Part 13

The flies in use here are rather plain than gaudy, except in the spring, like all other rivers, they must be larger and more of a gaudy hue.

A claret body, claret hackle and gold rib, tail a small topping, an orange tag rather tapered to the shoulder, jay at head, mallard wings mixed with blue and yellow macaw, neck feather of the golden pheasant, a topping over all, guinea hen, teal, and blue macaw feelers each side with a kingfisher, hook CC, 9, or BB.

A fly, with a fiery brown floss silk body, black ostrich tag, hackle of the same colour as body, rib of gold, tail of topping, mallard, golden pheasant tail, neck, and red rump feathers mixed, a blue jay or small guinea hen feather at the shoulder, hook No. 9, or B in low water.

A blue body, blue jay over it, tag of orange floss, topping for tail, the hackle to be made full by another jay at the shoulder, under which roll a piece of orange pig-hair and pick it out well through the jay; the wings to be mixed ones with a topping in the centre; scarlet macaw feelers, and black head; hook No. 9 and B; rib the body with silver tinsel, and let it be the same colour as the jay.

These with Nos. 1, 3, 4, and 5, in the plates of flies for salmon will be found excellent. No. 11 is a good one; and a fly made with black silk body ribbed with silver twist, a very small topping in the tail, mixed with a sprig or two of guinea hen and Ibis, a small guinea hen hackle over the body and cut slantingly underneath the body to be longer at the shoulder, and a black or peacock head with a small blue jay round it; wings mixed with dark mallard, teal, neck feather, blue and yellow macaw, and a strip or two of wood-duck each side, and a fibre or two of peacock neck and white spotted wing feather, hook CC, B. If these flies are attended to, they will kill when many others fail; do not lose your sport and time, keep to what I say.

BALLYSHANNON.

From Ballyna the angler may proceed to the Erne, at Ballyshannon, by coach, where he will find, on his arrival, a beautiful river, and every accommodation he requires; it is a short running river, with a deep and rapid current, about three or four miles in length; at the town of Bellick it flows out of the grand expanse of Lough Erne, fifty miles in length, and in some parts twelve in width.

The salmon leap of Ballyshannon, is a broad body of water falling over a perpendicular rock twelve feet high, up which the salmon run, showing their dark backs through the foaming water, and again falling back into the pool below after many attempts to surmount it; they seldom leap clean up out of the water, but in general I have seen them rushing up through the falling current, which shows the extraordinary strength they possess. I have remarked that they always remain a day or two in the first pool they come to after their ascent, and in this they take the fly most greedily, generally at the head of the leap.

The fishermen sweep the river with nets below the leap, and the enormous quantities they take is most surprising, still there is abundance in the river; in summer in consequence of the netting, of course the salmon are not so plentiful up the river. The fish house stands on an island, which may be seen from the bridge of fourteen arches, and in the distance the sea views are grand.

There is capital fishing below the bridge, and many fine salmon throws or haunts all the way up to Belleek; this town is finely situated on the north of Lough Erne, where it begins to discharge its waters into the channel which conveys them into the bay of Donnegal.

The river at this place has a fall of twenty feet, forming a beautiful scene, enriched by foliage and steep precipices. The trout fishing here is good.

The river Erne has a long course, the source of which is "Lough Gonnagh," in the County Longford, a short way from "Lough Sheelin," and the celebrated Lakes of West Meath. It then enters "Lough Oughter," in the County Cavan, after a serpentine course of eighteen or twenty miles, although the distance between the lakes is only eight miles; after passing through this lake, it takes another winding course of the same distance, passing Belturbet, an ancient town on its banks, it then enters the upper Lough Erne, and falls into the sea at Ballyshannon. Seeing the abundance of fish which these grand lakes, and clear running streams throughout the country produce, it is not at all to be wondered at the quantities taken at Ballyshannon.

The flies in use here are very gaudy, Nos. 1, 2, and 3, in the plates, will be found capital killers, and up to No. 11 in fine days in summer when the water is low.

There is another good killer which I will here describe:--body yellow brown mohair, ribbed with silver twist, puce tag, topping for tail with a little scarlet ibis mixed, a good dyed yellow hackle rolled over the body, and a scarlet hackle round the head; the wings are four toppings with strips of summer duck, a sprig or two of pheasant tail and neck, a strip of dyed white tipped turkey tail, and a sprig of guinea hen and glede or kite tail, the tail feather of the hen Hymalean pheasant is as good as what is called in Scotland "salmon tail glede," and the topping or crest of the cock bird which is a transparent scarlet colour, and like a topping of the golden pheasant stands over all; blue kingfisher each side, and scarlet macaw feelers, black ostrich head, hook No. 9 or 8 in high water. This is a magnificent specimen of a salmon fly, and cannot be made properly at a small expense, either by the amateur himself who buys his foreign feathers, or by the fly-maker who gets his bread by it. The three flies in the plates Nos. 1, 2, and 3, will be found to do the work well. With this one, see the gaudy jointed fly in the plate, with "picker" at top.

