Delphi Fishery Report

Catch records tumbled at Delphi in 1997 in the wake of a huge run of salmon into the river during June & July. New record catches were established for every month from June to September and new records were also set for the most salmon in a day and for the most salmon in a week. The fish were often quite small, averaging under 4lbs in weight, but the bags were unprecedentedly big and the season’s total of 765 salmon easily surpassed the previous record catch of 480, set in 1994.

Delphi has now become one of the leading salmon fly fisheries in Ireland. Over 92% of the fish were taken on fly (the balance being taken on spinners, largely by children and other beginners). It is doubtful whether many other Irish rivers, except possibly the Munster Blackwater or the Owenmore/Carramore system in North Mayo, produced as many fish to the fly in 1997 as Delphi.

The terrific catches were very largely the result of the salmon smolt release programme first initiated at Delphi in 1990. Over 600 of the salmon caught this year were tagged fish deriving from the large smolt release in 1996. The catch of wild salmon was just 119, a total which was only moderate or average compared with previous years (wild salmon catches at Delphi have ranged between 39 and 154 over the last 12 seasons, with an average of just over 100). This gives a truer picture of the underlying state of salmon stocks and accords with the average-to-poor catches experienced on many Irish and Scottish rivers in 1997. The neighbouring Erriff River, for example, recorded a catch of around 450 salmon (see p.5), compared with recent historical highs of over 850.

The almost unbelievable effectiveness of the smolt stocking programme this year is probably one of the best ever results for such programmes in Ireland. The rod catch represented over 1% of the fish released. When the scheme was originally conceived in 1990, a return to the river of just 2% and a rod catch of just 0.2% was anticipated. This year’s catch was more than five times better and, with the exception of the 1995 smolt release, the Delphi programme has consistently produced much higher returns (at least to the estuary) than expected.

Adult tagged fish resulting from the hatchery programme are indistinguishable from their wild counterparts except for their clipped adipose fin and perhaps a slightly higher

average weight (the latter is probably due to their larger smolt size). The fact that they have survived the same huge ocean migration as the wild fish means they are just as fit and sporting; in no sense can they be compared to stocked trout.

The Delphi programme is based on that of the Salmon Research Agency at Burrishoole, who pioneered salmon "ranching" in Ireland during the 1970s. The technique of only releasing fish at the smolt stage (the last juvenile stage, when the fish turn silver and get the urge to migrate to sea) means that the freshwater environment and habitat are not interfered with and the wild stocks are allowed to pass through their juvenile stages without having to compete with or be crowded out by the hatchery fish. Releasing fish at the fry or parr stage can interfere with the existing wild population and there is a growing conviction among fishery scientists that such stockings are frequently ineffective or even counter-productive.

As a further precaution against interference with wild fish, the Delphi programme ensures that the adult hatchery fish are largely removed from the catchment between the end of the fishing season and the onset of spawning, leaving the wild fish to breed in peace and removing any threat of genetic contamination.

"Ranching to the rod", as it is sometimes called, is becoming increasingly popular, despite the hefty costs involved (the Delphi hatchery programme requires an annual outlay of around £50,000). Though by no means always successful or desirable on all rivers, ranching smolts has transformed Delphi from a devastated sea trout fishery, with a small but non-viable salmon run, into a salmon fishery that can compete with Ireland’s best. The Ranga River in Iceland has undergone a similar metamorphosis and, thanks to a massive smolt release programme, is now amongst the best of the Icelandic salmon rivers.

At the peak of the Delphi grilse run in late June and early July this year, over 100 fish a week were being caught by an average of around 10 rods. And this was despite relatively dry conditions. Salmon were running in on incredibly low water in June, with a sea-liced 11-pounder, for example, taken from the river when the Rock Pool gauge recorded just 14 centimetres of water.

This phenomenon meant that the fish escaped much of the draft netting in Killary Harbour (which largely relies on low river levels to keep the fish swimming around down in the estuary). It is believed that at least 2,000 to 3,000 grilse (1-sea-winter fish) ran up into Delphi during June and July.

The estuary netsmen, however, did not have an entirely disastrous season. Informed estimates put the draft net catch at between 1,200 and 1,500 fish, and around half or two thirds of these were probably Delphi grilse. Some late springers were also taken and one tagged summer salmon weighing 23 pounds was reported to have been landed; this may have been a Delphi fish.

