15TH AUGUST UPDATE

Overnight rain on the 8th increased water levels to 1.2 metres on the Aasleagh Gauge – this combined with high tides of 4.9 metres which reached 1.6 metres on the gauge brought fresh fish into the river. Overall water levels remained relatively good falling slowly to 0.7 metres by the end of the week. The catch for the week was 24 salmon and 5 sea trout

Edward Murphy, Dublin had 2 from the Garden Pool on a Shrimp fly and Black Pennell. Kevin Glynn had 2 including one of 8.75lbs from the Sea Pool on Beat 9. Dr. Margaret Downes caught 2 in the Garden Pool on Beat 9 and the Colonel’s Pool on Beat 6. Brian Holloway and Jeremy Makinson, UK, had 2 from Beat 9 taken on Cascades. David Gaffney caught one in the Boat Pool on a Stoats Tail. Ronnie and Nora Tallon, Dublin had 5 and Michael Tallon had one in the Falls Pool. Dr. Patrick Masterson, Dublin had 2 from the Upper and Lower Garden Pools.

Richard, Daly, Dublin, had 2 from Yellow Banks and Nee's Run. William Beattie, N. Ireland, had a 5 lbs fish in the Falls Pool on a Cascade. Christopher Heaslip, Cork, caught one on a Silver Stoat in the Sea Pool. Mr. Peter Gibson, UK, had one each from the Falls Pool, Gauge Pool and Bridge Pool on the last day of the week.

Anglers also had good sport on Tawnyard Lough catching numerous brown trout and a handful of sea trout. The river needs rain again and it looks like it is on the way today (Monday 16th).

8TH AUGUST UPDATE

Angling pressure was light on the Fishery during the Ist. week of August. Water levels had dropped from the previous week but still remained very good for angling. Levels were recorded at 1.1metres on the Aasleagh Guage on the 1st of  the month.. Rains increased levels to 1.2metres on the 3rd falling to 0.9 metres on the 7th. Overall levels were above normal summer levels and salmon and sea trout continued to run in on every tide. 

Mr. Martin Corby, UK fishing the Erriff for the first time caught his first ever salmon weighing 6lbs. in the Garden Pool on Beat 9 on a s12 Cascade.  Mr. Anthony Jarvis, UK caught one 4.25lbs on a Cascade in the Middle Garden Pool on Beat 9 –later in the week Anthony  released a grilse of  7lbs. that came straight in off the tide to the Sea Pool.  Mrs. Ann Vere-Laurie, UK. fishing the Erriff for the first time had great success catching her first ever salmon in the Falls Pool on a Cascade and had further success later in the day by catching a sparkling fresh grilse of 5.5lbs in the Guage Pool. 

Mr. Richard Ferens, UK had 3 for the week from the Falls and Lower Garden Pools all to Cascades.  Mr. Conor O’Leary Dublin had 2 best 5.5lbs from Jenkins on Beat 5 and the Falls Pool on Beat 9. Conor also returned a sea trout of 1.25lbs taken on a Daddy in Yellow Banks. 

Local anglers Peter Coyne and Stuart Fleming had one each of 5.5lbs. and 3.5lbs. on an Alley Shrimp and Cascade.  Several other salmon were hooked and lost. Total catch for the week was 12 salmon and the sea trout catch was disappointing at just 4 fish.  Derrintin Lough produced some 11 brown trout and a further 20 were caught on Tawnyard Lough.

        Martin Corby with his first ever salmon

31ST JULY UPDATE

Heavy rainfall on the 20th/21st July increased levels to 1.7 metres on the Aasleagh Guage.  Levels dropped slowly to 0.8 meters by the 24th. and decreased further to 0.7 metres by the 29th.  Water levels rose to 1.1 metres on the last day of the month. Fresh salmon and sea trout continued to enter the river during this period with a lot of fish showing on Beat 9.  A total of 48 salmon (of which 30 were released) and 12 sea trout were recorded for the period – however the catch of sea trout was relatively poor in comparison to the number of  trout in the river &  Tawnyard lough.

