I haven't been out fishing since my trip to the Drowes in early January. The presence of fish still on the redds kind of discouraged me from fishing for a few weeks. This weekend, however, I couldn't hold back any longer. There was a serious amount of rain all week and to be honest, I thought the Lackagh would be too high, but this was not the case. The water was gin clear and running at 8 on the gauge. The tide was high when I arrived and the first thing I noticed was a seal bobbing about in the main pool. Thankfully he didn't hang around for long.
I had the fishery to myself today and wasted no time in getting up to the top pool on the fishery. A sunburst monkey tied on a silver bottle tube went on the business end and it wasn't long before an ambitious sea trout kelt was on. I worked my way down through the pools a couple of times and tried a couple of different fly and line combinations.
A Conehead Black and Yellow Snaelda tied sparse, in comparison to a standard Snaelda.
One of a batch of Red Frances I tied up for this season.
Decisions, decisions!
I fished hard till lunchtime before stopping for a quick sandwich and then I decided to give the bottom end of the fishery a throw.
One of the Lower Pools
The final pool on the Lackagh leading into the estuary.
The view from the bridge looking out to the Lackagh estuary.
The Lackagh fishery.
Last throw of the dice on the upper pools. This Templedog inspired confidence but alas, no springers were caught, or indeed seen. Overall, it was a quiet day but as February moves on towards March, surely it's only a matter of time before the Lackagh produces a fish.