Sitting here sun kissed and wind burned after two days hard fishing on Lough Conn, I can only say fair play to those who had fish. A harsh northerly, north-easterly wind and bright sun plagued us both days, with the first hour on Saturday 3rd offering the best conditions and results over the two days.
Esteemed Irish international and Mayo local Joe Ferguson knocked it out of the park, taking top spot both days and winning the Pratt Cup on Sunday and getting Mayo through to victory and the bragging rights of the coveted Dublin Bowl on Saturday. In addition, Joe took home the Ronnie Miley Trophy for best angler across both days, fishing with upcoming junior angler Cian Ferguson on Sunday.
Plenty of fly life and it was truely heartening to see the Mayfly up in good numbers. Overall the east of the lake and particularly Cloghans and Brackwanshagh performed well on Saturday and Sunday, with the Fir Tree shore, Gallagher’s and the Middle of Mayo offering up keepers on Sunday. Fish were also caught in Tolan’s but it was Cloghans that worked for Joe… on both days. The most successful flies were French Partridge yellow and green mayflies, and also the boobie mayfly.
On Saturday, the Dubs recorded 27 fish for 19 anglers while the wily Mayo men brought in 30 fish over 28cm, with all fish returned to fight another day. 24 of those 57 fish were over 13 inches, which was better than how things went on the Sunday with just 10 fish returned from 9 anglers. Mayo anglers represented 7 of those 9 with Gerry Heaslip (who has fish on both days) and Tony McGrattan sparing the Dubs total annihilation.
Donal Rafftery was the top DTAA rod on Saturday while Tony McGrattan was top DTAA angler for Sunday. Nice to see some new faces there too from DTAA: Niall O Hearcain, Pat Foley and Stephen Mulholland
The winners gallery for Saturday is below:
The bright sunshine contributed to the high spirits and camaraderie:
Joe Ferguson had two good fish from his 5 on Saturday:
Some pictures from Sunday:
What a weekend. This friendly fishing event is going now for more than 55 years with host Padraig Traynor and DTAA’s Gary Coakley being there from the start as their fathers founded it. Glad to see that it is thriving, thanks to the huge contribution of Orla Walsh, Padraig and Gary and others who lend a hand. To the Mayo anglers who give up their weekend to boat the Dubs around the lake, putting up with their tall stories, a massive thank you. We say it’s about the fishing, but really it’s about sharing the experience of fishing, talking about it, making up stories and of course deepening our knowledge and expertise. If there is one word to capture the Crossmolina weekend it’s Friendship. Thanks to the Conn and Cullin anglers for being our friends.