Lough Sheelin Angling Report June 18th to June 24th
‘The more experienced Sheelin angler will do more watching and waiting than casting and fishing’
Anglers must take time to study this lake and read it carefully before deciding where to fish and what fly to use – many anglers are looking but not seeing and they need visualisation and understanding of this great lake to reap the benefits from this special stretch of water.
Sheelin fished well during the week but anglers were still sparse. Fishing was best from 7pm onwards and Thursday was the best day.
The weekend was slow with angling numbers increasing but not much movement of fish during the day. Sunday attracted fishermen from Kildare, Dublin and Northern Ireland with Templeogue man Hugho and his dog Olly sticking it out until dark in the hope of landing a fish which although it didn’t happen for them the numbers of big fish pitching was enough to lure them back for another day.
There are still mayfly hatches and plenty of spent. There were excellent numbers of mayfly on Thursday afternoon particularly from the Stony islands stretching right up into the middle of the lake. Fishing the sedge is gradually increasing on the lake as the month progresses and there were millions of sedges reported around Church island and the Bog Bay section of the lake in particular.
Sedge fishing is arguably reputed to be the cream of the fishing season on Sheelin and gets into full swing from about mid June onwards and continues right up to the end of the season – October 12th. Small brown sedge hatches become prolific as weeks advance. The best methods are fishing dry with as small asedge (brown) as possible (from 14 to 16’s).
If it doesn’t match, you won’t catch…
There are many tactics that can be employed to take fish during a sedge hatch but the most important thing to remember is that the fly must match the local hatch. Size and colour are of up- most importance.
The best flies used were the Green Mayfly, Spent Gnat, Grey Elk, Cinnamon Sedge, Goddard’s Black Caddis fly, Wickham’s Fancy, Silver Invicta and Gold Invicta, Murragh and Green Drake.
The L.S.T.P.A will be running a ‘not to be missed’ Youth Angling Day on Saturday July 21st at Lough Sheelin. This day is open to all 8 – 18 year olds. The day will include fly tying, casting and then fishing, finishing with a Bar-B-Q. Everyone must bring a life jacket and eye protection and of course lots of enthusiasm and energy.
Contact E.Ross @ 087 9436655 or Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033
A catch and release policy is actively encouraged on this lake
Please remember anglers that the size limit on this lake is 35.5 cm (14 inches) – we need our small fish alive…….
Heaviest fish for the week was a 5¼ lb trout caught by Mullingar man Jos Grimes
Total catch recorded for the week: 76
A Selection Of Catches were:
Jos Grimes, Mullingar – Monday June 18th 1 at 5¼ lbs using a red tazmanian devil and 3 at 2½, 2½ and 2lbs.
Philip Keena, Mullingar – 1 trout at 1½ lbs on a tasmanian devil
Tom Walsh, Kildare – on a spent gnat 3 trout at 5¼, 4 and 3lbs.
Thomas Lynch, L.S.T.P.A – 1 trout at 2¼lbs on a murrough on Tuesday June 19th.
Andrew Brown, L.S.T.P.A – 3 trout, 1 at 3lbs caught on a wet bumble and 2 at 1½ and 2lbs caught on a dry green.
Thomas Harton, Cavan – 6 trout averaging 1½ – 2¼lbs in weight on Tuesday and Wednesday around Derrysheridan, all on the sedge.
Niall Kavanagh, Balbriggan – 2 at 1½ lb each using a dry green.
Michael Kelly, Dublin – now that the fishing is moving towards the sedge, Michael is reverting back to his LF fly and this is working a dream for him, landing him two beautiful 4lb and 3lb trout on Wednesday and 2 more fish on the same day on wets at 2 to 2½ lbs. Tuesday after 6pm one trout at 1¾ lbs on a sedge, Thursday was very good with a total of 5 fish all on the sedge, heaviest was 3½lbs, others averaged 1¼ – 2lbs. Friday morning Michael was only out for a short while and landed 1 at 2lbs on the wet fly. Michael can be contacted for ghilling at 087 2608068.
Reported by : Brenda Montgomery IFI