The net catch for 1997 contrasts with estimated landings of just 300 fish in 1996 (a catastrophic year all round in Killary Harbour) and a massive 5,500 fish in 1995 (a year of severe summer drought, without which rod catches at Delphi would probably have been even higher than this year).

Coastal drift nets outside Killary Harbour are also reported to have had a moderate-to-poor year, despite the legalisation of monofilament nets and the increase in the permitted depth of nets. The effectiveness of these new nets, however, is reflected in the record incidence of netmarked fish among the Delphi catch; over 40% of fish landed by anglers were netmarked, in many cases severely. It was interesting to note that when the netting season terminated at weekends and, finally, at the end of July, anglers started to catch some "proper" fresh grilse of 5, 6 or 7 pounds weight.

Good bags landed by individual anglers are almost too numerous to record; many people had 3, 4, 5 or 6 fish in a day; the top rods for the season are shown on p.4, as are the fish which weighed over 10lbs. A record 39 people landed their first ever salmon during the season, and these are also listed on p.4. The catches by month are shown opposite, as is the distribution by beat. The best pools and the overall weight analysis are shown on p.5.

In view of the abundance of tagged fish in the 1997 catches, anglers were asked to put back their wild fish and the majority pleasingly did so. In all, 71 of the 119 wild fish (60%) were returned alive. Many thanks to all who cooperated in this.

In 1998 anglers at Delphi are likely to be asked to do the same thing again, at least once they have already had a fish. The conservation of springers in particular is enormously important and it ill behoves us to over-exploit them when there is so much effort being invested throughout the world to rehabilitate this component of the stocks. There is some evidence to suggest that over 40% of springers may be caught by anglers, even on fly-only fisheries.

While some salmon undoubtedly do die after being played out and returned, the evidence suggests that the great majority survive the ordeal. Delphi is fully familiar with the arguments for and against catch and release and takes no firm position on the ethics. But in the case of wild fish, and springers in particular, the conservation argument must surely prevail.

The brilliant summer fishing contrasted strongly with the dismal spring catches in 1997. The larger fish which run into Delphi between January and May were few and far between this year. Favourable conditions in February and the first half of March resulted in reasonable catches during that period, but a devastating drought for much of the next 2½ months severely impaired the fishing. The drought may have fortuitously disguised the fact that the run of spring fish was well down on recent years, despite the new nationwide ban on salmon draft netting prior to May 15^th (June 1^st in the case of drift nets).

Incidentally, this moratorium on the commercial netting of spring fish, introduced last year by Minister Eamon Gilmore before he left office, is regarded at Delphi as the single most important salmon conservation measure taken in Ireland in the past 30 years. Mr Gilmore deserves considerable credit for this.

The poor spring catches in 1997 were not entirely unexpected, given the near total failure of the previous year’s grilse run, which would have derived from the same year class of smolts that migrated to sea in the exceptionally hot and dry spring of 1995. It is becoming increasingly clear that one of the biggest factors governing the quantum of subsequent rod catches is the weather at the time of smolt migration. Hot, dry Aprils and early Mays can be catastrophic and may affect the ability of salmon smolts to osmoregulate successfully on entering the sea. These difficulties may also be greatly magnified by sea lice infestations.

Certainly, nets cannot be blamed for the awful grilse catches in both the Erriff and Delphi in 1996 or the poor catch of 2-sea-winter fish at Delphi this past spring. More likely, the drought two years earlier (1995 was the second hottest year ever, with an especially arid spring) was a big factor. But that alone cannot explain why the Killary catches (net and rod) a year later were so much worse than other Irish rivers, several of which in the West had quite good salmon catches. Some other factor must also have had a major impact.

Among the few notable spring catches this year was the sea-liced 15-pounder taken by Franz Schaefer (Germany) from the Meadow Pool, one of three fish he caught in his week. Rolf Hausermann (Switzerland) also had three springers, all from Finlough, and Reinhardt Wurth (Germany) had three off the river in late February/early March.

