#Angling - Suggestions that Lough Sheelin may be kept open to all angling over the winter months have been criticised by the local trout protection association.
As Cavan's Anglo-Celt reports, Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) had proposed the idea of keeping the lake open beyond the end of the trout angling season, which closed last Monday 12 October, during discussions with clubs in recent months over new bye-laws for the Shannon Basin.
But Michael Callaghan of the Lough Sheelin Trout Protection Association says his group "would be totally opposed to it because we feel it would impinge on our trout stocks. While people might be targeting pike, they will catch trout."
Commenting at last weekend's season-closing trout event that attracted more than 240 anglers to the lake, Callaghan said proposed new bag and size limits were changes "we can live with" but winter angling has been proscribed in the area for more than 60 years.
"From our perspective, we don’t want to see any change in that," he added. "It would have an enormous negative impact on the wild trout population.”
The Anglo-Celt has more on the story HERE.
