Lough Sheelin Angling Report By Brenda Montgomery, IFI – July 14th– July 20th 2014

The best fishing is usually done with no motive other than curiosity … John Gierach

Sheelin’s Peter (Agrypnia varia)

Wrapped in a humid cloak of mid- summer heat Lough Sheelin fished well this week and angling numbers noticeably increased as the week progressed towards the weekend.

There were days when the lake fished well but it was the evening and after dark that Sheelin came into its own with impressive rises of trout and some heart stopping takes and follows giving its anglers a glimpsing reminder of what this lake is capable of producing – a huge number of trout of varying weights and consistent quality and beauty.
We are now well into the cream of the fishing season on Sheelin – the Sedge fishing and for now these insects are probably the main diet of the trout both during the day when they are feeding on the larva at the bottom and at night when the sedge will emerge as an adult. This is when the trout come on strong but this frenzy of feeding doesn’t last long, sometimes as little as 30 minutes so the angler really has to be on the ball when the rise starts as the trout can go down quite quickly.
The most vulnerable time for the sedge is when they are emerging or when they are on the surface drying their wings or when they return to the water to lay their eggs. Because they are quite a large insect, the wings take that bit longer to dry out so they have to scurry across the surface of the water to get to safety on dry land and this is when quite a lot of them are taken by trout on the prowl. The sedges can be big, particularly the Murrough so the trout can only consume so many before they must digest them, so for the Sheelin angler it pays to be there at the start of a rise because this frenzy of sedge feeding doesn’t happen for too long and after it is over, all that is left for the angler is a search for any trout that are taking some late emerging sedge and this leads to scattered, sporadic and hit and miss fly fishing which can be a little frustrating.

Ken Hunting Reilly with his ‘after dark’ Sheelin trout (released)

Sheelin fishes well from 8pm onwards and into nightfall and beyond. Out on the lake there are three main hatches – a small brown sedge, the Murrough and the Green Peter. Of these three the small brown sedge is at the top of the menu but almost on par is the Green Peter. The Green Peter ‘took off’ on Sheelin some two weeks ago, it’s appearance is very early this year on this lake and success rates using an imitation of this fly have been high. There are many variations but a roofed body and touch of green on the underside have landed many trout for a number of anglers.

Aled Dixon with his superb Sheelin trout

Good trout fishing on Sheelin at the moment is all about intermingling with the fading evening light, the dusk and the darkness, this is the time when trout are surfacing, in huge numbers in some areas of the lake. After the perigee moon disappeared most nights where so dark that it was impossible to see trout rising, so all the angler was left with was hearing the sound of the trout surfacing and taking. This is when the Sheelin angler has to try to get the fly into the vicinity of where the trout and hope that it sees it, a slight twitch of the fly line to give the fly movement on the surface all helps in that quest to land a night time Sheelin trout.
Sedge fishing at night on Sheelin isn’t for the faint hearted and boating through the gloom around witching hour and beyond reminds me of a verse out of William Henley’s poem ‘out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods maybe, for my unconquerable soul’ but there is nothing comparable to the
the thrill of sedge fishing at night – it’s that anticipation of that take…

Before the dark – Sheelin July 19th

Shafts of lightening accompanied by thunder and heavy rain chased all the anglers off the lake on Saturday, although there was good day time fishing teams of wets on drifts from Church Island to Orangefield and around Crover and Holywell.

The LSTPA’S youth angling day at the IFI offices, Kilnahard

One of those Sheelin flies

The most successful flies this week were the Green Peters, Murroughs and a size 12 – 14 brown Sedge.
Other flies were the Green Stimulators, Silver Invicata, the Alexandra, the Dunkeld, Dabblers (Silver, Fiery Brown, Peter Ross and Green) Hoppers, the Claret Bling, the F fly, the Golden Olive Bumble, Silver & Black Humungus and the Klinkhammers.
A good fly is Tyrrell’s Green Peter where the use of the CDC feather in this pattern gives great buoyancy which is very help in giving the fly movement on the surface.
Usually for dry fly fishing unlike dragging the wets, the best plan is to just use one fly and don’t put anything on the line that will drag the fly down.
The weather dictates how this lake has to be fished for instance when the wind drops there can be great buzzer fishing particularly around the Bog Bay and Goreport areas and if you have a soft wind blowing from the shoreline on your back, this can be perfect for Green Peter fishing. Caenis requires dead flat calm and warmth and with waves the angler is back to the old reliable team of three in the wets. Change of wind direction can either grind takes to a halt or it can cause a multitude of rises, nature rules this lake, not man.
Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 790 which strictly prohibits

• All trolling on the lake from March 1st to April 30th (inclusive).

• From May 1st to June 15th – no trolling between 7pm –6am and no trolling under engine between 6am – 7pm and

• June 16th – October 12th – no trolling under engine between 7pm – 6am.

• No trout less than 14 inches should be taken from the lake

Lough Sheelin July 17th

Up-Coming Events

The McDonnell cup will be held on Sunday August 10th on Lough Sheelin, fishing from 11am till 6pm from Kilnahard pier with an entry fee of €20. This competition has been fished catch & release for the last two years which proved to be very successful. Measures will be provided for all boats with the cup awarded to the longest fish.

There will be lots of prizes on offer and this day is generally viewed as a great day out.
For further details contact Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033.

The Lough Sheelin Protection Association’s Stream Rehabilitation competition has been set for Saturday October 4th. Match booklets will be out by mid- August and will also be available to download off the LSTPA’s web site.

A catch & release policy is actively encouraged on the lake at all times

 A 4 ½ pounder lives to fight another day on Sheelin

It won’t work if you are not wearing it

Water rarely gives second chances and a life jacket is just that – it saves your life, so we would implore anglers and all other users for their own safety as well as it being the law under

SI No 921 of 2005 – Pleasure Craft (Personal Flotation Devices and Operation) (Safety) Regulations 2005

So please put on and keep on that life jacket until you are back on dry land.

Caoimhe Sheridan, Cavan – getting it right

Lough Sheelin Guiding Services (www.loughsheelinguidingservices.com) 087 1245927

Michael Farrell @ 087 4194156Telephone: +353 43 6681298 Email: loughsheelinguide@hotmail.com

Most of the fish featured in these angling reports are returned carefully and safely to the lake

The heaviest fish for the week was a trout of 6 lbs caught by Polish angler Lukas Daakusas using a Green Peter on July 15th

Total number of trout recorded for the week: 47
Selection of Catches

Joe Casey, Athlone – 2 trout at 3 and 3 ½ lbs using a size 14 brown Sedge.

John Hammod, Dublin – 2 trout at 3 and 4 lbs on a dry sedge.
Peter McArdle, Dundalk – 4 trout fishing a dry sedge at night and a team of wets during the day.

Thomas Lynch, Cavan – 3 trout averaging 1 ½ – 3 lbs using a sedge and a Green Peter.

Pat Brady, Cavan – 2 trout at 4 and 3 ½ lbs using dry sedges.

Ken Reilly, Dublin – 1 trout averaging 4lbs on the sedge.

Brenda Montgomery IFI