Delphi maestro Walter Langenberger had the first fish of the season for the third time in the past four years; he plucked a 7½ pounder from the Rock Pool on February 4^thand had three more springers in the days that followed (part of his whopping total of 39 salmon for the season).

To the delirious joy of all those around him, Roger Kenny from Dublin at last got his first ever salmon, after many attempts at breaking his duck all over Ireland. And it was a fine fish with which to open his account, a sea-liced 11-pounder, appropriately from Duck Run. Several Delphi heavyweights had fished the river that morning to no avail and Duck Run had never previously yielded a salmon, all of which goes to show that novices can still wipe the eye of the old hands.

These highlights apart, there was little to cheer about and April saw the nadir of Delphi’s spring fishing, with just one fish for the entire month, taken by Jim Jackson on Doolough.

Despite the poor spring in 1997, there is great optimism about the spring runs in 1998. The terrific survival of the 1996 smolts as grilse should also be matched by good survival of the 2-sea-winter fish, if past years are anything to go by. This is especially likely in the coming year because the female component of the Delphi-origin hatchery fish (as opposed to those of Burrishoole origin) is largely missing in the 1997 grilse catches; past tag analysis has shown that these fish turn up as springers a year later.

Weather permitting, good grilse fishing is also expected again in 1998. Another large batch of smolts was successfully released from the hatchery last April in reasonable weather conditions. While it is doubtful that catches can reach the heights of 1997, we predict a total for the season of well over 400 salmon, in the absence of any serious drought during the critical period of late June.

Bookings for the height of the grilse run are likely to be unprecedently heavy and it is probable that many applicants will be disappointed. Honour demands that those who supported Delphi in 1997 should have first priority. A few Saturday day tickets may be available in June or July for those who miss out on the full weeks, but priority on these Saturdays will be given to locals and those staying in the Lodge.

Nonetheless, with good spring fishing anticipated and fair numbers of salmon and sea trout expected during August and September, there are plenty of other times of year when Delphi offers plausible, if less dramatic, fishing opportunities.

As in past years, all applications for fishing should arrive at Delphi by Christmas and rods will be allocated during early January. Please give as many alternative dates as possible if applying.

Month

February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
Total

Bundorragha
Finlough
Doolough
Glencullin L
Total

1997

9
19
1
7
364
251
45
69
765

425
312
25
3
765

1996

11
14
16
20
67
48
24
17
217

115
88
13
1
217

1995

22
37
30
20
64
50
14
37
274

168
75
31
1 0
274

1994

3
16
22
32
220
120
34
33
480

212
212
53
3
480

1993

2
13
23
30
79
62
19
30
258

107
99
51
1
258

5-yr avg

9
20
18
22
159
106
27
37
398

205
157
34
2
398

Angler
Walter Langenberger
Werner Zirngibl
Alan Dunlop
LaurenceLock
Franz Schaefer
Urs Liebundgut
Sandy Walker
John Mills
Gerard Shine
Klaus Buning
Edward Westropp
Hans Peter Thalmann
Caroline Horne
Reinhardt Mittman
Howard Pitts
Hans Schmidt-Sibeth
Brian Fisher
David Hewetson-Brown
David McEvoy
Manfred Possinger
George Westropp

Country
Germany
Germany
N Ireland
England
Germany
Switzerland
Ireland
N Ireland
England
Germany
England
Switzerland
Kenya
Germany
USA
Germany
England
England
Ireland
Germany
England

Salmon
39
37
22
21
19
18
18
14
13
11
11
10
9
9
9
9
8
8
8
8
8

26 Mar - Franz Schaefer - Germany - 14/14 - H - Meadow Pool - Sea Habit
1 Mar - Reinhardt Wurth - Germany - 12/14 - W - Rock Pool - Nondescript
9 June - Jean Howman - England - 11/02 - H - Rock Pool - Ally Shrimp
21 Feb - Roger Kenny - Ireland - 10/14 - H - Duck Run - Jock Scott
26 Jun - Reinhardt Mittman - Germany - 10/07 - H - Finlough - Waddington
27 Mar - Gregsi Zirngibl (Age 8) - Ireland - 10/05 - H - Finlough - Toby
23 Mar - Franz Schaefer - Germany - 10/04 - H - Finlough - Silver Shrimp
25 May - Joe Nash-Ireland - Ireland - 10/02 - H - Whin Pool - Ally Shrimp
30 Sep - Pat Doyle-Ireland - Ireland - 10/00 - W* - Whin Pool - Flying C

The gorgeously pretty Kylemore Abbey fishery, managed by Delphi during 1997, provided a charming alternative day out for many guests. Most people tried a day or two on the Dawros River or the Kylemore lakes and, despite modest catches, enjoyed the new experience greatly. The wood-enshrouded river proved particularly challenging and sometimes fruitful.

