The sun sets on the 2018 season on Lough Corrib. Photo courtesy Larry McCarthy
The sun sets on the 2018 season on Lough Corrib. Photo courtesy Larry McCarthy
Declan Gibbons reports on the final week of the 2018 season on Corrib, an up and down season due to the cold spring and hot dry summer, but one which provided some great fishing at times and Corrib continued to produce some of the finest wild trout to be found anywhere.
“I would like to thank the contributors (businesses, clubs & individuals) to the weekly angling report for their co-operation, verbal reports , text reports and pictures that added to the weekly report in which Lough Corrib is promoted. We all hope that the winter spawning season of 2018 is a fruitful one and look forward to corresponding with you all in 2019.
Regards Declan”
Starting off in the Cornamona area, the Cornamona Anglers hosted their end of season Last Cast Competition – the Egan Cup – on a catch-and-release basis pairs competition. 18 rods participated and 13 fish were caught and released.
1st Place went to Martin Kinneavy & Mike Coyne with 6 fish. In 2nd place was Barry Molloy & Gerry Dixon with 4 fish, and in 3rd Place Eamon Gavin & Peter Walsh with 1 fish.
Martin Kinneavy (right) and Mike Coyne (centre) receiving the Egan Cup from Eamon Gavin (left)
The Longest Fish prize went to Eamon Gavin with a fine trout of 54cms.
Eamon Gavin Cornamona – Longest Fish in Cornamona Last Cast C&R Competition #CPRsavesfish
Gerry Dixon was presented with The Phil & Paul O Sullivan Cup (Overall Angler of the Year ) by Conor O Sullivan on behalf of The O Sullivan Family.
Gerry Dixon receves the Phil and Paul O Sullivan Cup (Overall Angler of the Year ) from Conor O Sullivan
Staying in the Cornamona area Tom Doc Sullivan http://www.tomdoc.com reports of Tommy Keoghan & Dermot Leonard from Trim, Co Meath fished for two days and boated twelve good trout including two good fish of 3.5lbs and 3.25lbs. As a bonus they also picked up a 4lbs grilse with all fish sportingly released, and caught on wet flies in the Inishdooras and Inchagoill areas.
Dermot Leonard releasing a nice fish. #CPRsavesfish
Cong Angling Club hosted their Last Cast Catch & Release Competition ( Longest Fish Competition ) on Sunday. 22 anglers took part in the competition and 6 fish were caught, measured, photographed and released. Winner on the day was Johnathan O’Grady with a fish measuring 41.5cms, second place went to Philip Comber with a fish measuring 40.5cms. Third place went to Robbie Connelly with a fish measuring 37.5cms.
Jonathan O Grady (Centre) Cong C&R Competition Winner, with Thomas Ryan & John Fahy, Cong Angling Club
Larry McCarthy of Corrib View Lodge, Glencorrib http://www.corribangling.com reports a busy last week to the season. Robert Rankin and his fishing partner Donnacha were guided by Larry over 3 days and caught and released 7 trout between 1.5lbs and 2.5lbs, all on wet fly. Cork brothers Paul and Mick Mellamphy for their outing on Saturday had 5 trout, all released. Ger Murphy and his fishing partner Frank had several fish for their 2 days including a fine trout of 4lbs. Larry himself and friend Dennis Moss on the last day had good sport in the Cornamona area with trout up to 3.5lbs, all on wet flies.
A lovely 3.5lbs trout was the final reward for Larry McCarthy on the last day, landed for a quick photo before release. #CPRsavesfish
In the Greenfields area on Thursday last friends Conor Ledwith and Willie Roche enjoyed a late season day’s fishing, with Willie landing a nice trout of 2lbs on a Red Arsed Peter and Conor landing a beautiful fish of 4lbs on a Pearly Dabbler, with both fish sportingly released. Ted Wherry with Frank Costello on Friday last enjoyed an afternoons fishing in the Inchagoill area and landed a fish of 2lbs. Galway angler Harold O’Toole on Wednesday last reported good fishing in the deeps with several trout to the boat.
