Angling Notes/Derek Evans: Trout angling is expected to move into summer recess as the mayfly season is all but over for another year. Perch fry will top the trout menu for the next few weeks as we await the green peter season in July.
Looking back, reports from the great western lakes suggest a quiet season with bright sunshine and slack winds coupled with a poor mayfly hatch over the last two years, contributing to a lacklustre season. In contrast, Loughs Derg and Ree enjoyed their best season for years.
On Sheelin, 150 trout, including a number of quality fish, were caught and released by more than 90 anglers up to yesterday week. P. Daly from Co Meath had the best fish, a whopping specimen of 12lb, and six other fish, all of which he released. Sedges and buzzer are worth a try around Bog Bay, Goreport, Church Island and Derry Sheridan areas.
A few mayfly were still evident around Holywell but no visible spent gnat, as yet. Anglers should try sedge fishing this week - Murrough patterns late into dusk should move a few large Sheelin trout.
The mayfly season on Lough Derg, which produced some of the best trout fishing for the last 20 years, has finally come to an end. Catches were up on other years but the biggest surprise was the amount of quality fish landed. Fish touching 7lbs, and plenty in the 3 to 4lb bracket, were not uncommon. Trolling for these fish using imitation minnows could now prove very productive.
- On the salmon front, the Galway Weir continued to fish well up to last Wednesday as water levels continued to drop away. Conditions are ideal for fly fishing with one sluice gate open. Of the 79 fish caught, 73 were taken on the fly. Salmon are averaging 5½lb and showing in the pools in good numbers. With even more fish expected, sport should continue for the foreseeable future.
- Small-boat angling will be severely curtailed if a foreshore licence is granted by the Department of Marine to B. J. Marine to build a boat-repair marina on the Centre Pier at Howth Harbour, Co Dublin.
The proposed development will entail reclamation of land from the sea of three quarters of an acre (approx. 3,160 sq.m.) and will reduce launching space beside the public slipway by up to 50 per cent.
Perhaps the biggest losers will be Howth Sea Angling Club (HSAC). With its state-of-the-art angling centre on the west pier, the club may experience major difficulties launching boats for competitions and pleasure angling because of proposed space restrictions. A club mooring on the proposed site will also be lost.
HSAC was instrumental in having the slipway extended five years ago to provide extra launching space - should the marina go ahead, use of the slipway would be limited to high water.
It is also worth noting that the slipway is the only access available at low water on the north side of Dublin.
The Minister of Marine, Dermot Ahern, only last week signed into law new safety regulations aimed at Ireland's growing small-boat leisure sector. He singled out Howth as one of two "major boating activity areas in the country" and will deploy a coast-guard vessel to monitor compliance with the new regulations at the harbour.
The location of the proposed site is liklely to affect access to the public slipway and considerably reduce small-boat leisure activity at the centre pier. Why forfeit all this for berthage of 15 ocean-going yachts when an alternative site is available on zoned land west of the West Pier, already owned by the Department?
Planning permission has already been granted to B. J. Marine for a scheme that includes a sales/service building with a ridge height of five metres, together with a service yard and pontoons. In addition, the quay wall will be fitted with metal security fencing and two five-metre wide access gates.
- Dr Ken Whelan of the Marine Institute is the new president of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO).
The appointment was confirmed at the organisation's 21st annual meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland, last Friday week.
Dr Whelan is the sixth president of NASCO and the first Irishman and European Union representative to hold this prestigious office.
Marginal salmon stocks are under great pressure and their future could depend on management decisions made over the coming decade.
"I look forward to leading NASCO in its efforts to protect, conserve and enhance this unique resource," he said.
- Due to work commitments, John Geary, editor of Hooked on the Moy, was unable to publish Issue 3 of this popular free magazine in time for the 2004 season. However, the new edition will be available in good time for the 2005 season.
Meanwhile, the dual advertising tool of www.rivermoy.com is proving very popular and receives a substantial number of hits and referrals on the web.
For further information on Issues 1 and 2, contact editor@rivermoy.com