DURROW ANGLERS: Young Luke Condron of Durrow in Co. Offaly featured some weeks back in Angling Focus with some lovely Ennell pike and trout. Luke was back on Ennell last week and had his pal Oisin Cleary on board. The lads had a few nice pike trolling lures and got quite a few hits. Now they are heading back to school so it will be a bit of fishing at the weekends but as soon the Halloween break arrives – they will be back on line.
ENNELL TROUT: Quite a few fly anglers are out on Ennell and it’s a long time since I saw so many anglers dapping on the lake. It is the time of year for the grasshopper and daddylonglegs and they will produce some nice trout. I was on Ennell for a few days last week and the number of trout pitching was unbelievable. Some of these trout are well up on the 4-5lbs bracket and one was caught trolling last weekend by predator angler David Blyth.
BLIZZARDS MAY HIT ENNELL: No I am not forecasting the weather and warning of blizzard’s ripping across Ennell. Last weekend I met Brendan McEvoy – manager of the band The Blizzards from Mullingar. Brendan was checking out facilities and Lough Ennell as the next Blizzards video shoot could be on Ennell. This is certainly music to Blizzards fans ears and a great opportunity to highlight the fantastic facilities on Ennell near Lilliput and the natural beauty of Ennell. I took Brendan and his family for a short trip on Ennell and they were blown away with it. If the video shoot does take place I hope the weather Gods are looking down on us.
LENE ANGLERS: Out on Lene anglers are getting it hard to entice the huge rainbows and brown trout to take lures or flies these last few days. Loads of super trout are surface feeding but they are certainly well educated as the season is closing in. As with Ennell, many anglers are dapping and some are using crickets bought locally in pet shops. These large crickets will work on Lene, but a lot of the trout come and inspect the cricket just to turn away at the last moment. I met Pat Foley and his angling pal Niall Harkin on Lene and they had some success on an artificial dry fly. Small Daddylonglegs and Red Arse Peters did the business and Niall had the best rainbow weighing an impressive 3lbs 1oz.
COMMUNITY HERITAGE GRANT SCHEME: Our Water Community Officer Basil Mannion was in touch recently and it’s certainly a tight dead line for this years grants. Basil stated it’s for projects completed by 23rd November of this year and applications must be in by Tuesday September 15th. The grant scheme is open to the likes of voluntary and community groups, not for profit heritage organizations, etc. Basil can be contacted on bmannion@lawco.ie or 086-8599514.
JACK MULVANEY R.I.P: Derravaragh Anglers received the sad news that Hon- President Jack Mulvaney sadly passed away. Over the years I met Jack at Donore Shore when coming off Derravaragh and we always spoke about angling and Jack was a big fan of our Angling Focus. If memory serves me right, I also met Jack and his family members some years back in Cons’ Lounge on one of my Out & About nights. On behalf of Angling Focus we send our deepest sympathies to the late Jack Mulvaney’s family and his many friends.