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Hand the fish back to the lough, in as good a condition as she yielded them to you.

Best-practice catch and release is one of the biggest reasons Lough Sheelin has recovered. We ask that all competition organisers, using Lough Sheelin, give careful thought to “measurement over mortality” when structuring competition rules. In nature, everything is fragile and not to be taken for granted. 

Why It Matters

A wild fishery that came back.

After coming through some very dark times, Lough Sheelin is now once again one of the top brown trout fisheries in the world.

That recovery is the result of three things working together: the work of Inland Fisheries Ireland, the work of the Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association, and the steady growth of anglers practising a catch and release policy – not just on Sheelin but on every wild fishery they fish.

Every fish returned to the water in good shape is a fish that can spawn, grow on, and be caught again. The numbers on Sheelin work because most of those 100,000-plus trout are released, not killed. The practice below is how anglers keep them alive.

The Practice

Six habits that keep trout alive.A year on the lough.

Every fish returned in good shape is a fish that can spawn, grow on, and be caught again. These six habits are how anglers on Sheelin make sure released trout survive.

01

Keep the fight short

Avoid excessive fish fighting times. A trout played to exhaustion is far less likely to recover, even if it swims away looking healthy.

02

Keep handling time short

The longer a fish is out of the water, the lower its survival chances. Have your hook-out ready, your photo plan ready, and your release ready before you bring the fish to the boat.

03

Wet your hands before touching the fish

Dry hands and dry surfaces strip the protective slime layer from the trout's skin, leaving it vulnerable to fungal infections after release.

04

Use a soft, fish-friendly net

Use a rubber-coated net or a lightweight mesh. Hard plastic-style nets are abrasive and damage scales and slime - a fish thrashing in one of them can do itself serious harm in seconds.

05

Mind the throat and gills

Avoid damage to the throat ligaments and gills through poor handling. Never lift a trout by the gill plate, never put fingers in the gills, and support the body from underneath when handling.

06

Release facing into the current or the breeze

Hold the fish gently in the water, head into any movement, until it kicks away on its own. Don't push it back and forth - that forces water the wrong way through the gills.

Sep 30th

to Oct 12th

Voluntary return at the back end of the season

The Board's policy is to ask anglers to voluntarily return all brown trout caught between 30 September and 12 October. Full detail and the rest of the bye-laws sit on the regulations page.
See regulations
More to Explore

Other parts of the fishery.

More on the lake, the rules and how to support the work.
The Lough
Angling Regulations
Fund Raising
Lough Sheelin Anglers Trout Protection Association