The boat fishing at Corbet Lough commenced on 1 April and it is great to see Andy and Darrell back as our boat attendants. The boats are in big demand and the Club recommends that anglers contact the Boat Attendants Office at the Corbet Lough on 028 4062 5039 or 075 9102 7557 (Mobile) to arrange a boat prior to travelling to the Lough to avoid disappointment. On 1 April the boats were in big demand with many anglers waiting patiently at the Boat Attendants Office for boats becoming available. All boat anglers reported some fantastic sport. Regular boat anglers Gerard Lyness and Tom King from Co Armagh had 39 fish between them to the boat. Lance McCarthy and Matt Shields took 9 fish. Robert Weir and Gary McFadden had 13 fish between them. Aidan Lavery and Raymond Cherry from Lisburn had a great session with 24 fish to the boat. Richard Jameson and Ivan McVeigh also had great sport with 22 fish. Dan Tumilty and Leonard Ervine had 17 fish to the boat. On Tuesday 2 April local anglers Stephen Henry and David McCreedy had 16 fish between them to the boat. On Thursday 4 April Stephen Rea had 16 fish to the boat. On Friday 5 April Hartley Smith from Larne had fantastic sport with 10 fish to the boat. Geoff Hylands had 11 fish whilst his boat partner Wilson Clinghan took a couple of nice fish. Matt Shields and Lance McCarthy were back for another session and they had 7 fish between them to the boat. Aidan Lavery and Eddie Harris from Lisburn were out for a morning session and they also had great sport. Brendan Downey was out in the afternoon and he was very fortunate to catch one of the Brownies. These fish, which were stocked last season as fingerlings, are great fish with lovely markings and they are now making about 1lb plus. Anglers must take care to carefully return the Brown Trout. They must not be despatched under any circumstances. On Saturday 6 April 2019 the weather was fine and there was a great turn out of competition and pleasure anglers at the Corbet Lough. The adult competition anglers were competing for the prestigious Bruce Carson Trophy whilst the juvenile anglers fished for the Carson Cup. There was some great bags of fish weighed in. In the adult competition Leonard Ervine took 1st place and the Bruce Carson Trophy with a fantastic brace of fish weighing 6lbs 3ozs. Geoff Hylands was 2nd with a brace of fish weighing 5lbs 4ozs and Henry McKnight was 3rd with a nice brace weighing 5lbs 1oz. In the juvenile competition Sam Curran was 1st and won the Carson Cup with a lovely fish of 2lbs 6ozs. Patrick Curran was 2nd with a nice fish of just over 2lbs. The pleasure anglers on the shore and in the boats also enjoyed some great sport. Raymond Cherry and Gary Chivers from Lisburn were out during the morning and they had 24 fish to the boat. Sandy Boyd and his grandson Jordan were out for a few hours in the afternoon and they had 12 good fish to the boat. Stevie Clarke was also out for a boat session and he was regularly into good fish. On Sunday 7 April there was another big turn out of anglers at the Corbet and the fishing continued to be first class. Philip Rankin and Michael Mooney were out for a morning’s boat fishing and they had 13 fish to the boat. John Lewis and his boat partner Michael McKeown also had a great morning session with 13 fish to the boat. Sam Watt took a boat out in the morning and he observed that the fish were gorging on a hatch of big green buzzers. Sam matched the hatch and he had 25 fish to the boat. Gerard Lyness and Malachy Cumberston took a boat out from mid-morning until early afternoon. They had fantastic sport with 52 fish to the boat. In the afternoon Raymond Cherry and Wesley Beattie from Lisburn had great fishing with 44 fish to the boat. Geoff Hylands was also out in the afternoon and he had another great session with 17 fish to the boat. On Friday 12 April there was a great hatch of buzzers during the early afternoon and the Rainbows were feeding hard just under the surface. Lisburn anglers Aidan Lavery and Eddie Harris had fantastic fishing with 35 fish to the boat on buzzers. David McCluskey and P. Malcolmson had 11 nice fish to the boat. Gary Moore and Ciaran Hamill also had a good boat session with 6 fish. Brendan Downey also enjoyed good sport with 5 fish on a bloodworm and diawl bach. On Saturday 13 April Sam