First of all, apologies for not updating you all for some time. It has been what can only be described as a roller coaster of a Summer really, with what now appears to be a good run of Grilse, that were extremely difficult to catch for whatever reason. Your guess is as good as mine. Only time will tell the full extent of the run.
June was relatively quiet, despite good water and conditions throughout. Rainfall amounted to 222.5mms(8.76”). Temperatures were generally normal, although it did get extremely hot in Week 26 with air temperature peaking at 30.4 degrees at Doolough on Thursday the 25th of June. There were 13 fish landed for the month, with the main run being later this year. The last five or six days saw a definite increase in the number of fish entering the system but they have been extremely uncooperative. Eric Mackay from the US got the first of the month and his first ever, a fish of 8lbs11ozs from the Turn Pool on a Collie Dog on the 7th. Toby Gibbons had one of approx. 6.5lbs off Finlough on the 10th. David Flynn had a red letter day on the 12th, landing 3, of 4lbs14ozs, 8lbs and 5lbs3ozs on a Cascade, a Sunrae and a Ghillie Shrimp, the first two from the River and the third from Finlough. Lairgnen McDermot had a fish the following day of approx. 5.5 from the Rock Pool on a Collie Dog. Despite fairly robust and experienced fishing effort the following week, nothing was landed. On the 20th Benni Weltz had a sparkling Grilse of 5lbs9ozs from the Rock Pool on a Willie Gunn. Werner followed this up the next day with a fish of approx. 4.5lbs from the Rock Pool on a Delphi Collie. Martin Nolde had a fine Grilse off Finlough on St.Johns night of 6lbs 14ozs on a Collie Dog. Urs followed this on the 25th with one of 4lbs6ozs from Boat Point on a Red Francis. Benni Weltz had one the following day of 3lbs13 from Goughs on a Willie Gunn. Teddy Coulter finished the month off with two fish on the 30th of 6lbs8ozs and approx. 7lbs from the Bridge and the Turn respectively. That brought the total for June to 13 and the year to date 54.
July saw a significant increase in the number of fish running, with good numbers being seen in the River and Finlough. Conditions, however, were far from ideal, with rainfall only amounting to 80.5mms(3.17”), 63.8 of which fell in the last 7 days. The river was in lovely order, 45, at the start of the month but dropped to -20 by the 25th, which made fishing difficult. Water temperatures were also extremely high peaking at 22.7 degrees. Air temperatures were in the high 20’s and Delphi resembled its namesake in Greece, with people even sun bathing on the spawning gravel in the Turn Pool! There were 5 fish caught in the first 4 days, with Kevin Finegan, Terry Bradley, Kamal Scarpello, Will Parkes and James Potter all having fish, 4 off the river and 1 off Fin. Week 28 saw Another 7 being landed. Owen Kirk (Fin), Nicholas Krocker (Turn), Graham Fielden (Fin), David Murphy (Turn), Denis Bonnet (Road, Turn and Whin), the pick of which being Denis Bonnet’s fish of approx. 7lbs from the Whin Pool. Week 29 was hard going with water dropping off and only one landed, by Charles Munroe in the Turn of approx. 6lbs on a Nymph. The following week, despite even lower water, proved more successful with 5 landed, all on Nymphs either from the Bridge or Turn Pool. Successful anglers included Nico, Max Stoeckl, Daniel Rosenbauer, Urs and Fintan Cullen. The pick of these was Daniel’s of approx. 14lbs. Rain finally arrived and we had another dozen to the end of the month, with Urs, Peter Kavanagh, and Jane Beattie all having 2 each and Fergal Costello, Tim Aldiss, Gareth Beattie, Michael Burak and Daniel Rosenbauer, all having 1 each. Last but by no means least, Ronan Kelly landed his first ever salmon, a fish of 4lbs9ozs in the Stream on Finlough on a Cascade. Special mention must also go to 87 year old Tim Aldiss who landed one of 4lbs5ozs in the Whin on a Sunrae. That brought our total for July to 30 and the year to date 84. Sea trout were disappointing with only 30 landed. Hopefully the adverse weather conditions played a big part in this.
We have 8 fish landed to date in August. Not to be outdone by her husband Teisha Aldiss had the first of 3lbs12ozs off Finlough on a Collie Dog. Of the remaining 7, 5 off the River and 2 off Finlough, Gareth Beattie, and Luke Drea had 2 each, with Oliver Ross, Niall Lynch and William Beattie having 1 each. The pick of these was Gareth Beattie’s of 8lbs11ozs off the Quarry Run on a Gary Dog. This fish was a male and in my opinion a Grilse. The fish this year are of exceptional quality. The smallest Grilse is 3lbs12ozs and at a rough calculation I would put the average 1SW weight at 5.58lbs. This is remarkable, bearing in mind that last years 1sw average weight was the heaviest recorded here at 4.8lbs. The food must be good wherever they’re getting it!
We have plenty of availability for the remainder of the season, but at the moment it goes without saying that we need about 50mms of rain to top the system up. I should have also mentioned that there were great celebrations here and around the county as Mayo finally won the Sam Maguire after 75 years! So, the curse is finally lifted. Take care all. D.McEvoy.