Dr. Eoin Bresnihan, Oughterard caught 2 in the Sea Pool and Guage Pool - best fish estimated at 6lbs. Mr. Gerard Garnier, France caught 12 in 2 weeks fishing all on Cascades.  Mr. Patrick Seigne, Cork has 3 in one day from the Bridge Pool, School House & Tawnyard Potholes on Allys Shrimp.  Mr. Garrett Poynton’s Party Dublin fishing 5 rods had 8 including a first and a second on fly for Tom Keane.  Michael O’Halleran released a fish estimated at 5lbs. taken on a Cascade at Altamonts Dam. Mrs. Hazel Jackson, Dorset, U.K. caught a fish of 6.5lbs. in the Garden Pool on a Blue & Silver fly. Mr. Tony O’Regan released two taken on a Shrimp Fly in the Falls Pool.  Mr. Jim Langdon and Mr. John Theobald, Derbyshire U.K.caught 8 fish.  Mr. George Maloney, Cavan caught a 4lbs. fish in the Bridge Pool on a Claret Shrimp.  Master Christopher Johnk, Germany caught his first ever salmon in the Garden Pool on a Cascade.  Two days later Dr, Tim O’Brien, Wicklow caught his first ever salmon on a Blue Badger in the Bridge Pool on Beat 9.  Mr. Anthony Tindal and Mr. Richard Page caught 3 on Beat 9. Mr. Bernard Taller, angling journalist from Germany caught his first Erriff salmon on a Cascade in the Falls Pool and lost another about 5 minutes later. Dr. Ken Whelan and Dr. David Solomon caught 6 sea trout on Tawnyard Lough.  The last day of the month was successful for Mr. Tom Harrington, Limerick who released two fish taken on a Cascade from Black Banks and the Guage Pool.  At the time of writing the report fresh fish are still entering the river and prospects look good for the coming weeks.

13TH JULY UPDATE

Very good water levels resulted in excellent fishing on the Erriff this week with some rods catching the bag limit and ‘sent to the side-line’ – a very pleasant feeling. Sparkling fresh salmon and sea trout continued to enter the river on every tide. A total of 40 salmon and 18 sea trout were caught in 37 rod-days over the week, an average of over one salmon a day per angler, which compares favourably with any salmon fishery in the country.

 Mr. J. Orde & Mr. R. Cordy-Simpson, U.K. had 4 sparkling fresh grilse – best 5.5lbs, taken on a Cascade.  Mr. T. O’ Regan and Mr. K. Stewart caught 1 each in the Garden Pool and Bridge Pool.  Mr. A. Caffrey, Mr. D. Chambers & Mr. M. Vincent from Athy, Co. Kildare caught 5 between them all on Shrimp patterns.   Mrs. E. Hompesch from Germany caught 1 in the Garden Pool.  Mr. A. Muckian caught 4 grilse on shrimp patterns.  Junior anglers Killian Duffy & James Muckian from Dundalk availed of the free fly fishing tuition at Aasleagh Lodge and went on to catch their first ever salmon on a single handed fly rod and two days later caught another one each using a double handed rod. Mike Shanks from Irish Angler magazine landed 3 grilse in 1 day – all taken on Cascades, with 2 sportingly released.  Mr. A. Holden, Dublin had 4 grilse in 2 days on shrimp patterns. 

Mr. James Remington from Colorado, on his first visit to the fishery,  caught and released 2 salmon taken on a Curry’s Shrimp and Claret Dabbler in Broken Bridge and the Upper Gauge Pool.  Mr. John Dardis, Kildare caught 3 in one day on Cascades.  Dr. G. Kerschbaumer from France caught 2 - best almost 8lbs, and Mr. S. Jones, Dublin had 3 in one evening on Cascades. At the time of writing the river is running clear at 1.5 metres, with further rain expected to keep water levels in good condition. Fresh fish are running on every tide, and fishing prospects are excellent for the coming week. Rods are available on the river for the next few weeks with accommodation also available at Aasleagh Lodge, and guests can avail of free fly fishing tuition while staying at the lodge, a great way to get into fishing.

6TH JULY UPDATE - HUGE SEA TROUT RUN!

Great news on the sea trout front with sea trout in excellent condition to 2.5lbs returning to the Erriff in great numbers.  A total of just over 1,500 sea trout have passed through the fish counter since early June. The best run was on a spate on 30th June with 491 fish through the counter in one day.  This was followed by 227 on 1st July, 284 on the 2nd July and 146 on the 5th. July. It is wonderful to see so many fish with virtually no sea lice returning to the Erriff – this is something we have not seen for many years. With good water conditions grilse have started to run in encouraging numbers with 51 fish passing through the counter in one day. We are hopeful that this will continue as the run did not peak last season until the last week of July.

