UPDATED 26th August 2010

Well  fishing is quiet at this time of year but it does not stop the fish! Trout continue to feed its just the anglers who take a break. There are a few anglers returning for the late season fishing with daddy long legs and autumnal flies. Yes, this morning there was fog over the river indicating that the water is warmer than the air - a sure sign that we are coming towards the end of the summer and the lovely long days!

One guest took the boat out recently as a first time fisherwoman and caught her first Lough Corrib trout! It was enjoyed by the whole family party the following mornings breakfast - now that's the way to do it!

There has been a great run of salmon into the Corrib this year and several of them were jumping in the local pools recently! I caught a lovely salmon on the Erriff at the start of July weighing 11.5 lbs. That's a hard weight to break so I have not tried to better it!

The weather is quite broken at present but the water levels are low. it is a little difficult going down the river - you just have to be careful.

Following the opening of the Dublin - Galway motorway Oughterard is less than 2.5 hours from Dublin - no excuse not to come!

Unfortunately the zebra mussel population underwent an explosion last year so anglers leaving the Corrib to other water as yet unaffected must be vigilant. This has resulted in the water being very clear, this will mean that fish will be harder tricked into taking your fly - so get some finer leader so that you can catch the fish!

The fisheries staff continue to work hard to control and eradicate the Lagarosiphon  - curley leafed pondweed. This has infested many bays in the upper basin of the lake. Anglers should avoid driving through the weed as propellers fragment the weed and spread it. If you come across a big stand of weed - avoid it. There are also many bouys around the lake marking areas being treated by the fisheries staff please leave these where they are.

The Development 50 competition on Duckfly took place back in March and was won by a guest of Camillaun - well there's a first!! David Dinsmore and Mike Shanks scored with 15 minutes to go with a trout of over 9 pounds!!. Wonderful for them and a mighty shock to second place who had managed 6 small trout for the day!

Well in March 2010 I realised a dream and caught my first bonefish. It meant travelling to Peter Mantle's magnificent new lodge in Abaco, Bahamas but was certainly worth it!

So anyone who wants to know more about it all just ask!!

We avoided most of the really cold spell at Christmas having spent Christmas and the new year in Cuba so here's a couple of contrasting photographs!! Havana at about 25 degrees centigrade and Oughterard at minus five all in the same week!

We have not increased prices on 2009 and some prices re reduced on 2008 levels so its all great value for the years ahead. We anticipate a good year and with the long cold spell over December - January perhaps we will have normal seasons for a change!!

As with the suggestion in our update of the 18th December when I suggested that as the salmon were spawning early we were heading into a long dry spell, well that was exactly what happened - so if you want to know the forthcoming weather just ask a salmon.

Great news on the access front the M6 motorway from Dublin to Galway opened on the 18th December. You can now get from the west of Dublin to Oughterard in 2 hrs 20 mins!! - no excuse for not coming fishing for a weekend break great brown trout fishing was never closer!!

 Given the very encouraging mayfly last year we are expecting another good year in 2010. Please tell us of your needs and we will try to cater for them. By the way Aer Arann is offering very competitive rates to Galway Airport from many destinations in the UK for 2010 so check with their website: http://www.aerarann.com/  We can arrange transfer from Galway airport for those who wish to come and not bother with a car.

The early season fishing with Duckfly from around the 10th March is also good with buzzer fishing the most successful method. Anglers coming at that time of the year can have some excellent sport. This is followed by Olive fishing in April which for a good period overlaps with Duckfly fishing. May brings the Mayfly and anglers coming during that time should be prepared to give a few days to the traditional dapping of the natural mayfly - it tends to be more successful than the artificial fly.

We are also offering our rental property nearby at very competitive rates - see our home page for more details.

We had some great fishing in  2009, certainly the Corrib produced some excellent trout and it was encouraging for evening outings to be well rewarded in the summer.

In late July I caught two good trout which we kept for a large family dinner, best 3lb 7 oz and second 1lb 14 ozs in two hours! The Green Peter and Johnston flies delivered!

2009 saw the best Mayfly in years. Trout returned to the surface in large numbers splashing at hatching mayflies. Those that did not record good catches were happy to report great hatches of fly and  large numbers of trout feeding. Not everywhere every day but consistently good hatches and rises through a three week period. The mornings saw the greatest activity with less fish moving later in the day. The Mayfly started in earnest on the 3rd or 4th of May and continued right up to the end of the month. In fact in June trout are still being caught on Mayflies.

 Excellent bags of trout were recorded and virtually everything returned by guests at Camillaun. Johnny Mac and his 6 welsh anglers recorded 145 trout with just 31 retained. The Kieseweiser party had 48 with 33 returned. Pat Doyle, Dermot O'Mahony and Timmy O'Connor recorded 36 fish with just 9 kept. In addition the Priestley party had some excellent trout including one at 6lbs, 1 at 5lbs and several in the 2 - 3 lb range. Niall O'Connell and Stephen Ryan had 10 with all returned and Alastair and Graeme McLoughlin also had 10 all returned.

The fishing has been very good with fish coming to the dap, the wets as well as dry flies. Last year we saw the best fall of spent gnat on the lake for years and as expected hatches of flies are good this year. the trout are also feasting on the mayfly with all ranges of trout coming to the dap from small fish to trout of 5 and 6 pounds being caught. Anglers caught up to 6 or 7 trout in a day but respected the new regulations and in fact only brought one or two fish home for dinner. By all reports from the dozen or so boats out of Camillaun this is the best mayfly in 8 or 9 years.

Time to check in and book your boat for next week and beyond - just give us a call at: 091-552678 and we will get you on the water!

