DELPHI FISHERY NEWS 2016

ANOTHER SEASON SLIPS BY

connemara · Ireland

H O P E S P R I N G S E T E R N A LA . P o p e

2016 will not go down in history as being one of our greatest, but in the fishing game one has to accept that we have good years and bad. In the past peo-ple always talk about 1997 and 1998 but very few remember how many were caught in 1999. Belie-ve it or not catches actually fell from 1043 in 1998 to 229 in 1999, a dramatic decrease indeed. There are multiple factors affecting our salmon and sea trout that we are only beginning to comprehend. Top scientists will all have their own opinions on what the problems are. Marine survival seems to be high on the list. In Delphi’s case, elevated sea lice levels in Killary harbour in spring of 2015 certainly did not help, but many fisheries throughout the Connema-ra area and further north experienced lower returns than normal. However, Delphi and the neighbouring Erriff seemed to be more severely affected. On a more positive note, sea trout returns were well up on last year, with a total of 425 landed. This happens to coincide with very low lice levels in Killary this year and, as our sub-heading states, “Hope Springs Eternal”; we wait in hope and expectation for what should be excellent returns for salmon next summer.

Despite a total rod catch this year of 179 there were some memorable moments, not least the fact that we landed two salmon of 20lbs and over. That is now three salmon over 20lbs in the last two seasons. Records indicate 1963 was the last time a fish over 20lbs was last caught.The spring fishing was as good if not better than most other fisheries with 100 MSW fish landed. This was despite the months of March, April and May being dri-er than last year, which at times made angling difficult, although normally when we got water we got fish. Sum-mer on the other hand was disappointing with only 79 1SW fish landed. Conditions throughout were generally good, with water levels consistently adequate for fish to run. Results of our Vosso project are as yet inconclu-sive, as it will be January before all data is recovered.At this stage I must thank our customers, sharehol-ders, staff, friends and others for all your support and patience throughout a difficult angling season.To get an insight into the angling year a brief monthly synopsis follows and all the relevant tables for those of a more studious nature. I must apologise in advance for any omissions or errors that may occur in the tables.

R O C K P O O L

February 2016 did not reach the spectacular highs of last year but, we did manage to land 3, which is more in keeping with our normal returns for the month over the last number of years. Water levels throughout were high with the gauge, more often than not, at 60 or above. This makes fishing very challenging, with fish more difficult to locate. Lower water and colder temperatures tend to slow fish down a bit which makes them easier to target. Total rainfall for the month was 250.8mms (9.9”). The “Blast” for our team from Germany fared better this year than the “Cast” but Werner did manage to land a nice sea liced fish

of 6lbs from Morrison’s on a Cascade Tube on the opening day. Second of the month was a magnificent fish taken by Ciaran Boland in the Waterfall Pool on a Delphi Collie with the river running at 78. The fish was a beauty and weighed in at 11lbs10ozs. Angus Sutherland landed our third, a beautiful fish of 10lbs4ozs taken in the Meadow Pool on a Sunray Shadow. That brought our total to three for the month, at which time the weather cleared for a few days and we experienced some magnificent Winter sunshine and clear blue skies, which was indeed most welcome after a very wet Winter.

While March 2016 may not have been one of our best, with 11 fish landed; Yvonne Zirngibl’s fish of 20lbs6ozs certainly makes it a month to remember. Water levels were excellent to begin with as we had lovely water up to the 14th, from when we had a period of dry settled weather and water levels dropped right off until the 25th when the rain started again. Total rainfall for the month was 159.85mms (6.29”). From an angling perspective the month started brightly with three fish in the first 3 days. Martin Davison had the 1st of 8lbs11ozs from the Meadow Pool on a Park Shrimp Conehead on his first visit to Delphi. Ashley Glover then managed to land his 1st ever salmon on the 2nd, a fish of 9lbs14ozs from the Horseshoe Pool on a Collie Dog. Another member of his party Lloyd Scraggs managed to land his 1st ever on the fly on the 3rd, a fish of 7lbs from the Whin Pool on a Cascade Conehead. There was a lull then of a few days until Yvonne Zirngibl managed to land the 20lbs6ozs monster on the 8th from the Waterfall on a Norwegian Conehead. It was a beautifully made fish and was only

