Fishery Manager, David McEvoy reports from Delphi where the salmon anglers have packed up for the year and are looking back on what was a difficult season, though the sea trout catches were encouraging…
The 2014 salmon angling season was by and large disappointing for most salmon anglers. Reports from around the country are for the most part the same with rod catches down on previous years. Needless to say there will be many theories thrown about as to why the figures were down, but marine survival seems to rank high on the agenda.
Since my last update on the 21st of September we landed 19 salmon. Water levels remained extremely low making angling difficult. On our last full week of fishing the Shortt party landed five fish, three from the Turn pool, one from Morrison’s and one from the Road pool. All were landed on beaded nymphs.
We got a little rise in water on the 25th and Jonathan Powell managed to land a 10lbs fish from the Turn pool on an Ally shrimp.
I should also mention that Brian Gottorp Jeppesen managed to hold onto the prize for the largest salmon and win the trophy of the Sir.Henry Club from Denmark which was presented to him on the 22nd just before their departure.
The 30th of September was relatively quiet compared to recent years, but personally I had expected this, especially after the long dry spell we experienced and fish being particularly dour. We did however manage to land thirteen fish. Seven of these were off Finlough, two off Deadman’s, and one each from Bridge, Turn, Quarry and Whin.
That brought our total for the month of September to 53, which considering conditions was actually quite good. Weather for the most part was extremely dry and calm. Believe it or not the first 21 days in September saw absolutely no rain at all. Total rainfall for the month finished at 34.6mms (1.36”). This is actually our driest month on record here since February 1986 when a total of 10 mms fell. By Monday the 22nd the rock in the middle of the Grilse pool was actually out of the water, which is only the second time in 23 years I have witnessed this. The previous time was at the end of June 2010 following three months of relatively dry weather.
53 for September brought our total salmon catch for the year to 257, the details of which will all be explained in detail in our annual newsletter.
On a more positive note sea trout catches were our best since 2010. When one includes the September catch of 199 our total for 2014 was 591. Again it must be noted that the majority were in the ¾ to 1lb bracket, but hopefully this bodes well for both salmon and sea trout next year.
On a totally different note I must also say congratulations to Laurence Joyce who got married to Claire Heraty yesterday. (I should add that Paddy Heneghan would have said they were churched yesterday). May they experience many years of happiness together. For those of you who don’t know, Laurence is the man who for the past 16 or 17 years has done all the hard work in the hatchery producing our smolts which have provided many of you with countless hours of enjoyment and frustration on their return to Delphi.
Finally I would like to thank all our customers, staff and friends at the end of the 2014 fishing season for their support during the year. Don’t worry I will update you through the closed season on our progress during the winter months and of course to remind you of the beauty of this little gem called Delphi.
David McEvoy
Delphi Fishery
Go fishing…
At Delphi Lodge, with many years of experience with the timing of the best runs of fish, we have in place a price system that offers both great value fishing and lets our anglers know when they have the best chance to catch a fresh run spring salmon or a summer grilse or Delphi sea trout.
Delphi Fishery
Delphi Lodge, Leenane, Co. Galway.
Tel: +353 (0)95-42222 Fax +353-95-42296
Web: www.delphilodge.ie
