fish). All fish weight between 4 lbs. and 6 lbs.
However, it was G. Abrahams who stole the show with his 4 lbs. grilse as this was the first ever salmon for the 82 year old angler. His son Myles completed the family success with two more grilse on the same day. Four sea trout were also caught and returned for the same period.
To book fishing on the Burrishoole Fishery contact Pat Hughes at +353 (0)87 2377078
Trout Angling
Due to very low water levels angling effort was well down on Lough Conn. However, the few anglers that ventured out were rewarded with some good catches!
Fishing out of Gerry Murphy Boat Hire (gmurphyboats@gmail.com), Tom Malchom and Tom Bell Jnr., Northern Ireland, had 18 trout over 3 days on the dap, while Alexander Ray, Wales, caught 3 trout for 4 lbs. on Green Peter. But it was local angler, Jim McDonald, who accounted for the two best trout of the week. Jim was trolling for salmon off Massbrook Point when two cracking fish of 3 lbs. and approx. 10 lbs. took his silver spoon. Both fish were carefully returned to the water.
Anglers fishing North Conn were also successful. Gerry Sweeney & George Cafferty, Tyrone, had 4 trout for one evening on Green Peter patterns. Kieran Timoney & Eugene Jordan, Donegal, boated six between them for one day’s fishing on Daddy Longlegs, while Brian Cawley & Peter Roche, Roscommon, had 7 trout fishing dryflies. Elsewhere, James Bradley & Francis Tiernan, UK, had 4 trout and one salmon trolling.
Pike Angling
Pike fishing is still the most popular type of angling for most European fishermen. Foxford based guide, Kenny Sloan, reported good pike fishing for two French anglers despite the low water levels and high temperatures. Julien Quehen and Jean-Pierre Vandenberghe fished a couple of smaller lakes near Foxford catching a number of good sized pike and also some nice perch as well. Trolling, surface lures and flyfishing accounted for most of the catches. The two French anglers will be returning in October to fish Lough Conn hoping to catch some really big fish above the magic one meter mark.
To book a day’s guiding or boat hire contact Kenny Sloan on +353 (0)949256501 or +353 (0)87 9670310 or visit www.pikemania.co.uk
North Western Regional Fishery Report