For his dedication and unselfish efforts to restore wild salmon stocks back into the River Liffey, Patrick O'Molloy deserves the highest accolades from the people of Dublin.
As secretary of Dublin Salmon Anglers' Association, O'Molloy has devoted the last 30 years to the rehabilitation of salmon to his beloved river. Perhaps this year will see the beginning of his efforts coming to fruition.
The story began in the mid-1970s at Islandbridge, just above the weir, when O'Molloy created a thriving hatchery from a 19th-century commercial establishment.
The situation was much different back in the 1850s as the salmon traps diverted fish into a large circular pool (still evident today). Here, they were netted and sold to the gentry in Stephen's Green. One client insisted on his salmon reaching him alive! Now badly in need of repair - the roof leaks, limestone walls are bare and cold, no windows, no lighting, in fact the building has no amenities at all. Yet each year, the "centre well" is home to up to 20 salmon broodstock. O'Molloy spends several hours every day nurturing 75,000 salmon ova. As "stripping" is completed over several weeks, the eggs are segregated into separate trays for eventual release into the Liffey and its tributaries.
For the past three years O'Molloy has been engaged in a major restocking programme. "Carton Estate, which enjoys a substantial stretch of Rye water, agreed to build a fish pass and I, in turn, agreed to do at least three years' restocking", he said.
The idea was to kick-start the establishment of wild salmon in the area above the cascade in waters previously unavailable because adult salmon could not cross the cascade - therefore the juvenile population was non-existent.
Last year he released 70,000, of which 34,000 consisted of smolts reared at Shankill Fish Farm in Brittas, Co Dublin, and 35,000 fry from the Islandbridge hatchery. Also, a micro-tag was attached to 11,500 smolts and each fish was fin-clipped.
While the fry will require a further year before returning, the smolts, when full-grown salmon, should begin to re-enter the Liffey this year. O'Molloy therefore is appealing to anglers who may catch a micro-tagged or fin-clipped fish to notify him.
On New Year's Day this year I paid a visit to the hatchery at Islandbridge and observed three hen and four cock salmon resident in the "well". From earlier fish he had taken 60,000 ova and expected a further 12,000 from this batch, all for release this month as fry.
The final chapter in this project began last week with the release of 18,000 fry into a small tributary of the Rye about a mile upriver of the cascade in Carton Estate. The previous week, 18,000 were distributed in the Moyglare area and 36,000 are for release at Ballymore Eustace this week.
Timing is important. As soon as their feeding sack drops off, they are ready for release, he said. On entering the water they immediately "hug the bottom" and become aggressive in their feeding habits. "They will outdo resident minnow for food by a mile," he said. Of course it will be next year before make their way to the feeding grounds off Greenland and the Faroe Islands, and a further year before they return.
O'Molloy said the Liffey has been badly affected by drift netting and it also being damaged by pollution. "The Liffey needs help more than any other river in the country. It isn't good enough to leave it to its own devices," he said.
If the five county councils that border the Liffey paid more attention to their waste disposal, the river would be in a far healthier state and the salmon and, indeed, many other species, would thrive once again, he said.
If given the chance, O'Molloy is prepared to continue this fantastic work and would prefer to raise the ova to smolt stage rather than fry. However, to raise 100,000 smolts will cost €10,000.
(I would appeal to interested parties to support this great effort to restore a wild salmon population back into the Liffey.) There are a number of people O'Molloy is anxious to thank. The Eastern Fisheries Board for their loyal support throughout the project and, in particular, Martin Kelly. And the group who helped distribute the fish, Gerry Darcy, Gerry and Emma Heaslip, Colm and Sarah Adams and Declan Briggs.
As club president Eugene McGratton, said: "Only for Pat there would be no salmon in the Liffey today".
Lough Mask enjoyed fair hatches of duckfly in sheltered areas with olives beginning to appear. A party of 10 led by Joe Fetherstone had 43 trout including one of 2kg, and Craig Murray and four friends from Northern Ireland had 21 over two days.
On Lough Carra, fishing has really picked up to wetfly, with some good catches on duckfly and olive patterns. James O'Reilly from Carra Boat Hire (tel: 094-9030879) had four anglers fishing over the weekend and they recorded 11 trout on duckfly.
Conn fished well towards the end of the week with 87 trout recorded. Michael Monaghan and Padraic Traynor had 11 over two days and returned six. Successful fly patterns included Silver Dabbler, Fiery Brown and suspended olives.