Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has announced its 2015 Sponsorship Programme which aims to increase awareness of its work, recreational angling and the inland fisheries resource. All interested parties including anglers are invited to apply for support with angling orientated events.
Applications are welcome for large scale national and international encounters with the capacity to draw increased numbers of domestic and overseas visitors to rural and peripheral regions for extended periods.
Organisers planning to host international competitions beyond 2015 are also invited to apply for support. This register will be used for planning and marketing purposes.
Funding for delivery through service-level agreements with angling federations is possible, and federations are invited to make a combined application for assistance on a prioritised basis.
Additional opportunities
Where possible, aid will be assigned to help with development of new events which provide additional opportunities to attract more users to recreational angling.
Support will primarily consist of staff and equipment, and minimal financial support is available for club events. Note, catch and release is a prerequisite in all angling events seeking assistance.
For further information including sponsorship criteria and application forms, visit http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/Angling-Information/sponsorship-programme.html.
Completed forms should be sent to Bridie Fleming, IFI, 3044 Lake Drive, Citywest Business Campus, Dublin 24, before March 31st, 2015.
A most interesting workshop on the identification of adult mayfly took place recently in UCD. Organised by Dr Mary Kelly-Quinn, a freshwater biologist in UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science, the instruction in identification was given by Dr Craig Macadam from UK Riverfly Monitoring Scheme.
The 18-strong group with angling interests were asked to engage in recording mayflies as many species appear to be in decline.
Those threatened include the Dark Olive, Yellow Hawk, March Brown, Pale Evening Dun, Sepia Dun and Northern Summer Mayfly. Two others are near threatened, the Brown May Dun and Upland Summer Mayfly, and there is little data on the Pale Watery and Large Brook Dun.
Citizen science is a great opportunity to gather valuable data by informed participants for environmental protection. Monitoring is particularly important for the extensive network of streams and rivers in Ireland.
“Small streams, which make up 77 per cent of our stream network, are vulnerable to pollution and associated loss of aquatic biodiversity, including mayflies. The recent decline in certain species is most likely due to pollution and habitat loss,” Mary said.
The citizen initiative is hoping to recruit more anglers to record the threatened and other species of river flies. If you wish to take part, contact mary.kelly-quinn@ucd.ie.
Enjoyed my first outing of the new season on Lough Lene in Co Westmeath. Along with fishing partner Oliver McCormack we had five hours of non-stop magical action, finishing with 15 cracking rainbow trout (all returned).
All of the fish were between 3lb and 7lb, fully finned and in pristine condition. On several occasions both rods were in fish at the same time creating “chaos” on-board with cross-overs and tangles. Oliver’s Humungus lure outshone all other patterns.
Top trout
Over 30 anglers ventured out on Sheelin on opening day oblivious to the cold. The lake did not disappoint with a respectable number of fish landed and with the top trout of 5¾lb caught by Martin Connor of DC Angling and Guiding Services.
When temperatures increased the fishing picked up and a number of fish were landed averaging 2-3lbs. At this early stage, patterns like the Pheasant Tail Nymph and Hare’s Ear Nymph can prove successful according to Dublin angler Mark Farhing who landed two trout at 2 and 2½lb later in the week.
angling@irishtimes.com
