Lock Down - My First Angling Club

Well with another 3 weeks of lock down announced yesterday and I fear there's more to come its going to be a while before we get back out fishing so here's another blog.......

I have been fishing for over 50 years now and if you count my membership of Sensas Nomads Match Group as a Club then I have only been a member of 4. I have very recently written blogs about Bristol P O and Clevedon Clubs so this one is about my first one, Gilford Angling Club.

Gilford in Co. Down Northern Ireland is where I grew up. It's a small village and at that time had a population of about 2000. There was a huge Spinning Mill which employed hundreds of people from a wide area making quality linen.

A lot of my family worked in the Mill before it closed. You didn't need a watch in them days as the Mill Horn was sounded at 07:30 calling the workers for an 08:00 start, then again when it was 13:00 informing them it was lunch time, 13:30 to let them know they had 30 minutes left and then again at 17:00 as it was home time.  My mother won a holiday to Spain for good time keeping around 1970. 

On the edge of the village there was the remains of a World War 2 German Prisoner of War camp which housed about 1,800.

If memory serves me right there were 5 places of worship, 2 Primary Schools, a Post Office, Hardware Store, Garage, Bookies, Funeral Directors, 2 Chemists, Police Station, Doctors, Blacksmiths and a few small Grocery Shops plus 6 pubs. It was located more or less halfway between Banbridge and Portadown and the Upper River Bann ran through it.

I started fishing around 10 years old with my younger brother and we progressed from a bamboo pole's to 6 foot fibre glass rods with a proper reels but still quite crude. As Dad had to take us he got into the sport as well.

The village had an Angling Club which had the fishing rights to about no more than 3 miles of the Upper Bann and also owned the rights to Kernan Lough which was trout only.
The Upper Bann in those days was primarily a game fishery, wild brown trout, salmon and dollagan (which are a variety of trout only found in Lough Neagh) had runs up the river to spawn at certain times of the year. Although there were lots of pools and rapids there were deep glides as well and you could catch perch, odd bream and pike, this was before the roach explosion on the Bann.

The bridge going over the Upper Bann in the village

We joined the Club, it was free for under 15's and didn't cost Dad that much, probably a £1 in those days. Most of the members Fly Fished with great skill and you would often see men at the weekend or after work in the summer walking through the village with a ready made up Fly Rod, Landing Net and a Canvas Bag over their shoulder.

Paddy Owens was the man in them days, great angler using a 10 foot split cane rod, walked everywhere.

My brother Leslie and I with a pike

The Club held a few competitions between 1st March and 31st October as that was the fishing season on their waters. It was a pretty informal affair. The Club nominated a "Captain of the Day" who would take charge of proceedings etc. We would meet at Fox's Pub near the town bridge to register and then off you would go, anywhere you wanted on the river. Prize's were for heaviest trout, heaviest bag of trout and heaviest pike. There was also the same prizes for the juniors and Dad donated one of his old Dart Cups as an annual junior prize.

I mentioned that it was pretty informal, well it was. Dad took us home for dinner during the competition and then back out again in the afternoon!

We just had the spinning rods so ended up using mepps, a gold one with black spots seemed to work well or just ledgering some worms.

I do remember one year I caught a lovely brown trout of around 2lbs in the morning and Dad having to drag me back home for dinner, didn't want to leave the bank and must have ate my dinner in record time. I did win a prize that day which got me well and truly hooked.

Unfortunately you had to kill your catch and bring it back to Fox's Pub for weighing at the end of the day. The adults would have a beer and we would have the bottle of lemonade and bag of crisps, lovely days.

The Club also held a few competitions on Kernan Lough which was stocked with rainbow and brown trout. It was an any method lake except no live bait e.g. worms. We used spinners or bubble floats with a string of flies on droppers which were quite successful much to the annoyance of the true Fly Fisherman.

Kernan Lough was about 3 miles outside the village so one of Dad's friends who had an old mini made 2 trips to take us up there. I remember one completion when I caught 2 rainbow trout within a few casts of each other on a mepp and never had another fish all day. To my surprise it was enough to come 2nd overall but 1st in the juniors.

My brother and I swimming in Kernan Lough

Once we both learned to swim we were allowed to go fishing on our own. I fondly remember long summer days when we would go out in the morning with nothing but a jam jar full of worms and Mum wouldn't see us until we were hungry.

Our dog "Lucky' was always with us

The Club also went down to Lough Muckno in Castleblaney which is over the border in Co. Monaghan for a few pike fishing competitions. I ended up in the local Doctors once when my foot went under a tractor wheel . The tractor was blocking our way out and a few of us were trying to push it to one side, luckily no broken bones. 

I loved that Club and it brought the community together even if it was only on the bank.

Stay safe all.