On the angling front Mr. C. Hanna, N. Ireland caught 5 fresh run grilse and released 6 sea trout best 1.5lbs. James Stafford Fishery Manager caught 2 well conditioned sparkling grilse on a Cascade also on Beat 9. Dr. P. Gargan, caught a fresh run grilse also on a Cascade. Water conditions were good on the 2nd of the month and Mr. Jim Robson, Irl. caught a 5.75lbs. grilse in the Falls Pool on a Shrimp pattern – Mr. Leslie Lyons caught 2 grilse also on Beat 9. D. Brinklow caught 3 fresh grilse in the Garden Pool and Falls Pool on a Cascade.

Mr. H. Jamison, N. Irl. took one from the Garden Pool and Dr. B. Maloney, Loughrea caught one in the Coronation Pool on Beat 8. Another sparkling fresh grilse of 5lbs. was caught later in the evening on an Erriff Green & Gold. Mr. A. Caffrey, Athy caught a fresh run 6lbs grilse in the Falls Pool and lost another fish of about 8lbs. both taken on a Pot Bellied Shrimp pattern.

There was a 2 meter spate on Sunday 4th July and the river did not fine down until late afternoon - local anglers Michael Wade and Peter Joyce took fresh grilse from Humps & Hollows on Beat 6 and the top Square on Beat 9. A Yellow Alley was successful for  Greg Forde who landed a fresh run 11.5 salmon in the Garden Pool.

Water levels were good on the 5th. but angling conditions were poor with bright sunshine prevailing for most of the day with only a handful of sea trout caught and released. Angling conditions improved late evening and Mick Vincent took two grilse straight in off the tide from the Middle & Lower Garden Pools on a Black Shrimp.

JUNE REPORT

June was again another dry month with overall weather conditions unsuitable for angling for most of the month.  Luckily there was a small spate on the 9th. June and this brought some fresh fish into the river.  Mr. B. Marshall, UK. and his son Tim had 3 fish for the week with all three coming from the Falls Pool – best fish 6.25lbs.   Mr. S. Knox, UK. caught 2 from Black Banks on Beat 6 and the Bridge Pool on Beat 9 and lost another 5 mainly on Beat 9.  Mr. C. Hanna, NI caught 2 fresh grilse in the Falls Pool and Sea Pool on Beat 9 on his first visit to the Fishery towards the end of the month.

 There has been a remarkable recovery in the sea trout stock with fish returning in a very healthy state and devoid of lice.  There is a very good run of sea trout into the lower beat on every tide. – despite the low water the sea trout are managing to run the fish pass beside Aasleagh Falls and are thus able to access the lower beats. The best run was 178 trout to 2.5 lbs. through the fish counter in a day.  We have also seen the first numbers of grilse returning from the 20,000 smolts that were released in April 2009.   With the low water conditions Staff were able to carry out repair works to the Falls Pool, Guage Pool, and the Lower Bridge Pool where rocks were washed out during the winter floods.  Similar type work was carried out to the rock formations in the Coronation Pool.  A new steel footbridge was erected at the top of  School House Run on Beat 3.  At the time of writing this report there are sea trout and salmon jumping at Aasleagh Falls and there is a large shoal of sea trout at the bottom of the fish pass. There was a very small spate of the evening of the 30th. resulting in over 500 sea trout passing through the counter on the last day of the month. 

The catch for the month was 7 salmon and some 20 sea trout

STOP PRESS

Heavy rains on the night of the 30th. resulted in a massive spate of 2.+ metres on the Aasleagh Guage on the morning of Ist. July.  The main grilse run will now really get going.

FIRST GRILSE OF 2010 - 9TH JUNE

The first grilse of 2010 was caught on Wednesday the 9th of June on Beat 9, a fresh fish of 4.25lbs. A second grilse was taken on Thursday morning, also on Beat 9, a ranched fish of 6.25lbs.

FIRST SALMON OF 2010 - FRIDAY 21ST MAY

The first salmon of 2010 was landed before breakfast, a sparkling fresh spring fish of 9.5lbs, taken on Beat 9.