94.5cms long. It was rather appropriate that Yvonne landed the fish on “International Women’s Day”. Her husband Werner who had netted the fish, landed one the following day weighing in at approx. 7lbs, again from the Waterfall Pool on a Tosh Tube. We then experienced a period of (very welcome for most of us), dry settled weather, which meant the fishing was slow but the scenery was spectacular. Lisa Engberg from Sweden did manage to land a fish of approx. 11lbs off Finlough on a Delphi Collie during this period. The rain made a come-back on the 25th, which coincided with the arrival of an experienced German party. Bob Colson from the US, the only non-German, was first off the mark with a fish from the Stream on Finlough of 8lbs2ozs on a Delphi Collie. The group then managed another 4 for the week, 2 off Fin and 2 off the River, 1 from the Grilse and 1 from the Whin. They weighed in at approx. 9lbs, 7lbs12ozs, approx. 9lbs and 8lbs14ozs respectively. All, were taken on Delphi Collie’s. That brought our total for the month to 11 fish.

April is when our syndicate members return, so it was a busy month here at Delphi with a full quota of anglers throughout. Total catch for the month was 31, just above our 10 year average, which given the lower than average rainfall 114.8mms (4.52”), low temperatures and winds from a North and Easterly direction was indeed a good return. Week 14 was the first full week of the month, but it was in the latter half of the week that we started to get fish. Heribert had 4 for the week, 1 off Finlough of 8lbs8ozs, taken on a Collie Dog Conehead, and 3 off the river. They were taken from the Whin, Rock and New Island Pools and weighed in at approx. 8lbs, 11lbs6ozs and 8lbs2ozs respectively. Peter Morrison also had a fish from the Waterfall of 8lbs11ozs. Week 15 may as well have been called the O’Reilly-Mills week as they landed 6 of our total of 12. Five of these were off the River and 1 off Finlough. Peter’s fish weighed in at approx. 5.5, 10, 8 and 8lbs12ozs, while Alexander’s were approx. 6 and 8lbs14ozs. Andrew Lyall, Paul Smyth and Martin Ceillier also managed to land fish. Mary Donovan also managed a nice fish of approx. 9lbs from the Grilse Pool. While she

was playing the fish, a number of visiting anglers to the area including Steve Smith, were on tour and happened to notice a damsel in distress and duly obliged in landing the fish and releasing it for her, (well done gentleman). In Week 16 water levels dropped off quickly but we still managed to land 7. Alexander Mills again featured stron-gly landing three, 2 off Finlough and 1 off the river. Rob Fanshawe, Billy Marshall and Charlie Clifton had a fish each off Doolough while Terry Johnson had 1 from the Whin Pool. In Week 17 there were 7 fish landed, despite water levels dropping below 10. Brian Pattinson was top rod with 3, all off the river. Heinz had 2 off the river, including a beauty of approx. 12lbs from the Whin Pool. Michael Pettigrew and Dominic Cox also had 1 each off Finlough.

F E B R U A R Y M A R C H

A P R I L

M A R T I N D A V I S O NA N G U S S U T H E R L A N D

June 2016 was certainly an unusual month here at Delphi. Whilst most of mainland Europe was under water during the first half of the month, Delphi was more akin to its Greek counterpart, basking in glorious sunshine and tem-peratures that reached highs of 24.6 degrees C. A beautiful time for holiday making, not ideal salmon fishing weather it must be said. The days were magnificent, the clarity of water and sky were breath taking and the sunsets weren’t half bad either. There was no rainfall at all up to and in-cluding the 8th and then we had 33mms to the 15th. From then on we returned to our more normal Atlantic weather patterns with a further 104mms making total rainfall for the month 137mms (5.4”). From an angling perspective, the month was slow with 14 fish landed but it did start in fine style with the continuation of week 22. Didier Briand from France managed to land his first ever salmon on the 1st, a nice fish of 8lbs15ozs from the Turn Pool. He follo-wed this up on the 2nd with a monstrous fish of approx. 20lbs off Doolough. This is our 2nd fish of 20lbs and over this year which is a remarkable feat for a small fishery

