Salmon and trout angling | Coarse angling
Monday 8th to Sunday 14th September 2008.
There were good water levels on the Drowes throughout the week though the fishery remained quiet with few rods fishing over the week. There were a number of salmon caught by those that did fish however. On Tuesday, Columba Fitzpatrick recorded a 3½lb grilse caught on the fly. Terry Rafter had a good day on Thursday with 3 grilse caught on the fly weighing from 4 to 5lb. An English party fishing on the weekend recorded 3 grilse caught on the fly for their day. The gauge at the Four Masters Bridge is reading just over 7 at present and though the forecast for the coming week is for dry weather, the Drowes will have good water levels over the coming week.
The fishing on Melvin picked up somewhat over the week with some anglers reporting good catches of sonaghan. There were however few anglers fishing for trout or salmon. Rossinver bay fished well for trout with some grilse recorded as well. On Thursday, Moira Cosgrove recorded a 2½lb grilse caught on the fly, a Gorgeous George, and lost 2 other grilse as well as landing some good sonaghan.
The Owenea had very variable water levels over the week with low water on Monday and Tuesday and good floods on Wednesday and Sunday. There were good water levels however during periods of the week. The gauge average for the week read 0.25 metres. The fishery was not particularly busy with 37 visiting rods fishing for the week. There were fair numbers of salmon caught over the week though the fish were very dour once again. This seems to be the case on a number of fisheries over the country talking to anglers. We blame it on the excessive amount of water. Who knows!
Given here are some of the recorded catches. On Monday in low water, Maurice Kennedy recorded a 5lb grilse caught on a spinner from beat 6. On Wednesday, Paul Fergusson recorded a 4lb grilse caught on the spinner from beat 7. Michael Caulfield landed a 4½lb grilse on the fly from beat 9. Eamonn Curran recorded a 6lb grilse caught on the fly from beat 8. P. J. McNeelis landed a fine 10lb grilse on the spinner from beat 8. On Thursday, Jackie Hutchison recorded a 6lb grilse caught on the spinner form beat 8. Tommy Irvine recorded an 8lb fish caught on the spinner form beat 8. On Friday, Frankie Byrne recorded a 9½lb fish caught on the fly from beat 6.
Rain is forecast for Thursday but for the rest of the week rainfall is forecast to be light so water levels should fall away after the big flood on Sunday. I still expect salmon to be caught however particularly since the fishery is full of bright fresh grilse (as witnessed by myself on Saturday). Small flies should account for fish over most of the week.
There were low water levels on the Eany Fishery on Monday and Tuesday but the rest of the week brought heavy rainfall and a number of floods and the river at times was too high and dirty for angling. The gauge average read was very high reading 0.74 metres! The fishery was not particularly busy, probably due to the very variable water conditions, with 21 visiting rods fishing for the week.
There were a number of fish recorded over the week and some of the recorded catches are given here. On Monday, Alan Morrow recorded a 6lb grilse caught on the spinner and on Wednesday he caught fish of 8 and 12½lb on the spinner with the larger fish being returned. The same day Peter McClarence recorded an 8½lb grilse caught on the spinner from Burn’s Falls. On Thursday, Gerry O’Neill accounted for a 6lb grilse caught on the spinner from Burn’s Falls. On Friday, Gerry McCafferty recorded a 4lb grilse caught from Drumboarty on the Eanymore on the fly. On Sunday Malcolm Fitzell caught and returned a 6lb grilse caught on the fly from The Devlin Pool before the big flood made the river unfishable.
10 September 2008
Herewith are the results from annual Arva 2008 festival where 120 anglers mainly from the UK took part. Water levels were high but all the venues fished very well and good weights of Hybrids, Roach and Bream were recorded.
The venues were Section A between Rockfield Lake and Glasshouse Lake near Killeshandra, Section B at Leonards shore on Lough Gowna, Section C at Church lake and Rosduff areas of Lough Gowna and Section D was split between Gulladoo Lake near Carrigallen and Corfree lake on Lough Gowna.
The best three results in points were counted out of 4 fishing days and weight was a deciding factor to count for a tie in points. The winners were:
1st Peter Reilly, UK 5 Points 48.320 kg
2nd Graham Firth, UK 5 Points 43.340 kg
3rd Kevin Johnston, UK 6 Points 54.570 kg
4th Alistair Ogilvie, UK 6 Points 53.380 kg
5th Francis McGoldrick, Ballyconnell, 6 Points 44.980 kg
The annual Irish Ferries King of Clubs 2008 took place last week. Ninety eight anglers fished Eonish, Glasshouse/Rockfield, Rosduff/Corfree, Church and Leonards’ Shore. Despite high water levels all venues gave good weights. The following is a list of the winners and their weights:
D Brettle 71.840kg
W Freeman 66.060kg
J Jowett 64.940kg
N Franks 64.040kg
K Rowles 62.150kg
J Wincup 61.180kg
One English visitor pleasure fishing at Killykeen caught 111 lbs. and 101 lbs. on Wednesday and Thursday last week.
Fishing in the Cootehill area is reported to be excellent with good mixed bags of Tench, Roach and Hybrids on Annamakerrig, Mullinary, Killyvaughan and Barnagrove.
The swimming area at Killykeen has been giving good bags of fish up to 100lb including good Bream. 70/80lb mixed bags have been caught at Trinity and 30/40lb mixed bags on Derries at Sean Reilly’s shore. Tench up to 4lb have been bagged on Town Lake Killeshandra.