Willie Roche with a lovely trout to round off the season. #CPRsavesfish
Conor Ledwith with a fine 4lbs trout in the net. #CPRsavesfish
Basil Shields of Ardnasillagh Lodge (091552550) reports on good action enjoyed by guests during the final week of the season with all fish released at the lodge. Dublin duo Eddie Rowe and Michael Sheils had 6 fish for 2 days on dries with the best fish being around the 2lbs mark. Richard Burgees from Carlow had 6 fish on dries for a total of 257cms; Richard’s best fish were 52cms, 49.5cms and 49cms with all fish released. On Thursday last Michael Keane had 4 fish on wets and Michael Byrne had 6 fish on wets. On Saturday last PJ Dornan had 6 fish with the best fish 49cms and had a total of 228cms on wets, all sportingly released. Eamon O’Nualain had 2 fish for 91cms on dries and Declan Kehoe had 1 fish for 51cms on wet fly, all released.
Staying in the Oughterard area UK visitor Adrian Blackwell had a superb trout of 4lbs while fishing on Corrib with Joe Fitzharris, and the pair had an excellent afternoon on Corrib on Thursday landing 5 fish for an estimated 12lbs, all fish carefully returned to go and do the most important job of spawning and replenishing the stocks on Corrib. Adrian & Joe had a 4lbs fish as in the photo, along with a 3lbs, 2 x 2slb and a fish of 1.5lbs, all in the Oughterard Bay area of the lake on sedge, silver dabbler, and claret dabbler, and saw other fish pitching which were all good fish.
A fine trout for UK visitor Adrian Blackwell
The Oughterard Anglers hosted The Hession Cup on Saturday last (all legal methods) with 28 rods participating and 19 fish were caught. First place went to Gareth Little with 3 fish, second place went to Gerry Molloy with 4 fish and third place went to Jim Glynn with 2 fish. Kevin Molloy of Baurisheen Bay Boat Hire, Guiding & Self Catering (087-9604170) reported a slower final week to the season and was out himself on Tuesday last and had 3 trout on wets ranging in size from 1.5 – 2lbs. Frank Doyle & friend from Cork on Saturday had 4trout, best fish being around the 2lbs mark, all sportingly returned.
Swiss angler Roland Waefler stayed with 2 friends as guests of Hugh O’Donnell in Clonbur , and on a windyy day trolling they landed a fine 12lbs ferox trout.
A magnificent 12lbs ferox trout from the last week of the 2018 season for Kurt Engler from Zurich.
Owen Brennan marks the end of the season on the Nore with a lovely salmon at Mount Juliet
Dan O’Neill at the Mount Juliet Estate with the last salmon report from the Nore of the season…
A quiet, cold start to the morning, a few light frosts showing over the last few nights, conditions this summer hardly ideal for salmon angling as we didn’t get much water for fish to travel. At the same time some fish were managed by some anglers.
Saturday morning and the time was 7.45am. Travelling along the bank in the jeep I looked at the river and its various runs and pools. Looking at them brought back memories of my first season here at the estate, the colourful characters I met, friends who I shared an evening’s fishing with, the bad days I had that were dissolved and washed away by the current of the river. After that quick look back over the season is was time to go to meet my guest for a morning’s salmon fishing. Arriving at the fishing room it wasn’t long before a gentle knock sounded on the door. My guest today was Owen Brennan, an angler I had heard quite a lot about so this trip was one I was looking forward to. After the usual greetings we made our way to the river bank. I always try to watch how anglers react when they see the runs and pools for the first time ( I believe god gave us 2 eyes,2 ears and 1 mouth for a reason ). We walked the bank for about 10 minutes and I became fixed on an area near the head of the pool we were at. To my delight Owen was looking at the same area, the good old faithful words “I think we should give this a try” were clearly heard and Owen began to tackle up.
I watched the river for the few minutes I was waiting, again drifting off into a world of my own as I looked back on past memories of trout I had here during the season. As I came around and looked at where I’d left Owen he was gone and waist height in water. Landing his fly beautifully on the water in what seemed an effortless manner. One can only try to imagine what the fly looks like under water as it makes its journey downstream. Watching Owen was a total joy and I enjoyed every second. I could see Owen focus on an area just at the tail of a run, casting just above the area as to make sure he covered it correctly the fly “as I could only imagine” glided straight at this point. Then with such grace and yet such a definitive movement Owen lifted his rod, the rod curved and the tip pointed to the exact spot that Owen had been focused on. The battle was on. The fish made some great runs and showed acrobatics on more than one occasion. Owen was the winner in this particular battle and what finesse he showed throughout it. A beautiful male salmon his prize.