like Delphi. Didier’s fishing partner and host Bertarnd Fenart also had a nice fish on the 2nd of 9lbs2ozs off the Turn Pool. Bob Hadden’s persistence paid off with a fish of 8lbs1oz off the Turn Pool on the 3rd. Water levels were now below 0, which made week 23 extremely difficult with Ian Carroll landing the only fish. The drought conti-nued into week 24 with Kurt Roth managing to land a fish of approx. 8lbs off Doolough on the 13th. We had a small flood on the 14th but the water was very dirty, as a result of the long dry spell. Week 25 started with a good flood on the 19th and Daire Fitzgerald from Cork managed to land his first ever, a fish of 6lbs10ozs off Finlough on a Silver Stoat. We then had 5 fish for the remainder of the week, with Ed Pettigrew, John Leitch and Charles Cooper landing a fish each and Mark Corps landing 2 including one of approx. 15lbs from the Turn Pool. The last few days of the month coincided with week 26 which saw the return of an experienced German group who managed to land 2 fish in the last few days of June.

Salmon catches this July will certainly not break any re-cords here in Delphi, despite fairly good water throughout. Total rainfall was 152.4mms (6”), spread evenly throug-hout the month. Our grilse run never really materialised in any great numbers with a total of 29 fish landed for the month. The first 2 days of the month finished week 26. Three more fish were landed the pick of which being Benny Weltz’s beauty, of 8lbs9ozs from the Quarry Pool. Week 27 is our multinational week with anglers from 6 different countries. Once again Giovanni Mazzoleni from Italy was top rod with 4 landed. Vicky Chandler landed her 1st ever, a nice grilse of approx. 4lbs from the Mea-dow Pool. Raoul de Waha, Mark Corps and Jack and Sam Gillispie also landed fish. Week 28 saw excellent water

throughout. 6 fish were landed. David Allcutt had 2, while John Faith, Roger Kenny and Helmut Lechermann all had 1 each. Andrew Norris from Dublin also landed his 1st ever, a grilse of 2lbs8ozs from the Grilse Pool. In week 29, 4 fish were landed including 3 by Mike Shortt and Chris-topher Jarman landing the 4th. 6 fish were landed in week 30, with Christopher Jarman having 2. Gareth Norris and George Westropp had 1 each and Bruno Janssens from Belgium 2, including his 1st ever, a fish of 4lbs5ozs from the Turn Pool on a Mini Tube. Gareth Beattie finished the month off very nicely with a cracking fish of 13lbs2ozs from the Turn Pool on a Willie Gunn. Sea trout started brightly with some nice fish being caught and all in ex-cellent condition, with 75 being landed in total.

Weather wise May 2016 was a glorious month and gladly welcomed by many throughout the country as we saw a return to some dry settled weather. Rainfall was 94.5mms (3.72”), the driest since 2010. Temperatures were low in the early part of the month but in the latter half we saw highs of 22.4 degrees C. This made angling challenging to say the least but we still managed 28, which wasn’t bad considering the conditions. In Week 18 conditions were relatively good and an experienced group of German and Swiss anglers benefited. Urs was first off the mark with a cracking fish from the Horseshoe Pool of 12lbs7ozs on the 2nd. Werner, Peter Schiessl, Nico Mittmann and Markus Merz also had fish. Finlough produced 2 fish on the 5th, with Yvonne and Peter Schiessl having 1 each. Urs had 2 more for his week of approx. 10 and 13lbs respectively. Most successful patterns were Collie Dogs, Delphi Collies and the Willie Gunn. By Week 19 the water was well down. First fish of the week was landed by Hugh Brennan off Doolough of approx. 7lbs. Persistence is probably the most important element of spring salmon fishing and it paid off for Leo Schoenberger and Jakob Tax who had

fish on their last afternoon off the river. Leo’s were both caught on a size 12 Stoats Tail, weighing in at 5lbs15ozs and approx. 14.5lbs. Jakob’s fish was 11lbs3ozs, taken on a Flamethower. Week 20 saw a serious group of regulars return for whom the social aspect of the week is probably more important. Christopher Jarman struck first with a nice fish of 9lbs4ozs, closely followed by Peter Milne with 1 of approx. 7lbs on Monday. Christopher had another on Thursday of approx. 7lbs. We had the first rain in a couple of weeks on the Friday and Ciaran Boland had a nice fish off the Turn Pool of 10lbs1oz. Conditions were lovely on Saturday and we duly landed 3; Steve Smith, Iwo-na Grochowska and Mark Corps had fish of 10lbs15ozs, 9lbs8ozs and 8lbs6ozs. Week 21 saw 7 landed. Conditions were good to start and then the water tapered off. There were 3 off Finlough and 4 off the river. Simon Albertini, Nick Foden Patterson, Bertrand Verhasselt, Arthur Jardine, Paul Wymes and Jussi Stromberg all had fish. The last few days of the month saw water levels drop off even further but Paul Wymes did manage a nice fish of 9lbs4ozs from the Whin Pool.

