Home Trout fishing reports Sheelin anglers steal a march on March

Sheelin anglers steal a march on March

April 1, 2025

3058

Sheelin Angling Report March 24th – March 30th 2025

“Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get”

Dale Camegie

Abracadabra – Beata Kielak’s magical trout of 78cm

It was another cold week on Sheelin with the occasional warm spot thrown in mid-day and early afternoon. We are still getting those nightly temperature drops and unwelcome frosts which are keeping the water temperature from climbing to the double figures. Temperatures struggled, once again, between 8.3 and 8.6 degrees which isn’t what is needed if we want better trout activity. Winds persistently blew from the north and east and although there was a reprieve mid week with the favoured south westerlies, the air temperatures remained cold at a chilly 10 degrees.

Fish successes on Sheelin and what the weather is doing always goes hand in hand, a marriage not necessarily made in heaven. This lake is governed primarily by wind direction and coupled with its renowned unpredictability Sheelin can make for a gruelling fishing opponent.

On Saturday, the weather for your average angler wasn’t promising – pouring rain with a choppy fresh south westerly wind pushing big waves down the lake at a frightening speed. There is no shelter on Sheelin, this is a large unforgiving stretch of open water. The rain brought in the chill factor to top up the misery factor but amazingly Saturday was the pick of the fishing days and for the twelve or so boats out there, everyone caught fish. The catches were good, averaging 4 -5lbs, in good condition and plump.

Eamonn Ross hosted the Ronnie Cox Memorial Competition the next day, March 30th and although well supported with balmy conditions of up to 16 degrees, northwest winds prevailed and just five fish were measured in. It’s not all about the catching and this was a great day with over €2000 raised for a very worthy cause so many thanks to Eamonn and all the anglers who participated. This competition, which was catch and release, was won by Tommy Doherty with a fine 63cm trout.

The heaviest trout recorded for the week was an eight pounder caught by Edgars Zulske on a lure at Finea on Saturday, March 29th.

Much as I would like to write about teams of wets, it was the lures and large flies that are still the bait methods that are catching the trout here. I’m told that anything that involves fur and feathers is classified as a fly so the flies/streamers/lures for this week were the Humungous, Minkies, Damsel, Snakes, Woolly Buggers and Titanic Bug Black. The Titanic is a new one for me but I’m reliably informed that it is the stalking fly fisherman’s ‘bread and butter’. It has a weighted bead at the front and then lead wire wrapped as the body, creating one heavy fly. The marabou tail with flash switches the trout on and usually triggers a take.

The Dabblers have been consistently great on Sheelin, fished on an intermediate or slow sink line when the fish are reluctant to surface. A windy day which loosens up the shrimp, snails and hog louse from their hiding place, attracting the trout to mop them up. In this scenario, Dabblers work really well, a combination of a gorgeous George in a dark green colour on the top and two Dabblers behind or a Dabbler in the middle and a minkie on the point. The best colours for the Dabblers early season are Golden, Pearly, Claret, Peter Ross and Fiery Brown Olive both light and sooty.

The best fishing areas for this week have been along the rocky shores and exposed points – the shallows were the water is warmer and the food – shrimp and hog louse is plentiful and easy to access.

The best areas are Chamber’s bay, Kilnahard shore, Holywell down to Crover, Merry point, Curry point, at the back of Church Island and the south shore of Derrysheridan. Some trout still hold the depths of water though, so blind casting if you can cast your line where you think the fish might be and retrieve might trigger a take. Daily choices of fishing spots are governed, as always, by wind direction.

Now, at the end of the month, March has felt more akin to winter than spring but nonetheless Sheelin has consistently attracted a certain type of angler, that fisherman for whom the allure of fishing this lake early season over rides all discomfort. There is something special about early season – new beginnings, a rested lake, trout that as yet are unspooked by boats and snagging hooks, the possibility of catching one of Sheelin’s reputed heavy weights but there is also, along with these feel good factors an uneasy feeling there too which has to do with making decisions – hopefully the right ones.

Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 949 which strictly prohibits from June 14^th, 2017 onwards:

The taking of any brown trout of less than 36 centimeters.
For a person to fish with more than 2 rods at any one time.
To fish with more than 4 rods at any one time when there is more than one person on board the boat concerned.
For a person to take more than 2 trout per day.
All trolling on the lake from March 1^st to June 16^th (inclusive).
To fish or to attempt to take or to fish for, fish of any kind other than during the period from March 1^st to October 12^th in any year.