‘There is no loosing in fishing, you either catch them or you learn’
Now into September, Lough Sheelin is at the back end of its fishing season. Just as early autumn weather conditions typically waver between summer-like and more traditionally autumn-like weather, so does trout behaviour. As a result, a mix of summer and autumn fly fishing tactics lead to good success out on the lake this week.
Although into early autumn, summer schedules are still in effect on Sheelin, though leaves have begun to turn air temperatures were still high and along with low rainfall this means that water temperatures have not changed from the summertime and morning and evening still had the edge as being the best times to target feeding trout.
The Hatches
Trout were showing themselves with splashy rises and aerial gymnastics but there was little interest in surface feeding and it was the teams of wets and the lures that brought in this week’s results. The sedges although in abundance in shoreline trees and bushes stubbornly refused to go out on to the water and it was only in the odd very sheltered area that an angler might stumble on a Murrough or a small sedge but nothing to get excited about and for this week the caddis was not of interest to the trout and consequently not to the angler.
A misconception is that autumn means strictly fishing below surface but although it wasn’t an exciting week for the dries, trout do feed aggressively on the dries well into September and if the weather is conducive there will be abundant hatches of sedges, olives (Bog Bay and Sailors Garden) and buzzer on this lake, so don’t leave the dry flies at home yet.
The Catches
The first day of the new month was heralded in with the sound of gun fire as the start of the duck shooting season began at first light and it was a little like that 1961 film ‘The Guns of Navarone’ but this didn’t last long and did not deter the Sheelin anglers with a decent number of angling boats on the water. Tony Grehan from Dublin broke the new month in beautifully with a fine trout of 3lbs using a Sooty Olive pattern. The start of the week was poor on this lake but as the days progressed some good fishing was reported with the weight of the week hitting in at over 7lbs caught by Navan angler Christopher Defillon.
Areas of the lake for good fishing varied according to wind direction – Lynch’s pt down to Derrysheridan was good for Malcom Graham using Silver and Claret Dabblers and out in the deep on lures as well as Sooty Olives and Red Tailed Peters proved exciting and rewarding for others. When the fish are taking on the blind as they have been over the past few days, there is a lot of luck in it, if you’re lucky enough that the trout happens to be looking up when the artificial is within that window of vision then there’s a take.
Fishing on Sheelin is a lot like opening presents because fishing is all about surprises as well. You might head out after hearing the lake is fishing well but you are never guaranteed success so catching on Lough Sheelin is a gift and the quote from John Gierach ‘if you fish the wrong fly long and hard enough, it will sooner or later become the right fly’ is worth a thought as well.
The heaviest fish for this week was a superb 7 lb trout caught by Navan angler Christopher Defillon, August 30th.
Total number of trout recorded : 69
Selection of Catches
- Tony Grehan, Dublin – September 1st 1 trout at 3lb plus in Sandy Bay using a Sooty Olive
- Danny O’Keefe, Mullingar – August 31st at Wilsons pt. 1 trout at 2 lbs on a Green Peter
- Cian Murtagh, Cavan – 1st September, 2 trout at 1 ½ and almost 4lbs, both on wet Daddies.
- Des Elliott, Dublin – 11 trout for the week 1 1/4 – 2½ lbs, heaviest at 3 1/4, all on wets – Golden Bumbles and Bibios.
- Michael Reilly, Cavan – 3 trout heaviest at 3 ½ lbs on a Silver Dabbler and a Red Tailed Peter
- Pat Bannon, Ballyjamesduff – August 30th 1 trout at 3lbs using a Silver Dabbler.
- Mick Leddy, Cavan – 4 trout heaviest at 3lbs on wet flies.
- Martin Grennan, Kilkenny fishing with Paddy Mcloughlin – 2 trout averaging 1 ½ – 2lbs – both men ‘broke their 2016 duck’ on this fishing trip last Monday.
The Flies
It was mainly intermediate lines being used and the autumn colours of yellow, claret, gold and greens with a threading of silver in various fly imitations proved to be the most successful.
And so it was the wets that dominated Lough Sheelin’s trout catches for this week with the old tried and tested flies like the Silver Daddies, the Dabblers (in Silver & Pearly), the Sooty Olives, the Bumbles, Klinkhammers and Stimulators all topping the success poll.
It is a commonly known fact that trout take 99.999% of their meals under the surface. The other .001% of the time they will take a surface fly – not out of hunger, but to mess with the heads of anglers (just joking) but it makes obvious sense to me to put a fly or team of flies where the fish do the majority of their shopping and armed with this knowledge the Sheelin dry fly purists certainly for this first week in September had to resort to this historical method of fishing for trout or lose out. Dry fly anglers are not snobs I’m reassured, they just prefer the excitement of actually seeing the fish before they lose it – a Scottish angler’s comment not mine I hasten to add.
The Sheelin trout had fry firmly on the menu for this week as artificials with silver in them yielded the largest catches. The lures were there too, with Minkies in black & silver as well as rabbit fur responsible for a few trout tipping the scales at over 5lbs.
The most popular flies were the Red Tailed Peters, Golden Olives Bumbles, the Dabblers (Silver, Sooty and Peter Ross), the Grey Flags, the Stimulators (Grey, Claret and Bling),the Black Pennells and the Black & Peacock Spiders. Some lures were used on sinking lines – di3 and 5.
The Green George, Claret George and Detached Daddy were good, these are great teaser flies and were excellent as top droppers. The Muddlers worked well on the lake, these flies push through the water creating a bubble which attracts the feeding trout. Other ‘pusher flies’ used to create a disturbance and used again on the top dropper were the Bibios, Zulus and Sedgehogs. Something sleeker and more imitative on the middle like the Claret & Mallard, Silver Invicta and Wickham’s Fancy and then a flashy attractor on the point like a Dunkeld, Peter Ross or Alexandra. The Bibio is a very versatile fly as it can work both as a top dropper attractor and a tweaked dry, when greased.
‘I saw old Autumn in the misty morn, stand shadowless like Silence, listening
‘Autumn’ – Thomas Hood
Go fishing…
A permit is required to fish Lough Sheelin. Buy your permit online at: shop.fishinginireland.info or from any of the permit distributors listed here.
For anyone interested in joining Lough Sheelin’s Angling Club – The Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association please contact Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033.
Guides and ghillies
Grey Duster Guiding
Kenneth O’Keeffe
Tel: 086 8984172 Email: trout@live.ie
Lough Sheelin Guiding Services
Tel: 087 1245927 Web: www.loughsheelinguidingservices.com
John Mulvany
johnmulvanyfishing@gmail.com 086 2490076
D.C Angling & Guiding Services
contact David @ 087 73946989
Michael Farrell
Tel: 087 4194156 or +353 43 6681298
Email: loughsheelinguide@hotmail.com
Michael Flanagan,
Trout and Pike Guide.
Email: mick@midlandangling.com Web: www.midlandangling.com
Upcoming Events
Stream Rehabilitation Competition
On Sunday October 2nd 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 eleventh 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.
For details please contact Eamonn Ross @ 086 6619834/ 049 9526602 or Thomas Lynch @ 087 9132033
House Rules
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 & release policy is actively encouraged on the lake 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
Lifejackets
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.
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.
