There is a very big lice issue in Lough Sheelin going on at the moment . As far as I can tell it has all come about due to the fact that there has been a great load of stock fish dumped into the Lough this year .
I know that you will get some lice on fish but this looks bad to IMO . I fish the Lough everyday and there were no lice on the wild fish then after these filthy stockies went in I started to see more and more on the wild fish day by day . These stock fish were/are covered in lice and sores where they have been eaten alive and it seems it has spread to ALL fish in the Lough now .
I have had two 3.5 lb wild fish and some 2-2.5 lb in the last week and they ALL have sores and ulcers on them from the lice and look poor . Also today I saw a little 1"perch belly up but still alive , I fished it out to find it had lice on it and all in its gills !!
Why "They" fell the need to stock a wild Lough that is full of fish I really just cant get my head around . So who ever is incharge of overseeing this stocking should be ashamed of themselves to have allowed this stocking with these bad fish to have gone ahead !!
To make matters worse there is yet more going in tonight as there is a "kids day" and a match on over the weekend .
I don't know if lice die off in the winter ?? I dont know how many fish this will kill in the long run ??
Sorry if this is not posted in the right place as I was not sure where to put it .
I would welcome your views on this and what long term effects this may have on the fish and the Lough .

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Cheers Danny

Co-Founder of S.S.F.D 2010

Terrible news. Lice can be a very hard problem to fix.

I fished Sheelin last in April and my mates had a couple of stocked fish. They were a disgrace, with no fins or tails.

Imagine if you had travelled from the Mainland and hired a guillie to take you out on famous Lough Sheelin after a wild trout of a lifetime and you caught a philidamite stockie. You wouldnt be too impressed.

Why dont they do what they do on Lough Erne. Put in hatchery fish that will eventually grow on and become more like the real thing rather than put in fish with no tail and fins, that carry lice and other nasty deseases.

Im amazed some of them can swin.

But it's probably all to do with money. Spread the word around that its fishing, but they dont tell you that most of the fish getting caught are stockies.

I really hope this doesnt have a damaging effect on the Sheelin Wild Fish.

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YOU DONT NEED EYES TO SEE YOU NEED VISION

I am sure someone will be able to tell you about the lice on the forum,in the meantime hope your problem gets sorted,should be up to the fools who stocked it

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Silversedge
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"MON THE HILL CLIMBERS!!"

I have a particularly soft spot for Sheelin and I'm saddened to hear this. The lough has had its problems and I was not totally against stocking but I had in my mind that they would be using native fish and planting fry out in the feeder streams or at least using native adult fish. To stock none native fish of any description is poor policy but to stock bad quality fish or lice infested fish in a lough of Sheelin's reputation is a total disgrace.

One of the great things about the Irish loughs is that it was possible to look at a fish and say Corrib, Mask, Sheelin or whatever and if those wonderfully unique strains of brown trout are now diluted what a shame it would be. One hopes that the stock fish are not good breeders and that if stocking was stopped the native Sheelin fish would re-establish themselves for they are amongst the most beautiful trout that swim. Stuart McTeare had a fish of about 7lbs in a glass case in his lodge in Finea that was possibly the most beautiful trout in colour and proportion that I have ever seen. It was dwarfed by another of 11lb 12oz but it wasn't quite as pristine.

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Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

For those that dont know this is what they SHOULD look like ...


If you look close up at second pic you will see sore on dorsal fin , what you cant see is that fish was sore all along its back to the tail.
The Lough is stuffed full of these ....

So why put $hit like these in ?????


The stock fish in that pic are actually two of the better ones .

The other day when fishing with a mate after landing a trout there were over 20 lice left behind in the boat from that one fish alone !!

I will get some close up pics in the next day or two of a fish covered in the lice and some of the sores on the wild fish . I had a little half pound fella thismorning with a sore patch right on top of its head .

__________________
Your fish ----> ><((((º> My fish ----> ><(((((((((º>
__________________

Cheers Danny

Co-Founder of S.S.F.D 2010

Lindores loch was shut down because of it

I forgot to take a pic of the fish , but here is what fell off one tonight .

33 I make it , and there are more out of shot that had started to try and crawl away !!

Pictures of sores on fish to follow soon.....

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Your fish ----> ><((((º> My fish ----> ><(((((((((º>
__________________

Cheers Danny

Co-Founder of S.S.F.D 2010

dear Danny

I did have a lot of experience with the lice problem in the UK, I am sorry to say it, but the news is not good. It is imposible to control the problem legally and even with now-banned substances the effect is only temporary.

The only good news is that the problem will lessen as the weather gets cooler, the lice hatch only when the water is warm enough for them, numbers will decrease during the winter as the lice complete there life cycle. The eggs can lay dormant for years, then when the water temperature reaches the right leave, the cycle will start again.


jason

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Jason , I had a feeling that was the case Thanks for reply .

I am surprised more people dont have anything to say about this as I know there are a good few Sheelin fisherman that use these boards

Do you not care that your Lough could be in big trouble ???

PS: thanks to the other guys also for taking the time to reply

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Your fish ----> ><((((º> My fish ----> ><(((((((((º>
__________________

Cheers Danny

Co-Founder of S.S.F.D 2010

I tought that the government has stopped all re stocking in Ireland and has told all hatcheries to stop selling...well thats what we were told down here in munster when we tried to get fingerlings for our river........no harm to check it out..