Owen Brennan marks the end of the season on the Nore with a lovely salmon at Mount Juliet
It was a great display of fly angling and one I was very happy to have witnessed. A quick picture and the salmon was released back to his home to go about his journey, the last salmon of the season in Mount Juliet and a fine salmon it was to. We fished for an hour more and then it was time to head back to the fishing room. Overall a great day with a superb angler who I look forward to welcoming back in 2019.
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.
Enniskillen angler Tony Kersley scores again in County Leitrim. This friendly festival which sees a relaxed competition over three days on the Pumphouse at Lough Scur, Heron’s Shore on Lough Allen and Cloonahee Lake was attended by 36 including visiting anglers from the UK.
Tony Kersley scores again in County Leitrim
The fishing was tough to start and the competition close with just 7lbs between 25th place and the top 6!
By Friday things had improved with Heron’s Shore, Lough Allen producing some good weights including Tony’s near 28lb which sealed the match for him. Otherwise it was very close at the top.
Festival Winners:
1st Tony Kersley 49lb 4oz
2nd Andrew Lightbown 39lb 11oz
3rd Francis McGoldrick 39lb 8oz
4th Gavin Brown 38lb 11oz
5th Steve Collins 37lb 6oz
6th John Mcvey 37lbs 3oz
Sheemore AC would like to thank all those who attended, the local landowners and the Sheemore Inn for their hospitality.
Sheemore Angling Associationare affiliated to the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland and are members of the Angling Council the National Governing Body for coarse and predator angling. www.ncffi.ie
New crayfish legislation to strengthen measures to protect native white-clawed crayfish
Anglers reminded to maintain vigilance against crayfish plague
Inland Fisheries Ireland is welcoming new legislation which will strengthen existing measures to protect the native white-clawed crayfish. The regulations will provide authorities in Ireland with the powers to prevent the arrival and spread of the five non-native species of crayfish included on the EU list of invasive alien species of Union concern.
The White-clawed Crayfish is considered a globally threatened species and Ireland holds one of the largest surviving populations. The freshwater species is found in many rivers and lakes in Ireland and is protected under both Irish law and the EU Habitats Directive. Throughout Europe, the species has been decimated by the impact of a disease called Crayfish Plague.
A native white clawed crayfish. Photo by D.Gerke.
Many North American crayfish species are resistant to Crayfish Plague and can act as carriers of the disease which is rapidly fatal when passed to the White-clawed Crayfish. While there is no evidence that North American or other non-native crayfish have been introduced to Ireland, the crayfish plague has now reached five rivers in Ireland possibly by spores carried on fishing equipment.
The prospect of the disease being controlled depends on the absence of non-native crayfish. The European Union (Invasive Alien Species) (Freshwater Crayfish) Regulations 2018 targets the introduction of several species of non-native crayfish which have been included on the EU list of invasive alien species of Union concern (‘the Union list’).
The public is asked to alert the authorities of any mass mortalities of crayfish or sightings of unusual crayfish (e.g. red claws, large size) by contacting the National Parks and Wildlife Service (www.npws.ie), the National Biodiversity Data Centre (www.biodiversityireland.ie) or Inland Fisheries Ireland (www.fisheriesireland.ie).
Protect against the Crayfish Plague
Anyone using the river is being urged to observe the ‘Check, Clean and Dry’ protocol once they leave the river and before using it again. This means that all wet gear (boats, clothing and equipment) should be checked for any silt or mud, plant material or animals before being cleaned and finally dried. Disinfectant or hot water (over 40 degrees Celsius) should be used to clean all equipment and this should be followed by a 24 hour drying period.
