Moy, oh Moy!
The Mayo adventures of Super Sexy Kate



Gorgeous Kate Groombridge may be the new super-model for the 21st century but there’s nothing more she likes doing than fishing for salmon on the River Moy at Foxford. The 22-year-old, who is fronting Gossard’s Ultrabra Super Boost campaign, fell in love with fishing at the age of eight and has been ‘hooked’ on it ever since.

“We had been going on family fishing holidays in Wales for a number of years and then we decided to try Ireland. My mum saw an advert in Trout & Salmon magazine for the River Moy and that was it. We’ve been coming ever since,” she says.

And despite Kate’s demanding modeling schedule including fronting the new Kellogg’s Special K cereal bar advert on T.V., she still manages to visit Mayo about six or seven times a year. “It might be even more now”, she giggles “as my mum has just moved over to live permanently in Foxford, so I guess I’ll have no excuses.”

Kent-born Kate admits that she loves fishing and finds it the perfect switch-off from her hectic schedule. “Fishing’s great. It’s just so relaxing and peaceful and of course, so exciting when you hook one. It’s the perfect switch-off from the rushing around and pressures of work. The scenery around Foxford is so beautiful with mountains on either side and the quiet-flowing Moy streaming through the town. It’s ideal,” she enthuses.

Kate caught her first salmon on the Moy when she was sixteen and has been catching them ever since. “I’ll never forget my first salmon which I caught about a mile upstream from Foxford at Carrigeen Pool. I was casting out my spinner and next thing, bang! I was so excited, yet also afraid I’d lose it! Thankfully I managed to bring it to the net. It weighed about 8lbs.”

Local angler and Foxford-man, John Duffy, comes in for much praise from Kate as someone who has taught her all the fishing tricks she knows. “John is a terrific fisherman and knows the river really well. He takes me out in a boat and shows me the best places to fish and he has been a great help to me, particularly over the past five or six years. He was there to net my first salmon.”

And Kate has notched up some good catches on the Moy over the past few years, but admits that she has had a few blank days. “I don’t always catch, but I guess that’s half the fun. It’d be too easy otherwise.” She loves to eat salmon and it’s always a special treat for dinner.

Yet, it’s not only the fishing that has made Kate fall in love with the area. “I love the craic around town. Especially over a few pints of Guinness in the Angler's bar after a long-day’s fishing. Everyone gathers around and chats about their day and of course, the all important swapping of fishing tips!”

Asked what her friends in the modelling industry think of her fishy past-time, she replies with a laugh: “I think a lot of them don’t believe that I fish. I know it’s a bit unusual for a woman and some of my friends think it’s rather strange, but yeah, I love it.”

Travelling over and back from the photo-shoots and cat-walks of London to Foxford is really convenient, according to Kate. “I find it so easy to get over to Ireland. I can leave Stanstead Airport and be at Knock in a little over an hour. I've often been stuck in city traffic trying to get to my apartment in that time! The recent deals with Ryanair on the Internet have been brilliant. I actually got a flight over from London to Knock for just £8 last summer!”


With appearing on television commercials and glossy magazine covers comes the instant recognition factor. However, Kate feels “at home” in Foxford and loves the way that people don’t bother her. She jests, “If anything, they joke about seeing too much of me! In fact, most people wouldn’t know me, especially when I’m in my wellies and big green waterproof jacket!”

Kate’s modelling career started when she was just 14 years old after her mother suggested that she might like to become a model. And so, she joined the famous London-based “Elite” Modelling Agency. After several years of hard work, she is now becoming a household name in the modelling and fashion industry and regularly brushes shoulders with the likes of Naomi Campbell, Yasmin Le Bon, Christy Turlington and Kate Moss. Later this year Kate is going on assignment to the United States and will be based in New York City for a few months.


But despite her constant travelling, she says she’ll always find time for her fishing and looks forward to her next Moy salmon with great excitement.

(In conversation with John Geary)