M AY

J U N E

J U LY

N I C O M I T T M A N

B U N D O R R A G H A R I V E R

B E R T R A N D F E N A R T

J U S S I S T R O M B E R G

Delphi Salmon Rod Catches 2007 to 20162016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 Total 10 yr avg

Feb 3 12 2 2 0 5 3 3 4 9 43 4.3

Mar 11 13 13 16 24 18 7 28 18 14 185 18.5

Apr 31 21 9 37 29 36 23 75 33 11 305 30.5

May 28 60 58 93 27 122 25 100 19 26 558 55.8

Jun 14 57 39 74 72 68 10 74 34 41 483 48.3

Jul 29 127 40 44 67 98 107 33 114 144 803 80.3

Aug 13 45 43 75 24 82 83 44 135 65 609 60.9

Sept 50 57 53 107 80 102 60 47 132 105 793 79.3

Total 179 392 257 448 323 531 318 404 489 415 3756 375

Rod days 1586.5 1690 1631.5 1568 1577 1767 1485 1864 1767 1756 16692 1669.2

1sw 79 198 123 216 177 258 227 110 396 282 2225 222.5

2sw 100 194 134 232 146 273 91 294 93 133 1690 169.0

Total 179 392 257 448 323 531 318 404 489 415 3756 375

1sw wt 3.59 4.32 4.66 4.01 4.10 4.4 3.2 3.8 4.1 3.3 39.41 3.94

2sw wt 8.74 8.21 8.97 8.77 8.7 8.8 8.2 8.0 8.2 8.2 84.72 8.47

Av wt 6.47 6.25 6.91 6.48 6.2 6.56 4.6 7.0 5.0 4.7 60.17 6.01

1 > 2lb 2 2 1 1 3 4 36 3 16 49 117 11.7

2 > 3lb 18 9 4 29 22 22 53 19 31 73 280 28.0

3 > 4lb 29 61 28 68 45 74 73 23 108 77 586 58.6

4 > 5lb 23 83 35 70 57 78 45 35 151 69 646 64.6

5 > 6lb 16 38 40 52 36 67 25 51 80 33 438 43.8

6 > 7lb 15 47 33 42 44 73 21 66 33 19 393 39.3

7 > 8lb 16 47 27 40 34 50 23 50 19 28 334 33.4

8 > 9lb 21 50 25 52 30 54 15 69 19 29 364 36.4

9 > 10lb 15 25 26 34 22 42 10 44 15 16 249 24.9

10 > 11lb 8 12 12 23 11 29 7 18 11 16 147 14.7

11 > 12lb 5 9 13 15 7 12 5 12 3 4 85 8.5

12lb + 11 9 13 22 12 26 5 14 3 2 117 11.7

Total 179 392 257 448 323 531 318 404 489 415 3756 375

netmarks 0 5 2 7 4 10 11 3 2 4 48 4.8

mark % 0 1.28 0.81 1.67 1.2 1.9% 3% 1% 0% 1%

River 123 262 153 229 154 202 123 208 224 168 1846 184.6

Finlough 41 112 85 189 135 257 163 156 230 223 1591 159.1

Doolough 14 17 18 30 34 72 32 40 35 22 314 31.4

Glencullin 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5 0.5

Total 179 392 257 448 323 531 318 404 489 415 3756 375

Fly % 96.1 98.4% 95.5% 95.8% 93% 92% 93% 91% 90% 86%

Escapees 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0

Best fish 20.375 20.69 19.65 17.75 17.06 19:07 14:11 16:0 15:0 14:0

Wild Salmon Rod Catches (included in total) 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 Total 10 yr avg

