Where is this year going? We are about to enter the last week in February. January, that laggard of a month, is a distant memory and the weather has already decided it is spring here in Ireland. It was 17 degrees the other day and the exceptionally mild weather seems set to continue for a while yet. Last year at this time we were in the grips of ‘the beast from the east’ battling frozen pipes and treacherous roads. That weather event appeared to me to upset the whole of the spring fishing in the west of Ireland and it never really got going after that. So what are the prospects for the start of this season on my local lough?
The season starts late on Lough Beltra and we don’t get going until 20th March. The anglers hopes are pinned on a complex array of weather factor for the fish to be there in the lough and for the conditions to be right for some chance to hook one. Migratory fish enter the lough via the Newport river, a short, narrow stream which needs a good height of water to encourage the salmon to run. So the ideal forecast for me would be some wet weather over the next two weeks or so to lift water levels a bit. The good news is that we have had had rain recently and fish could have been running since last month. Spring fish tend to keep their heads down and rarely show themselves unless they have to, so one or two could have sneaked in Lough Beltra recently unobserved. It’s exciting to think that some of the lies may be tenanted as I write!
Precipitation combined with the wind will largely decide how productive the opening days of the new season will be. No wind is a disaster for us. Seeing a perfect refection of the hills on the surface of the mirror-like water may be beautiful but the fish hate still conditions. We want recent rain and a good, strong blow from the south-west to get the fish interested. For me, there is no such thing as water levels being too high. I like to see the water lapping the trees on the shoreline when chasing springers.
The Newport house side of the lough are blessed with shallows and islands which mean that actual wind direction is of less importance than on the Co-op side. South westerly is what we look for with a North-easterly a poor, but never-the-less fishable, second choice.
Given that conditions on the day will have a major effect I remain confident there will be a few fish in Beltra for the opening day. I look forward to meeting some of you on those lovely shores soon.
Claretbumbler 