In 1999 the founders of the ICCG were lucky enough to take part in the Lough Eske annual char fishing event which takes place in October/November.   The locals have been fishing for char for hundreds of years from the same places using essentially the same methods.  We enjoyed (endured) limited success, catching enough char to save face.  The local anglers gave a lesson in char fishing and caught dozens of fish. 

      Luckily they were kind enough to answer as many questions as we could think of, and allowed us to take lengths and scales from a portion of their catch.  Dr. Fran is doing as much as he can to ensure that they recieve the results of the data we collected.

     We caught the fish on size 6 - 10 hooks, using a floated maggot or two.  The floats were quite small and shot to ensure as little resistance as possible.  We used an array of rods, from 6' spinning rods and 9' leger rods to a 11' pike rod (!).  The hooks are set at a depth of around 12".

     The fish don't fight much and the locals just flick them out of the water using what appeared to be dapping rods.  They use blackened cork for a float (this shows up well against the dull lake surface) and strike at the merest touch.  This method serves them well and they catch plenty of these small pan sized fish for the table.

    In his book, Loughs of Ireland, O'Reilly states that the methods are dapping and fly fishing from the shore, with trolling and spinning from a boat where this does not interfere with other anglers, but this did not seem to be the case.

Rod caught char from Lough Eske.  The fish are small, the red-bellied male is large at 26cm. This is the norm for the lake and sizes and numbers caught have not changed in living memory.

Anglers at the Shore of Lough Eske in October.  This is an ancient custom only known in this lake.

The Famous Green Lunch Box

    
A female and a male arctic char caught in 1999 by Stephen and Paul respectively. 

Flyfishing
While fishing Lough Eske we attempted to catch a char on the fly.  Small nymphs were used with no great success (no success).  We also used some traditional wets- mostly black patterns, nothing larger than a 14.  Perhaps we would have been better off trying to match the hatch, those local maggots.  So next year a few fat Hares Ears,  some light grayling bugs and some shrimp patterns will be issued to all.   We will also tie up a few maggot flies... 
    While busily catching nothing on the fly we noticed a few dimples on the surface, very gentle rises by the char.  Some of the rises were a little more definite so the inclusion of some small dries is a must, no doubt some duck is going to missing a few arse feathers when we fish Eske again.  And the main thing we will remember to bring is a floating line...  ...oh, you mean like, not a sinking one?   Yes.

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