Lough Owel in Mullingar became the centre of activity last Sunday with a multitude of water sports taking place throughout the day. Between a Mirror-class yacht race and canoe instruction for perhaps 50 students, there was still plenty of room to accommodate two fishing competitions on this wonderful lake of more than 2,500 acres.
A light aircraft landed on the lake in the afternoon; first-time viewing for me.
The Lough Owel Trout Preservation Association held its final club competition of the year for the Clonhugh Cup with a turnout of 30 anglers. The morning started dull with a steady southwest wind, but the afternoon brought bright sunshine and little wind.
It was the “last throw of the dice” for Patrick (Paddy) Ennis from Ballinamore, Co Leitrim. Within the final hour of the competition, while fishing close to Lady’s Island, up came a cracking trout of 2.79kg and grabbed his Silver Daddy fly. “It took me all of 15 minutes to land the fish,” he said.
Catch and release was to the forefront of this intrepid angler as he quickly brought the fish to the weighing scales and safely returned it to the water.
Results: 1, P Ennis, 2.79kg; 2, T Barrett, 1.34kg; 3, K Evans, 1.33kg; 4, R McKeon, 1.26kg. K Fleming won the perpetual cup for the highest weight of the association’s competitions during the season with 8.575kg.
The second event held on Sunday was an ITFFA eastern region competition.
Weir science
A project to remove a redundant weir on the river Honddu, near Brecon in north Wales, has opened up 20km of habitat to help salmon reach important breeding grounds.
The weir was constructed in the 1960s to regulate river flows to reduce flood risk. But it has posed a significant obstacle for salmon and other migratory fish, who swim upstream in search of gravel beds to spawn.
These barriers also help to slow down juvenile fish as they move downstream on their journeys to the sea.
In a similar project, juvenile fish have been seen passing through a notch at Chester Weir only days after improvement works were completed to help fish migration in the river Dee.
The aim of the work is to improve downstream passage for young salmon and sea trout as part of the multimillion-pound Life Dee River project.
Fisheries principal Dr Wilson said: “One of the best things we can do is remove artificial barriers that stop [salmon] from making their way up and downstream.”
Bahamas dates
Delphi Club in Abaco, Bahamas, is pleased to offer limited availability for November 6th-11th and 14th-18th. For the first time in years, Delphi Club will be open for Thanksgiving on November 21st-26th. For bookings: contact reservations@delphiclubabaco.com or The Delphi Club, PO Box AB20006, Marsh Harbour, Abaco, AB-2006, Bahamas.
If you have an angling story to share, please send it to me at angling@irishtimes.com
