Mourne/Derg reports week ending Saturday, 11 August 2012
Posted by admin on August 15th, 2012 - Comments Off on Mourne/Derg reports week ending Saturday, 11 August 2012
This report covers the last fortnight
A high and dirty flood rose at the end of June, holding up until 3 August. While the Mourne was out of order, the Derg was in the pink for a few days. By the end of the week the Derg was low and the Mourne was perfect and continued to hold well up to 13 August, when heavy rain started to push it up again.
There have been many fish landed over the past fortnight. During the flood it was great to witness a strong prolonged run of fish moving over the weir at Sion with fish coming off every tide all week. Sion Mills continues to fish extremely well with fish landed on a regular basis from all pools: Paddy’s Stream, the Bigh, the Gravenue, Behind the Mill, The Woodhole, The Blackstone and Higgins Stream have all featured. Above Victoria Bridge the private beats have produced many fish, the Brookeborough beat, Mulvin Bay, the Feddens and Snaa have all featured with dozens of fish landed.
The Derg, a beautiful tributary of the Mourne, has enough fish to keep anglers interested. The river when in spate has produced fish but not enough to boast about yet. Unfortunately it is difficult to control the shrimping in the head waters which can exact a heavy toll in small pools. Co-operation between Derg Angling Club and Loughs Agency bailiffs has resulted in some shrimpers being caught and hopefully in due course heavy fines could be delivered. How these individuals can call themselves anglers is beyond me.
Some notable catches are listed below but this is only a snippet.
Sunday, 29 July: S Mahood, 7lb (returned) Bigh; T Gough 7lb, 9lb (both returned) Paddy’s Stream
Tuesday, 31 July: Andrew Loughlin, 4lb 8lb (returned) Sion; J Connors 3 fish (all returned) Sion
Friday, 3 August: G Robinson, 3 fish (returned) Liskey Stream; N Gough, 2 fish (returned) Stralag; T Gough, 7lb (returned) Ginners
Saturday, 4 August: C Black, 3 fish (all returned) Behind the Mill; S McAleer, 3 fish (all returned) Behind the Mill; T Farrell, 9lb (returned) Bigh
Sunday, 5 August: A Loughlin, 7lb Blackstone
Monday, 6 August: G McAleer, 5 fish (4 returned) Liskey; J Murray, Sion; T Gough, 5lb Higgins Stream
Wednesday, 8 August: S Corrigan, 6lb Bigh; A Scott, 1 fish Gravenue
Thursday, 9 August: P Becks, 3 fish (all returned) Sion
Saturday, 11 August: D McGuigan, 11lb Victoria Bridge; N Gough, 2 fish (returned) Ginners
The outlook for rain this week will hopefully keep fish coming and poachers at bay. After such a good season it’s easy to forget that August can be a dogged month when fish can seem disinterested. There are fish in every pool so keep the fly in the water.
On a separate note, it was heartening to talk to the Chairman of Finore Angling Club at the Loughs Agency Angling Fair in Fintona. He informed me that there were many salmon already resident in the streams around and above Fintona. Great news!
Mark Gough, NM Tackle, Sion Mills Tel: +44 (0)28 8165 9501
Web: www.nmtackle.com Email:
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