Game Angling News, Announcements, Upcoming Events/Notices & Reports: (Salmon & Trout Fishing)

Annual Game Angling Roundup for 2002

Dated January 17th, 2003

FISHERIES & ANGLING HIGHLIGHTS

 WEEKLY ANGLING REPORTS TO COMMENCE IN EARLY MARCH 2003

We welcome you back to another angling year and look forward to your reports, stories and features over 2003. Meanwhile, we will publish or highlight any Fisheries News items to keep you updated and informed. Our angling reports will officially commence in early March as the trout and salmon season commences.

UPCOMING EVENTS:  

• We encourage angling clubs or organisers of fishing events for 2003 to post up competition fixtures on our Competition Zone. There everybody can see them. To become your own administrator and be approved on the system, please register through Competition Zone (Follow links there). Any problems please contact the Angling Section at Tel: 0509 21777 Email info@shannon-fishery-board.ie

NEWS/ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES:

• CONSERVATION OF SALMON AND SEA TROUT BYE LAW NO 786, 2002 - BYE law 781 is revoked MORE

• SALMON ORDINARY LICENCE (ALTERATION OF LICENCE DUTIES) ORDER 2002 Fees for salmon and sea trout fishing have been changed MORE

• THE IRISH SPECIMEN FISH COMMITTEE verified many specimens from around the country over the year 2002. The Annual Report is now available

• FISHING PERMITS 2003 NOW AVAILABLE : Fishing permits for the Board's controlled waters are available at all our usual outlets since Friday January 17th. 

• FIN  Fisheries Ireland News and back issues are now available for download in Adobe Acrobat Reader  from this site for those interested. 

TROUT FISHING ANNUAL REPORT  2002

The fishing season commenced well with good weather particularly in April. Lough Ree and Derg reported good trout fishing over the month. Gerd Soellner a German visitor  had a specimen trout of 11.5lbs off Lough Ree. Our Midland Lakes slowly picked up with quite good reports from Lough Owel. Interestingly and worth noting was the good number of prime quality wild fish showing to over 3lbs. Interestingly also, the Abbott Trophy and Tight Lines Trout Competition on Lough Derravaragh yielded some lovely wild fish to nearly 4lbs and local anglers were very encouraged by this. Anglers were in short supply on Lough Ennell. However a few locals who know how to lure those elusive Ennell fish managed to catch some lovely trout to nearly 6lbs.

Conditions were very pleasant going into May and similar to 2001, mayfly fishing on Lough Derg and Lough Ree was very good when conditions allowed. Evident again were the significant stocks of juvenile fish averaging 1lb, which augurs well and is a good indicator for future years. The Midland Lakes in Mullingar area was a mixed affair. Lough Owel produced some lovely wild trout and fishing was generally reasonable. The National Qualifier was one of the highlights. 86 anglers caught 161 trout ranging in weight from 0.75lbs to 3lbs 14ozs. Ennell was generally disappointing with only short periods when anglers caught fish late evening buzzer fishing. The Mayfly and Welshman’s Button hatch was good on the lake but fish didn’t readily surface. Feeding was often very sporadic and inconsistent. However those who stuck at the task, had some fish ranging from 3lbs to 6lbs. On Sheelin water quality seemed good for most of the month and produced a number of wild fish of up 7lbs mainly on spent gnat and sedges. There were good hatches of buzzer, murrough and mayfly reported.  As the month progressed weather conditions deteriorated with wind and heavy rain upsetting fishing at times, which particularly affected the fall of gnat on all lakes.

June wasn’t the most memorable of months on the game-angling calendar. Trout fishing was generally slow with weather being a major negative factor. Lough Ennell remained disappointing overall from feedback we received. A few local anglers did get fish on buzzers in the late evenings and for a short spell on the Welshman’s Button when conditions allowed. Lough Owel threw up some good-sized wild fish again. Fishtec Team Challenge was fished mid month in difficult conditions. Lough Sheelin fished reasonably well, particularly earlier in the month for stockies with each week some large wild fish typical of Sheelin were produced to 8lbs+ on sedges and buzzer and spent gnat. Lough O’Flynn fished reasonably well at times. 36 anglers caught 45 fish in the Garvey Cup on June 16^th

Going into July Trout fishing did not live up to expectations, largely due to inclement weather. The Green Peter season was slow to commence. Lough Sheelin produced some sizeable fish and a few anglers were rewarded for effort. A range of sedges were on the trout menu. On Ennell, some late evening buzzer fishing, accounted for some quality fish to local anglers. Equally Lough Owel fished in patches but also produced some quality fish, particularly later in the month as the Green Peter season picked up. The River Deel Newcastle West Co Limerick produced good late evening fly fishing, reported online by angler Edmond Sweeney mid month.

Snapshots: Left Frame: Lorraine Regan, Kilcormac winner of Trout Angling Match for anglers with disabilities at Loch on Dochais May 12th  Right Frame: Donal Halloran, Cahir fishing and third in the match, Bottom Frame: Junior Competition winner, Kevin Brummell, Birr

In September sedges and a little dapping of the Daddy and Grasshopper were the order and lured a few fish to the surface. Results were patchy overall though. Weather was largely the main limiting factor with calm bright conditions much of the time. Consequently there wasn’t a lot of angling activity evident, which resulted in limited feedback to the Angling section. A number of competitions were held on the Mullingar lakes, including the National Qualifier. Results were generally poor due to the difficult angling conditions. However, a few old hands managed to get the occasional wild fish on Ennell and on Owel, ranging from 5lbs to 6.5lbs, two of those were landed during the National Qualifier.

