I wrote my last blog “Oh the Summer Time is Coming” on the 18th of May and boy did it come. We actually went 21 days straight without any rainfall, which is rather unusual here in Delphi to say the least. Total rainfall for May was 108.smms(4.26”), all of which fell up to the 18th. For the most part we actually had beautiful blues skies and sunshine, hence the title. We do have good cloud cover today and 2.7mms of rain actually fell, not much good for the river but it did dampen the dust. There is more broken weather forecast for the next few days so all we can do is live in hope. The river at the moment is about -20, with the rock in the Grilse Pool showing, the first time since the 29th June 2010.
There have been ten fish landed since my last update. Seamus O’Neill had his second fish for the season here on the 20th of May, with the gauge at 15. The fish was approx. 7lbs and was taken on a Barry Farrell tying, from the Whin. Philip Stoltzfus also had one from the Whin on the 22nd of 5lbs1oz, taken on a Silver Stoat. Young Jules Goldberg, who fished like a demon was rewarded with a fish of 6lbs2ozs on a Nymph from the Whin on the 26th. There were two fish on the 29th, with young Harry Daniell landing his first ever salmon, of 6lbs1oz from the Deadman’s on a Red Francis. To make it even better Harry was accompanied by his father Tom and his grandfather Stephen. What a tremendous family memory to treasure. Kurt Roth finished off the month with a fish of 6lbs8ozs from the Whin, again on a Red Francis. That brought our total for May to 14, which is well below our 10 year average.
Once we got into June the River had dropped below 0. Despite the blue skies and beautiful sunshine, Kurt Roth persisted and was duly rewarded with a fine fish of 11lbs13ozs from Wrens Point on Finlough. Since then the river has continued to drop off slowly, but we have managed to land four more fish, all from the Whin Pool. Liam Glynn had one on the 4th of 6lbs10ozs on a Mini Sunrae. Xavier Cardon from Paris had one on the 5th on a Nymph of 6lbs. Tom Walsh had one of approx. 5.5lbs on a Green Highlander on the 7th and finally Jack Mathews got our first Grilse of the year on the 8th, a sea liced fish of 3lbs4ozs on a Hairy Mary, with water levels at approx. -15. That brings our total for the year to 67 which is down on last year, but I think its safe to say from reports around the country that we have faired a lot better than most places.
Hopefully we will get water this week, as we and I think everyone in the country needs it badly at this stage. I suppose it’s nice weather for our 4 signets on Finlough. It’s actually very rare to see Mute Swans successfully hatch signets on small lakes as the nests are often prone to flooding, which luckily for them wasn’t a problem this year. With any luck next time I post we’ll be talking about loads of fish and great water.
D. McEvoy