THE RIVERS BUSH AND BANN.

From Ballyshannon the angler proceeds to the Enniskillen and Derry railway, where he takes his seat for Coleraine; on arriving at this town he need not expect much fishing, except that he may take a throw at the head of the leap, and take also a view of that stupendous fall of fresh water which there can be little doubt of its surprising him, with the grand and delightful scenes around. When he gets on the suspension bridge, over the very top of the leap, he must hold by the rails to steady himself, and consider where he really is; the noise which the great body of water in the centre fall makes, when it descends into the pool beneath, dins his very ears, this with the broad rapid running river close beneath his feet as he stands on the light iron bridge, holding by a single rail with his hand, must almost take his sight away; and if he never had the pleasure of seeing the shadow of fear before, rely upon it he feels himself in a fearful plight just then "for a short time any how."

On the County Derry side the falls are not so strong, and on these the "cuts" are erected, for no salmon could surmount the centre fall, and these "cuts" are so high from the top of the leap, that the salmon cannot get over them even in floods, except by mere chance. This productive fishery belongs to the London Fishmongers' Company, on application the stranger will be allowed on the bridge to view the falls, and at the same time he will see the traps crowded with salmon of all sizes, from the small "graul," as they call them there, to the largest size salmon; sometimes the fish can hardly swim in these "cuts" or "cruives" they are so numerous, what a treat for the eyes of the fly fisher to behold. The angler may fly fish at will, and has his choice either to go up the Bann to Kilrea, or go first to the Bush river, it is only seven miles from Coleraine to Bush Mills, so that as he is now in that town it would be advisable to try his hand at the Bush first, and then proceed to Kilrea, on the Bann, about fourteen miles up that river, by car.

When the angler arrives at Bush Mills, which he will do in an hour from Coleraine, the inn keeper will make him acquainted with the rules of the fishing. The river is now in possession of a club of gentlemen, who will with great pleasure allow the stranger to fly fish.

It will be necessary to have a guide, who will show you all the best throws for salmon; and when tired of fishing, point out the "Causeway" to you, which is two miles from the town. The best of the fishing extends about two miles--one mile below the town to the sea, and one mile above it at the salmon leap.

There are some good throws on the top of the leap, and towards the tail of the large pool beneath; another famous throw between that and the town called "Lagan Drade;" at the top of this long pool there are two large stones projecting out of the water, between which the current of the stream rushes violently, in this rapid place between the stones the fish will take the fly, and below the stones along the left side of the Bush, and on the rising ground at the foot of the pool; if you can manage to throw well over the bushes you will be very apt to hook a salmon in the mid-water. There is another good throw below the bridge; the deepest part lying along the gardens, and three or four more between that and the sea; there is a large stone lies in the middle of the river, over which the water may be seen boiling, if you can manage to throw beyond it, and draw the fly across it letting it fall a little below it, you will have a chance to hook a fish immediately. Just below this stone, a little way from the sea, at a narrow part of the river, is another capital place, fish it from the right side and do not come abruptly upon the place or the fish will see you, which will prevent them from rising, but this you can avoid, as you will see this contracted part from the stone throw; prepare a good fly before you come up, and keep as far off it as possible. It is a shelving elbow shaped rock narrowing the river, so that your fly must be gradually moved down commencing a few yards above the elbow rock, which cannot be seen as the grass grows on it to the very edge, till you look over it into the water; just as the fly rounds the point all the fish see it that are lying under the brow of the hollow rock, where you may expect a rise; this is the deepest part of the whole river, and the first resting place for the fish after leaving the sea.

In this place the depth of the water requires a bright fly; the following one will prove a killer:--Body, orange floss silk, a small topping for tail with a fibre or two of mallard, ribbed with fine gold tinsel, and a rich brown-red cock's hackle from the tail up, not too long in the fibres, the hackle to be a little black at the head when rolled on; the wing of copper brown mallard with a strip of wood-duck each side, and a topping over all; feelers of macaw, and a black ostrich head. Hook CC. Should you rise a fish with this old favorite, and it does not take, try him once or twice more with it, and no doubt you will have him. If he does not hook himself with it, change it for a light blue one, the body the blue colour of the sky, legs the same, and a mallard wing ribbed with gold.

