ANGLING NOTES:ROBERTSON National School, Ballintra, Co Donegal, is the winning entry of the "Something Fishy" Competition for 2010. The children will be presented with their prize at the Central Fisheries Board, Swords, Co Dublin, on June 11th.
“Something Fishy” is an educational programme promoted by the fisheries boards in conjunction with Blackrock Educational Centre. The project is aimed at fifth and sixth year students at primary level to learn about fish stocks, angling and conservation of rivers and lakes.
The winning entry is a presentation on eels called “Eelusive”. It looked at the eel life-cycle, examined how they live, the decline in the eel population and what is being done about it.
Schools taking part were required to produce a class project based on Something Fishy and projects ranged from posters, poems, stories, drawings songs, documentaries and science experiments.
Central Fisheries Board chief executive Dr Ciaran Byrne said, “I was impressed at not only the standard of research but also the quality of work produced by the pupils. We may even have a few budding fisheries scientists for the future.”
The program will continue next year and is supported by an interactive website www.somethingfishy.ie. Packs are available in both English and Irish.
* I was delighted to accept an invite from Larry Nixon to travel to Northern Ireland last Sunday for the 21st Mediafly competition at Movilla Fishery, Newtownards, Co Down. Great craic and comraderie prevailed throughout the day including a midday barbecue.
Although fish rose freely, calm and bright conditions presented a challenge for even the most experienced fishers. In the end, it was beetles fans Darryl Mooney and Conor Boyle who matched the hatch and made the winning catch.
The UTV Flyer Trophy was duly awarded to the Mooney media team who banked 13 rainbow trout. Darryl accounted for 11, all of which opted for a home-made kicking beetle pattern.
Second place was claimed by the UTV team of Des Smyth and Tim Blake with three fish and third place went to MM News Services team of Mickey Donnelly and Larry Nixon. Donnelly’s trout of 50cm was the best of the day. All fish were returned.
Prizes were presented over dinner at Coyle’s award winning restaurant in Bangor.
* Midweek, I travelled to Lough Conn and Cullin to sample the mayfly fishing. I was not disappointed. On Tuesday, conditions were perfect on Conn with plenty of cloud-cover and wind.
Along with top boatman Kieran Connolly, we boated at least eight fish, best 0.5kg (1.2lb). Although sporadic, the mayfly brought fish up all day. The southern side of Glass Island was brilliant.
Next day conditions deteriorated, with calmer waters and less activity on Conn. Nevertheless, along with boatman Jack Mellett we tested Poteen Bay, Brackwansha Bay, Abbey Bay and Sandy Bay, and managed a few small fish.
During a short visit into Cullin I was amazed at the volume of Mayfly. The shucks actually formed endless streams across the lake. It was not surprising, I suppose, that the trout ignored our imitation lures given they were already stuffed with the real thing.
However, the day ended on a high note. On my last cast outside Pontoon Harbour I caught a beauty on a Green Winged Mayfly. Over the next few weeks I predict the Mayfly season will reach its peak.
Facilities at Pontoon Bridge Hotel were superb. Check it out at relax@pontoonbridgehotel.com
angling@irishtimes.com