River 46 59 37 101 73 89 37 59 66 45 612 61

Fin 12 13 12 15 22 33 18 14 20 18 177 17.7

Doo 9 12 10 22 33 43 26 32 21 18 226 22.6

Glen 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 5

Total 68 85 60 138 128 165 81 105 107 83 1020

Released 85% 81% 88% 83% 80% 83% 91% 91% 93% 90%

1sw - no. 26 46 35 78 65 96 54 34 75 49 558

2sw - no. 42 39 25 60 63 69 27 71 32 34 462

Total 68 85 60 138 128 165 81 105 107 83 1020

Y V O N N E Z I R N G I B L U R S L E I B U N D G U T

Delphi Fishery-Salmon Caught 20lbs + OverIt’s hard to believe that for the second year in succession the 20lbs barrier had been broken here at Delphi, not once but twice. It is a remarkable feat for a small fishery like Delphi. 2015 saw Tony Barrett-Jolley surpass the 20lbs mark for the first time since 1963 according to the data at hand.This year Yvonne Zirngibl landed the first, a magnificent specimen of 20lbs6ozs and 94.5cms on the 8th of March from the Waterfall Pool on a Norwegian Conehead Tube, fishing a 12’6” double handed rod and a floating line. Water levels were perfect at the time with the gauge at 45. The fish was netted by Yvonne’s husband Werner and great celebrations then ensued. It was indeed just reward for all the hard work they have put into Delphi in the last number of years. Appropriately it was also “International Women’s Day”.The fish was ranched and micro tagged. It was released from our hatchery as a smolt in late April 2013 and then migrated, probably to the West Coast of Greenland and spent 3 winters at sea, (which the tag and scale readings confirmed) before returning home. Some interesting observations are that the fish was of 1SW parentage, was a female and was caught in March. Nearly all the 3SW fish are of MSW parentage, are Male and are historically caught in May. On June 2nd this was followed up by a fish of 97cms, estimated to be 20lbs, landed by Didier Briand from France who had only landed his first ever salmon the previous day. It must be said that he had an excellent mentor in Bertrand Fenart who has been coming to Delphi since the mid 1970’s. The fish was taken on a Toby in Weedy Bay on Doolough on a beautiful calm sunny day. As it transpired the fish may have been ranched as there was a very slight nick off the adipose fin. Bertrand did manage to get some scales and analysis indicates the fish was 3SW and probably ranched.I must say well done to both anglers and indeed to those responsible for producing such magnificent fish. Here’s hoping for a few more in 2017.

