LOUGH OWEL

For updates contact Pat Mc Donnell, Fishery Officer  Shannon Regional Fisheries Board Mullingar  Office Tel: 044 48769

RAINBOW TROUT PUT ON HOLD FOR OWEL

Yep we were expecting to be fishing for rainbow trout this season on Owel but this took a little set-back last week at the L.O.T.P.A. annual general meeting. Ennell anglers hold their A.G.M next Wednesdsay night in the Greville Arms Hotel. Last weekend Mullingar Coarse anglers were in action, so two were Lough Lene anglers and Lough Owel hosted two competitions on Sunday.

T.A.F.I. ON OWEL....

Photo: Eugene Fagan T.A.F.I. Leinster champion receiving the cup from Stuart McGrane

The Trout Anglers Federation Of Ireland made history last Sunday on Lough Owel. On the day T.A.F.I. held their Leinster Championships and the weigh-in was held in the new Angling Centre at Tullaghan. On the day T.A.F.I. Chairman Stuart McGrane thanked Dermot Broughan of the ShRFB and Lough Owel Officers Stan & Chris McKeown for acting as weigh masters for the Leinster Championships. He complemented the club on such a fine angling centre and wished them many happy years running events from headquarters at Tullaghan. The angling was a real mixed bag with plenty of blanks on the day and some other anglers landing up to three trout. Top Rod and 2007 Leinster Champion is Eugene Fagan from Dublin with 3-fish weighing 3lbs 10oz. Eugene is a taxi driver in Dublin and is a very colourful character. Mind you if my memory serves me right Eugene is originally from the Rochfortbridge area here in Westmeath. If I am wrong don't worry I will be corrected as most anglers across Ireland pick up Angling Focus on the ShRFB site. Anyway back to the angling second place went to Pat Noone. Pat is a regular on Owel and is competition "sec" with T.A.F.I. Pat had two trout for 3lbs, in 3rd place was D.J. Byrns with two fish 2lbs15oz. Heaviest fish on the day was 1lbs 11oz and Pat Noone also won this prize.

BIG FISH FROM OWEL....

While I was photographing the Leinster Championships local anglers Tom & Philip Smith came a shore with a cracking Lough Owel trout. The father & son pairing are regular anglers on Owel and have produced some super trout to date, but last Sunday they really rattled the scales. It was young Philip who showed up the old lad on the day and produced this cracking trout just over 6lbs.

LOUGH OWEL A.G.M...

This was quite a historic A.G.M. as it was held in the new Angling Centre at Tullaghan on the shore of Lough Owel. Also on the night the  ShRFB  "CEO" Eamon Cusack attended this years meeting. As the norm the club Chairman opened the meeting and this honour fell to Andy Boyle. Andy thanked all who travelled out to Tullaghan for the meeting and paid tribute to the Shannon Fishery Board staff who did a magnificent job on the Angling Centre. Once again the Secretary report was crystal clear and Stan McKeown gave a detailed account of the catches over 2006. The Treasurers report was on target and Chris McKeown was thanked by the club members for his efforts in keeping the books right. Next up was the election of officers. This was a formality as it's the same as 2006. Jack Doolan remains as President, Andy Boyle once again holds the Chairman position with Stan McKeown as Secretary and Chris as treasurer. Why rock a boat when it's drifting along nicely. The competition captain is Ross McKeown and Ross has a very busy season ahead of him in 2007. Just looking briefly at the competition calendar. Some nine events are pencilled in for the coming year. No doubt Ross will get plenty of help from competition Vice Captain Mickie Tyrrell. On the debating end of things, we could write a book on the feed back from Owel anglers. The rainbow trout got a little set-back. It was hoped we would be fishing for top quality rainbow trout this season but we will have to wait till next year. Eamon Cusack addressed the meeting on this subject and it is hoped Owel will be stocked in late September early October 2007. A lot of research is taking place on the rainbow situation for Owel and based on scientific findings a stocking program will be put in place for Owel, regarding rainbow trout. Ah well what's another year." . On the brown trout scene the normal stocking program is in place for 2007. Over the season some 9,000 catchable fish will be stocked along with un-fed fry and fingerling fish. Once again this year coarse fish will be removed from Owel, with Tench & Rudd being netted and stocked into the Royal canal and other local waters. As far as the pike are concerned these will be removed during the club competitions and we will keep you posted on this. The problem of winged predators such as cormorants was voiced by club members. This is certainly a major problem for Midland lakes and over the winter months these birds are roosting & feeding daily on Owel. The idea of scarecrows was discussed and club Chairman Andy Boyle who said this worked quite well on some stocked fisheries in England. All in all the meeting went well and no doubt there will be plenty of talking done in the coming weeks. The club elected a very strong committee and over the coming months they will be very active on Owel. One thing is for sure Lough Owel is under a lot of pressure and a very heavy stocking program is much needed if the lake is going to hold up to the pressure of angling. Many of the top clubs and associations across Ireland are holding events on Owel and these catches don't figure in local angling returns from the lake. Lough Owel trout Preservation Association is doing its best to improve angling and once again this year anglers are asked to return all native fish when pleasure fishing, in the interest of conserving native stocks. The club have a 13inch size limit during club competitions and the bag limit is set at four fish. Membership is open at present and costs €30.00.This can be paid at any competition morning. On Sunday 8th April L.O.T.P.A. hold their first official competition. On the day the Ace Perpetual Cup will be fished. Fishing from 11am-6pm.

ENNELL A.G.M...

Tonight Wednesday March 28th Lough Ennell Trout Preservation Association will hold their Annual General Meeting in the Greville Arms Hotel. Once again there is a splendid Annual report in circulation with a few familiar faces, throughout the pages. The meeting is starting at 8pm and you are asked to arrive on time. There will be plenty to talk about at this years meeting. On the angling front it's very quiet at present but some huge hatches of duck-fly are on the lake. Some anglers met plenty of feeding fish early in the week and I spent a day on Ennell last week but observed no activity on the surface. Hopefully now that the long evening are coming the weather will get a bit milder and we will see some fine fish coming from Ennell. Another subject that is being discussed was the recent test netting on Ennell. This was carried out by the ShRFB. and the CFB. We are told trout stocks are good with a huge number of small fish turning up in the test netting. Pike are on the decline, you will be glad to hear. Perch are on the up and this was quite evident last year as some real cracking Perch wee caught on Ennell. This is all good news for trout anglers fishing Ennell and we all know that Perch fry are really on the trout diet during the summer months. All going well we will bring you news from the A.G.M. next week.

LOUGH REE
ATHLONE ANGLERS ASSOCIATION NEWS
report courtesy of Eamon Cunningham P.R.O. Athlone Anglers Association Phone
Mob: 087 - 2340815

TONY AND DECLAN CAPTURE MC CORMACK MEMORIAL CUP....