Fishery manager Colin Folan draws the curtains on a good sea trout season on Inagh with his final report for the year…
Mark McDonald, Northern Ireland, 4lbs sea trout on the dap
2018 was a season in which the weather played the lead role. Similar to most other fisheries the water arrived far too late. In fact it was the start of August when the first floods of the season arrived. The salmon numbers were well down, as they stuggled to enter rivers that looked like roads during June and July. Its good news on the Sea Trout though. Although angling effort was down, sea trout numbers were up. Also the average size and condition of fish was amazing to see. Numerous fish from 2-4lbs were recorded with boats recording catches of 15 or more.
Baet Suez from Switzerland 8lbs Brown on a blue butcher
It was also a brilliant year for Brown trout. Numbers were up on last year. We also had a few big browns from Lough Inagh. Two 9lbs were amongst the largest ones. The annual end of season competition was held on September 29 and seventeen anglers recorded 1 salmon, 18 sea trout and 30 brown trout in very calm conditions. First place went to Sean McCloskey for the second year running. Denis Murphy came second and Michael Heery was third. The catch totals for 2018 are as follows. 31 salmon, 662 sea trout and 545 brown trout.
Mervyn Bell, Northern Ireland, on a brexit fly
Lough Inagh Lodge would like to thank all its friends and customers for your support and also the IFI staff that work tirelessly for all our benefit. P.S. please return salmon licenses before October 10.
Loughs Derryclare and Inagh lie in the lovely Inagh Valley with the Twelve Pins (Bens) of Connemara rising steeply to the west, and the Maumturk Mountain range to the east. There are two short connecting rivers, which contain four river beats. The fishery has spring salmon, grilse, sea trout and large indigenous brown trout. In recent years the fishery has seen a resurgence of fish numbers, and in 2010 – 2012, the fishery has produced Salmon to 15lbs, Sea Trout to 5lbs and Brown Trout to 12lbs.
‘They say that to catch wild brown trout, you have to be near invisible’
Jimmy D.Moore
Jack Spratt, Northern Ireland with his beautiful 3lb 14oz Sheelin classic (September 29th)
Mornings are later, evenings are shorter and there’s already a distinct nip in the air – autumn’s chilly tentacles are finally starting to tighten around us. It’s that time of the year where, when out fishing on this lake you begin to feel as if you shouldn’t be there, that you’re somehow on borrowed time.
The back drop to Lough Sheelin is gradually changing colour from previous greens to multitudes of browns, oranges, yellows and reds. The first frosts of the season occurred this week and Keats ‘seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ was re-enacted as shrouds of mist consistently blanketed Lough Sheelin’s surface in the early mornings.
Gerry Teggart, Belfast with his beautiful Sheelin trout
Although we are at the very back end of the trout season here there is still plenty of enjoyment and good fishing to be had out on this lake. This is a magical and special time for the angler for it is this part of the season that perhaps offers the biggest opportunity of catching one of Sheelin’s much fantasied heavy weights. From September on, the trout are in pre-spawning mode and included in this mix of moving trout are, of course, the larger, perhaps wiser and much coveted bigger fish. These are the trout that spend most of the season feeding down in the lower water columns, seldom gracing the upper layers until now when their mission is to gather at pre piscatorial planned points in the lake before their eventual run to the river to spawn from late October onwards.
Catches
Lough Sheelin produced a steady number of catches on all days this week despite weather conditions wavering between bright and sunny, cloudy and warm. Anglers fixated about good cloud cover and south to south westerly winds but the weather did not always oblige and those northern cold winds crept in followed by mirror calm conditions. Regardless of the unpredictability of the autumnal weather coupled with Sheelin’s mercurial temperament amazing trout in prime condition were recorded, averaging 3 to a top weight of 8lbs.
Michael Byrne, Clonee with his first ever fish on Sheelin, a 5lbs 12oz slab of perfection (released)
The areas of the lake which fished best (weather dependent) where mid lake, the back of Church Island, the Long Rock, Merry Point, Stony and from Derrahorn down along the western shoreline.
The heaviest trout for the week was an 8lb trout caught by Dominic Murphy, Tallagh, Dublin
Total number of trout recorded: 57
Selection of Catches
David Kidd, Northern Ireland – 1 at 4lbs on wets.
Gerry Teggart, Belfast – 1 at over 6lbs
Tony Grehan, Dublin – 1 at 3lbs on a Claret Sedge at Crane Island.
Tommy King, Northern Ireland – 2 trout at 3 and 3.10lbs using Daddy variants.
