The Great Western Loughs of Ireland offer some of the finest indigenous wild Brown Trout fishing in the World. The Loughs, Corrib, Mask and Carra are steeped in fly fishing traditon, they have been a sought after destination for the visiting angler since the latter half of the 1800's and to this day, still are.
Lough Corrib itself is enormous and at over 40km /27 miles in length has over 44,000 acres 176km². Mask is big as well with over 20,000 acres of water and Carra though the smallest still covers 5,000 acres. There is an awful lot of water to fish, it is better and safer to fish it with a guide.
Tom has over 30 years of experience guiding on these lakes and is only too willing to help you enjoy the experience of the Western Loughs. He lives on the shores of the Corrib on the Dooras Peninsula in Cornamona. A keen fly angler from an early age, he loves trout and has represented Ireland on 9 occassions in World, European and Home International competitions.
Wild brownies are the Kings and Queens of the western loughs, the average size runs at about a pound and a quarter but they can vary from a pound to two pounds with trout of three pounds regular enough. Trout of over four pounds are not uncommon but bigger fish,trout of 5lb and beyond, fish of a lifetime, are caught here every year. The record trout on the fly on Corrib being a whopping sixteen pound, dreams can come true.
Lough Style fly fishing from a drifting boat is the go to method here. Traditional wet fly, dry fly, nymphing and lure fishing all feature and have their place throughout the season at various times of the year depending on hatches and conditions. Dapping is still practised here and Tom has a a couple of outfits available.
The trout season opens on the 15th of February (Carra 1st March) and whilst some decent fly fishing can be had this early, it kicks off in earnest with the appearance of the first major hatch of fly, the duckfly from the middle of March. From then on until the end of September you can experience serious sport to the fly rod at any time, especially when you get favourable conditions, these are crucial to success on the big loughs, weather has a big part to play. The season closes on the 30th of Septmber.
- March; Wet fly fishing on the shallows in Mask can be very lively, latter half Duckfly on Corrib, buzzer (nymphing, wets and dry fly in the evening)
- April: Duckfly on Corrib, Shallows on Lough Mask. Lake Olives appear on Corrib from Mid April. End of April Campto buzzer starts to appear.
- May: Buzzer and Olives on both Loughs at the start of the month then the renknowned Mayfly hatch on all.
- June: Early part there can still be good Mayfly fishing. Rest of June then early morning Caenis on Corrib, daytime fishing is generally slow for the latter half of June
- July: Second hatch of Mayfly on Corrib and Mask, more localised. Sedge hatches also appear, dries and wets feature. Lough Carra fishes to general wet fly. Open water Daphnia fishing starts (wet fly), mainly on Mask.
- August: Good Sedge hatches and still some Mayfly so still some good dry fly fishing. Daphina fishing in the deeper water can be very lively on both Mask and Corrib. Fry feeders start to feature so pulling lures becomes an option.
- September: Still some sedge hatches and sporadic Lake Olives. Wet fly comes into play more. Deep water daphnia in Lough Mask and pulling larger fry patterns off the shallows on Corrib.
Tom has assisted hundreds of anglers in getting their first wild western lough's brownie, let him assist you with yours!
