There has been some great evening rises at Corbet Lough during the past few weeks and boat and shore anglers are enjoying some great sport. On Thursday 1 June Gerard Lyness and Tom King were out for a boat session during the day and they had fourteen fish to the boat. Tom had a beautiful Brown Trout of 2lbs 9ozs. In the evening Andy Mitchell, John Dumigan and Geoff Hylands also all took fish to the boat. Trevor Jones was fishing from the shore and he had a couple of nice fish on the fly. On Friday 2 June the Club’s competition anglers fished for the Patsy McGivern Shield (adults) and the Patsy McGivern Trophy (juveniles) in an evening competition. There was a good catch during the rise. Colin Crothers won the Patsy McGivern Shield with a great Rainbow of 3lbs 6ozs. Martin Dynes and Noel Burns were 2nd and 3rd respectively with fish just over 3lbs. Daniel Moore won the Patsy McGivern Trophy with a good fish of 1lb 8ozs. On 2 June Sam Watt was out for an evening’s boat fishing and he had eight great fish up to 4lbs. William Cochrane and Roger Armstrong from Coburns were also out in a boat and ‘giving a swim’ to some of the new fly patterns. Both anglers took fish and William reported that the new foam daddies held up well to some serious fish abuse. On Saturday 3 June the Club’s junior anglers fished for the Superfry Cup. There was a great turn out of junior anglers and they caught some fantastic fish. Daniel Moore won the Cup with a cracking Rainbow of 3lbs 9ozs. Daniel Dynes was 2nd with a great fish of 2lbs 13ozs. Young Scott Swindell was 3rd with his first fish a nice Rainbow of 2lbs 3ozs. On Sunday 4 June there was a great evening rise from about 7:30pm. Geoff Hylands had eight nice fish to the boat on his special snails and shipmans. Sam Watt and Andy Holden were out for the evening and they also had eight fish to the boat. Frank Tumelty and Dan Tumilty had three fish to the boat. On Monday 5 June there were some heavy showers in the evening but the fish continued to feed and the boat anglers appeared to be catching regularly. Andy Mitchell and David McCreedy seemed to be enjoying a good session with both anglers taking fish to the boat. On Thursday 8 June there was a number of anglers out and they were enjoying some good sport during the rain showers. However a flash of lightening and a crack of thunder cleared the lough with all the anglers making a hasty retreat for the safety of the boat house. On Friday 9 June the conditions were good and there was a great rise on the lough during the day. Joe McCandless, William McCarrison, Geoff Hylands and Brendan Downey all had fish to the boat. There was a few shore anglers out and they also had fish on the fly. In the evening of 9 June Sam Watt had eleven nice fish to the boat during the evening rise. On Saturday 10 June the Club’s competition anglers headed west to fish Lough Melvin for the Straghan Cup and the Coburn Cup. The conditions were challenging for all the anglers but especially so for Geoff Hylands, the eventual winner, who also had to overcome some engine problems. Geoff owes a graditude to his ghillie Joe McCandless, who rowed him on the drifts and put him over a great Melvin trout of 1lb 8ozs which was good enough to win the Cup. Ivan McVeigh was 2nd with a nice brace of trout for 1lb 4ozs and Sam Grant was 3rd with a nice trout of 1lb 3ozs. On Thursday 15 June there was a good turn out of anglers on the Corbet Lough for the evening rise. Geoff Hylands and Matthew Henry had eight fish to the boat on dries. However the top boat on the evening was Andy Mitchell and Joe McKinley who pulled wets and lures on a sinking line. Andy took most of his fish on the undertaker lure. On Friday 16 June the Club’s adult competition anglers fished an evening competition on the River Bann for the Otterburn Brown Trout Trophy. The River fished well on the evening. Colin Crothers, the in form competition angler at the moment, won the competition with a great trout of 1lb 5ozs. Wilson Clinghan and Trevor Jones were 2nd and 3rd respectively with nice fish just under 1lb. As we approach the half way point in the Club’s adult competitions Colin Crothers is setting the pace with 13 points. On Saturday 17 June the Club’s junior anglers fished at Corbet Lough for the Sportsman Cup. There was a great turn out of junior anglers. Although the weather conditions were challenging with bright sunshine the young anglers still hooked a few fish. Unfortunately some fish were lost at the net. Scott Swindell won the Sportsman Cup with a cracking Rainbow just under 2lbs. The Club’s next Junior Competition is at Corbet Lough on Saturday 1 July for the Martin Dynes Trophy. At this stage of the season Adam Morrow, with 8 points, is leading the race to be the 2017 Junior Angler of the Year. There was a great evening rise on the Corbet Lough on both Friday 16 and Saturday 17 June. On Saturday 17 June the Lough was ‘boiling’ from about 8:00pm. Most anglers seemed to be catching fish. Darryl Alexander had a great session taking at least six fish on buzzers in about 30 to 40 minutes. On Monday 19 June The Black Pennells held an outing at Corbet Lough. It was the first day of an algae bloom on the Corbet and the fishing was challenging. The best recorded rod on the day was Stephen Rea with eight fish to the boat. On Friday 23 June there were only a couple of boats out on the Lough. Although the water was ‘green’ with algae the fish were still rising and taking the fly. Brendan Downey, Joe McCandless and Bill McCarrision all took fish to the boat using an intermediate line and bloodworms. The Club cancelled the Boat Anglers Cup and the Wardsworth Bethel Cup competitions scheduled for 23 and 24 June on Corbet Lough due to the conditions. On Saturday 24 June there was an overcast sky and freshening breeze and the fishing conditions at Corbet improved significantly. The water cleared and a number of fish could be seen rising throughout the day. Frank Kearney took a boat session in the evening and he observed a number of fish rising to sedges and buzzers. Although he had no fish to the boat he hooked and lost three fish. He reckoned that a fish of over 3lbs broke him. Seamus Doyle was spinning along the Castlewellan shore of the Lough. He also saw a number of fish rising. He took a nice Rainbow of about 2lbs 8ozs and hooked and lost another couple of fish. On Thursday 29 June there was a considerable wave on the Lough and only a couple of boats ventured out in the evening. Andy Mitchell and John Dumigan had three fish to the boat. David McCreedy and John McKillen also had three fish to the boat, with David accounting for a beautiful Brown Trout. On Friday 30 June the Club’s adult competition anglers were on the River Bann for an evening fly fishing competition for the Dessie Smyth Cup. The River was in better condition following some recent rain. Jim Warren took 1st place with Noel Burns 2nd and Martin Dynes 3rd. The three best best were all nice fish just under 1lbs. The Club’s next compeition is again on the River Bann for the Pyers Cup on Saturday 8 July. This is also an adults only competition. Visiting and occasional anglers looking for some excellent fly fishing during the evening rise can now purchase the Club’s Evening Ticket to fly fish at Corbet Lough from 5:00pm to midnight for just £11.00. This Ticket is excellent value for the discerning fly fisher looking for some great top of the water fishing. The above photograph shows the evening rise at Cobet Lough on Saturday 17 June 2017.