Pat Magee, Northern Ireland – 1 at 2lbs fishing green wets.
Lawrence Hickey, Dublin – 2 trout heaviest at 5 ½ lbs fishing Claret Dabblers.
Michael Byrne, Clonee – 1 trout at 5lbs 12ozs (September 30th).
Pat Brady, Cavan – 2 trout at 3 and 2 ½ lbs using Cock Robins and Bibios.
Frank Smith, Coothill, Cavan – 3 trout heaviest at 4lbs using Claret Dabblers and Gorgeous George.
Michael Shaw, Dublin – 2 trout heaviest at 4 ½ lbs using Pearly Dabblers on an intermediate line.
The McIntyre/Guider Cup was held on Saturday September 29th and despite breezy cold sunny cloudless conditions, trout of 5, 4 and 3lbs were landed. This is a nice competition organised by Dessie McEntee and with the biggest competition of the season looming in the horizon on the following Saturday October 6th, you would imagine this one would offer an excellent warm up to this event. Suggesting this to last Saturday’s competitors was a mistake as the response was that ‘every day is a practice day’ on Sheelin and that these waters could be alive one day only to be like the dead sea on others. There is seemingly no pattern to this lake as far as the trout are concerned, sometimes they are there and sometimes they vanish.
Dessie McEntee with his winning 5lb 1oz trout at the McIntyre/Guider Cup (September 29th)
Hatches
At this time of the season there is little or no point arriving too early in the morning as the water needs to ‘come to life’ at this time of the year. Terrestrials like daddies are at their most active from mid morning and generally it’s the middle hours of the day, veering towards the afternoon that will be the most productive. The temperature drop in the evenings is guaranteed to send the fish down and out of casting range.
Flies
The flies that were successful were a mixed bunch from dry Daddies, Gorgeous George, Stimulators, Dabblers, CDC Sedges, Leggy Peters, Red Tailed Peters, Hoppers,Telephone Flies, tiny dry sedges, large lure like creations, Silver Invictas, Sedgehogs and Bibios. It was interesting to see the lures creeping back in and Kevin Sheridan’s streamer (see photograph included in the report) which took a 3 pounder looks as if it might be something that you’d find in the reptile section of a pet shop. Minkies and Humungus seem to be back on the menu for the final weeks (apologies to the purists out there).
Kevin Sheridan’s Streamer – responsible for a 3lb trout
A competition gives me a great opportunity to have a proper look at what anglers are putting on lines and because it’s close to the end of season here there’s a more relaxed approached to sharing those ‘secret’ flies. Claret still features heavily in fly colour but greens and browns are holding their own too. Patterns are the traditional ones – the daddies, bibios, Peters and dabblers with a thousand and one angler variants imposed on these. One Northern angler showed me one of his most successful flies which was effectively a collapsed Daddy, a Daddy pattern which after being used frequently had lost its body and was a flattened straggly version of its original self, green with a hint of sparkle, this was the fly that had nailed him 5 or 6 fish during the week.
Sheelin’s Gorgeous George
Angling magazine ‘Trout Fisherman’ has an interesting twist on the usual Match The Hatch theory changing it to Match The Thatch implying that fish fall to a fly that matches not so much the bug as its back ground so it’s all about browns, reds, greens and golds in fitting with the changing shoreline foliage.
Anglers are having no problem moving fish but many stumble at the final post i.e. to actually get the fish to take the fly. There are two reasons why trout change their minds at the last minute when it comes to a fly, either the pattern is just not close enough to the shape of the real thing or else they have seen the line and have become spooked. This week intermediate lines had the edge on the floating ones and going down that bit deeper proved a more successful ploy.
Upcoming Competitions
Stream Rehabilitation Competition
Click to download leaflet [pdf]
On Saturday October 6th Lough Sheelin’s angling club The Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association will host their annual Stream Rehabilitation Competition starting at Kilnahard from 11am to 6.0pm.
All proceeds of this event go towards the enhancement and rehabilitation of the rivers within the Lough Sheelin catchment.
The club and organisers of this competition, now in its thirteenth year, welcome all anglers who wish to fish one of the best wild brown trout fisheries in Ireland and to experience first-hand the magic and allure of this lake which has the potential to produce the heaviest trout in the country.
