Good trout fishing still reported on Corrib as mayfly hatches decline

May 29th, 2014 | by Kevin Crowley

After a fantastic mayfly season, Lough Corrib has seen the slow end of the main hatch over the last few days, with hatches diminishing and the current warm sunny conditions probably seeing off the last of the big hatches.

Mayfly will hatch off in small numbers for the rest of the summer, often with another good hatch sometime in August, and it will be worth having a few mayfly patterns in the box to be ready. There was still some excellent fishing reported this week in spite of lesser hatches, and anglers prepared to travel and fish hard will be rewarded – I know of several anglers who fish on evenings with dry mayfly patterns well into June and have excellent sport, so while daytime wetfly fishing may be declining, it is well worth getting out in the evening.

In the Greenfields area, Craig McKirdy reports that the annual mayfly competition held by Headford & Corrib Anglers was won by Sean Naughton, with 3 trout for 10.33lbs, including a nice fish of 3.66lbs. Eugene Kenny was second, with 3 fish for 4.18lbs, while Kieran Cooney was third, with 2 fish for 3.63lbs. Also in the Greenfields area, Cork angler John Hart had 2 fish for 7.8lbs, Tommy Reynolds from Tuam boated 2 lovely fish – best 5.13lbs, while fishing buddies Noel Kelly from Barna and Lilywhite Jim Murray had 11 fish.

In the northern part of the lake, Cornamona Anglers also held their annual mayfly competition, with top honours going to Tom Summerville (Cornamona) with 4 trout for 5.53lbs. UK visitor Andrew Shaw was second, with 3 fish for 4.80lbs, and local angler Martin Kineavey was third, with 3 fish for 4.61lbs. Lady angler Eileen O’Malley was fourth with 3 fish for 4.59lbs. Also in this area, local angler Terry Keenan along with UK angler Peter Robinson had 2 fish weighting 4.5lbs and returned another 5 fish. John Summerville Jnr. from Cornamona had 3 trout for 5.8lbs, while Denis Daly along with John Quinn from Limerick had 2 fish for 4.8lbs.

Over on the west and south side of the lake, fishing was reasonably good, and John McWilliams from Athlone had 12 fish over 3 days, all to dry fly. Tim Fingleton had a fine haul of 5 fish for one days fishing for 7lb. Rory Allen from Cork with his partner had 13 fish over 2 days, returning 7. Stephen Watts, UK, had 6 fish for a day with all being returned.
Opera singer Jean Pierre from France and Kevin (Sniper) Molloy from Oughterard had 3 fish trolling, which weighed 15lbs, 9lbs and 4lbs. On the lower lake, Kevin O’Toole and Patsy Griffin from Galway had 10 trout for approx. 18lbs, sportingly returning most of their catch. Harold O’Toole from Galway landed 9 trout, again mostly returned, and all taken on wetfly.

Lisa and Pat O’Halloran from Birchall, Oughterard had 4 cracking trout while dapping.
Gary Costelloe from Lakelands Angling Centre in Oughterard reported that strong and cold northerly winds kept anglers close to home over the weekend, and at one point up to 33 boats were counted in the one sheltered drift in Portacarron Bay. With good hatches of mayfly fishing was still good for the brave who ventured out.

The DADS (Dublin Amateur Dapping Society ) made their annual May pilgrimage to Corrib, on this occasion celebrating the 30th anniversary of their inaugural outing and they weren’t disappointed. They had some excellent fishing, with 8 anglers this weekend landing 22 fish in total over the 3 days

To book fishing or accommodation at Lakelands, contact Gary at [email protected] , call 091 552121, or check http://www.lakelandanglingcentre.com

Karel Sourek from the Czech Republic was in touch to let me know of his most recent trip to Corrib. Karel landed a 25lbs trout in 2010, and is an annual visitor to Oughterard, hunting for the big ferox trout that haunt his dreams.

They faced some difficult weather, with strong winds and cold conditions at times, but put in the hours and were well rewarded with some fine ferox trout, although no 25-pounders on this occasion! Well done Karel.

Czech visitor Karel Sourek with a fine ferox trout he caught recently on his annual visit to Lough Corrib. Karel has caught ferox up to 25lbs on Corrib in the past, and makes a point of returning for a week every year. Like all his fish, this one was sportingly returned after a quick photograph.

Czech visitor Karel Sourek with a fine ferox trout he caught recently on his annual visit to Lough Corrib. Karel has caught ferox up to 25lbs on Corrib in the past, and makes a point of returning for a week every year. Like all his fish, this one was sportingly returned after a quick photograph.