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Rossinver Fishery is situated in County leitrim, where it meets County Fermanagh, its within easy driving distance from Bundoran and Ballyshannon in Donegal. It is hailed as on of the finest Salmon loughs in Ireland and is home the Rare Gillaroo Trout and the Sonaghan Trout which is unique to the lough.

THE ROSSINVER FISHERY

takes up the South Eastern part of Lough Melvin, into which about 90% of salmon entering the lough eventually congregate,

having run op the Drowes.

There is an early run of fish (7 — 9 lbs) which mostly travel via the Northern shore and are fished for by trolling in the months of February arid March.

Salmon running from early April seem mostly to travel directly up the lough or via the Southern shore; this late spring run, perhaps a bit smaller in

average size than the earlier, can be expected to tail off in late May, by which time the grilse will he starting to show.

The best time for fly fishing for salmon is between the later part of April until late June. Favourite flies include Shrimp fly, in all its various styles, Silver Doctor,

Thunder and Lightning and Jock Scott; in the warmer weather, when smaller sizes would be used, a yellow fly such as the Yellow Torrish, is worth trying —

and many salmon ace caught on trout flies.

Trout fishing comes into its own from early June in the Rossiuver Fishery, and is mainly practised for the Sonaghan, a species of trout peculiar (in Ireland) to Melvin.

Sonaghan seldom exceed 1½1b., averaging between 3/4lb and 1lb. They are a marvellous fighting fish— and a pleasure to eat. They are normally to be found in the

deeper water and fished for using normal wet fly methods’ or dapping (with Daddy.long legs). The occasional Gillaroo can he found on rocky shores and large Brown Trout,

up to and beyond 15lb. have been caught (not often!) on the troll and indeed the fly. Favourite trout flies include the Gosling, Claret Bumble, Invicta, Black Fennel,

French Partridge Mayfly and the Green Peter (which is good for salmon as well).

You can Book a boat by phone soon you will be able to book a boat via an online form

If you were trying to explain what makes the perfect bay for salmon, you would probably

come up with something like the following: An inflowing spawning stream or river; relatively

shallow water around five to six feet with the odd deeper pocket ;a sandy or rocky bottom; and , for

T catch a Salmon or Grilse in a lough on the fly is arguably on of the greatest thrills an angler can have. The fish has the whole lough to use in its bid for freedom and , if you are foolish enough to let the boat drift into deep waterand the salmon sounds , you can get a very sore arm!

This I know from experience on the lacasdale loughe in Harris where a young ghillie named “Murdo the outboard” and a much younger man than me allowed an 8lb salmon to play us for over an hour in deep water.

Eventually the boat drifted into a shallow bay where the fish made a few exciting run s and then succumbed to the net.

Often,the most difficult thing in salmon fishing is to be in the right place at the right time and at this time of the year, regardless of the water height, Rossinver Bay for the next two weeks or so will have a great head of Grilse.

There is already a good run of fish into the bay and with all the heavy rain, they have been able to make rapid progress through the six miles of the Drowse River.

A quick swim up the six miles of lough Melvin and then rounding the Rooskey shore the fish are in Rossinver, which means the “head of the estuary”

Having established that you are in the right place and at the right time of year, you next have to get a fly over a taking fish.

Fly selection for salmon in loughs is not as scientific as that for trout fishing, in that you are not trying to match the hatch, but it is often trout flies that take the salmon.

Most dedicated lough salmon fishers will use a two or three fly cast with probably a small shrimp on the point, possibly a Golden Olive or a Claret Dabbler in the middle and very often a Green Peter in the top dropper.

Bibio, Black Pennel, Gosling, Claret Bumble, Invicta and the French Partridge mayfly are among other successful patterns, but the key to all is to cover a taking fish.

When and why a salmon will take a fly will probably remain both a mystery and a conversational topic for as long as anglers fish.

However there are some conditions and patterns of fish behaviour that give the angler greater expectations that the fishwill take. As Rossinver is at the South east end of the lough, the favoured wind is a north westerly which will take you down the reed bed on thewestern side or along the rockier eastern shore.

If a fish shows, especially with a head and tail rise, and you can cover it almost immedietly then hopefully it will take your fly and the excitement can begin.

There is a problem at Rossinver Fishery that manager Ruth Mettler has pointed out, in that the Sonaghan (Black finned) fishing can be very good and tempt the angler away from the salmon lies.

Anyone who has fished for salmon in loughs knows that it can be both a dour and frustrating business but this is one area of fishing that usually demands a bit of dedication,

To be fair, Rossinver is rarely dour at this time of year, and you can be tormented by leaping bars of silver ignoring your best efforts, but the next few weeks there will give a mighty good chance of sport to the persistant fisher.

There are seven boats for hire ………………………. This has to be some of the best value salmon fishing on the island. As already mentioned there are the Sonaghan to go for if the Salmon are just too obstinate and always the chancew of a Gillaroo (red fellow) along the rockier shores of this still pristine lovely lough.