It is not really fair to compare the two fisheries in a year when Delphi’s ranching programme delivered so many extra salmon, but, if comparisons are confined to wild fish only, Kylemore was only just pipped by Delphi with 109 salmon caught in the catchment. Most salmon were taken in June and July, with only two fish (a springer and an early grilse) landed earlier (see the table below). Fishing effort was light throughout the season, with rarely more than 6 anglers on the entire catchment, and frequently less.

The top anglers on the fishery were all knowledgeable regulars. Local resident Dennis MacMurray had 13 salmon for the season, mostly from the Rock Pool beside his house and the best of which weighed 13¼lbs. Three men from Limerick, the youngest one of whom is in his seventies, have been fishing the Dawros River for many years and, in view of their age and experience, they were given special permission to continue using their traditional methods, namely worms and quill minnows. In three short visits they (Messrs O’Connell, Houlihan and Mullane) accounted for 24 salmon, the best of which weighed 11lbs. Other notable salmon catches were made by fishery manager Giles Fraser, who had 15 fish to 7lbs for the season; Mr R Crichton, who had a 14-pounder off the Big Lake; and Mick Burt, who had three in a day off the Big Lake in August.

Sea trout catches were generally very moderate and were widely viewed as greatly inferior to those of 1996. This was particularly disappointing since there had been great optimism about a major recovery in the wake of some super bags of trout last year. It should be noted that the nearby salmon farms did not fallow their sites in the spring of 1997 as they had done in the previous two years. The total recorded sea trout catch for the whole catchment was 186, but the real total may have been a bit higher.

A few good bags of trout were taken by Delphi guests. Mike Heckler and Peter Willmott from England had 10 fish to 2½lbs on the lower lakes. John Angus, also from England, had 13 smallish trout in two visits, mostly off the Middle Lake. Nancy Naughton’s boats from Kylemore House also reported a few good bags, notably the 20 trout to 2½lbs taken by Tom Morrison, Richard Maybin & Curtis Strange in one evening on the Middle Lake. Tom Morrison and his wife Shirley also had 4 fish between 1¾ and 3½lbs on another occasion. Local expert Roy Peirce caught 10 fish to 4lbs in two days on the Big Lake and John Irwin recorded 6 in a day weighing 10lbs.

At the time of writing, negotiations for the management of the Abbey fishery in 1998 have yet to be concluded, but it is expected that, at the very least, Delphi will still be able to place guests on the fishery for occasional days.

The State-owned Erriff, a mighty spate river just 5 miles from Delphi, saw salmon and sea trout catches improve significantly over 1996. Despite the fishery being largely closed for August due to work on the river, 452 salmon were caught between late May and September (up from less than 300 in the previous year). Sea trout catches were also well up at 491. Delphi guests had 26 sea trout off Tawnyard Lough in 13 rod days and 12 salmon off the river.

The number of sea trout caught at Delphi improved only slightly in 1997 (from 412 to 446), but the quality of the trout caught was significantly better than for many years. With 21 fish estimated to have weighed 3lbs or more, and a further 34 over 2lbs, the number of decent fish was higher than in any year since 1988.

However, it is still far too early to feel confident of an imminent full recovery in stocks. The total catch and the number of larger fish is still way off historical norms. It will take several good years of smolt output and a consistently healthy marine environment if all year classes are to rebuild back to normal strength. It is clear that finnock numbers were down this year on 1996, probably reflecting a reduced run of smolts due to the lack of spawning adults in recent years. Since many sea trout smolts are two or even three years old, depressed finnock runs are likely for the next two years in view of the especially dire year in 1995.

