Angling notes: ‘It was a scary 15 minutes. I honestly thought I was going to lose the fish’

“It was a wonderful experience. All the time I was hoping it wasn’t a salmon. I’ve had a pain in my shoulder ever since,” is how Margaret Rooney described her “catch of a lifetime” at the 42nd Lough Melvin five-day trout angling championships, held out from Garrison in Co Fermanagh, last week.

While fishing on qualifying day in the “deep” between Maguire’s Island and the Schoolhouse, the Swords-based angler got a solid “take” that went down, then jumped and found itself under the boat before any hope of netting.

“It was a scary 15 minutes. I honestly thought I was going to lose the fish,” she said.

All was revealed when safely boated: the mysterious fish was a mighty 6lb 14oz ferox trout that went for a plain daddy pattern, tied by her close friend Sorcha Weld.

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(Interesting to learn that the locals refer to this species as “black loch” trout, which seldom show interest in a fly, authentic or artificial.)

For her efforts, she received an abundance of prizes, starting with best heat winner, best lady angler, best southern angler and overall heaviest fish. Not bad for one good fish!

The festival itself was a great success, with anglers returning in numbers following Covid. Conditions were good for the first three days with a south-westerly breeze. However, the remaining two days were difficult with mirror-calm conditions.

The overall winning duo on finals day was to committee member Sean Maguire and Edwin Wills, with five fish for 1.910kg. Each received a 19ft Foley Boat plus two pieces of Galway Crystal.

In his closing address, chairman, Terry McGovern said: “On behalf of the committee I would like to sincerely thank all our sponsors for their support and my committee for all their hard work in organising this event.”

Results: 1, S Maguire/E Wills, 5 fish, 1.910kg; 2, J Doherty/S Bowen, 3f, 1.090kg; 3, J Allen/M Polin, 4f, 1.065kg; 4, K Bradley/G Feeney, 3f, .895kg.

Great western lakes plan

The public consultation meetings on the long-term management draft plan for the great western lakes covering Corrib, Mask, Carra, Conn, Cullin, Arrow and Sheelin continue at a pace, with two meetings already having taken place in Castlebaldwin (Sligo) and Ballina, and a further four scheduled over the next seven days.

The angling community and those who use the lakes or live nearby are urged to attend these important meetings.

The lakes have long been designated to be managed primarily as wild brown trout waters. Therefore, the proposed management programme will protect, conserve and, where possible, enhance their natural attributes and native biodiversity.

In turn, this will optimise the potential of the lakes as sustainable wild brown trout fisheries and, in some cases, Atlantic salmon fisheries. Other species such as eels, char and ferox trout are also included.

The draft plan is available at fisheriesireland.ie/westernlakesplan or IFI offices in Galway, Ballina and Limerick. Those attending the meetings are advised to familiarise themselves with its content and the associated frequently asked questions. Fisheries personnel will be in attendance.

No tickets or registration is required and all open evenings are operating on a drop-in basis from 4pm to 8pm.

The remaining meeting dates: Tuesday (September 6th), Monsignor Horan Memorial Centre, Partry Community Centre, Co Mayo F12 KF86; Wednesday (September 7th), Anglers’ Rest Hotel, Headford, Co Galway H91 PN77; Thursday (September 8th), Courthouse, Oughterard, Co Galway H91 CC96; Tuesday (September 13th), Crover House Hotel, Mount Nugent, Co Cavan A82 P2D9.

Salmon flies collection

Delphi Lodge in Lennane, Co Galway, will host a special reception with Inland Fisheries on Saturday, 24th September, to celebrate the launch of the 1902 Cork Collection of Salmon Flies.

Almost 100 flies will be on display from the Delphi, Connemara and Galway segments of the collection.

Guest speaker Peter Kealey will explain the book project in detail and, as a special treat, tie a River Erriff “Thunder and Lightning II” fly pattern. Those in attendance will be invited to have a go under his watchful eye.

A canapé reception will begin at 4pm, followed by Kealey’s talk at 5.30pm. Tickets are €20 and can be booked at +353 95 42222 or delphilodge.ie. Facebook: facebook.com/events/. Twitter: twitter.com/DelphiLodge/status/.

Method Feeder Championships

Cavan angler Steven Whyte (Browning Ireland) won the All Ireland Method Feeder Championships for the third time in four years at Oaklands Lake, New Ross, Co Wexford, last weekend.

Fishing steadily all day, Whyte caught 46 carp for 86kg for the title, followed by Karl Page (51.97kg). Third place went to last year’s winner Enda Hickey (49.47kg) and George Varva (33.33kg).

With the late summer period popular with overseas anglers, clubs affiliated to the National Coarse Fishing Federation of Ireland are busy hosting competitions. You can find one that suits at ncffi.ie/eventscalendar/.

Preparation of three Roscommon lakes proved productive for the Strokestown club festival. A great first-day weight of 65lbs led the way for Andrew Lightbown to finish the three-day match with 83lbs 3oz, followed by Ben Gingell (81lbs 5.5oz) and Mick Mahoney (73lbs 3.5oz).

The current run of three-day festivals on Inniscarra Lake continues with the reservoir producing 14kg-plus average match weights. Munster angler Pawel Swistun took the honours at the Coolcower House event with 67kg, followed by Henk Roskam (64kg 420g), Wilbert vd Meel (62kg 020g) and Ton van Osch (58kg 210g).

(There is still time to book a place, with festivals taking place until November.)

Competing in Croatia

The Tubertini Team Ireland set out to Croatia last Friday to compete in the FIPSed Fédération Internationale de la Pêche Sportive en Eau Douce coarse world championships.

The team of Vincent Walsh, Phil Walton, Jason Ward, David Herron and Jordan Hall were selected from clubs across the island. Training ahead of the competition will take place over two sections of the Stara Drava 25km apart (due to drought conditions) on September 10th and 11th.

If you have an angling story to share, please send to me at angling@irishtimes.com