I provide professional guiding services on Lough Mask, located in County Mayo and Galway.

Lough Mask is a large limestone lake, is one of Ireland’s premier wild Brown Trout fisheries and draws anglers from over the world. For Trout the season runs from February 15 to the end of September, and is an excellent option all season and particularly good if my guests want to try some early season fishing.

Mask has extensive shallow bays, deep water around islands, and reefs and shoals, so there are plenty of options for anglers. Because a large part of Mask lies on limestone, the water is very suitable for aquatic insects and crustaceans. Early in the season duckfly begin to hatch in areas with muddy bottoms. Hatches begin in late March and peak in mid-April. Also in April, Olives begin to appear with the large Lake Olive good for bringing up Trout.

In most years Mayfly begin to hatch around the second week of May, peaking later in the month, with smaller hatches continuing throughout the season. Warm evenings in May and June see large hatches of buzzers, slightly smaller than duckfly, in many bays. Sedge flies of several species also hatch at this time, and dry fly fishing in the evening to Sedge or Buzzer can be very exciting.

Hatches continue through the summer months, and Sedge flies are very common. Terrestial flies also get blown onto the lake, and occasionally in hot weather falls of ants occur. Dapping grasshopper or daddy-long-legs, or wetfly fishing with Sedge patterns can be succesful. From July on, many Trout feed on plankton including Daphnia, and Shrimp patterns work well, particularlyout in the deep water. Hatches of Olives continue later in the season, with Sooty and Golden Olives plentiful.

You can arrange booking with me throughout the year using email (mahonjackie@gmail.com), or through the details on my contact Jackie page. Please note that if we don't answer your query straight away, that means we are out on the water guiding and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Once bookings are made, I will contact you a few days in advance to talk about conditions, directions and times.

Where do we meet?
We meet on the east side of the lake in Cushlough Bay, not far from Ballinrobe, please refer to the map below. I will confirm with the guest closer to the day:
(click to view on Google Maps)

Please note: We fish rain or shine, unless the weather is deemed unsafe by Jackie. In the event of dangerous weather, we will reschedule for a future date. To protect our wild fish this is a catch and release (C&R) fly fishing guide service.

To learn more please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions page.