A short report from a coarse angler Jonathon Andrews who the shores of Lough Allen at the top of the Shannon System.
Jonathon was enjoying a fairly normal day on the lake, fishing at the Cleighran More marina. He was using a double maggot on a #14 hook to decent effect getting roach to 6oz and some nice hybrids to 2lbs.
One fish that he brought to the net had him perplexed though – a very silver, lean looking fish, almost herring-like but with a curious adipose fin just like a trout. It was, of course, a pollan, a native Irish species left over from the last Ice Age. These fish are rare enough, and almost never caught by anglers. They come into the shallows around this time of year to breed but otherwise live out in the deeper water of the lake.
If you catch a pollan, char, smelt or any other unusual fish we’d love to hear about it.
About pollan
The pollan is endemic to Ireland, which means that it is a native species that is only found in Ireland, making it a very special part of our natural heritage. The pollan is usually classified as a species within the genus Coregonus, which are a diverse group of species known collectively as whitefish in the fish family Salmonidae, along with salmon, trout and char. The pollan (Coregonus pollan) is very closely related to the Arctic cisco (Coregonus autumnalis), which inhabits the Arctic regions of Siberia, Alaska and Canada.
The pollan is sometimes considered to be a subspecies (Coregonus autumnalis pollan) of Arctic cisco that has become a glacial relict, which means that pollan populations became isolated as the range of Arctic cisco contracted northwards following the retreat of colder environments at the end of the last ice age. Pollan populations are believed to have dispersed into Ireland’s river systems thousands of years ago when they were connected by melting glacier water but subsequently became isolated as large lakes formed. Today, they only survive in Lough Allen, Lough Ree and Lough Derg on the River Shannon, as well as Lough Erne and Lough Neagh. The Lough Neagh population is the most abundant population and is fished commercially.
Pollan are a shoaling fish that feed on planktonic invertebrates in lakes and typically live for about five years. The conservation status of pollan in Ireland is classified as vulnerable. Pollan are threatened by deteriorating water quality, invasive species and warmer water temperatures due to climate change.
