Minister announces progress on measures to reduce Shannon flood risk
Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Flood Relief, Seán Canney has outlines “significant progress” on maintenance activity by the Shannon Flood Risk State Agency Co-ordination Working Group. Minister Canney outlined the range of additional measures being taken to address flood risk on the River Shannon at an event in Athlone Institute of Technology yesterday, Monday, April 10… Offaly Express, 11/04/17. Read the full article ‘Minister announces progress on measures to reduce Shannon flood risk‘.
Minister announces progress on measures to reduce Shannon flood risk
The newly formed Usher’s Lake Angling Initiative had a clean-up day at Usher’s Lake Swords recently. This was the first day of activity for the new group, who are continuing to reach out to find new members in Swords and the surrounding area who are interested in fishing… North County Leader, 11/04/17. Read the full article ‘Clean-Up Day By Angling Group‘.
Shannon Flooding Works Will Be Carried Out This Year, Promises Minister
MINISTER of State Seán Canney promised on Monday evening that significant flooding works will be carried out on the Shannon this year. He was speaking at a public meeting in Athlone Institute of Technology which discussed the age-old, vexing issue of the Shannon flooding problem and its impact on people’s homes and lands. The Minister, who is the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Flood Relief, assured the meeting that he wasn’t simply being populist and the consequences of the proposed actions are being carefully considered… The Midland Tribune, 13/04/17. Read the full article ‘Shannon Flooding Works Will Be Carried Out This Year, Promises Minister‘.
Shannon Flooding Works Will Be Carried Out This Year, Promises Minister
Angling notes: New wheelchair facility on Lough Mask delights users
“THIS is by far the best wheelchair facility for boat angling access I have come across in the country,” declared Timothy “Timo” O’Sullivan at this year’s two-day trout angling competition on Lough Mask. During the close season, Burke’s Bay, on the outskirts of Clonbur, Co Galway, was completely transformed with an entire concrete slipway to accommodate up to 12 boats and a hoist strategically positioned at two elevations to cater for water levels… Irish Times, 10/04/17. Read the article ‘Angling notes: New wheelchair facility on Lough Mask delights users‘.
Angling notes: New wheelchair facility on Lough Mask delights users
Bellavista Angling Services & Outdoor Activities are excited to be launching new packages for 2017…
In previous years we have sold our very popular angling holidays which included minimum 4 nights’ accommodation & 3 days boat hire, along with a highly skilled fishing guide. This year we are continuing our angling packages but we are adding to our offering, Whale & Dolphin Watching trips, Diving Trips and we are also doing 1 day and half day angling trips.
Kevin with a group of Bellavista Anglers
And for the first time ever we are opening our packages up to everyone, not just hotel guests, so if you fancy a day trip to Cobh this summer and want to fit in some whale watching with friends and family or spend a morning or afternoon fishing send us and email to [email protected] and we will look after you.
Dolphins
We also have top quality hotel and self-catering accommodation offerings available for anyone who wants to stay that bit longer, check out www.bellavistahotel.ie for more information on our accommodation. Keep an eye out on our page for further updates on all our new packages over the coming weeks.
Go Fishing…
Bellavista Angling Centre
At Bellavista we know angling! We have been providing angling holidays for many years. Our trained guides will show you all the best marks and answer any questions you have. From our luxury accommodation to our top quality boats we have everything you need to make it the perfect angling holiday.
