Trout are on my mind, even if it's a bit early in the season

COUNTRY FILE

ALL this sunshine lately has me thinking of fishing. It is trout that are on my mind, even if it is a bit early in the season. Oh, it's not too early to find them, nor too soon to pull one or two to the boat or to the bank. But it is too early for them to be in peak condition. Another week or two should do it.

And as anyone who knows me will tell you, I do believe that if you can't eat them you might as well leave them alone, rather than to ruin their day by catching them only to let them go again. But each to his own.

There are great hatches of duckfly on Loughs Conn and Cullin. These large, non-biting midges provide trout with their first proper meal of the year. They hatch by the million, sometimes in such concentration that bushes and rocks are temporarily black due to the sheer number of insects resting there.

Mind you, it's a long time since I saw a really good hatch of any kind of fly, even though these members of the chironomid family are able to thrive in the less than perfect conditions our lakes are presently providing.

But Conn and Cullin are doing their best to keep trout and fishermen content, and judging by the few reports trickling through there aren't many coming off there without having met a fish or two.

It has long been a tradition that anglers would move their boats from lake to lake – following the fly, if you like. This is especially the case with the mayfly, the first of which will be putting in an appearance very soon. Those large and nutritious insects bring even the biggest trout to the surface in reach of the enterprising angler, and often lead to the best fishing of the entire season.

But now we have a problem, for the process of moving a boat from one water to another is likely to transport one or more of the invasive species that are working their way around the country.

There are still some lakes that have no zebra mussel present. Lough Carra is one. Yet these highly invasive shellfish are present on Lough Mask, on Conn, on Cullin, and on many more.

It might only take one careless angler to introduce them to the sensitive waters of Carra, where they could do immeasurable damage to an environment already facing many stresses.

Nobody would do such a thing deliberately. Would they? Yet immature zebra mussel, together with another nightmare invasive, the quagga mussel, can be transported even on a wet net or line, or on wet clothing.

For that reason, a voluntary code of conduct has been established. Those moving boating equipment (and this includes kayaks, canoes and other gear used in watersports) from one lake to another are asked to have all equipmenrt steam cleaned before doing so.

The chief method of transport for invasive shellfish is in water, where the larvae of these foreign creatures, which are so tiny as to be invisible to the human eye, will be free swimming. Outboard engines likely contain lake water in the cooling system, and so this should also be flushed through.

Rods and reels, nets, waders and other angling equipment should be dried thoroughly before being used on consecutive waters.

Perhaps there are some conscientious enough to follow that protocol. In reality, though, most won't. Our tourist anglers pay a high price to come here and want to make the most of every moment they have. Disinfecting, steam cleaning and drying out their boots will be the last thing on their mind.