Fishing at Straid remained good with many anglers catching their limits. The weather included showers, some heavy and overcast and it was generally breezy and cooler. Lures are becoming more important. Experience has shown that it is always worth trying a Stickleback imitation as the trout feed heavily on the shoals of Sticklebacks in the late autumn.
Catches of the week includes Ken Craig who caught 3 fish weighing 9lb 9oz of which his biggest was 6lb 6oz. He fished an Ace of Spades. Arthur Henderson had a lovely Rainbow which weighed 4lb 0oz, Tony Burke, 3 for 6lb 8oz, K Magee 5 for 9lb 13oz, Trevor Nesbitt, 4 for 10lb 14oz and Neil Taylor, 5 for 9lb 1oz. Michael Gargin weighed in 5 for 11lb 2oz caught on a Mini Cat's Whisker, Cieran Kearney had 3 for 5lb 12oz, J McFadden, 4 for 7lb 4oz and B Oliver weighed in 3 for 5 lb 5oz.
Anglers who took catch and release were not disappointed. Ian Gawley returned 14 on a Bibio, Ernie Cullen returned 15 on a Black and Silver, George Baine returned 12 and Gary Crossett returned 15 on a Buzzer. Ernie Cullen didn�t have enough the first time and came back again and released a further 12 on a Bibio.
Catch and Release permits are good value to any angler who doesn�t like to eat trout or simply don�t want to take any home. At �10 it is popular with many anglers, especially beginners, who want to have some fun. If you prefer to take the fish home prices start at �11 for 2 fish and are available up to a 20 fish permit. Straid also offers 'Keep all you Catch' permits and one for children under 12 years old.
The Bait Pond also attracts many children and it is well stocked giving them a great opportunity to catch their first fish. A �6 ticket for children is available at Straid that allows them to take 2 fish home with them. Samuel Butler fished with the children�s permit to catch 2 fish weighing 2lb 6oz and Paul McGrogan also fished on this permit to catch 2 for 2lb 13oz.
The mild breezy weather made ideal fishing conditions at Straid this week as we can see from the amount of fish that were caught. Let�s hope the weather remains good for the next couple of weeks. Flies that have been catching fish this week include - Cats Whisker, Assorted Lures and Dry Flies.
Best 2 fish bag limit went to Gary Crosset with his 2 fish weighing 5lb 4oz, Best 3 fish bag limit was Drew Montgomery with 3 for 5lb 10oz and best hourly ticket was Joe Harper from Dromara who fished on a 4 hour keep all you catch ticket. He weighed in 17 fish for over 30 lb. Catch release was the ticket option for Campbell Baird from Carrickfergus who visited Straid to catch and release 23 fish, all on Cats Whiskers. Well Done! Best under 12 years old ticket went to Paul McFerran who caught 2 fish for 3lb 6oz.
The bait pond has proved popular to this week as K McCleave caught 2 fish weighing in for 3lb, K Boreland had 2 for 3lb 7oz and Terry Murphy had 2 for 3lb. Many other anglers who fished the bait pond all caught their limits and had a good days sport.
Fishing at Straid remained excellent this week with a lot of big fish being caught. The weather has been quite good with the odd shower of rain but the conditions have been good for fishing. Various lures, sleeches, olives and buzzers have all worked well on the lake.
Jason Weir travelled all the way from Newcastle to Straid to strike into a �whopper� rainbow. The fish weighed in at an astounding 14lb 14oz. The amazing thing about this was Jason was fishing a Mini Cats Whisker on a 4lb leader! He had a fight on his hands but eventually, after a long struggle, landed the Rainbow. This is one of the biggest fish to be caught at Straid for a long time. Well done Jason, the long journey was worth it.
Other good catches of the week fell to Albert Burton who fished an Orange lure to hook into another big fish of 8lb 2oz. Brian Cromie landed a 6lb 10oz rainbow on a Hares Ear and Jim McGrand had a good fish of 7lb 4oz.Gary Moffitt from Lurgan fished a Pink Sleech to boat a nice fish of 4lb and Jamie Stockman had 1 fish for 3lb.
Best 2 fish bag of the week went to Jim McGrand. He had 2 for 9lb 4oz. Best 3 fish went to Walter Sweetlove, who weighed in 3 fish for 6lb 12oz. The best 5 fish bag fell to Joe Harper with his bag weighing in at 10lb 15oz.
Catch and Release was chosen by Mark Williams who caught and released 16 fish. This was the biggest total of fish caught this week on that permit.
Other catches of the week includes:- Henry McCoy , 2 fish for 5lb on an Olive buzzer, Robert Wads, 3 fish for 6lb 12oz on an Ace of Spades, Charlie McCartney had 3 for 5lb 15oz on a Green Olive and Chris Slane had 5 fish weighing in at 10lb 1oz.
The bait pond has also been fishing well this week with most anglers catching their limits of fish, so if you don�t fancy fly fishing you can always try your luck at the bait pond. Worms for the bait pond are available at Straid and we also stock a good selection of flies.
Overcast and windy conditions prevailed over Straid this week. Fishing was tough some days with strong winds making casting difficult, but good bags have been taken all week by many anglers. Daddy Long Legs are abundant and the fish are making the most of the bounty.
The Silver Butchers Angling Club visited Straid once again on Saturday and were delighted at the standard of fishing. Between 16 anglers, an impressive 163 fish were landed, 75 trout being weighed in for 155lb. Everyone involved were more than pleased with the numbers, size and quality of fish taken. Competition winner was Mr George Walker who landed 18 fish and weighing in a bag of 5 trout for just under 12lb. Well done George, and thanks to the Silver Butchers!
Friday yielded plenty of trout also. John Gilmore from Aghadowey had 32 fish on buzzers and Daddy Long Legs with Mark Williams, Dunmurray and Billy Tollerson, Glenwherry, landing another 30 rainbows between them on wet flies.
The weekend held some difficult fishing, but still produced 10 fish for Neill Ritchie from Belfast, all on lures and sinking line. G Wright from Lurgan had 15 fish weighing in 2 fish for a brilliant 11lb. These included the heaviest fish of the week, a lovely 7lb 1oz rainbow landed after a long battle on a Daddy Long Legs.
The weather picked up again after the weekend with the drier conditions and warmer evenings. There was a good rise at sunset and Straid regular R Clements from Banbridge used his past experiences to land 17 fish on the Sedge, including 2 fish weighing 6lb 0oz. Robert Young and Paul Donelly from Antrim landed 25 fish on a selection of lures, whilst regulars Brian Hartop and Michael Harkin from Limavady managed to tempt 27 trout on Daddys. Proof that Summer fishing isn�t over yet!
The bait pond produced good fishing this week with most anglers taking their full bag of fish. Worms are available in the lodge at Straid and beginners are most welcome to have a go. Tight lines to everyone for the incoming week.