Over the years we have evolved and changed and constantly updated our fleet to meet the needs of our returning customers. Our fleet is a mix of modern boats and powerful engines fitted with state-of the-art electronic equipment. The boats are perfect for getting you and your crew to the fishing grounds with speed, safety and comfort. Kevin Murphy Bella Vista Hotel and Self Catering Suites, Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland. Tel: +353 (0)21 4812450 Email:[email protected]Web: www.bellavistahotel.ie
Dr. tom brings a bass to a recovery cage following tagging as Richie looks on
Richie Ryan writes on the recently published ESB Sea Bass Tagging Project paper published in Nature…
The ESB Sea Bass Tagging Project was an exciting collaborative research program and a paper has been published recently and it makes for very interesting reading indeed. The study was funded by ESB and Science Foundation Ireland. It was led by the Coastal and Marine Research Centre of University College Cork in close collaboration with Inland Fisheries Ireland and the local angling community. Richie Ryan has been in touch to give the background to his input from the initiation of the project. “Shorty after I set up my guiding business the call came from Dr. Tom Doyle to participate in the acoustic tagging of bass in Cork Harbour. To say I was excited about being involved was an understatement. Was I up to the challenge, were the bass there in sufficient numbers, so many imponderables. I felt I could offer a better return from the shore even though I had a fully licensed boat. As it turned out this proved to be a good move”.
Dr. Tom brings a bass to a recovery cage following tagging as Richie looks on
Richie continues the story , “I was now faced with bringing the team of Dr. Tom Doyle and Damien Haberlin to marks I jealousy guarded . It was most anglers’ torment. But if I couldn’t produce bass of a decent size and quantity then it made the whole enterprise unviable. As it turned out Dr. Tom marvelled at the size of bass caught at one particular shore location. The fish were all between 5-8 lbs weight. In addition, the boat team led by my great buddy Jim Clohessy and comprising close friends Pat O’Shea and Andy Davies would be the opposition. They were far better anglers, I was up against the best. Tom and Damien did instil a bit of competition every so often just to keep up the pressure and keep us on our toes. My shore companion Kevin Mc Loughlin and myself were egged on and to everyone’s surprise the boat team were finding it hard going at the start. After two outings the shore team had 9 bass to the boat anglers 6. Tom wanted 15-20 bass each year. At the start I remember Jim saying to me “From the boats we could get 15 in one day” and I thought, yes , that’s a possibility. But the fishing was beginning to taper off and we didn’t know it. Were the bass getting cuter or were they just not there in numbers anymore? As it turned out it was difficult enough to tag 15 bass of an adequate size on those few shore and boat outings each year.
The paper…
The paper is well worth studying, bass enthusiasts will glean some vital information about the movement of bass in estuaries. Richie stated he wasn’t a scientist but was blown away by two things, the bass’ site fidelity and their migration clock.
The mullet are well and truly back on our Southern shores I’m glad to report. Richie Ryan has again been chasing the grey ghosts using his favourite method, the fly. “Probably the most frustrating fish I have ever encountered on the fly but they go like a steam train when hooked. It really has become an obsession with me as my my ever patient wife Liz can attest. ”
Jacques with his mullet
I think it’s worth repeating a section of a report from Richie in 2015 here…
“It’s such a pity that these fish when caught commercially are mainly used for fish food. I’ve has always felt that mullet could be just as valuable a resource as bass in future years to angling tourism. The time is ripe to save this species by introducing restrictions to prevent harvesting for such a meagre return. Mullet are present in the south of Ireland for practically the whole year and can give anglers great sport when other fish are absent. They are a slow growing species just like bass.”
Richie with his obsession – fly caught mullet
The guide has managed to catch mullet on the fly as early as January and thanks his good friend Andy Davies for introducing him to the sport and showing him the potential of this angling experience.
Well done to John Walsh for catching this lovely springer of around 6lbs on Wednesday, last week, whilst spinning on the dropping flood. A couple more salmon have been reported lost and fish have been seen running also.
Scouting out angling
Scouts angling day
We are delighted to announce that Inland Fisheries Ireland, through the Sponsorship Programme 2017, will be supporting us as we host Bandon Scouts on a fly fishing tuition day with Glenda Powell on the Munster Blackwater. It promises to be a fantastic event and hopefully will be the beginning of an angling future for some!!
Go Fishing…
For the new year, Bandon Angling Association have set up a new website which you can view here. A new guiding service has been launched in conjunction with Jason Nash, Peter Aspinwall and Phil Dewey. Details of the guiding service are provided on the website and they are looking forward to making memories and enhancing people’s fishing experiences on the river Bandon. Web: https://bandonangling.com/
Jason O’Riordan and Ken Whelan are giving a Salmon Fishing Course for beginners and Improvers on the Munster Blackwater, April 23rd, in association with Ballyduff Bridge Fisheries.
