Game Angling on Lough Corrib
Lough Corrib is renowned for the quality of its wild brown trout fishing. There is no other lake in Europe to compare with it. It is the envy of the angling world. Lough Corrib stretches 33 miles from Galway City to Maam Valley in Connemara and Oughterard is located about halfway. What makes the Lough so interesting is the myriad of small islands and shallow bays where many hungry trout feed eagerly. You can never say that you know Lough Corrib but you may come to know small parts of it intimately.
The angling season starts on the 15th of February, the local anglers traditionally troll the brickeen (also called the minnow). By mid-March the weather has usually warmed up and from then on until April the duckfly (buzzer fishing) is the most popular method. Trout can be taken on both pupa and adult patterns. Trolling is also a very successful method of fishing at this time. Olive fishing is at its best in April and is followed by the Mayfly which is synonymous with Oughterard. The buzz and the excitement of Mayfly fishing is palpable in the village. Young and old have their parts to play. The young are busy picking mayflies for sale to the keen anglers. The old give sage advice. Usually by the 10th of May good hatches of Mayfly are apparent. If there is a good breeze then dapping the natural fly is the favoured method of fishing. By early June the grilse arrive and although most are caught on the troll, some fall to wet flies and dapped mayflies.
In June / July the dapped grasshopper can be very tempting to the trout and in August the best method is dapping the daddy longlegs. September brings shorter evenings and cooler temperatures but still there is good trout fishing to be had. In particular the salmon and grilse are on the move again and the trout also appear more interested. The season ends on the 30th of September.
Part of the fishing experience in Oughterard is the swapping of tall tales in the pub of an evening. Fish often increase in number and size as the night wears on.
A licence is required for salmon fishing only, there is no licence required for brown trout fishing. Salmon licences can be bought locally in the Tourist Office or in some of the local shops.
Coarse Fishing
In the area, there are eleven coarse fishing lakes, all holding bream, roach, rudd, perch, eel, pike and roach/bream hybrids. There are bait suppliers locally but one needs to arrange in good time to place orders for supplies. The Moycullen lakes range in size from 6 to 400 acres. The Western Regional Fisheries Board has developed a number of them to incorporate quality fishing stands, stiles and foot bridges. Two stands were specially built for disabled anglers along Oliver's Shore at Bally-quirke Lake and one at Ross Lake. With the newly created facilities there are now several hundred "swims" available at the lakes. These lakes are also good for pike, some fish weighing over 20 lb. Pike to 30 lb have been caught in the past on Ballyquirke Lake. There are over 40 pike lakes within the region. Pike are transferred from some trout and salmon wa-ters to a number of small pike lakes in the region. All the lakes have directional signs and there are detailed access maps available from the Tourist office.
Sea Angling
Ireland's western coastline is an area of exceptional beauty. The diverse nature of the coastline pro-vides the perfect habitat for a wide range of marine species. The warming influence of the North Atlantic drift encourages fish of the southern climes to migrate along the coast in summer including a large number of blue shark
.Deep sea angling centres are locates along the coast. Fish for skate, pollock, ling, cod, coalfish, gurnard, turbot, megrim, dabs, ray, and dogfish are caught in specific areas. Mackerel are abundant throughout the summer. Tope are caught in a number of areas but Clew Bay and Galway Bay are noted for this species. Shore and beach fishing along the western coast give up a wide range of marine fish including ray, plaice, dogfish, flounder, turbot, bull-huss, mackerel, conger, wrasse, coalfish, mullet, and the occasional bass.
A fleet of purpose built licensed and approved sea angling boats are located at harbours along the coast. Anglers when commencing their charter trip should ask to see the relevant documentation from the 'Department of Marine and Natural Resources' which should be prominently displayed. These boats are operated by experienced skippers and can cater for up to 12 anglers. Angling equip-ment can usually be hired on board. Most boats are up to 15 meters long and come well equipped with modern fish finding equipment. In several places around the coast there are sea angling poster charts listing the different species of fish found in the areas numbered on the charts. The shore angling "hot spots" are also shown on the charts

Boat Hire:
Guillies & boats can be organised locally if required.