Inishdawee and Roeillaun Island in the background

Extract from chapter 22  ’A week on the Corrib‘

“Vic was there and we were sad to see him go. The success of our adventure had rested squarely upon the choice of ghillie, and we had been very fortunate in securing the services of Patrick Molloy. He had been more than a fisherman to us. He had been an alchemist.’” - Jon Berry

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Ian Garrett was fishing with boatman Pat Molloy out of Oughterard- “It has been hard fishing all week with the high winds but we had had good fishing on 3 of the days. We were dry fly fishing and caught 21 fish over the 5 days. A lot of people reported not seeing any rises at all but we saw a lot and there were some good fish moving. We caught most fish by covering rises but not many on the blind. The best fish we caught were 2.5lb and 4lb - both on dries and caught by myself.”

link:   http://www.fishinginireland.info/update/trout_angling.htm#westerntrout

Only a few ounces short of the record set in 1894 this is the biggest trout caught in Ireland for over 100 years.

One of the biggest trout for many years, and possibly a Corrib record. Karel Sourek, a Czech angler visiting from Prague, was fishing with Emil Bučko, a friend now living in Oughterard. Having his return flight delayed by a week due to volcanic ash proved a blessing in disguise, as the pair recorded a number of ferox trout between 70 and 87cm length trolling Rapalas in calm weather. As Emil described it, they were trolling in 8m of water when Karel snagged the bottom, so they moved to another area, where he again snagged the bottom. However, this time, the bottom started pulling back, and they realised it was a big fish. Apparently 20 minutes into the fight, but another 15 minutes later Emil slid the net under Karel’s monster trout to screams of delight. The fish measured 90cm long and was weighed at 11.4kgs, or 25.1lbs weight, a truly incredible capture. Following weighing and photographs, the fish was very sportingly returned alive, a heartening attitude to conservation. Well done to Karel and his guide Emil on the fish of a lifetime!