Tag Archives: Lough Beltra Glenisland coop

Fishing in Ireland

Between Ciara and Dennis

This craik of ‘naming’ windy days is a nonsense to me. I live in the west of Ireland and guess what? It gets wet and windy during the winter. The near constant weather warnings and maps with shaded areas where it is going to rain are over the top in my opinion. Anyway, Ciara soaked us all and blew a hooley last weekend and we are facing storm Dennis this coming weekend with yet more rain to be dumped on us from the heavens. Today though it was a quiet and dry morning so I decided to check on the boats in the harbour on Lough Beltra. We put 4 boats out a couple of weeks ago and they need to be checked periodically to make sure they do not come to any harm.

The car park was under a foot or so of water when I got there but the floating pontoon dock was doing its job perfectly and all 4 boats were safe but half full of water. Time to get the bucket out!

half full but safely secured to the dock

Gerry Hoban (fisheries officer) saw my car parked and came over for a chat. Seems a few early springers are nosing into Carrowmore which is a good sign and Delphi has turned up a couple of fish so far. I explained to Gerry that I will be doing some coarse fishing this year and he told me of a lake nearby with Tench in it. I’ll be giving that a try during the summer alright!

It didn’t take too long to empty all four boats and check the securing ropes were all OK. With another 4 boats to be launched soon I will be back on the shores of this wonderful lake very soon. Fishing opens on 20th March.

the carpark!!!

 

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Fishing in Ireland, salmon fishing

update from Mayo

Still suffering a serious lack of water here but some showers over the last few days have brought some salmon in at last.

Beltra has produced a few-

https://www.facebook.com/Lough-Beltra-380982678740593/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf

The river Moy is seeing some action too with the Ridge and Cathedral beats fishing well and beats right up as far as the East Mayo Anglers water giving both salmon and grilse.

http://www.eastmayoanglers.com/east-mayo-anglers-catch-report-week-ending-28th-may-2017/

The forecast is for more showery weather over the weekend so there are hopes more fish will run. With low water conditions the fly will do well so think small flies and careful wading. Indeed, stay out of the water completely if possible.

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Fishing in Ireland, salmon fishing, sea trout fishing

Beltra boat maintenance

One of the tasks to be undertaken each winter is to sand and varnish the woodwork on the fleet of angling boats for the Glenisland Coop. The way we manage this work is to identify the scruffiest boats and leaving those ones inside the boathouse to dry out over the winter. The rest of boats are overturned and left outside, propped up to prevent them getting too wet. The boathouse can accommodate 4 boats so that is the size of the task for the committee members to attack. Four boats doesn’t sound like much but that equates to a fair old bit of rubbing down and painting!

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Over the past two weeks we have been hard at it in the evenings tidying up the boats in readiness for the coming season. Even just getting into the car park proved a challenge as the rains had lifted the level in the lake to the point where the water was in the car park itself.

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None of the boats required any structural maintenance, just a thorough sanding and a couple of coats of varnish. The point of keeping them inside the boathouse is to let the woodwork dry out completely over the winter. Damp wood is useless and any varnish you apply to wet timber will peel off in no time at all.

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Nice and dry

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This seat could use a lick!

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Another one of John Paddy’s boats

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Sanding completed, it is time to start work with the brushes

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Varnished boats

The next time you hire a club boat for a day on the lake remember the hours of sanding and painting that went into keeping these boats in good condition. As with all angling clubs, there is a lot of work which goes on behind the scenes by a small group of dedicated individuals. I think I have said before in this blog that I am not really a ‘club fishermen’. I prefer to just get up and go fishing at the drop of a hat, selecting the times which I feel are going to be the most rewarding. Organised days, set fishing times and competition rules are not really my thing. But the Glenisland Coop is an excellent club run by genuinely good people with only the best interests of Lough Beltra at heart. A few hours here and there of my free time to help out on jobs like this are no loss. And of course there is always plenty of craik and banter going on too.

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That’s better!

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This high water should have helped the kelts to drop back downstream

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Not long now until 20th March and start of the 2017 season

 

Later…………Some more pics here from the Beltra FB page:

 

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Fishing in Ireland, salmon fishing

Photos of Beltra

Not a post really, just some photos I took when fishing Lough Beltra yesterday. It was the annual Glenisland Co-op competition and although we did not meet any fish it was a great day out for all.

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the rules and regulations

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The new harbour beside the Boathouse is a great facility. The committee has worked tirelessly to improve the whole fishery

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Pulling out of the mouth of the river at the start of the day

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Ben on the engine as we motor down the lake. Notice how flat the water is, very poor conditions for fishing Beltra.

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Looking back towards the new boathouse which was officially opened by Enda Kenny this weekend

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Claret Bumble

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Drifting on Beltra

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The Golden Olive Shrimp is always worth a try on Lough Beltra

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We pulled in for a break

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The hut is a great job on days when the rain comes down. Matt Higgins and Matt Fahy were there when we pitched up so we had the craik with the lads.

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Boats in the harbour. Visitors are always welcome and the club hires out boats and engines.

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Back out on the lake again we fished hard in improving conditions but without success

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Nephin looking down on our efforts

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Back to the harbour at 3pm for a bite to eat and see how the other boats faired out

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Micky C, club secretary

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Here’s Jackie Deffley, one of the stalwarts of the club

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Jimmy Heneghen was there too.

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I guess this sums up the Glenisland Co-op,  a well run club with it’s root in the local community. Every day on Lough Beltra is an unforgettable experience.

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