The boat angling commenced at Corbet Lough on Sunday 1 April. The Club has engaged Andy and Darrell as our Boat Attendants for the coming season. The Boat Attendants can provide Day Tickets and boat hire. The boats are likely to be very busy during the month of April and it is suggested that visiting anglers contact the Boat Attendants Office on 028 4062 5039 or 075 9102 7557 (mobile) to arrange Day Tickets and boat hire in advance to avoid disappointment. On Easter Monday 2 April the Club’s competition anglers fished the River Bann for the Linda McCandless Cup (Adults) and the Rodger Young Trophy (Juveniles). The fishing on the River was again very challenging. At the weigh-in Wilson Clinghan won the Linda McCandless Cup with a fine wild brown trout. On Saturday 7 April the Club hosted the 1st leg of the Friendship Cup at Corbet Lough against our friends from the Armagh Angling Club. The Banbridge Club’s Captain Martin Dynes is ‘off his feet’ at the moment and was unavailable for selection. Everyone wishes Martin a speedy recovery and hopefully we will see him back at the Corbet very soon. The conditions at the Corbet were very good with a bit of heat in the air and a nice corduroy ripple on the Lough. The fishing was first class with anglers catching regularly throughout the day. At lunchtime Wilson Clinghan and Malachy McAleenan had their bag limits and the word from around the Lough was that Sam Grant had a great fish. At the weigh-in Banbridge Angling Club had a total catch of 46lbs 15ozs with the Armagh Angling Club’s total catch weighing 39lbs. Sam Grant weighed in the best fish of the day, a nice Rainbow of 3lbs 9ozs. Paul McKillen weighed in the Armagh Club’s best fish another nice Rainbow of 3lbs 4ozs. The Banbridge Club has an advantage of 7lbs 15ozs for the 2nd leg which will be fished on the Armagh Club’s waters later in the season. The Corbet is fishing very well and both boat and bank anglers are enjoying some great sport. On Friday 13 April Henry McKnight had five nice fish whilst fishing the fly from the bank. Brendan Downey was fishing from a boat and he took a great Rainbow of about 4lb which was sportingly returned. On Saturday 14 April there was a big turn out of anglers at the Corbet. In addition to all the pleasure anglers there was a big turn out of competition anglers to fish for the Bruce Carson Trophy (Adults) and for the Carson Cup (Juveniles). The anglers had some great sport and caught some exceptional fish and bags of fish. Derek Burns won the Bruce Carson Trophy with two fantastic Rainbows weighing over 7lbs 8ozs. Derek’s best fish weighed just over 5lbs. Wilson Clinghan was 2nd with two great fish for just under 6lbs. In 3rd place Dessie Graham had two very good fish weighing over 5lbs 8ozs. Juvenile angler Patrick Curran won the Carson Cup for a second consecutive year. Patrick had two great fish on the fly weighing over 7lbs. In addition to the prize winners a number of other anglers including Roger McClements, Trevor Jones, Henry McKnight and Geoff Hylands all caught some very good fish. On Sunday 15 April Adrian McAnarney was out at Corbet in the afternoon for some pleasure fishing and he had six good fish, including a real beauty of over 4lbs, on the fly. On Thursday 19 April William Cochrane had a great boat session taking eight nice fish just off Bruce’s Point. On Thursday evening Adrian McAnarney was fishing the fly from the bank and he had seven fish up to about 2lbs 8ozs. On Friday 16 April the conditions at Corbet Lough were very good. There was a good turn out of anglers fishing from both the boats and the bank. All of the anglers appeared to be having great sport. Terry Gault had eight fish to the boat. Alan Dickson, Lisburn was fishing barbless flies and he had four fish to the boat and he also hooked and lost another five or six fish. On Saturday 21 April the Club’s Junior Anglers fished Corbet Lough in the SH&SCT Cup competition. It was a very warm and sunny day and the fishing was hard. Niall Tumelty won the Cup with a great bag of fish weighing over 4lbs and Adam Morrow was 2nd with a bag of fish weighing over 2lbs. Geoff Hylands has been fishing the Corbet in the evening and he has been enjoying some great sport on the fly up to dusk. On Thursday 26 April William Cochrane had a good boat session with three nice fish to the boat. Gerard Lyness and Tom King were also out for a boat sesssion and they had at least eight fish to the boat. On Friday 27 April both the boat and the bank anglers enjoyed some good fishing. Brendan Downey had six fish up to about 3lbs to the boat. Billy Robinson, Bryansford was fishing the fly from the bank and he was regularly into fish. On Saturday 28 April there was a great turn out of anglers at the Corbet for the Jim Ledlie Cup (Adults) and the Banbridge Angling Club Cup (Juveniles). There was a good rise during the day with the fish coming to the top to take the emerging buzzers. A lot of the anglers caught some very good bags of fish. Malachy McAleenan had his bag limit of two great fish for just over 6lbs by 5pm and they were good enough to give him the Jim Ledlie Cup. Dessie Graham followed up his 3rd placing in the Bruce Carson Trophy competition with another very good bag of fish for over 5lbs 8ozs and 2nd place in the Jim Ledlie Cup. Dessie also weighed in the best fish of the day a nice Rainbow of over 3lbs 8ozs. Roger McClements took 3rd place with a fine bag of fish of just under 5lbs 8ozs. Patrick Curran, juvenile angler, continued his great form by winning the Banbridge Angling Club Cup with a nice Rainbow of about 1lb 8ozs.