After a long, hard and difficult Spring for Atlantic Salmon here in Delphi and indeed in many other fisheries throughout the country, I’m relieved and very glad to say the Grilse have arrived here in good numbers. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of theories as to why the Spring run has been so bad, but at the end of the day it’s more than likely a combination of factors. Truth be told, experts included we’re all clutching at straws looking for an explanation.
My last update was on the 12th of June, at which stage we had 1 Grilse landed. Water levels at the time were low, with the gauge at 10 and any rain we did get ran off very quickly; because the system was so low. We were like a pure spate system, until we got our first serious flood since April. We had over 50mms of rain on the 21st and 22nd of June, which basically filled up the reservoirs again and this has kept us going ton date. Total rainfall for the June was 157.7mms(6.2”). So, from the 12th to the end of June we landed another 49 fish.
3 of these were landed on the 14th, Seamus O’Neill having 2 Grilse off Finlough and Crionna Creagh having a fish of 4lbs9ozs from the Rock Pool. There were 15 landed in week 25, with Seamus O’Neill and Philip McGarrity landing 2 each and Kevin Finegan, Paul Smyth and the Byrne brothers all having 1 each. Ken O’Farrell’s Week 25 record of never blanking is still intact and there were 3 First Ever Salmon, with Paul Lakin (England), Ken Ferris (Oughterard) and Kevin Asplund from the US had his first and second.
Our Week 26 regular team once again had lovely conditions and they also managed to land 24 fish. Good numbers of fish were being seen throughout the system. Urs had 8, Benni 5, Werner and Yvonne 3 each, Ralph 2, Julie, Mattias and Peter all had 1 each. Urs managed to land his 499th Delphi salmon in the boat with myself on Finlough, his first had been on the 1st of August 1993, also on Finlough and also with myself in the boat. The 500th awaits later this month and there might be a little champagne to celebrate.
Week 27 saw further improvement, both in numbers caught and the amount entering the system. Water levels were dropping off, but there was still more than enough for fish to easily run the system. 35 were landed, 15 off the River and 20 off Finlough. Kevin Finegan had 4, Seamus O’Neill, Daithi Ryan, Giovanni Mazzoleni and Terry Bradley and myself, all had 2 each and Eoin Warner, Stefano Giovanardi, Orazio Gatti, David Tucker, Enda O’Connell, Kamal Scarpello, John Connolly, Wayne Byrne and Jim O’Brien all had 1each. Highlight of the week was Danny Irvine and Will Parkes landing 12 fish off Finlough in two sessions. Most popular fly was without doubt the Delphi Collie, which accounted for 19. The 30th of June was the first day of week 27 and our catches that day brought the monthly total to 50 split evenly between River and Finlough. Total for the year to the end of June was 75, the River producing 33 and Finlough 42.
Water levels had dropped to 22 by the start of Week 28 but there were plenty of fish running. Owen Kirk, Denis Quill and Tomas Ryan managed to land 13 between them on the 7th and 8th, all off the River bar one. The Drea party returned again, and they have landed 8 so far, including John Totenham’s first ever salmon, a fish of 2lbs15ozs from the Whin Pool on a VamBeck. Natalie Browne from Australia also managed to land her first ever, a fish of 4lbs4ozs off Finlough on a Delphi Collie. That now brings our total for the year to 123. Although water levels are dropping off, there is still plenty water for fish to run, but anglers skills and low water tactics will be tested over the next few days until we get rain. Hopefully I’ll have plenty more to report shortly. D.McEvoy
