Ken Whelan reports on the recently held Introduction to Trout fishing course held at Courtlough with Jason Riordan…
We ran our first course of the season yesterday on Courtlough Fishery, Balbriggan. In between the classes, the participants managed to land 13 trout. The “Man of the Match” title certainly goes to Donegal man, Barry Ramsay. Not alone did Barry manage to take the largest fish – a beautiful rainbow of close to 3lb in weight – but he also landed 5 of the trout caught over the day.
Checking out the water fauna
Thanks to Bill Flynn and his staff for looking after us so well. Having been closed last season any fish in the lough have over-wintered at least once and are in cracking condition.
In a fish
If you fancy a day or a half day on Courtlough contact Bill on: 01 8413096 or [email protected]
Barry with a Rainbow trout
Our next course is Successful Salmon Fishing on the River Erriff on the 25th and 26th May. Best to book early if you are interested in attending, as this is a very popular course and is already heavily booked – [email protected] !
Ken and Jason
It’s really that time of year again. Walking the banks looking at cobwebs around the river bank trying to identify flies for ideas, checking records to see what was working this time last year, comparing water heights and temperatures…
Our opening day this year saw the river near on unfishable from a fly anglers point of view, so I had to wait a a couple of weeks before I headed down to my hotspots of last year. I had a quick look at the gauge and it read .62 still a little high but I waited long enough for this day. On my way to the George’s wall run, past memories of last season went through my mind bringing a smile to my face. With some of Mr. Mealys flies in my box I was confident I was going to meet my first trout of the 2019 season,
After a few casts it seemed like I was never away from the river over the winter. As my nymph bounced along the bottom I watched the end of my fly line gracefully dance to the currents and torrents when all of a sudden it stopped. Lifting the rod up I was into my first fish, not a very big fish but indeed a fish. A beautiful little salmon parr came to hand and was released to continue his journey downstream. A few more casts followed and again my line stopped and again it was another little salmon parr. Great to see these little fellows. Realising that there were a lot of these young salmon about I decided to move a little further towards the White Bridge. On my 3rd cast I lifted into something a bit better, then there it was a beautiful wild brown showing his acrobatics. What a sight for sore eyes that was, something I missed over the winter months.
A bonny early season trout from the Nore
Over the last week some trout have been caught, and amongst them quite a few salmon parr which is a great sign. All were carefully returned to continue on their journey. Hopefully in a couple of years we will meet with them again.
Mount Juliet House is set on a large estate, which offers private fishing on 2.5 miles of the middle to lower reaches of the River Nore. Mount Juliet Estate offers fishing of the highest quality, just a short stroll away from the Manor House. There is a fishing room on site in the Manor House for your convenience i.e. for storage and drying of fishing equipment. Mount Juliet Estate can also provide the necessary equipment on site if needed.
Ken Whelan reports on the recently held Introduction to Trout fishing course held at Courtlough with Jason Riordan…
We ran our first course of the season yesterday on Courtlough Fishery, Balbriggan. In between the classes, the participants managed to land 13 trout. The “Man of the Match” title certainly goes to Donegal man, Barry Ramsay. Not alone did Barry manage to take the largest fish – a beautiful rainbow of close to 3lb in weight – but he also landed 5 of the trout caught over the day.
Checking out the water fauna
Thanks to Bill Flynn and his staff for looking after us so well. Having been closed last season any fish in the lough have over-wintered at least once and are in cracking condition.
In a fish
If you fancy a day or a half day on Courtlough contact Bill on: 01 8413096 or [email protected]
Barry with a Rainbow trout
Our next course is Successful Salmon Fishing on the River Erriff on the 25th and 26th May. Best to book early if you are interested in attending, as this is a very popular course and is already heavily booked – [email protected] !
Ken and Jason
John Fleming reports from Galway Bay where charter boat angling is producing a nice mix of species…
We had some nice pollack fishing on board Brazen Hussy using light tackle with jellies on the drift.
No Spurs but some good huss were caught
We anchored in search for spurdog but unfortunately to no avail, but we managed some nice huss to 108cm and pouting, we also had a nice shot of mackerel, and a surprise herring in with them.
HerringMackerel are always welcome at this time of year
Plenty of sandeels and launce been taken on sabikis so plenty of bait fish.
We have some weekend dates left in April for huss and spurdogs as well as whitfish and we should see hope showing up shortly also.
Bib or pout or pouting
Go fishing…
Blue Shark Angling
A regular day is between 9am- 6pm from either Rossaveal, Spiddal or Galway depending on species being sought after. Fishing on the inshore reefs for pollock, cod, ling, wrasse, conger eel and mackerel can be reached in 10 minutes from departure, while our offshore reef marks are within 45 minutes of departure. Our ground fishing for tope, spurdog, ray, bullhuss, turbot, plaice and the giant common skate can all be reached within the hour which ensures the most amount of time is spent fishing.
The shark season usually starts at the end of June and runs into late October, this is the ultimate angling adrenaline rush with these hard fighting blue and porbeagle sharks all being tagged and released safely.
Package deals available
John Fleming reports from Galway Bay where charter boat angling is producing a nice mix of species…
We had some nice pollack fishing on board Brazen Hussy using light tackle with jellies on the drift.