Salmon Course 2017
On this one day course we explain and demonstrate:
Salmon behaviour
Rod selection—double handed, switch, single handed
Line selection—skagit, shooting head, spey
Fly/Lure Selection
Correct casts for fishing situations e.g. single spey, double spey, snake roll, snap-t
Nico Vindret, France with a wonderful Sheelin trout, April 3rd
“There is always a storm. There is always rain. Some experience it. Some live through it. And others are made from it.” Shannon L.Alder
Nico Vindret, France with a wonderful Sheelin trout, April 3rd
Now into April, there is an impatience about this month, we want to rid ourselves of everything ‘wintery’ and fast forward into a proper mild spring with some signs of summer, we dream of warm evenings and falls of spent. But nature goes at its own pace and no amount of longing, wishing or wanting by us will speed things along.
Christopher Defillon
Lough Sheelin found it hard to get off the starting block this week. On Monday strong, gusty and fresh southerly winds combined with continuous rain led to non-existent fly life, poor catches and drenched anglers. The weather unarguably influences the fishing, conversely, any weather pattern that lowers the water temperature even by 2 degrees often results in a poor days fishing. The week progressed more or less in the same mode with cold cloudy weather and dark choppy waters. It didn’t help that Lough Corrib reported exciting hatches of duck fly progressing to olives while Sheelin being closer to the North struggled with its fly hatches.
The Hatches…
From a fisherman’s perspective Spring is a long, unpredictable and changeable season where there seems to be no middle ground – some days are positively spring like with a welcome heat in the sun whereas others are as gloomy as can be but it is the wind that is the real enemy. A cold north or east wind effectively chills down the surface film, killing off any hatches and send emerging nymphs back down to wait for another more inviting day. But regardless of temperature, (unless its subzero) you are going to find small swarms of buzzers or midges in the sheltered areas so even on a fairly cold day, these little chironomids rising close to the surface and into the air, will be in evidence in those places cushioned from exposure to the elements – inlets, coves and at the back of islands. Buzzers account for 50% of a trout’s diet so shouldn’t be dismissed in the wait for the more serious hatches of duck fly and olives.
Lough Sheelin’s duckfly
Early April is not a time for dry fly fishing on this lake, it’s all about the wet flies and of course the lures are still in there. The lure fishing has admittedly slipped a notch and success rates fell as the trout are moving up from bottom feeding into the middle water columns. Despite the cold, Thursday saw good hatches of fly along the western shore with an encouraging number of trout pitching – seemingly Lough Sheelin is gradually coming to life for its fly anglers but we need heat, a number of days of consistent warm and zero nightly frosts which we are, for now, just not getting. Much as anglers want the trout to be coming up for fly there just isn’t enough to entice them up, there is still no surface menu here.
The French have the knack – Romain guided by Christopher Defillon with a Sheelin classic
A bit about buzzers…
The buzzer eggs are directly laid on to reeds or weeds, they eventually hatch into larva which change over time and mutate into the pupa and it is the pupa stage which the trout feed heavily on. The buzzer pupa comes in a variety of colours but black, brown or green are the most common. This pupa swims from the bottom of the lake up to the surface to hatch, often making several journeys before finally choosing to hatch. During this time they are often stationary, suspended in mid water and easy prey for the now zone feeding cruising trout. In order to make their ascent to the surface, the pupa fills air sacks within their skin for buoyancy. It is these air sacks that give the pupa a silvery appearance so when making pupa patterns using a white flex floss stretched over the tying thread and then coating in a clear varnish can be a good way to mimic there.
When hatching the pupa sits suspended in the water’s surface – the emerger. A trout breaking the surface in a classic head and tail rise is likely to be attempting to take this fly at the emerging stage of the life cyle.
The golden rule when fishing buzzers is to fish them slowly.
The Catches…
This week there were 38 trout reported to the office. The heaviest fish for the week was a trout of 7lbs caught by Northern Ireland angler Michael Travers using a Silver Humungus on a di3.