Denis O’Keefe Memorial Cup
The LSTPA have added an additional cup on to their list this year, this cup is in honour memory of great angler and Sheelin advocate – Denis O’Keefe and will be awarded to the best member over the 3 senior competitions (Kilroy Cup (18/3/18), the McDonald Cup 9 11/8/18 & The River Enhancement Comp. 6/10/18).
For details please contact Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033
Cavan/Monaghan Garda Divisional Fly Fishing Championship and Open Competition
The Cavan/Monaghan Garda Divisional Fly Fishing Championship and Open Competition will be held at Lough Sheelin on Sunday October 7th from Kilnahard Pier, 11a.m – 5.30p.m.
Weigh in at 6.30pm and meal at Pat Bannon’s Pub, Ballyjamesduff. Entry fee of €25 taken at Kilnahard.
This competition is for: The Heaviest fish – visitors and The Heaviest fish – Cavan/Monaghan Division Garda Members.
For further details please contact Colin Dodd 086 6000630, Pat Foley 087 2405313 or DessieMcEntee on 086 8937568.
A catch & release policy is actively encouraged on the lake at all times
CPRsavesfish
Extra care is needed when playing and releasing trout during periods of high water temperatures as additional stress at these times will decrease the survival rate of hooked and released fish.
BYE-LAW 949 strictly prohibits:
The taking of any brown trout of less than 36 centimetres.
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.
Join the Club…
For anyone interested in joining Lough Sheelin’s Angling Club – The Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association please contact Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033.
We would implore anglers and all other users to wear life jackets for their own safety as well as it being the law.
Life jackets are required by law – SI No 921 of 2005 – Pleasure Craft (Personal Flotation Devices and Operation) (Safety) Regulations 2005. Water rarely gives second chances and a life jacket is just that – it saves your life.
Please put on and keep on that life jacket until you are back on dry land.
Fishery manager Colin Folan draws the curtains on a good sea trout season on Inagh with his final report for the year…
Mark McDonald, Northern Ireland, 4lbs sea trout on the dap
2018 was a season in which the weather played the lead role. Similar to most other fisheries the water arrived far too late. In fact it was the start of August when the first floods of the season arrived. The salmon numbers were well down, as they stuggled to enter rivers that looked like roads during June and July. Its good news on the Sea Trout though. Although angling effort was down, sea trout numbers were up. Also the average size and condition of fish was amazing to see. Numerous fish from 2-4lbs were recorded with boats recording catches of 15 or more.
Baet Suez from Switzerland 8lbs Brown on a blue butcher
It was also a brilliant year for Brown trout. Numbers were up on last year. We also had a few big browns from Lough Inagh. Two 9lbs were amongst the largest ones. The annual end of season competition was held on September 29 and seventeen anglers recorded 1 salmon, 18 sea trout and 30 brown trout in very calm conditions. First place went to Sean McCloskey for the second year running. Denis Murphy came second and Michael Heery was third. The catch totals for 2018 are as follows. 31 salmon, 662 sea trout and 545 brown trout.
Mervyn Bell, Northern Ireland, on a brexit fly
Lough Inagh Lodge would like to thank all its friends and customers for your support and also the IFI staff that work tirelessly for all our benefit. P.S. please return salmon licenses before October 10.
Loughs Derryclare and Inagh lie in the lovely Inagh Valley with the Twelve Pins (Bens) of Connemara rising steeply to the west, and the Maumturk Mountain range to the east. There are two short connecting rivers, which contain four river beats. The fishery has spring salmon, grilse, sea trout and large indigenous brown trout. In recent years the fishery has seen a resurgence of fish numbers, and in 2010 – 2012, the fishery has produced Salmon to 15lbs, Sea Trout to 5lbs and Brown Trout to 12lbs.
‘They say that to catch wild brown trout, you have to be near invisible’
Jimmy D.Moore
Jack Spratt, Northern Ireland with his beautiful 3lb 14oz Sheelin classic (September 29th)
Mornings are later, evenings are shorter and there’s already a distinct nip in the air – autumn’s chilly tentacles are finally starting to tighten around us. It’s that time of the year where, when out fishing on this lake you begin to feel as if you shouldn’t be there, that you’re somehow on borrowed time.