You now come to the sea, at "Bushfoot." There is a pool here into which the tide ebbs and flows, and at times the fish are plunging over and over on the top of each other, which the fishermen net when this is the case. When the tide is out the Salmon will rise and take the fly in it freely, as the flowing of the river into it pushes out the brackish water before it, and when the tide is flowing, before it enters the pool, is the best time,--in fact, this is the best place to stay at for the sole purpose of being enabled to fish, as the river above is so low in summer, except after rains, that it is useless to try.

The Castle of old "Dunluce" is near Bushfoot, it stands on a rock close to the cliff on the mainland in the sea, and is built on the surface or top of the rock, close to its very edge all round, and the corner stones appear to have been brought from the Giant's Causeway. There is a deep chasm between the castle and the land, over which the range wall of the old bridge is yet standing; the bridge itself is completely gone. This narrow wall, about fourteen inches wide, may be easily crossed going into the castle, but on recrossing it to the land side it strikes terror into the heart. Some years ago I visited this old ruin, and crossed the wall into it quite easily and fearlessly, but on my returning, to my great surprise, I was afraid of my life to recross it. The cause was, no doubt, that the wall and yawning chasm appeared more under me on coming out than on going in, the wall being narrow and the chasm deep. At last I crept over it very slowly on my hands and knees, and it was with difficulty I reached the land. As I sat panting on the grass, looking towards the dark old pile, I vowed that the walls of "Dunluce Castle" should never again hold me. I was most likely stricken with a fairy talisman.

The "GIANT'S CAUSEWAY" is two miles from Bushfoot, where the stranger may spend a few pleasant days with a kind friend, amidst rocks and caves, glens and tremendous cliffs, causeways, chasms, and pillars of wondrous height. These rows of pillars stand up the face of the cliff, which is 360 feet high, from the base of which three broad causeways extend, of honeycomb shape, nine hundred feet into the sea. The pillars of these low causeways are generally six, seven, and many three and nine-sided, and as even as if they had been cut with a chisel; they rest one upon another in joints, the top one round to fit into the one beneath like a socket, and the pillars are so closely packed, that you can hardly get the point of a knife between them. There are other pillars in the face of the cliffs, called the Giant's Loom, the Giant's Chair, the Giant's Organ, and the Giant's Well. The natural wildness and grandeur of these and the adjoining promontories, exceed any thing that can be imagined.

THE RIVER BANN.

Portna is considered the best ford for Salmon and Trout fishing on this noble stream. At this place, which is merely an inn, kept by a Mr. Moore, for the accommodation of anglers, the river, which is a large one, falls over ledges of rock, large stones, broad fords of gravel, deep gorges in places, rushing down inclined plains, which spread into currents five and six feet deep, dimpling as it flows along, where large trout may be seen taking down the natural insects, and making the surface boil. These places might be swarming, were it not for the "cruives," with the largest salmon in Britain.

During the summer months you may take a good many salmon here, but on some days you cannot see a fish, as they are mostly stopped at the "cuts." These salmon traps are called "cuts," in Ireland, and "cruives," in Scotland. I need not explain their formation, as they are too well known to the fly fishers. Notwithstanding all this, the generous renter of the fishery at the Leap of Coleraine, gives liberty to all anglers visiting the Bann, from March to August, and the courtesy and politeness which he evinces towards gentlemen, causes him to take no notice of their fishing with the salmon fly till September. I have been informed by Mr. Moore, the inn-keeper, at Portna, that there is now a "Queen's Gap" made in the "cuts," on Sundays, to allow some of the salmon to escape. This is a great boon to the angler.

The town of Kilrea is a mile from Portna, where there is a good inn, kept by an Englishman, a Mr. Adcock. At the bridge, which is half a mile from the town, there is a famous throw for a salmon; you let off the line, while standing on the bridge, to where the fish lie, a little lower down. There are capital streams for salmon near "Moor Lodge," a delightful spot, down as far as "Bevanaher" ford. The boatmen take you through the gorges in racehorse style. The man brings the bow of the boat to the very edge of the rapid, steadies her by making you sit down with himself, and in a minute or two she shoots down the gorge in a very pleasant manner into the broad ford below; when he returns with the boat, he pulls her up the side of the stream. The Bann boatmen, I must say, are very civil fellows, and charge moderately for their labour and boats--half-a-crown a day, pot luck, and a smoke of tobacco--"an ould fly, and a gut casting line, if it's no use to your honor."