The magical and mystery of a Lough Sheelin trout (Gina Tanczos)
Dublin angler Frank Shortt reported that his trout caught using a 3 fly buzzer set up which included a Diawl Bach was stuffed with a mass of small, wriggly things which were indubitably buzzer pupae so buzzer fishing is always an option on this lake.
Cathal McNaughton, Antrim – 3lbs 10oz trout
As this season progresses the Sheelin trout are moving upwards in the water column. Areas that fished well very early season are drawing blanks now while other previously quiet locations are producing fish. Good areas this week were along the Western Shore, Chambers, Kilnahard, Plunketts point, Inchacup and Captains Bay, each day being dependent on wind direction.
Undeterred by Lough Sheelin’s unrelenting cold – Christopher Defillon
Selection of Catches
Seamus Norris, Dublin – 1 trout at 2lbs on a Claret Bumble, fishing the western shore, April 6th.
Nico Vindret guided by Christopher Defillon – 8 trout for the week, averaging 3½ – 4lbs on lures on fast sink lines
Manta Smaticeks, Dublin – 2 trout, both over 50cm pulling wets.
George Goodwin, Trim – 1 trout at 2lbs using a Fiery Brown Dabbler on a di3.
A one pounder
The Flies…
The most successful flies & lures for this week were the Humungus (in gold and silver), Minkies, Snakes, Zonkers, Muddlers, Golden Olive Bumble, the Hare’s Ear, the Silver Dabbler, the Fiery Brown Dabbler, the Claret Dabbler, the Claret Bumble, Bibios, the Silver Invicta, the Connemara Black, Black Pennell and the Sooty Olive.
A little knowledge of the life cycle of insect life gives an angler a great advantage when choosing the fly team to use (hence the earlier buzzer lifecycle lecture earlier in this report). The latin names aren’t important but observation is. I find fly anglers at this point of the season to be slightly on the defensive, abit like they have been wrong footed in some way and that the lure anglers have somehow stolen a march on them by catching some superb trout which they, up to this point have struggled to do. Out on the lake mid-week when a nasty northerly wind clipped across this surface was a point in case as I talked to a fly angler, I observed that there was no fly life to which he immediately replied that there was loads and when gently quizzed on this, he answered with some pride that he’d seen ‘one nymph thingy’ at the back of Church Island. It’s hard not to feel for the fly anglers, we are five weeks into the season, seemingly every other trout lake in Ireland is shouting about their wonderful fly life and trout takes and Sheelin is moving at snail’s pace except for the lure fishing which is producing some seriously beautiful fish. No one should ever underestimate Lough Sheelin because although a tough place to fish, this is a lake where dreams can become realities, for Sheelin contains substantial trout who although do not give themselves easily when they are caught either on fly or lure give the angler a memory that will not be easily forgotten, such is the weight and beauty of a Sheelin trout.
An expensive spinning rod and reel were found on Kilnahard pier on Saturday March 18th, the owner can have these back by contacting me on 087 2141500
House Rules
A catch & release policy is actively encouraged on the lake at all times
A double release
All anglers are required to have a Fishery Permit to fish Lough Sheelin which must be purchased before going out on the lake.
A Catch and Release policy is strongly encouraged at all times.
Please remember anglers to abide by BYE-LAW 790 which strictly prohibits
All trolling on the lake from March 1st to April 30th (inclusive).
From May 1st to June 15th – no trolling between 7pm –6am and no trolling under engine between 6am – 7pm and
June 16th – October 12th – no trolling under engine between 7pm – 6am.
No trout less than 14 inches should be taken from the lake
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.
Water rarely gives second chances and a life jacket is just that – it saves your life.Life jackets are required by law – SI No 921 of 2005 – Pleasure Craft (Personal Flotation Devices and Operation) (Safety) Regulations 2005.
We would implore anglers and all other users to wear life jackets for their own safety as well as it being the law.
Please put on and keep on that life jacket until you are back on dry land.
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Grey Duster Guiding
