As I sit here writing this blog, I can hear the Cuckoo clearly through the open half-door and it reminds me of the rhyme some of you may know; “The Cuckoo comes in April, She sings her song in May, In leafy June, she changes her tune, And in July she flies away.” It’s amazing the number of people who visit Delphi Lodge at this time of year that are actually stunned when they hear the Cuckoo. It is apparently quite rare nowadays and it’s something we take for granted. Long may she continue to sing her song as it always heralds the start of Summer.
On a more piscatorial note, I suppose I should update you on the fly fishing. There were 26 fish landed in May, which is below our 10-year average of 34. I suppose I would describe the fishing as steady but slow. Having said that, when the weather broke after the long dry spell at the end of April, we got 8 in three days but, I would have expected more. Apparently, the Spring fishing has been relatively slow in most places. Conditions were relatively good with rainfall amounting to 206.4mms (8.13”) and once we got the rain on the 5th, water levels never fell below 20.
Week 18, the first week in May, coincided with a long-standing German/Swiss group and despite difficult conditions, they managed to land 4, Benni having 1 and Urs 2, all from the Whin. Richard Stubenrouch landed his first ever, a fish of 8lbs3ozs from Deadman’s on a Delphi Collie. Week 19 water levels were up and there were 9 landed. 8 of these were in the first four days, with Ken McMillan having 2 from the Whin and Waterfall and Alan Boyd 1 from the Horseshoe. Gary McFarlane and Declan Convery also managed one each, both from the Turn Pool. Dwight Atkinson from the US managed his first ever salmon, of 9lbs2ozs on a Red Frances from the Goat Pool. Tim Cahalane who was up from Kerry advising on rhododendron eradication, just managed to get in a morning’s fishing, borrowed gear and landed an 11lbs9ozs fish in the Grilse Pool on a Willie Gunn. Barry Farrell finished off the week with a fish of approx. 9lbs in the Deadman’s on a Black Shrimp. Week 20 was slow with just 4 landed. Peter Rippen had two of these, one in the Goat and one in Deadman’s of approx. 9lbs. Michel Konitz and Peter Milne both had fish over 10lbs from the Whin and New Island respectively. There were 8 landed in week 21, with the Sutherland party accounting for 6 of them, Angus having two, Jim Stafford, Andrew Lyall and Denis Daly all 1 each and the pick of the bunch being Paul Hayes, with a fish of 12lbs from the Grilse Pool on a Delphi Collie. Philip Stoltzfus also had one from the Bridge Pool and Luke Shah from the US managed to land his first ever salmon, of approx. 6lbs from Grants Rock on Doolough. Finally, Kurt Roth got his week off to a flying start with a fish from the Whin Pool on a Cascade. That brings our total for May to 26 and 84 for the year to date, all of which are Springers, with no Grilse being landed so far, although there are reports of some having been seen. Hopefully, Grilse will start to appear in the next two weeks or so. It’s actually hard to believe that we are already halfway through the angling season, so if you haven’t been fishing, don’t delay.
D McEvoy