Lough Currane and River Inny updates from Vincent Appleby and the Waterville Lakes and Trust

The Appleby Reports

Lough Currane
Lough Currane on 16 May

16/5/18 The Lough Currane anglers had a long day today and as they say a picture always tell the story and today is no exception as you can see by the picture that the Lough Currane Anglers are exonerated in all departments for the lack of action. Wind a cold NE light. Yesterdays weather, amount of rainfall, 2.8mm. Maximum air temperature 13.7c.

17/5/18 A nice bit of action in both fly and trolling department so straight to the North Shore and the Bungalow. A French Angler, while fishing with his gillie Mr. Neil O’Shea of www.oshealoughcurrane.com caught a fine 12 lbs. Salmon on the troll. Now we head for the fly department and fish of the day and that honour goes to a German Angler. Mr. Markus Kruse, while fly fishing with his Gillie, caught a cracker of a 13 lbs. Salmon on the fly. Wind SSE light with good cloud cover. Yesterday’s weather, maximum air temperature 14.3.

18/5/18 The Lough Currane anglers fly and trolling reels were as silent as the Lambs this day even though there was a fresh gentle SW breeze to help the Currane fly Anglers cast their flies in anticipation of a rise of a Wild Atlantic Salmon or a wild Lough Currane Sea Trout and I can say without any fear of contradiction my mobile phone was as silent as their reels and that sums up today’s manipulations. Wind as already stated with reasonable cloud cover. Yesterday’s weather, maximum air temperature 16.2c.

19/5/18 In the words of a renowned  Lough Currane Gillie and who will remain nameless and fishless and that sums up today’s action in all departments. Wind SW light to fresh and overcast. Yesterday’s weather, maximum air temperature 15.8c.

20/5/18 There was a massive big flood last night and I can tell you the rain hasn’t  stopped all day and still falling as I write today’s news and sadly its the weather that’s making all the headlines, not the fly or the lure. That sums up today’s action and to be fair to the Currane anglers, they are exonerated for their failures this day because the conditions out there were Kat. Wind S moderate and overcast. Yesterdays weather, amount of rainfall, 0.2mm. Maximum air temperature 14.6c.

salmon
Michel and his salmon

21/5/18 There may have been 27.5mm of rainfall yesterday and a ENE wind today but I can say without any fear of contradiction this didn’t deter French angler and no stranger to the Waterville Fishery, Mr. Michel Allonsius, while fly fishing with his gillie Mr. Dominic McGillicuddy of www.fishingwithdom.com caught a fine 9 lbs. Salmon on the fly and finished their day off with a fine 2 ½ lbs. Sea Trout. Wind as already stated and just for the record good there was cloud cover with heavy showers this morning. Yesterday’s weather, amount of rainfall as already stated, maximum air temperature 13.8c.

Lough Currane on 21 May
Lough Currane on 21 May

22/5/18 What are the headlines, well it ain’t fish and that’s not surprising with bright Sunshine all day and light winds from the East then veered West, light in the afternoon, but strong enough to cast a good fly! Yesterdays weather, amount of rainfall 14.6mm. Maximum air temperature 12.4c. I will finish today’s notes on the sad news of the passing of Mrs. Maura Dwyer RIP of Beenbane, Waterville, whose Children who I might add are great sportsmen, be it Salmon angling or All Ireland Football Medals, so on behalf of all the Currane Anglers and all the good people of Waterville and Kerry we send our Sincere Sympathies to all the Family.

That is your ration from the last week on Lough Currane, from your Gillie and the Waterville Fishery, no spin no fly’s just facts.

Vincent Appleby
www.salmonandseatrout.com

The Trust report

2017 scale sample results just in!

This week we have received the report on our 2017 scale sampling programme. This programme has now been running for three years, thanks to the efforts made by the regular ghillies on Lough Currane who collect scale samples for us from salmon they catch on the lake. We are beginning   to get a much better idea of the dynamics of the Lough Currane salmon stocks and if we can keep this going for another few years we hope be able to draw some tentative conclusions to better inform our conservation efforts.

2017 was a relatively quiet year for salmon catches on the lake, compared with previous years, but the scale samples show a considerable diversity in the salmon population. Out of the total recorded 2017 catch we saw scales from several salmon from our conservation rearing programme, which had the characteristic ‘clipped’ adipose fin indicating that they had spent their first ten months in our hatchery at Derriana. Over the last three years or so, about a third of the parr released from the hatchery have been ‘fin clipped’ in this way and analyzing the scales of these fish has thrown up a number of things we didn’t know or only suspected in the past.

scale and age

Typical scale from a 2SW fish from the conservation hatchery – note the distinctive early growth pattern and the evidence of smolting after just one year.

Two of these clipped salmon were shown to have spawned previously as grilse and had ‘mended’ well as kelts and then spent a further two sea winters out in the North Atlantic. One fish sampled, which was found to be from the hatchery but not in the ‘clipped’ cohort, had followed exactly the same pattern. It is, incidentally, now becoming possible, as just one observation from of these scale studies, to track a fish of hatchery origin, regardless of whether or not it had been tagged.

Scales taken from of the large MSW hen fish caught up December 2017 as brood stock for the hatchery had also spawned previously as a grilse.

This is where the kelts head back out!
This is where the kelts head back out!

We have always known that kelts survive quite well in the catchment, as is evidenced each year by the numbers of them caught early in the year by anglers trolling for spring fish, but we hadn’t fully appreciated that its not at all unusual for a grilse kelt to go on to become a multi sea winter springer! Good kelt ‘survival’ may well be a feature of catchments like Currane where there is a large lake at the very bottom of the system, allowing spent fish to recover before continuing their journey to sea. A good subject for further study!

Rod Robinson
Waterville Lakes & Rivers Trust

Go fishing…

Vincent Appleby

Eureka Lodge, Caherdaniel West, Co. Kerry.
Telephone: +353 (0)66 9475248
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.salmonandseatrout.com

Waterville Lakes and Rivers Trust

The Waterville Lakes & Rivers Trust, formed by concerned volunteers in 2016, is one of the new Rivers Trusts to be set up in Ireland and is currently aspiring to Charitable Status. Its remit is to protect the fresh and coastal waters of the Iveragh Peninsula.

Find out more and how you can contribute at

Find out more about Lough Currane…

The rivers and lakes of Waterville drain a large catchment and are regarded by many as the foremost Salmon and Sea-Trout fishery in the country. The lake system is well developed with access to boats and guides being readily available to the tourist angler. The Sea-Trout caught here are renowned for their size and quantity. For more details see