Top Rods 2016Mark Corps N.Ireland 10

Paul Wymes Ireland 9

Urs Leibundgut Switzerland 9

Alexander Mills N.Ireland 7

Christopher Jarman England 5

Werner Zirngibl Germany 5

Ciaran Boland Ireland 5

Delphi Rainfall 2015-2016Month Total

mmTotal

InchesNo. of

Dry DaysNo. of

Wet DaysWettestDay-mm

Oct.-15 116,9 4,6 16 4 41,2

Nov.-15 308,2 12,13 5 19 31

Dec.-15 442,3 17,41 0 22 59,2

Jan.-16 325,2 12,8 5 19 62,5

Feb.-16 250,8 9,87 5 17 48

Mar.-15 159,85 6,29 9 10 26

Apr.-16 114,8 4,52 11 9 20,4

May-16 94,5 3,72 15 6 18,3

June-16 137 5,39 10 9 21,7

July-16 152,4 6 8 11 19

Aug.-16 166,4 6,55 11 11 29,5

Sept.-16 316,8 12,47 4 16 81,1

Total 101,75 99 153

Dry day = <1mm Wet day = >5mm

Best Pools 2016Joinings 0

Road 0

Bridge 4

Turn 23

Quarry 15

Quarry Flats 0

Duffer's Run 0

Rock 11

Kings 0

Holly 0

Dipper Run 0

Morrisons' 3

Poker Pot 0

Deadman's 3

Total Upper 59

Grilse 9

Cooleens 1

Schoolhouse 4

New Island 1

Heneghans 0

Duck Run 1

Horseshoe 4

Gorge 0

Dynamite 1

Goat 0

Whin 25

Waterfall 6

Meadow 12

Sea Pool 0

Total Lower 64

Overall Total 123

S A L M O N R E L E A S E

Top Flies 2016Cascade 25

Willie Gunn 24

Collie Dog 19

Delphi Collie 14

Frances 8

Delphi Fishery - Salmon caught 20LB +Date Captor Weight Location Fly/Lure

12/10/1910 W. Illingworth 23lbs Turn Pool Fly

26/05/1937 Sir. Ronald Macleary 22lbs Turn Pool Mar Lodge

03/05/1927 Lord Sligo 22lbs Finlough Jock Scott

13/05/1940 J.G. Garvey 22lbs Doolough Silver Doctor

09/05/1930 Charles Merritt 22lbs Finlough Spoon

28/05/1955 Douglas Goodbody 22lbs Finlough Brown and Gold

24/05/1913 Sir. David Barbour 21lbs12ozs Finlough Fly

18/05/1963 Sir. Ronald Windgate 21lbs 8ozs Doolough Jock Scott

05/05/1908 E. Spencer Gough 21lbs Finlough Fly

23/05/1935 W.K. Dods 21lbs Finlough Mar Lodge

12/05/2015 Anthony Barrett-Jolley 20lbs 11ozs Rock Pool Gary Dog

01/05/1903 T.J. Yarde 20lbs 8ozs Finlough Fly

17/08/1931 Michael Heneghan 20lbs 8ozs Turn Pool Jock Scott

08/03/2016 Yvonne Zirngibl 20lbs 6oz Waterfall Norwegian Conehead

25/05/1953 M. O'Rourke 20lbs Whin Pool Mar Lodge

06/02/2016 Didier Briand 20lbs Doolough Toby

08/05/1928 Lord Sligo 20lbs Finlough Silver Wilkinson

F I N L O U G H

Salmon fishing was difficult in August with a total of 13 salmon landed. Fishing conditions throughout the month were good with a total rainfall of 166.4mms (6.55”). Sea trout on the other hand, especially in the latter half of the month with the arrival of the Daddy Long Legs were great sport with a total of 190 landed. Good sea trout returns happened to coincide with low lice levels in Killary this year especially during the critical period. On the salmon front Alexander Mills was 1st off the mark in August with a grilse of 3lbs9ozs off Finlough on the 2nd, closely followed by Joe Kelly who landed his 1st Irish salmon in the afternoon of 4lbs3ozs from the Whin Pool. Gareth Beattie had a small grilse from the Stream on Finlough on the 3rd and resident casting instructor Robert Gillespie finished off week 31 with a grilse from the Turn Pool. In week 32 William Beattie had a fish of approx. 4lbs from the Turn Pool and then Urs who

fished weeks 32 and 33 really found his form and landed 6 between the 11th and the 18th, including a red letter day on the 18th when he had 3, all off the river. There were 2 more salmon for the month with David O’ Flynn having a grilse from the Turn Pool and Hugh Brennan 1 at the Sluice on Doolough. Sea trout started slowly, with the exception of Willie Hamilton and Pat O’ Dwyer who had 31 for their week to 2.5lbs. Brendan Keenan and John McManus had

14 for their week and Angus Sutherland’s party of 4 had 48 for 3 days to 4lbs. Steve Baxter also had a cracking trout off Finlough of approx. 6.5lbs. As usual the dynamic husband and wife duo of Tom and Shirley Morrison didn’t disappoint with 50 for their week which included the first couple of days in September.

A U G U S T

„ E S M E “

The highlights of September 2016 were without doubt 2 huge floods we had during the month. As is often the case our weather patterns in September can be volatile to say the least when we get the tail end of hurricanes from the Caribbean. The 1st was the most severe when we recorded 81.1mms (3.19”) on the 11th, most of which fell in about 8 hours during the Sunday night and early hours of Monday morning. Unless you had a 4 wheel drive the road through the Delphi Valley was impassable in 3 places. Shuttle busses and jeeps were being used to ferry (excuse the pun) people to work. We got another belt on the 23rd with 53.8mms (2.19”) falling. Not surprisin-gly this resulted in September being rather wet with a total of 316.8mms (12.47”). As a result, September was a better month for salmon with a total of 50 being landed, although 25 of these were on the 30th. Stephen Hegarty had the 1st salmon of the month on the 1st, a grilse from the Stream on Finlough. Week 36 then produced 7, with Rollin Schuster from the US landing his 1st ever salmon, a fish of approx. 2.5lbs from the Meadow Pool. Peter Eaton, Tommy Lee, Mark Corps and Alexander Mills all had 1 each, while Chris Barry from Australia managed 2 for his stay. Week 37 saw the return of some real old timers (i.e. people who having been fishing here since the late 1980’s) and they always seem to bring these extreme weather conditions. They did manage to land 7 salmon between

