Lough Lein charity trout outing nets €10,000 for patient care in Macroom and Killarney

THE Charity Trout Competition on Lough Lein in Killarney last weekend was a resounding success with €10,000 collected and divided between Macroom Community Hospital in Co Cork and St John of God Day Service in Killarney. Now in its 27th year and, with this year’s figure included, brought the total raised so far to €194,000 for local charities.

Accepting the cheque with gratitude on behalf of the day service, Angie Kissane said the money will go towards visual aid kits for the centre while Macroom will purchase an audio system for their 38-bed hospital, director Bernie Buckley said.

Of course, this huge sum of money did not fall out of the sky. It was raised by the anglers themselves and the generous sponsorship of local supporters of the Charity. None more so than Lee Strand, distributors of liquid milk in the Kerry and West Limerick area.

On a beautiful Sunday morning the Ross Castle area overlooking the lakes was a sight to behold with jarveys trotting back and forth with tourists, the wildlife in full voice and the 100-odd anglers sorting out boats, many on their first outing of the year.

I was paired with Noel Duane from Carrigaline, a retired butcher and winner of the competition in 2007. The Bog area was our first port of call. Here we met countless fish while pulling wets but most fell short of the “10-inch from fork-of-tail” requirement.

For the afternoon session we moved to the middle lake close to the mouth of the Flesk river and although quieter, Noel bagged three fish to my one. A really good sign for the future was the presence of salmon smolts grabbing our flies.

But like all competitions there can be but just one winner. Former Irish international angler David Mears from Ballymakeera near Macroom emerged with nine trout to win the prestigious Lee Strand Perpetual Cup.

“I fished the Bog all day on a sinking tip and a Diawl Bach (Little Devil) fly. I am also the ninth Macroom winner of this competition,” he smiled.

At the dinner and prizegiving in the Dromhall Hotel, a minute’s silence was observed for the late Batty O’Brien was passed away during the year. Batty was a popular figure on Lein and last season caught the largest salmon of 9kg (20lb).

Results: 1, D Mears, 9 trout; 2, D Coakley, 7t; 3, P O’Loughlin, 8t; 4, M Linehan, 5t; 5, P Hoare, 5t. Best juvenile: E O’Leary and best lady angler: A McWilliams.

First salmon
Kylemore Fishery has recorded its first salmon this season of 4kg (9lb) from the Upper River at Tullywee Bridge Pool on a small Collie Dog. "Conditions for April have not been ideal, with low water for most of the month and when a small spate arrived last week, we were hampered with an algae rise that encouraged only a few fish to enter. Hopefully this is the start of good times ahead and at least we are in the book for April." fishery manager Nigel Rush said.

Picric Olive Mayfly
The Picric Olive Mayfly (below) is a great floating fly and really looks the part. All the materials are dyed in picric which gives the fly that little bit extra. Picric is not a dye but a stain and when used on Dunn hackles produces a fantastic olive colour for mayflies and olives.

Fly-tyer Jimmy Tyrrell has a fascination about mayflies and enjoys coming up with a good design. The original pattern is a standard tying but he wanted to devise something different to make the colours stand out.

“I like to move the hackle fibres upwards between my finger and thumb which, in turn, allows the fly to sit nicely on the surface. This technique gives use to all the hackle and provides more buoyancy to the fly,” he said. See irishflycraft@gmail.com or 086-845 1257.

All set for Chartres
The Sensas Challenge Open Final is scheduled for Inniscarra, Co Cork, May 18th, with teams of four challenging for a place in the grand final in Chartres, France. The winning team will accompany the Ireland team to the grand final on October 25th-26th. The Irish qualifier will be a float-only match fished to Cips rules and anglers can form their own team. Inniscarra is a fantastic venue where pole tactics score well in most events.

Check-in at O’Callaghan’s Bar, Coachford, from 9am for 12.30pm start. Entry is €80 per team. Registration closes next Sunday. Further details from Gavin Walsh on 087-613 9551.

angling@irishtimes.com