There has been a good run of spring salmon into the Corrib this year the grilse run was not as good as last year.

The Special conservation measures for wild brown trout were signed by the Minister into law in 2008. These apply to the three main lakes, Loughs Corrib, Mask and Carra and their feeder rivers and streams. The laws primarily are as follows:

All trout under 33 cms (13 inches) must be returned immediately alive to the water.

The daily limit of trout that can be retained by an angler is 4 this includes a maximum of one (1) ferox trout or brown trout over 4.54kg (10 lbs) in any 1 day. - Anglers are however encouraged to return all ferox trout alive.

An angler cannot use more than one rod when fly fishing or dapping and not more than 4 flies when fly fishing or trolling flies.

An angler cannot use more than 2 rods at any time when bait fishing, spinning or trolling from either the bank or a boat.

No more than 3 rods in total can be used when bait fishing, spinning or trolling in any boat at any time by two or more anglers.

The seasons on some rivers and the Cong canal have been amended.

. These are welcome and will hopefully influence anglers attitudes to catch and kill into the future. There will be a bag limit of 4 trout per angler - more than enough -  the day of killing everything you catch is gone. These beautiful trout deserve more than a bang on the head - although I, like everyone, would take one for the dinner - why not.

Time to reserve your place for May 2010 - we guarantee good hatches of Mayfly given the great hatch in 2009 and the great Mayfly in 2009.

Its also time to replace a few boats - after a good number of years service and great care in annual maintenance I am planning selling some of our fleet and replacing them prior to next season - best offers secures!!

In december - January 2009 / 10 we spent two weeks in Cuba. The last of the foreign holidays for some time I fear - due to the severe budget! Here are just a couple of photos for the record!

In November 2008 we took a short break for a week in Florida and smuggled a couple of rods into the bags! We managed a few hours fishing and added another few species to our list of foreign fish!!

In 2007 we went fishing other species, both Christopher and I caught our first ferox trout - Christopher's is features on the home page. We also caught several really large bream.

We had our own break so just to make you jealous I have added a few photographs of Christmas in the Galapagos islands.

We have published our new brochure and a printed copy is available by request alternatively you can download it as a .pdf file on our website Home page .

The summer is a great time to take a boat out on Lough Corrib and go to an island for a picnic so it is a great option as part of a visit to Oughterard ad Connemara.

If you are intending coming fishing make sure you have checked the weather! To check the weather go to www.met.ie and click on forecasts then select Inland lakes this will give an excellent forecast for Lough Corrib.

We have plenty of boats available for the day tripper!

Bad news on the Zebra Mussel front. After years of campaigning this pest has been found to have settled in the upper basin of Lough Corrib in 2007 as well as in the small chain of lakes called the Moycullen lakes. A significant infestation has been found in Ross lake and specimens also recovered in Hamishmaconry and Drimcong lakes.

This picture shows Mr and Mrs Thomas Protheroe with their beautiful 3lb trout caught on the 24th March 2007.

Salmon fishing is subject to quota and the quota for keeping salmon on Lough Corrib is significantly improved on that for 2007. No brown tags will be necessary in 2008 - just the normal blue tag.

Some of the nice memories for last year were particularly Christopher's first Ferox trout which was safely tagged and released as part of the Ferox tagging programme - this fish is so good we put it on the front page!!

I also still have kept the picture of my lovely trout at Inchagoill which I successfully landed with the assistance of Christopher on a size 12 bibio! 

One of the favourite destinations on the Corrib is Inchagoill, however there are many very beautiful islands that are well worth a visit for a picnic.

During May 2007 boats caught from 0 fish to 15 per day!! - thankfully  most anglers are returning nearly all fish regardless of size with just a very small number kept for personal consumption. This is particularly encouraged for those fishing with buzzers in March and April as these take fish of spawning size and larger. We also encourage anglers to keep fish in moderation and to "let them go let them grow" !! Following an excellent spawning season everything is looking up for the year ahead. 

Last year Christopher had his first trout on the buzzer from his favourite bay - Kitts Bay.

 A superb trout was caught last summer in sunny conditions at Inchagoill - See Photo:

As with many seasons some of the best fishing is had in the early season with some lovely trout caught in late March and early April on the Duckfly. The Duckfly and Olive fishing are underrated in terms of fishing and excellent days can be enjoyed from the 17th March until May each year.

As some of you already know, we have made major improvements over the past three years. We have extended the dining room to ensure everyone is catered for at the same time if desired at breakfast. We have added a timber floor in the sitting room and an antique marble fireplace! 

To crown it all we have built on a major activities room this will be completed in time for the Mayfly with the addition of a full size snooker table, a fly tying area, a piano and a reading  / relaxation area.

Its all a bit cold this week but we expect an improvement in the weather towards the weekend and better conditions for Duckfly fishing.

By the way we have a new addition to the family. After Christmas we adopted a dog in the GSPCA and her name is Spud. So in case you have allergies we now have a dog as well as a cat. Minxie the resident cat for the past 8 years is tolerating this new addition somewhat reluctantly!  Spud constantly plays with her ball.

No excuse for not coming to visit us in the Summer and Autumn of 2008 for an activity based holiday either.Looking forward to season and seeing you at Camillaun.

In January 2007 we returned from our own holiday where some very interesting fish were caught by Christopher and myself!

If you wish to make an enquiry please contact Deirdre by phone, Fax or email to check availability.

Tight lines and remember there are already places booked for April and May 2011!! - don't forget to book well in advance!  - But why go fishing when everyone else does, some of the best fishing is to be found on Lough Corrib in March and April.