SHEELIN CRACKER: Plans were made some time back with my pal Thomas McMullan of Maxol Oil for a few days on Sheelin in early June where we hoped to get a few fish on the spent may fly. On board for the few days we also had Neil Moran and the lads were based in the Crover House, which nests on the shores of Sheelin. On the June 5th bank holiday Monday we just hit it right, as we drifted out from Crover House and a steady stream of spent drifted across the lake where quite a few fish started to feed. It was only 3pm in the evening and only one other boat was on the lake that I could see. It was certainly a case of being in the right place at the right time and Thomas had a few beautiful Sheelin trout over 3lbs in weight. Neil had a few offers but unfortunately never hooked up with any. On Tuesday morning we woke up to a totally different day, with high winds and the air temperature had dropped. I launched at Sailors Garden for shelter and we fished our socks off in brutal conditions, only meeting a few small trout late in the evening. In recent years Sailors Garden was a complete nightmare for launching boats as the place was very over grown with shrubs and bushes. This has all changed and a huge clean up at Sailors Garden has made access a lot more easier, with plenty of parking and the slip way for launching is also sorted.
LENE CRACKER: Having struggled to get Neil Moran stuck into a trout on Sheelin, plan B was put into place and a day on Lene was on the cards. The wind had settled, and there were only a handful of boats on the lake that day. The lads love the dry fly fishing and boated seven hard fighting rainbows on very small dark dry sedge. The fish were in super condition and all over the 3lbs mark.
PADDY DOLAN CUP: Last Sunday, in very windy and tough conditions, Lough Lene Anglers hosted the Paddy Dolan Memorial Cup for pike. Paddy was originally from Ginnell Terrace and on the day another Ginnell Terrace resident took top rod. Dermot Gavin boated a pike of 6.22kg to win on the day. In 2nd place was Brendan Higgins and Kevin Daly finished 3rd. The junior section was won by Daniel Higgins. Caroline Oakes, granddaughter of the late Paddy Dolan, presented Dermott Gavin with his prize.