them which given the fact that 2 days were written off due to high water was quite a good return. Mark Corps, Philip Janaway and Chris Cromey-Hawke had 2 each and Jack Browne had 1. Most of our other anglers concen-trated on sea trout which were much more difficult after the huge flood. A notable catch for the week was David Byrne from IFI who managed to land an Arctic Char on Doolough whilst fishing for sea trout, a rare event indeed. Jack Browne was the main salmon catcher in week 38 with 3 to his name. David Swaine and Mark Shortt had 1 each, while Rob Broke from England and Jean Philippe Lefevre from France both landed their 1st ever salmon of 3.5lbs and 9.75lbs respectively. The run up to the 30th saw 3 fish landed by Mark Corps, Mike Shortt and Howard Kilguss. The 30th saw a good day’s sport for all with a total of 25 landed (it must have been something to do with the technology used on the day), including 3 first ever salmon. Sarah Carroll from Cork landed a lovely fish of 8lbs12.5ozs after a protracted battle. Local lad James Gibbons had 1 of 6lbs3ozs and Corentin Periaux from France landed a fish of approx. 5lbs. All 3 were off Finlough. There were 160 sea trout landed for the month although this I believe would have been more were it not for the 2 big floods we got as it seemed to put them off the take somewhat.

S E P T E M B E R

P E T E R O ` R E I L L Y C H R I S C R O M E Y - H A W K E

L E O S C H O E N B E R G E RH E R I B E R T

A R C T I C C H A R

S E P T E M B E R F L O O D

FIRST EVER SALMON 2016Name Country Location Weight

GLOVER Ashley Ireland Horseshoe 9.91lbs

BRIAND Didier France Turnpool 8.94lbs

FITZGERALD Daire Ireland Finlough 6.625lbs

CHANDLER Vicky England Meadow Pool 4.0lbs

NORRIS Andrew Ireland Grilse Pool 2.5lbs

JANSSENS Bruno Belgium Turn Pool 4.313lbs

SCHUSTER Rollin USA Meadow Pool 2.5lbs

BROKE Rob England Quarry Pool 3.5lbs

LEFEVRE Jean-Philippe France Whin Pool 9.75lbs

CARROLL Sarah Ireland Finlough 8.78lbs

GIBBONS James Ireland Finlough 6.18lbs

PERIAUX Corentin France Finlough 5.0lbs

A S H L E Y G L O V E R D A I R E F I T Z G E R A L D

D I D I E R B R I A N D

BEST SALMON OF 2016Weight Angler From Location Date Fly/Lure

1 20,375 Zirngibl Yvonne Germany River Waterfall 8/3/16 Norwegian Conehead

2 20 Briand Didier France Doo Weedy Bay 2/6/16 Toby

3 15 Corps Mark N.Ireland River Turn 25/6/16 Orange Shrimp

4 14,5 Schoenberger Leo Germany River Whin 14/5/16 Stoats Tail

5 13,125 Beattie Gareth N.Ireland River Turn 31/7/16 Willie Gunn

6 13 Leibundgut Urs Switzerland River Whin 4/5/16 Delphi Collie

7 12,44 Leibundgut Urs Switzerland River Horseshoe 2/5/16 Cascade

8= 12 Smyth Paul Ireland River Morrisons 16/4/16 Non-Descript

8= 12 Hoefler Heinz Germany River Whin 29/4/16 Collie Dog

8= 12 Boland Ciaran Ireland River Bridge 30/9/16 Shrimp

8= 12 Reilly Nathan Ireland River Turn 30/9/16 Shrimp

12 11,625 Boland Ciaran Ireland River Waterfall 9/2/16 Delphi Collie

13 11,5 Browne Jack Ireland Doo Cross Point 21/9/16 Willie Gunn

14 11,375 Konvalin Heribert Germany River Rock 7/4/16 Willie Gunn

15 11,19 Tax Jakob Germany River Turn 14/5/16 Flame Thrower

16 11 Engberg Lisa Sweden Fin Goffs 23/3/16 Delphi Collie

17 10,94 Smith Steve England River Grilse 21/5/16 Willie Gunn

18 10,5 Reilly Nathan Ireland River Turn 30/9/16 Shrimp

19 10,25 Sutherland Angus Ireland River Meadow 28/2/16 Sunray Shadow

20= 10,06 Leibundgut Urs Switzerland River Whin 6/5/16 Delphi Collie

20= 10,06 Boland Ciaran Ireland River Turn 20/5/16 Cascade

