1/5/20

Bill 2018

1/5/20 All quiet on all fronts, Wind North and cold with reasonable cloud cover at times. Yesterday’s weather, maximum air temperature 12 ,0 centigrade.  Now we head for memories past on Waterville Lake, by David Burton. Hi Vincent, your blog is rapidly turning into Judicial memories of Lough Currane! I promise that this is the last (probably) but I am sure that your subscribers might like this story. Two years ago, I came over to Waterville with Bill Shackleton, a friend but a novice fly angler, once again to fish with Tom O'Shea. I have the good fortune to be able to fish some very good beats on the North Tyne which, as you will know, is the most productive Salmon river in England (thanks to the fact that it has a hatchery, but that debate is for another day!). I had persuaded Tom to come over for a week later on in the season so that he could have a go at some serious salmon fishing. Very generously Tom offered to treat Bill and I to a morning on that world-famous fishery, the Butlers Pool, as a thank you for his forthcoming trip. The morning was booked, the conditions were perfect and having tackled up Tom went with Bill to the bottom pool whilst I started further up. Within minutes of starting I could see that Bill was into a rod bender which gave him a real fight before he managed to land a lovely fresh salmon. It being Bill's first Irish salmon Tom agreed that it could be taken, and it graced our dining table that evening. Within half an hour I was into a lovely fresh fish which was landed and released. By the end of the morning, as lunch loomed, Tom and I were walking towards the bottom pool, chatting, when we both saw a fish move in the pool. Tom told me to have a cast at it, I told him that as he was the professional, he could show me how to do it and handed him my rod. He took no persuading and within 4 casts he was into a really strong fish that we also managed to land and then release. Three fish in a morning, Bills first in Ireland, and a fish each. I think the appropriate word is serendipity. What a perfect mornings fishing!! We then continued to have a great weeks fishing on Currane. When Tom came over two weeks later within half an hour of starting to fish, he caught a salmon and ended the week with six good fish with at least two others hooked but lost. Regards, David Burton