The back drop to Lough Sheelin is gradually changing colour from previous greens to multitudes of browns, oranges, yellows and reds. The first frosts of the season occurred this week and Keats ‘seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ was re-enacted as shrouds of mist consistently blanketed Lough Sheelin’s surface in the early mornings.
Gerry Teggart, Belfast with his beautiful Sheelin trout
Although we are at the very back end of the trout season here there is still plenty of enjoyment and good fishing to be had out on this lake. This is a magical and special time for the angler for it is this part of the season that perhaps offers the biggest opportunity of catching one of Sheelin’s much fantasied heavy weights. From September on, the trout are in pre-spawning mode and included in this mix of moving trout are, of course, the larger, perhaps wiser and much coveted bigger fish. These are the trout that spend most of the season feeding down in the lower water columns, seldom gracing the upper layers until now when their mission is to gather at pre piscatorial planned points in the lake before their eventual run to the river to spawn from late October onwards.
Catches
Lough Sheelin produced a steady number of catches on all days this week despite weather conditions wavering between bright and sunny, cloudy and warm. Anglers fixated about good cloud cover and south to south westerly winds but the weather did not always oblige and those northern cold winds crept in followed by mirror calm conditions. Regardless of the unpredictability of the autumnal weather coupled with Sheelin’s mercurial temperament amazing trout in prime condition were recorded, averaging 3 to a top weight of 8lbs.
Michael Byrne, Clonee with his first ever fish on Sheelin, a 5lbs 12oz slab of perfection (released)
The areas of the lake which fished best (weather dependent) where mid lake, the back of Church Island, the Long Rock, Merry Point, Stony and from Derrahorn down along the western shoreline.
The heaviest trout for the week was an 8lb trout caught by Dominic Murphy, Tallagh, Dublin
Total number of trout recorded: 57
Selection of Catches
David Kidd, Northern Ireland – 1 at 4lbs on wets.
Gerry Teggart, Belfast – 1 at over 6lbs
Tony Grehan, Dublin – 1 at 3lbs on a Claret Sedge at Crane Island.
Tommy King, Northern Ireland – 2 trout at 3 and 3.10lbs using Daddy variants.
Pat Magee, Northern Ireland – 1 at 2lbs fishing green wets.
Lawrence Hickey, Dublin – 2 trout heaviest at 5 ½ lbs fishing Claret Dabblers.
Michael Byrne, Clonee – 1 trout at 5lbs 12ozs (September 30th).
Pat Brady, Cavan – 2 trout at 3 and 2 ½ lbs using Cock Robins and Bibios.
Frank Smith, Coothill, Cavan – 3 trout heaviest at 4lbs using Claret Dabblers and Gorgeous George.
Michael Shaw, Dublin – 2 trout heaviest at 4 ½ lbs using Pearly Dabblers on an intermediate line.
The McIntyre/Guider Cup was held on Saturday September 29th and despite breezy cold sunny cloudless conditions, trout of 5, 4 and 3lbs were landed. This is a nice competition organised by Dessie McEntee and with the biggest competition of the season looming in the horizon on the following Saturday October 6th, you would imagine this one would offer an excellent warm up to this event. Suggesting this to last Saturday’s competitors was a mistake as the response was that ‘every day is a practice day’ on Sheelin and that these waters could be alive one day only to be like the dead sea on others. There is seemingly no pattern to this lake as far as the trout are concerned, sometimes they are there and sometimes they vanish.
Dessie McEntee with his winning 5lb 1oz trout at the McIntyre/Guider Cup (September 29th)
Hatches
At this time of the season there is little or no point arriving too early in the morning as the water needs to ‘come to life’ at this time of the year. Terrestrials like daddies are at their most active from mid morning and generally it’s the middle hours of the day, veering towards the afternoon that will be the most productive. The temperature drop in the evenings is guaranteed to send the fish down and out of casting range.
