The weather has been quite good this week at Tildarg with sunny spells and the odd shower. The wind had abated but the temperature dropped quite a bit, but these conditions proved perfect for fishing.
John Ferguson from Carrickfergus, a regular angler to Tildarg visited on Saturday. The weather was breezy and overcast with the odd sunny spell. John was fishing all day catching trout at the average 2lb � 3lb weight when he felt a pull on his line. He dropped his anchor and almost at the same time his line suddenly shot from his reel into the water right down to the backing line. This is when he realised that he was hooked into a good-sized fish. After 25 minutes playing and fighting the fish, which was only hooked precariously on a size 12 Hares Ear, he realised that if he didn�t net it quickly it was going to escape. H e slipped the net into the water and luckily the fish swam right into it. When John eventually weighed in the rainbow it weighed a whopping 13lb 4oz! What a way to finish a days fishing! John also weighed in a 2lb rainbow and caught and released a further 10 fish on a Muddler Minnow. John took best fish, best 2 fish and best bag of the week with his 2 fish weighing 15lb 4oz.
Other catches included:- Martin Foster from Belfast with 3 fish for 10lb 4oz on a Hares Ear of which one of these fish was a nice fish of 5lb 14oz. John Lewis from Finaghy weighed in 5 for 9lb 8oz with his biggest being 3lb 0 oz. He fished a Fry Brown. Phillip McCartney caught and landed 3 for 7lb 0oz on Buzzers, Joe McKay Ballymoney weighed in 5 for a total weight of 11lb 9oz on a Grey Wulff. Tom McNeill from Armoy landed 3 trout weighing 8lb 5oz with one at 3lb 6oz and Jim Magill boated 2 weighing 4lb 2oz on a Cat's Whisker.
Anglers reporting good catches included regular angler Fred Mottram who released 6, David Cupples from Antrim who released 7 on a Muddler and brothers George and Victor Turkington who had 6 between them on Sedges and a Gold Rib Hare's Ear.
Fishing at Tildarg has improved this week with many more fish biting and being landed. The weather most days remained overcast, breezy and rainy but like last week, we did have dry, sunny spells, which brought some of the bigger rainbows to the surface. Favourite flies of the week included Daddy Long Legs, Buzzers, Green Peter, Zulu and Sleeches.
Best 2 fish limit of the week was to Fred Mottram who weighed 2 fish in for 6lb 4oz which were caught on a Sleech. Best 3 fish limit was to Joe Nicholl with 3 for 11lb 0oz caught on Green Peters. Best 5 fish limit went to Tom McNeill with 5 weighing 14lb 2oz .Tom fished an assortment of flies and lures to catch his limit. Best Catch and Release limit had to go to Victor Turkington from Belfast who fishes Tildarg most weeks. Victor caught and released 16 fish using his favourite, dry flies! Biggest fish of the week to be caught was Tom McNeill with his fish of 4lb 6oz caught on a lure.
Good catches of the week included Ian Fleming from Burnside who caught a 3lb 4oz trout on a floating Sleech, Fred Mottram also from Burnside caught a 3lb 6oz rainbow on a Sleech. Joe McKay from Ballymoney had 2 good-sized fish of 3lb 6oz and 4lb 6oz. Joe fished various lures and wet flies. Tom McNeill from Armoy had a fish of 4lb 2oz and another 2 at 3lbs each which he caught using various lures. Joe Nicholl boated a 4lb 5oz trout and also another at 3lb 14oz. Both caught on a Green Peter.
Other catches of the week included: - Jack Baird from Antrim, 3 for 6lb 2oz caught on a White Tadpole on a sinking line, Robert Houston from Belfast, 3 fish caught on dry flies, Uel McDowell from Antrim, 2 for 4lb 1oz also on a sinking White Tadpole. Paul Baird had 3 for 7lb 0oz on a floating Daddy Long Legs, James Surgeoner had 2 for 3lb 8oz also on a Daddy Long Legs. Martin Foster from Belfast had 5 weighing in at 10lb 3oz, all caught on sinking lures, Joe McKay had 3 for 9lb 12oz caught on a Green Peter. Fred McWilliams of Ballyclare caught 3 for 6lb 10oz on a Peacock bodied fly and Alfie Johnston from Lisburn had 2 for 3lb 9oz all hooked on a Coachmans.
Catch and Release again was the option for George Turkington who caught and released 5 rainbows on dry flies. John Ferguson from Carrickfergus also took catch and release to catch 5 fish on nymphs and Victor Turkington from Newtonards had 4 fish on dry flies.
