Fortune favours the brave on Lough Sheelin
Lough Sheelin angling report April 10th – April 21st 2023
‘Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go’
William Feather
‘Four seasons in the one day’ – that well versed line used to reflect Ireland’s unpredictable weather changing patterns, could now be edited to ‘four seasons in the one week’. At Sheelin, over the past ten days, we have been treated to a mixture of just about everything – hail, thundery downpours, a sprinkle of snow, undesirable wind directions and temperatures rising to 20 degrees and plummeting to minus 3. Our weather, over the past ten days, has been the peak of unpredictability, a curdling mix of meteorological menace.
Fishing conditions out on Lough Sheelin have been challenging but nonetheless good fish are being caught on a regular basis regardless of what is being thrown down on us from above. Persistent easterly winds have whipped across this lake for the past number of days, delaying the buzzer fishing and sending the trout downwards. Monday, April 17th was the pick of the days when there were light breezes and the day felt pleasantly warm with temperatures hitting the late teens. There were good hatches of buzzer and an encouraging movement of fish particularly in Chambers, Bog and Corru bay.
The lures are still tops, bring in almost all the catches recorded. Humungus, Minkies, Cats Whiskers, Tobys, Shads and Snakes are all featuring heavily. The jury is out on whether the Dabblers actually belong in the lure category, but anglers tell me that anything with marabou in the tying is a lure.
Claret, Sooty, Green, Fiery Brown and Golden Dabblers are all holding their own on this lake now. The fly men are, for now, in the back room waiting for the weather to change so they can start (for some) into the most exciting time – the buzzer fishing. Direction of wind and the water temperature are the main factors that will help or hinder a fly hatch and we have unfortunately been crippled with chilly east winds and a water temperature that is struggling to get beyond 10 degrees. I read somewhere that ‘when you get it right, fishing buzzers will probably be the easiest method you’re ever going to use’ and what is meant by that is when you are buzzer fishing, you basically have to cast out and hold on and nothing else – other than keeping the line straight. Simply don’t move them. Being a readily natural food source, almost every trout in the lake will switch on to them.
In general, it is the mayfly that anglers most look forward to, a cosseted and coveted time for the fly angler, when holidays are booked and anglers flock for this 2 -3 week event. The buzzer pales into insignificance compared to the beauty of Ephemera danica but that is the rock that a ‘want to catch a Sheelin trout’ angler may perish on, as Sheelin trout are very fond of the buzzer and for the next month it is the epoxy, emergers and single dry buzzer patterns that will quietly bring in great results.
The best places for fishing this week were limited to the areas that were the most sheltered from that east wind – Chambers, Bog, Corru, the Long Rock, at the back of Church Island and the Stony Islands. Regardless of the difficult weather there was always a boat bobbing somewhere on this lake, with the weekends moving into the double figures.
April weather can be so changeable, showers and sleet, sun and snow. The fishing can be more difficult when high winds are blowing and the prospect of catching can be bleak to the sporadic angler. When it is cold it is best to stick to the lures, using sinking lines in deeper water. Some buzzer emerger patterns were picking up the odd good fish but for now nothing has really taken hold yet in the fly fishing department.
We are fast approaching May, with summer on the horizon, a time of ‘new beginnings’ and the real hope of that magical catch from this special lake that is Lough Sheelin.
Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 949 which strictly prohibits from June 14th, 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 1st to June 16th (inclusive).
- To fish or to attempt to take or to fish for, fish of any kind other than during the period from March 1st to October 12th in any year.
Lough Sheelin Guiding Services (www.loughsheelinguidingservices.com) 087 1245927
Christopher Defillon
[email protected] (+33685964369) evasionpecheirlande.net
https://m.facebook.com/christopher.defillon?refid=0&fref=seaperch#
Michael Farrell @ 087 4194156Telephone: +353 43 6681298 Email: [email protected]
Grey Duster Guiding
Kenneth O’Keeffe
Tel: 086 8984172 Email: [email protected]
John Mulvany [email protected] 086 2490076
Catches recorded for the week: 44
Heaviest trout: 6.5 lb trout caught by Darius Sakolouskas, Dublin on a lure at the back of Church Island
Selection of catches:
Rusln Makarenku – 1 trout at 45cm on a lure, April 15th.
Peter McCaughey, Dundalk – 1 trout at 5.5lbs on an emerger pattern.
Anthony McCaffrey, Derry – 4 trout using Dabblers.
Andrius Zaborovecs, Wexford – 2 trout, heaviest at 4lbs using lures.