Among the better catches this season were four trout estimated at over 5 pounds, taken respectively by Chris Glover (Doolough) and Stanley Cook (Doolough) from England and by Pat Molloy (Glencullin), and Sandy Walker (River) from Ireland. Three of these fish looked like brown trout and may not have actually migrated to sea for a year or more. Pat Molloy’s fish was part of a fine bag that he and Mark Helmore enjoyed in an afternoon on Glencullin Lough. They had 13 trout in all, including another good 4-pounder and 4 others from 1½ to 2 pounds.

It was particularly pleasing to see Glencullin Lough performing again. Other moderate or reasonable bags of trout were taken off Doolough, Tawnyard and Glencullin during the last six weeks of the season.

A striking feature of the year was the almost total absence of any prematurely-returning, lice-infested smolts or kelts. There were a few damaged smolts in May, but the numbers were observed to be way down on earlier seasons, despite the long dry period in April and May.

During the spring Delphi reached an agreement with the State and with Killary Salmon Company Ltd (the operators of the nearby salmon farm) in relation to injunction proceedings that had been brought by Delphi to prevent the farm from exceeding its licensed harvest limit of 450 tonnes per year.

This agreement relating to Killary Salmon does not affect the main lawsuit being brought against the Government and various salmon farming companies by the owners of major sea trout fisheries in the West of Ireland, except insofar as Delphi has agreed to adjourn that component of the main action relating to Killary Salmon.

Under the agreement, Killary Salmon, without accepting that it has ever had any impact on Delphi’s sea trout, committed itself to maintaining lice levels on its farms at or below specified levels acceptable to Delphi. For its part, the State committed itself to monitoring the farm throughout the year in accordance with a specific schedule and Delphi may send an observer to these inspections should the Fisheries Board be unable to send one.

Under the terms of the agreement, Delphi and Killary are precluded from making further public statements about each other or about the issues in the case.

Notes: 1986 was widely regarded as a poor year by the standards of the time! 1997 weights are estimated due to the catch & release law now in force. The total is probably overstated by 10% (duplicate catches) and 15% of the smaller finnock are probably undersize based on past experience of Delphi anglers’ powers of estimation.

Many thanks to all those who have supported and who are continuing to support the fundraising campaign for the major lawsuit being brought against the Irish Government and various salmon farming companies. Although the specific component of the action which involves Delphi has been adjourned (see p.6), the main action is still being vigorously pursued by the owners of Ballynahinch, Newport, Invermore and Gowla fisheries.

The fund is now in a healthy state and contributors will be contacted personally with a financial update. More help is still needed, however, and contributions, no matter how small the amount, may be sent to The Sea Trout Fighting Fund, c/o Michael Cosgrave & Partners, Breaffy Road, Castlebar, Co Mayo, Ireland.

Special thanks are due to three men from Co Tyrone who, though unable to make the full £2,000 pledge, found a new way of enabling the Fund to raise cash - by painting super pictures and by tying top class flies, all of which have now been sold, raising over £1,000.

For anyone in any doubt about how fast salmon smolts swim out to sea, a recent paper by Dick Shelton and others will make fascinating reading. During early June of 1996 Dick’s team from Pitlochry and Aberdeen went trawling for young salmon in the channel between the Faroes and the Shetland Isles. They caught an amazing 167 post-smolts, 9 of which were tagged. Remarkably, all 9 were Irish and two were from good old Delphi (the others being from the Shannon and Burrishoole).

The Delphi fish were released on April 18^th and netted on June 8^th. In those 51 days they had covered an astonishing 713 kilometres - an average of 14km a day!

Dick apparently repeated the trawling exercise this year and again caught Delphi fish. The detailed results will be published in due course. Among the conclusions he draws are that smolts form into schools in the open sea and that hatchery-reared fish have ocean migrations similar to wild fish.

Anybody who is interested in the biology and behaviour of salmon should keep an eye open for the published proceedings of a symposium organised in Galway by the Atlantic Salmon Trust and others in September. Fascinating papers were presented on a whole range of freshwater and marine topics, including Dick Shelton’s paper and others on marine survival, interactions between wild and reared fish, predators, run timing, and catch & release. The papers are due to be published soon by the Trust, whose address is Moulin, Pitlochry, Perthshire PH16 5JQ, Scotland. (Note that the Trust is entirely funded by donations, so they would doubtless appreciate a contribution in return).

