In late September I walked a development in the Sheelin catchment, a tributary of the Mount Nugent river, the Finaway. Brenda Montgomery, Assistant Inspector, Inland Fishery Ireland (IFI) and Thomas Lynch, secretary Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association (LSTPA), kindly invited me to walk this development with them and to show me the work which they have been doing within the catchment. The Finaway, a 1km enhancement which was completed earlier in 2024, has been developed to improve the spawning potential and support juvenile trout. Every consideration was given to extracting the maximum potential from the scheme and over the length of the development, rock and gravel had been sited extensively along the stream channel to achieve this.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between IFI and the LSTPA was signed in 2021. The MoU covered a period from 2021 to 2025, its objective, to improve the conservation and development of brown trout and its habitat in Lough Sheelin and its catchment. It was proposed to develop the Finaway under the MoU agreement and in 2022 works were carried out under EIP (funded by the Department of Agriculture).
The work included pruning back tree encroachment which was causing tunnelling in certain sections, fencing to prevent farm stock access, installation of drinking troughs and a solar plant to supply four separate drinking units.
Stream development work was carried out on the Finaway in the 1990’s under a TAM project, however, over time and exposure to flood conditions, structures have been dislodged, banks have eroded, spawning gravels have been washed out and as the productive habitat has been lost, the recruitment of wild brown trout has fallen off. This loss of good habitat led to a reduction in trout redds. The current 2024 development work, sought to address these issues with a plan to enhance the damaged habitat to improve the spawning potential and the nursery habitat for juvenile trout.
Alternating deflectors and paired deflectors have been used to improve the flow dynamic, existing vortex weirs and gravels which were washed out have been replaced and where bank erosion has been an issue, boulders have been used as revetment to protect banks. Approximately 200 tons of gravel has been introduced in areas where there was little spawning potential, and random boulders have been used to improve flow diversity and provide shelter for juvenile trout. All instream work has been protected with fencing to prevent farm stock access.
Gravel was used extensively throughout the development and Brenda explained the importance of this, as the gravels were constantly moving, carried by the flow velocity which can be quite high in winter flows. The movement of a substrate such as gravel through a stream or river, is a natural phenomenon but as there was no natural replacement, the introduction of the new gravel was a necessity for wild trout recruitment. It was something which they are going monitor closely and employ a maintenance programme to periodically top up the spawning gravels in the future.
It was pleasing to witness the inspired work which is taking place within the Sheelin catchment, vital work to improve and maintain the quality of the wild brown trout fishing which the lough is now producing. This important work which is being carried out by IFI is a tried and trusted formula for success and with the support of the LSTPA, Sheelin’s future now looks very bright. The results of there dedication can been seen in the improvement of anglers catches and the number of brown trout fishermen which now fish the lough. We wish IFI and the LSTPA every success with their future projects.
Photography by Brenda Montgomery, IFI