No Spurs but some good huss were caught
We anchored in search for spurdog but unfortunately to no avail, but we managed some nice huss to 108cm and pouting, we also had a nice shot of mackerel, and a surprise herring in with them.
HerringMackerel are always welcome at this time of year
Plenty of sandeels and launce been taken on sabikis so plenty of bait fish.
We have some weekend dates left in April for huss and spurdogs as well as whitfish and we should see hope showing up shortly also.
Bib or pout or pouting
Go fishing…
Blue Shark Angling
A regular day is between 9am- 6pm from either Rossaveal, Spiddal or Galway depending on species being sought after. Fishing on the inshore reefs for pollock, cod, ling, wrasse, conger eel and mackerel can be reached in 10 minutes from departure, while our offshore reef marks are within 45 minutes of departure. Our ground fishing for tope, spurdog, ray, bullhuss, turbot, plaice and the giant common skate can all be reached within the hour which ensures the most amount of time is spent fishing.
The shark season usually starts at the end of June and runs into late October, this is the ultimate angling adrenaline rush with these hard fighting blue and porbeagle sharks all being tagged and released safely.
Package deals available
It’s ten years and ten days since Franz Josef Rothkotter and his son Nicklas first fished here at Delphi and on that occasion, it was young Nicklas who took the limelight, when he landed three Springers on his first day’s salmon fishing. They have both been a number of times since with Nicklas nearly always catching fish, but Franz Josef hadn’t been so lucky.
That all changed today, when Franz Josef hooked and after 25 minutes landed a magnificent fish of 18lbs 12ozs in the Rock Pool. The fish was taken on a fly that can only be described as a Conehead Cross between a Red Francis and a Monkey Dog, if that makes any sense! The fish was one of our own, as all wild fish are released and was more than likely a three sea winter fish. In other words, it would have been released as a smolt in late April 2016. All I can say is congratulations to Franz Josef, on landing his first Delphi salmon and doing so in such great style, in conditions that can only be described as horrendous, with a northerly gale and temperatures of approximately 5 degrees and the river running at 25.
We also had a fish yesterday when David Swaine one of our new syndicate members landed a cracker of 10lbs 7ozs from the Quarry Pool on a Dee Sheep. Again, conditions were terrible, with a north westerly gale and showers of hail, sleet and snow, and the river was only at 15.
Hopefully the weather will become a little milder over the coming days and with some more water I would expect to see more fish running.
NEWLY RENOVATED COTTAGES
We have recently renovated and refurbished our self-catering cottages here at Delphi.
Our cottages are surrounded by some of the highest mountains in the west of Ireland and are extremely popular with hill walkers, artists and those in search of a quite hideaway. These old world cottages, set in the most scenic and tranquil location are perfect for that well earned break.
We still have some availability left for the season, should you wish to check availability please do not hesitate to contact the office on +353 (0)95 42222 or email to [email protected]
At Delphi Lodge, with many years of experience with the timing of the best runs of fish, we have in place a price system that offers both great value fishing and lets our anglers know when they have the best chance to catch a fresh run spring salmon or a summer grilse or Delphi sea trout.
It’s ten years and ten days since Franz Josef Rothkotter and his son Nicklas first fished here at Delphi and on that occasion, it was young Nicklas who took the limelight, when he landed three Springers on his first day’s salmon fishing. They have both been a number of times since with Nicklas nearly always catching fish, but Franz Josef hadn’t been so lucky.
That all changed today, when Franz Josef hooked and after 25 minutes landed a magnificent fish of 18lbs 12ozs in the Rock Pool. The fish was taken on a fly that can only be described as a Conehead Cross between a Red Francis and a Monkey Dog, if that makes any sense! The fish was one of our own, as all wild fish are released and was more than likely a three sea winter fish. In other words, it would have been released as a smolt in late April 2016. All I can say is congratulations to Franz Josef, on landing his first Delphi salmon and doing so in such great style, in conditions that can only be described as horrendous, with a northerly gale and temperatures of approximately 5 degrees and the river running at 25.
We also had a fish yesterday when David Swaine one of our new syndicate members landed a cracker of 10lbs 7ozs from the Quarry Pool on a Dee Sheep. Again, conditions were terrible, with a north westerly gale and showers of hail, sleet and snow, and the river was only at 15.
Hopefully the weather will become a little milder over the coming days and with some more water I would expect to see more fish running.
NEWLY RENOVATED COTTAGES
We have recently renovated and refurbished our self-catering cottages here at Delphi.
Our cottages are surrounded by some of the highest mountains in the west of Ireland and are extremely popular with hill walkers, artists and those in search of a quite hideaway. These old world cottages, set in the most scenic and tranquil location are perfect for that well earned break.
We still have some availability left for the season, should you wish to check availability please do not hesitate to contact the office on +353 (0)95 42222 or email to [email protected]
At Delphi Lodge, with many years of experience with the timing of the best runs of fish, we have in place a price system that offers both great value fishing and lets our anglers know when they have the best chance to catch a fresh run spring salmon or a summer grilse or Delphi sea trout.
![Ken and barry](/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ken-and-barry-480x360.jpg")
![fauna](/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/fauna-2--480x360.jpg")
![trout](/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/CL-2--480x360.jpg")
![trout](/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Barry-R-2-edited-copy-480x640.jpg")
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![Erriff Course flyer](/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/erriff-course-480x603.png")