22= 10 O'Reilly Peter Ireland River Rock 11/4/16 Felix Dolan

22= 10 Johnson Terry Ireland River Whin 18/4/16 Allie Shrimp

22= 10 Kooi Elaine Ireland River Turn 30/9/16 Shrimp

I W O N A G R O C H O W S K A

The 100 Club(Anglers with 100+ Salmon Since 1986)

Urs Leibundgut Switzerland 425

Werner Zirngibl Germany 310

Walter Langenberger Germany 261

John Mills N.Ireland 202

Laurence Lock England 193

Alan Dunlop N.Ireland 175

Paul Wymes Ireland 137

George Westropp England 135

Sandy Walker Ireland 134

Mike Shortt N.Ireland 133

David McEvoy Ireland 132

Christopher Jarman England 128

Andy Smith Scotland 126

Mark Corps N.Ireland 126

Fred Possinger Germany 112

Franz Schaefer Germany 103

Delphi Sea Trout Rod Catches 2007-2016 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 Total 10 yr avg.

8oz>1lb 275 50 457 116 194 227 379 287 93 190 2128 212.8

1lb>2lb 123 42 123 56 215 98 174 322 211 69 1299 129.9

2lb+ 27 28 22 10 38 29 51 98 77 8 364 36.4

Total 425 120 602 182 447 354 604 707 381 267 3811 381.1

Rod days 643.5 692.5 634 623 686.5 770 793 817 814 766 7279 727.9

CPUE 0.66 0.17 0.95 0.29 0.65 0.46 0.76 0.87 0.47 0.35

Sea Trout 2016After a disappointing 2015, with only 120 landed, 2016 saw a good recovery with a total of 425 landed. Probably the most encouraging aspect was the excellent condition of all fish. They were all plump, almost tuna like, which is great to see. July was the quietest month with 75 landed, but August and September were much better with 190 and 160 respec-tively. August really picked up once the Daddy’s came out with a couple of lovely trout landed, including one by Steve Baxter off Finlough of approx. 6.5lbs and Niall Greene with one off Doolough of approx. 4lbs. The last two weeks in August and the first week in September were the most productive, until we got a huge flood on the 11th of 81.1mms. After this the Daddy’s seemed to disappear and it took quite a while for the lakes to settle again, when the trout fishing picked up, but it was still not as productive as before the big flood.The better returns this year happened to coincide with very low lice levels in Killary so hopefully we can have more of the same next year and it will give these wonderful fish a chance to flourish.

Note 1Most weights are estimated (probably optimistically) since catch & release requirement introduced in 1990

Note 2Catch & release almost certainly leads to multiple catch of same fish - no attempt made to quantify

Note 3Killary Salmon closed late 2008 and reopened late spring 2010

This year we welcomed Robert Gillespie to the Delphi team as our resident Casting Instructor.Robert is one of the worlds most qualified casting instructors and is highly skilled in all areas of fly fishing tuition. Robert is available for tuition to complete beginners or for those who want to better their casting ability, whether it be single or double handed, overhead, spey or underhand; you name it and he can do it.

Robert is available for one on one tuition or for larger groups of up to eight people.There are a number of dates in the calendar for next year (please see website for further details), in addition to which Robert is available anytime throughout the season for bespoke tuition.

The Delphi Flyfishing SchoolFeaturing Robert Gillespie.

F I N L O U G H

connemara · Ireland

P U B L I S H E D B Y D E L P H I F I S H E R Y L T D L E E N A N E , C O . G A LWAY, I R E L A N D

T +353-954-2222 F +353-954-2296 E info@delphilodge.ie W www.delphilodge.ie