Flies
The flies that were successful were a mixed bunch from dry Daddies, Gorgeous George, Stimulators, Dabblers, CDC Sedges, Leggy Peters, Red Tailed Peters, Hoppers,Telephone Flies, tiny dry sedges, large lure like creations, Silver Invictas, Sedgehogs and Bibios. It was interesting to see the lures creeping back in and Kevin Sheridan’s streamer (see photograph included in the report) which took a 3 pounder looks as if it might be something that you’d find in the reptile section of a pet shop. Minkies and Humungus seem to be back on the menu for the final weeks (apologies to the purists out there).
Kevin Sheridan’s Streamer – responsible for a 3lb trout
A competition gives me a great opportunity to have a proper look at what anglers are putting on lines and because it’s close to the end of season here there’s a more relaxed approached to sharing those ‘secret’ flies. Claret still features heavily in fly colour but greens and browns are holding their own too. Patterns are the traditional ones – the daddies, bibios, Peters and dabblers with a thousand and one angler variants imposed on these. One Northern angler showed me one of his most successful flies which was effectively a collapsed Daddy, a Daddy pattern which after being used frequently had lost its body and was a flattened straggly version of its original self, green with a hint of sparkle, this was the fly that had nailed him 5 or 6 fish during the week.
Sheelin’s Gorgeous George
Angling magazine ‘Trout Fisherman’ has an interesting twist on the usual Match The Hatch theory changing it to Match The Thatch implying that fish fall to a fly that matches not so much the bug as its back ground so it’s all about browns, reds, greens and golds in fitting with the changing shoreline foliage.
Anglers are having no problem moving fish but many stumble at the final post i.e. to actually get the fish to take the fly. There are two reasons why trout change their minds at the last minute when it comes to a fly, either the pattern is just not close enough to the shape of the real thing or else they have seen the line and have become spooked. This week intermediate lines had the edge on the floating ones and going down that bit deeper proved a more successful ploy.
Upcoming Competitions
Stream Rehabilitation Competition
Click to download leaflet [pdf]
On Saturday October 6th Lough Sheelin’s angling club The Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association will host their annual Stream Rehabilitation Competition starting at Kilnahard from 11am to 6.0pm.
All proceeds of this event go towards the enhancement and rehabilitation of the rivers within the Lough Sheelin catchment.
The club and organisers of this competition, now in its thirteenth year, welcome all anglers who wish to fish one of the best wild brown trout fisheries in Ireland and to experience first-hand the magic and allure of this lake which has the potential to produce the heaviest trout in the country.
Denis O’Keefe Memorial Cup
The LSTPA have added an additional cup on to their list this year, this cup is in honour memory of great angler and Sheelin advocate – Denis O’Keefe and will be awarded to the best member over the 3 senior competitions (Kilroy Cup (18/3/18), the McDonald Cup 9 11/8/18 & The River Enhancement Comp. 6/10/18).
For details please contact Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033
Cavan/Monaghan Garda Divisional Fly Fishing Championship and Open Competition
The Cavan/Monaghan Garda Divisional Fly Fishing Championship and Open Competition will be held at Lough Sheelin on Sunday October 7th from Kilnahard Pier, 11a.m – 5.30p.m.
Weigh in at 6.30pm and meal at Pat Bannon’s Pub, Ballyjamesduff. Entry fee of €25 taken at Kilnahard.
This competition is for: The Heaviest fish – visitors and The Heaviest fish – Cavan/Monaghan Division Garda Members.
For further details please contact Colin Dodd 086 6000630, Pat Foley 087 2405313 or DessieMcEntee on 086 8937568.
A catch & release policy is actively encouraged on the lake at all times
CPRsavesfish
Extra care is needed when playing and releasing trout during periods of high water temperatures as additional stress at these times will decrease the survival rate of hooked and released fish.
BYE-LAW 949 strictly prohibits:
The taking of any brown trout of less than 36 centimetres.
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.
Join the Club…
For anyone interested in joining Lough Sheelin’s Angling Club – The Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association please contact Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033.
We would implore anglers and all other users to wear life jackets for their own safety as well as it being the law.
Life jackets are required by law – SI No 921 of 2005 – Pleasure Craft (Personal Flotation Devices and Operation) (Safety) Regulations 2005. Water rarely gives second chances and a life jacket is just that – it saves your life.
Please put on and keep on that life jacket until you are back on dry land.
Grey Duster Guiding