The salmon tagging and quota scheme, recommended by Ireland’s Salmon Management Task Force last year, has yet to see the light of day and fears are growing that the plan may have been abandoned by the new Minister, Michael Woods. This would be a disaster.

Readers will recall that the quota system was the cornerstone of the Task Force’s recommendations, which included as a quid pro quo the relaxation of the ban on monofilament drift nets. We may now end up with monofilament but no quotas - the worst of both worlds. If you are fired up about this, as we are, write to Michael Woods TD, Minister for the Marine & Natural Resources, Leeson Lane, Dublin 2.

Save Our Seatrout (SOS), c/o Professor Graham Shaw, Windgate Paddocks, Windgate, Bray, Co Wicklow. SOS publishes a regular newsletter for subscribers.

The Sea Trout Group, c/o Paul Knight, 10 Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh EH3 7TN, Scotland. A new group set up by the Salmon & Trout Association and the Scottish Anglers National Association .

We are again hoping to get Christopher Burr, a highly regarded Master of Wine and managing director of Mentzendorffs in London, to come over to Delphi for a top-quality wine tasting weekend in April. Dates have yet to be finalised, but any body interested should register the fact before Christmas, if possible.

Neil Holland, the water colourist whose fine work may be seen throughout Delphi Lodge, is planning to stay at Delphi for a fortnight during May. He will be giving informal demonstrations throughout the period for anyone who would like to dip in and out. He will also run a weekend of proper tuition for those who are seriously interested (all necessary equipment will be provided). Neil is a brilliant communicator and totally unpompous about his painting. If either of these options appeal, please contact us, without commitment.

Beth Hallinan, Delphi’s wonderful cook during 1997, is planning to run cooking classes at Delphi and in London during the early months of 1998. Like Neil Holland, she is an excellent teacher and great fun. Beth has been a cookery writer for the Irish Independent and has written several good cookery books. She has an amazing repertoire of delicious but healthy dishes. Again, if this appeals, please register your preliminary interest as soon as possible.

As in previous years, we will be organising a series of flyfishing tuition weekends with Peter O’Reilly. Limited to a maximum of 8 people, the weekends run from a Thursday night to Sunday afternoon. The courses are ideal for absolute beginners and those with a little experience who wish to get better; Peter manages to give a high degree of personal attention to each participant and has limitless patience and tact.

It is intended to run courses in February, March, April, May and September. Specific dates will be fixed shortly. Please register your interest if you would like to be kept informed.

PRICING NOTES: All tutored special interest weekends at Delphi are inclusive of three nights’ accommodation, breakfast, lunch and dinner (including wines) and all tuition fees. The basic cost is £350 per person sharing, with a single supplement of £45 where applicable.

Stuck for ideas? Perhaps some of the following Delphi goodies might capture the mood:

Superb reproductions of eight watercolour paintings of Delphi. Limited editions of 250, signed by the artist, mounted and framed (using unbreakable glass). All 8 scenes come in a standard overall size of 16" by 13". Two prints ("Delphi Lodge & Finlough" and "Doolough from the North") also come in a larger size (27" x 13").

A less costly alternative are Freddie’s four prints of Delphi scenes, which are also signed, limited editions. These measure 23" x 17" and feature Delphi Lodge, the Turn Pool, the Rock Pool and Doolough. Unframed.

Really superb frames of flies tied by this top class craftsman from Enniskillen, who has exhibited his tying skills all over the world. We have limited stocks of these left; they were tied especially for Delphi, and all are framed in yew or walnut.

This brilliant little book, though not cheap, paid its way for many an angler during 1997 by helping to identify the hottest fishing spots. Spiral-bound and A5 size for your Barbour pocket, this comes in a variety of finishes:

Or what about a signed Peter O’Reilly book - "Flies of Ireland" and "Rivers of Ireland" (3rd edition) at £20ea plus £2 p&p.

IMPORTANT NOTES: All the above prices are in Irish pounds (at current rates of exchange, sterling prices are around 8% cheaper). Postage and packing costs are for the UK & Ireland only. Please ask for a quote in respect of other countries. Payment may be made by credit card over the phone (Amex, Visa or Mastercard).

Delphi Fishery Report - 1997