Tuesday 18 March 2008

Ballykeel Lougherne 18th march



Struck out yet again. I'm starting to think that it might be just too damn cold for fishing.

Ballykeel Lougherne is a great place, it's hidden away in Co Down near Hillsborough and i've been there on and off for a while. I like it more for the wildlife than the fishing, its fishing pontoons are a bitch to get to and i've yet to find the secrets of the place but every time i'm there i'm treated to something new and interesting. My first otter sighting was there and there are always beautiful grebes messing about on the water. This time we discovered a herd of deer in the adjoining field. After thinking about it for a bit, this is worrying me, that field wasn't the most secure the last time i was there as cows kept coming over and harrassing me. I don't fancy ending up on the antlers of a curious stag.

The water was flat calm today, with the occassional trout swirls far out. We stuck mainly to buzzers changing them whenever we fancied something a bit different. There did seem to be a sporadic hatch coming off, but the fish didn't seem to be taking them from the surface.

The DCAL sign has been changed from saying boats not allowed to saying hire boats may be available. this is good news as I have a feeling the fish are deep in the middle. Although at present there are no boats there, i'm hoping i might be able to get the canoe here for a visit.
*update* cheers to andrewgmurphy for the piccy, i forgot you had brought a camera with you

6 comments:

andrewgmurphy said...

Yeah this was a great days fishing mr AndyT. Once we got to the pontoon there was ample space to cast. Many parts of the banks had heavy weeds and trees behind them ready to take the flies from you. Lets hope im wrong when I say that this place is just full of well fed pike courtesy of the DCAL

thebigandyt said...

cheers for the photo, when the water level drops we'll head back and fish the far bank's pontoon. Maybe we'll try fly fishing for dem pikes.

MY-NI said...

So with two of yous now fishing together, how many fish have yous caught?

thebigandyt said...

very open question that. I have taken it to mean "how many fish have i caught ever?" The answer is, i don't know, far greater than one and far less than a thousand.

andrewgmurphy said...

its not an open question, its a rhetorical question. So I say to you Mr Mark, how many fish have you caught?

MY-NI said...

I had two fish fingers, some spuds and beans for dinner today.

So...2 fish.