IT MAY well be a long way to Tipperary, but for native John Quirke it was just a short distance to travel on Lough Conn to win the Lough Conn and Cullin Two-Day Fly Fishing competition in fine style, last weekend.
In weather more suitable for the beach, John managed to coax six fine trout on day one to his homemade Wolff patterns in blistering sunshine and flat calm waters. It left an insurmountable struggle for the remaining 95 anglers over the two days.
“I fished Tolan’s Bay and the Errew shoreline all day on dries and actually caught 11 fish,” he said. It was a real purple-patch day which earned him top prize of a 19’ Sheelin boat (sponsored by Michael McCabe); framed set of flies (courtesy of Gary Binley) and the Tolan and Traynor Perpetual Cup.
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There is always something magical at starting time as almost 50 boats anxiously await the off outside Gortnor Abbey Pier and then the deafening sound of engines as boats quickly disperse into this vast lake.
Surprisingly, there is no bag limit of Conn. Information gleaned suggests there are too many fish in the lake, however the vast majority are below the minimum size limit of 13in. Nonetheless, this situation should bode well for the future.
I’m sure Alan Lutton would not entirely agree with these sentiments. While fishing at the mouth of the River Deel, the Tyrone angler caught a cracking trout of 1.6kg (3.5lb) on a Grey Wolff, sufficient to claim heaviest fish and second placing overall, along with a second fish for good measure.
I thoroughly enjoyed my fishing each day with two Cloghans anglers, Sean Crean and Stephen Browne, widely regarded as two of the finest Conn anglers. We literally covered every inch of the lake and caught numerous undersized trout (including perch), but the bigger ones stayed aloof.
My thanks to Pádraic and Orla for organising a great weekend and to the many sponsors, especially the Ridge Pool Tackle Shop, for the quality of prizes. Special thanks to my accommodation hosts, Julie and Paddy Cowman of Shalom House for a wonderful stay (096-31230).
Results: 1, J Quirke, 6 fish, 3.585kg; 2, A Lutton, 2f, 2.8kg; 3, J Walsh, 4f, 2.34kg; 4, P Tracey, 4f, 2.02kg; 5, D Goulding, 3f, 2.015kg.
IFI pollution plea
Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has issued an appeal to farmers to be extremely vigilant at this time of year to avoid water pollution when harvesting silage and spreading slurry.
Silage operations are ongoing all summer and silage effluent has the potential to cause devastating pollution in streams and rivers. Silage effluent is one of the most polluting substances to threaten the environment and can cause massive fish kills if it enters a watercourse.
Slurry spread on grassland over the summer months can also wipe out fish and invertebrate life if allowed to enter a stream. Water levels in streams and rivers are low in the summer and have less dilution capacity, rendering them particularly vulnerable to pollution.
IFI’s Dr Forde said: “Round bales are the most environmentally friendly way to store silage, however, if a silage pit is used, it must be properly lined to prevent leakage. Slurry spreading should only be carried out in dry weather. It should never be spread close to a watercourse, and tanks should never be cleaned beside a stream or river.
For more information, visit fisheriesireland.ie.
Disabled anglers in Scotland
Best of luck to Ireland’s disabled anglers as they travel to Scotland to fish the home international competition against England, Wales and Scotland in Lake Menteith near Sterling.
Tony Doherty Cup
The ITFFA Rivers National was fished on the Liffey at Newbridge, Co Kildare, last weekend and despite an extremely bright and humid day, there was excellent fishing. A total of 20 anglers braved the conditions and after four sessions Eamonn Conway from Dundalk emerged a narrow winner over local angler Kevin Tipper.
Both had five placings, however Eamonn had the greater number of fish length points and was declared national champion and winner of the Tony Doherty Cup. For the record, 151 fish in excess of 20cms were caught and released – an average of seven per angler.
Results: 1, E Conway, 5 placings, 814pts; 2, K Tipper, 5pl, 758pts; 3, H Smith, 6pl, 716pts; 4, S O’Neill, 6pl, 396pts; 5, J Willis, 8pl, 774pts; 6, B Larkin, 8pl, 521pts.
The above list will form the basis of the Ireland team for 2017 international but the team will not be finalised until after the match on the River Don in Scotland at the end of this month.
ITFFA’s Denis Goulding would like to thank the North Kildare club for hosting the match and Sarsfield GAA club in Newbridge for use of their fine facilities.
England win in Killarney
The International Fly Fishing Association recent spring international on Lough Lein in Killarney resulted in a win for England, with the Irish team finishing in fourth place. Alan Steven from Scotland won the Brown Bowl (best catch overall) with four trout and Welsh angler Marco Orsi caught the heaviest fish of 0.430kg. A total of 52 were weighed in.
Noel Shiels (Silverstream) was top Irish rod with two fish and along with Seamus O’Loughlin (Ennis), Gary Smith (Bangor) and Paul Dignam (Shannon) retain their place for the 2017 Spring International on Chew Valley, England. Results: 1, England, 18 fish, 4.111kg; 2, Wales, 14f, 3,301kg; 3, Scotland, 14f, 2.788kg, 4, Ireland, 8f, 1.780kg.
Good week in Galway
It was another good week at the Galway Weir, with perfect water levels and a great run of grilse through the fishery giving anglers great sport, in spite of bright sunshine and high temperatures. Last Monday was a bumper day with 19 fish landed.
Waterford visitors Paul Whelan had three salmon and Eamon Power managed five, all on fly, while Mike Daly had a lovely 3.1kg fish, also on fly.
Excellent dapping on Corrib
On Corrib, Kevin Molloy of Baurisheen Bay Boat Hire said Cork angler Harry Couch and his two sons enjoyed excellent dapping for two days, landing 17 trout with the best 1.8kg.
Visiting Spain anglers Stephen Walsh and Michelle Ursv had three days trolling and caught 12 trout including a ferox of 5.4kg, all released apart from two.
Galway angler Harold O’Toole caught nine trout on caenis on the lower lake over four mornings, best 1.5kg.
angling@irishtimes.com