Photo: Some nice wild trout from Lough Owel Mick Mc Cormack, Mullingar with a 3lb+ and 2.5lb fish on the opening weekend

Outdoor Pursuits Competition was fished on Owel and Ennell on the last Sunday of the season , and some quality (rather than quantity) fish, 4lbs to 5lbs were landed Overall, fishing generally was a quiet affair

SALMON FISHING ANNUAL REPORT 2002

The Board received regular feedback from Castleconnell Salmon Fishery, the River Feale and the Mulcair River.

Photo: Bryan Quille, Association Trustee, with a 14lbs Salmon which fell to a 'Lane Bait' Minnow at the 'Castle Stream' In Listowel town waters on Saturday 18^th May.

In April river levels were very high on the Shannon but tapered down well as the month progressed. Spring salmon were few and far between. Castleconnell Salmon Fishery produced only a handful of fish 11lbs to 12lbs. Low water hampered angling on the River Feale earlier in the month but a rise in water levels mid month coaxed some fresh fish up from the tide. Few anglers were alert to the change in water levels as levels dropped off within the day on April 17^th  Two anglers who were on the ball and tried their luck when conditions were right profited handsomely with a fish each

Spring salmon were in relatively short supply over most of May. That said, fish caught were of excellent size. In fact two specimens of 20+lbs were recorded and other fish in the mid to high teens were caught at Castleconnell Salmon Fishery. The River Feale at Listowel didn’t produce an abundance of fish but still some local anglers got results. Conditions favoured spring fishing at times during May with copious rainfall particularly towards the latter half of the month. There were a few sizeable fish amongst the usual 7 to 11pounders typical of this fishery.  Bryan Quille, Association Trustee, had a 14lbs Salmon which fell to a 'Lane Bait' Minnow at the 'Castle Stream' in Listowel town waters on Saturday 18^th May. Worming, spinning a Flying C and fly accounted for the fish.

On the River Feale the high water in June suited salmon fishing bringing in salmon and grilse into the system over the month but tended to quickly disperse fish in the river, hence anglers had to work a bit harder to locate fish. A noted feature of the catches was the presence of large salmon of 14lbs to18lbs. Grilse started moving in the high water into Castleconnell Salmon Fishery and while very slow earlier in the month, fishing as expected picked up with officially over 40 fish recorded from the beats over the last week of June. On the River Mulcair there was an exceptional amount of rain throughout the month, keeping water levels high. This favoured angling as this fishery does best in spate conditions. There was an excellent grilse run throughout the system with 50-60 fish reported some days. Only 2 days in the month were unfishable due to high floods. The tributaries of Mulcair, Newport, and Bilboa Rivers fished well and cleared quickly when the main river was high, allowing fishable water at virtually all times. Some visiting anglers staying at Millbank Angling Centre had exceptional catches with one group landing a total of 19 fish in one day.  

In July Salmon fishing was at its best up to mid month. As the month advanced fishing activity and fish runs reduced in traditional style on the Shannon. Castleconnell Salmon Fishery produced 44 grilse in the first week and half that amount on the second week. The higher water levels suited fishing on the River Feale and some brisk fishing was reported early on with a number of sizeable salmon taken, well into double figures. The favourable conditions with over normal supply of rain ensured good fishing continued on the River Mulcair  right up to the 20^th  July. Some daily catches of 30-35 salmon were reported. After the 20^th  July fishing rapidly dropped off to a few fish a day mainly in Abington, Long Field and Brittas.

One of the big stories was told by the ShRFB who issued a press release on July 7th Entitled ‘Shannon Salmon Get The Hump’ which read

“On the 7th July, the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board got a call from Ger Casey, a young angler from Askeaton that he had taken a very strange salmon in the Lower Deel, near  the  Shannon estuary. The salmon had a very distinctive hump and looked very similar to the pink salmon which is known to most Irish people from a tin. The pink salmon males develop a strong hump on their backs prior to spawning. The pink salmon is a native of north America but is occasionally taken off the Irish and Scottish coasts as strays for either the US or from introduced stocks in Russia.

The ShRFB sent a investigative team to examine the fish, and visually it did indeed appear to be a pink salmon. However on checking the fish, Dr. Fran Igoe, biologist with the ShRFB, confirmed the fish to be nothing more than a native wild Atlantic salmon, which had a fairly rough childhood. The fish had 20 gill rakers, scale numbers and the jawbones show that it was an Atlantic salmon.

To check to see what caused this unusual shape, the ShRFB had an X-Ray taken of the fish which showed that some of the vertebrae on the spine have fused together resulting in the fish growing into a deformed shape, more like that of a bream than a salmon. These spinal deformities can occur in salmon, if young fry have been exposed to a trauma, resulting in abnormal development. What is unusual is that this fish survived to make it to sea and back at a time when normal healthy salmon are having trouble surviving at sea. Analysis of the fishes scales showed that the fish was a wild salmon, had spent 2 years in the river and one year at sea, returning as a grilse.”

Salmon fishing in September was virtually non-existent due to shrinking water levels as the month advanced.  A few locals reported a handful of fish mainly fishing small flies in the evenings. The season ended on September 30^th on a very quiet note with virtually no angling activity evident.

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