So as you can see fishing at Tildarg has improved a lot from last week with more of the bigger fish getting caught and also more fish taking wet flies. Anglers are reminded that at the weekends they can enjoy complimentary filled bacon and egg soda free when they purchase a fishing permit.
This week has seen some lovely catches at Tildarg with dry flies and buzzers taking exceptionally well. Anglers who have visited have had some enjoyable fly-fishing.
The weather gradually improved from the gales and blustery showers we had last week and the fish have moved up onto the surface, feeding on the fly life present. Daddy Long Legs and buzzers have been the main attraction for them.
The weather has been more settled resulting in an increase in the fly life on the lake and we have seen more big catches being weighed in at the lodge. These included Norman Neville from Armagh who fished a dry fly to catch a nice rainbow for 3lb 2oz; Victor Turkington with a fish of 3lb 7oz caught on a dry sedge; Robert Lockhart from Helen�s Bay with a fish for 3lb 2oz; Phillip Rankin from Finaghy fished various flies to land one at 3lb 9oz, Ivan Seeds had one for 3lb 4oz and Joe McKay landed a 3lb rainbow using a Hawthorn fly on top of the water.
Best 2 fish bag of the week went to Victor Turkington who fished Dry Flies and landed 2 for 5lb 13oz. Best 3 fish bag was regular angler Joe Nicholl from Ballymoney with 3 fish for 9lb 1oz and best 5 fish bag was caught by Phillip Rankin who travelled from Finaghy to catch his limit for 13lb 6oz. Catch and Release permits were preferred by a good number of anglers, but the largest number of fish released were caught by Joe Crothers with 10 good sized rainbows around the 3lb mark.
The biggest fish of the week was caught by Joe Nicholl from Balllymoney who visits Tildarg most Sundays. He hooked and landed an excellent fish of 4lb 15oz which he caught on a dry fly.
Fishing has been improving with an increase in the average size of bigger fish being caught. As an added attraction a number of 10lb+ fish have recently been stocked to add some extra interest for the angler.
Terrible weather conditions hit Tildarg this week with many anglers having to wrap up well to come fishing. But again this proved a good challenge for them. Also this week we have heard reports that anglers have been watching �BIG FISH� cruising past them on the surface of the water and also some anglers have reported �getting broke�. This just proves that the fish are there, you just need the right fly to tempt them.
Regular angler Tom McNeill from Armoy landed three fish for 8lb 7oz which he caught on a Green Peter. Later Tom also landed the best fish of the week which was a 4lb 2oz rainbow, caught on a Green Peter. Joe McKay and Joe Nicholl visited on Sunday to both catch their limits. Joe McKay had three rainbows weighing in at 3lb 2oz, 2lb 12oz and 2lb 5oz. Joe Nicholl had 3 fish, weighing in at 1lb 14oz, 2lb 3oz and 2lb 14oz. Both anglers were using an assortment of flies to catch their limits. Other good catches recorded included David McKay with 3 fish for 6lb 6oz, Norman Nicholl with 3 for 7lb 11oz and Lee Stuart with 2 fish for 2lb 14oz.
As the weather started to improve so did the catches. On Monday Richard Phelon from Limavady hooked 3 fish for 3lb 1oz, 2lb 13oz and 1lb14oz all caught on a Gold Hares Ear. His friend Dean Leonard from Londonderry caught his limit of 2 fish for 5lb 14oz. He also returned 7 good-sized rainbows to the lake.
Comber angler Ronnie Crawford tempted 3 fish of 2lb, 2lb 4oz and 2lb 5oz. He fished a Mallard and Claret on a floating line and he also returned 9 fish. Jim Magill, a regular visitor from Randalstown visited Tildarg on Tuesday of last week to catch a 2lb 12oz rainbow on a Damsel nymph. David McCullough of Banbridge fished a Lake Olive to catch and land 2 fish for 4lb 11oz.
One of the best catches of the week included David Baird who fished a Green Spider on a floating line to land a 3lb 5 oz rainbow. His friend Norman Baird also had 3 fish for 5lb 4oz which he landed on a Daddy Long Legs.
So another week has passed and we still haven�t seen any of the �monsters� landed yet. Oh well they shall keep for another day!!
Due to the bad weather Tildarg have started lighting the fire in the dining area which provides warmth to anglers when they come in to get their lunch or maybe just to get a hot cup of tea or coffee which is provided free. The fire is lit most days especially when the weather is turns nasty. So come along and don�t be put off by the cold! Again anglers are reminded that the nights are drawing in so the fishery now closes at 8.30pm most nights. For all enquiries and information please contact 02893340604.