The start of the trout fishing season on Lough Derg and its tributaries on Monday last marked a memorable day for a Nenagh man who realised his lifetime angling dream by landing a massive trout of 8lbs 10ozs.

Eddie Ryan from Youghalarra caught the fish at around 5.30pm while trolling at Ryan’s Point, located midway between the villages of Dromineer and Garrykennedy.

The cock trout, which was in excellent condition, was tempted by a six-inch Rapella lure. “He did everything to get away,” Eddie told The Guardian. “He jumped up into the air twice and went under the boat a few times. I nearly had a heart attack with the excitement and couldn’t believe it when I got him into the boat.”

The magnificent fish guaranteed Eddie the first prize in the start-of-season competition sponsored by Pat Ryan’s Pub in Portroe. The competition was organised by Tommie Moloney and John Malone of the Garrykennedy Fishing Club.

A total of 38 anglers competed in the event and 13 fish over the legal limit of 14 inches were produced for the weigh-in. In second place with the greatest weight was Jerry O’ Brien with two fish (3lbs. 2ozs and 1lb 6ozs) and in third place was Martin O’ Brien with a fish of 1lb 14ozs.

The best of the fishing was between Castlelough and Sally’s Bay where Alan Slattery landed eleven trout and Jerry O’ Brien had ten. The vast majority of the fish were returned as they were under the legal limit.

All the fish were caught on the troll. The start of any kind of productive fly fishing on Derg still at least three weeks away.

Others who weighed in fish included Donnacha O’ Brien and Mike Moloney who both had fish of 1lb 11ozs; Matthew Ryan and Danny Flynn had two fish (1lb 3ozs and 15ozs); Alan Slattery (1lb 5ozs); Sean Lyons had two fish just over the one pound mark and John Shinners (1lb 4ozs).

The organisers wish to express a big thanks to Pat Ryan for sponsoring the competition and providing food for the anglers during the weigh-in at his pub.


FUTURE OF WILD TROUT FISHERIES...

Anyone interested in the future of our wild trout fisheries should note that a very interesting presentation on the subject will be given by Ireland’s leading expert in this area in Nenagh on this Thursday night, March 18, at 7pm.

Dr Martin O’ Grady is a Senior Research Officer with the Central Fisheries Board and will be speaking in the Hibernian Inn in Pearse Street on the invitation of the Lough Derg Anglers Association, the umbrella grouping of all the angling clubs around Lough Derg.

Dr O’ Grady is the author of “Brown Trout in Ireland”, a book published last year highlighting the many pressures that our trout populations are facing today due to threats posed by issues such as pollution, exotic species and global warming.

The book has been published at a most opportune time, given that the changes to the Irish trout’s environment have altered more radically in the last four decades than over all of the preceding era spanning back to the last Ice Age more than 10,000 years ago.

In his book Dr O’ Grady asserts that the greatest uncertainty from a trout fishery management perspective is from exotic species landing on our shores – plants, invertebrates and fish.

We here on the shores of Lough Derg are more aware of the impact of non-native species on our own lake. For example, the zebra mussel, a native of the Caspian Sea, has been in the Shannon System since the 1990s and many other Inland waters, and now even Lough Corrib. Then there were reports last year from the Lough Derg Science Group of the arrival of another Caspian and Black Sea native, the pink shrimp (Hemimysis anomala), posing as yet unknown consequences for the lake’s eco-system.

Dr O’ Grady’s bottom line is that exotic species generally have a negative effect on native flora and fauna and lead to a reduction in overall biodiversity. For example, he points to the fact that the zebra mussel in Irish lakes like Derg appears to have resulted in the extinction of our own native freshwater Swan Mussel.

While some of the book makes grim reading in terms of the future of our trout, O’ Grady provides case studies to show that creating the ideal trout habitat in the spawning streams and rivers has a hugely positive impact on preserving stocks. For example, enhancement works by the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board on streams flowing into Lough Ennell in the late 1990s resulted in a 900% increase in population.

Staying on the subject of trout, angling club delegates from around Lough Derg will be taking a vote on the night of Dr O’ Grady’s talk on a proposal by the Lough Derg Anglers Association to introduce a bag limit of four trout on Lough Derg.

Currently, we are a bit behind the times in this part of the world as there is no bag limit for Derg even though a four-trout daily bag limit per angler has been operating on Lough Corrib, Lough Mask and all the tributaries of these lakes since last year. The penalty for exceeding the limit on the Western lakes is a €90 on-the-spot fine, confiscation of the offender’s fishing gear and/or prosecution.

OIL SPILL ....

Anglers out fishing on the Nenagh River on the opening day of the trout season on Monday last reported seeing an oil slick over a long stretch of the waterway.

The Nenagh Ormond Anglers have condemned the spill and reported the matter to North Tipperary County Council and the Shannon Regional Fisheries Board. A spokeswoman in the environmental section of the council said staff were on the scene trying to find the source of the oil.

* Local clubs and individual anglers can send your fishy stories to pgleeson@nenaghguardian.ie or phone me at 067-50481. "

RIVER MULCAIR CO LIMERICK

MILLBANK HOUSE AND ANGLING CENTRE MURROE CO LIMERICK report on the recent fishing on the River Mulcair in Co Limerick

The River Mulcair opened on March 1st, 2010.

ShRFB reports for the RIVER FEALE CO KERRY