Watt had a great morning’s boat session with 15 fish to the boat. Gary Chivers and Wesley Beattie were also out in the morning and they had 12 fish to the boat. Aidan Lavery and Eddie Harris had another great session with 8 fish to the boat. Gary McFadden and Robert Weir had good sport with 5 fish to the boat. Stephen Henry and William Cochrane had 3 nice fish to the boat. The weather turned blustery in the afternoon and the fishing slowed down a bit. During week commencing 15 April the weather picked up and there were some great hatches of buzzers at the Corbet Lough. On Wednesday 17 April Stevie Rea had a fantastic boat session with 67 fish on buzzers. On Thursday 18 April Stephen Henry and David McCreedy had great sport with 59 fish on buzzers to the boat. Gerard Lyness and Tom King also enjoyed great sport with 86 fish on buzzers to the boat. Lance McCarthy and Matt Shields had a great boat session with 40 fish on buzzers. Philip Rankin also had a great boat session with 30 fish on buzzers. On Friday 19 April the conditions were very good and the fish were again gorging on buzzers. Michael Steenson a day ticket angler and a novice at boat fishing took a bit of advice and assistance from Darrell, the Boat Attendant, and he had a great morning session with 16 fish on buzzers. Henry McKnight and Malcolm Wing were also out boat fishing in the morning and they had 13 fish on buzzers. Brendan Downey was out also for a morning’s boat fishing and he had 17 fish up to about 3lb. In the afternoon Alan Hanna and Bill Trimble had 24 fish to the boat. Sam Watt and his father Jim were also out in the afternoon and they had great sport with 30 fish to the boat. On Saturday 20 April William Cochrance and his boat partner Stephen Henry had a great morning’s boat fishing with 31 fish to the boat. On Monday 22 April the conditions were still very good and the fish were still feeding hard on the hatching buzzers. Darrell McKinley was out in the morning and he had a fish on almost every cast. He ended a fantastic session with 73 fish to the boat. Frank Tumelty also had a great morning’s boat fishing with 18 fish in a few hours. On Tuesday 23 April the fishing at the Corbet continued to excellent. Matt Shields and Lance McCarthy were out in the morning and they had 18 fish to the boat. Gerard Lyness and his boat partner Malachy Cumberston had 54 fish. Roger Armstrong and Sam Watt had 40 fish to the boat. William Cochrane and Stephen Henry regular boat anglers had 52 fish. Joe Curran and his son Patrick had a great session with 54 fish to the boat. Gary McFadden and Robert Weir also enjoyed great sport with 30 fish to the boat. On Wednesday 24 April Hartley Smith, Co Antrim had a fantastic boat session with 20 fish to the boat. On Friday 26 April the weather changed with lower temperatures and some strong gusts across the Corbet. However the buzzers were still hatching and the anglers were still catching. David McCreedy, Frank Tumelty and Brendan Downey were out and they all had some nice fish to the boat. Matt Shields and Lance McCarthy were the top boat during the morning with 28 fish. On Saturday 27 April the competition anglers fished at the Corbet for the Jim Ledlie Cup (Adults) and the Banbridge Angling Club Cup (Juveniles). Although the weather was still very unsettled with strong winds there was a good turn out and the fishing was very good. In the Juvenile category Imogen Johnston won the Banbridge Angling Club Cup with a nice bag of fish weighing 2.526lb. Patrick Curran was 2nd with a nice bag of fish weighing 2.147lb. In the Adult category Sam Grant won the Jim Ledlie Cup with a great brace of fish weighing 6.746lb. Geoff Hylands was 2nd with a nice brace of fish weighing 6.534lb and Noel Burns was 3rd with another nice brace of fish weighing just under 6lbs. The next outings for the competition anglers is the Junior (Under 13yrs) competition at Corbet Lough on 4 May for the Percy Trophy. Then on Bank Holiday Monday, 6 May the adult anglers will fish for the Jos Willis Cup (Adults) and the juvenile anglers will fish for the Jos Willis Cup (Juveniles) at Corbet Lough. Anglers are again reminded that the boats are still very busy and they should contact the Boat Attendants at Corbet Lough to book their boat prior to travelling to the Corbet to avoid disappointment.