Lough Melvin

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Lough Melvin is a freshwater lake in northwestern Ireland, straddling the border of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It has shores in both County Fermanagh and County Leitrim.

Lough Melvin is one of Ireland's famous loughs offering the chance of Spring salmon from February to May, Grilse from May to July, Gillaroo & Sonaghen throughout the season. Ferox trout are often caught by the salmon angler when trolling but may also be caught on the fly & the best chance of this is often in September. Trolling is especially popular for the early fish but fly fishing is the preferred method for the sonaghen and gillaroo. A ghillie or boatman is strongly recommended and are available from £60/day.

Lough Melvin is home to the Gillaroo or Salmo stomachicus - a species of trout which eats primarily snails. Gillaroo is derived from Gailge for Red Fellow (Gaeilge: Giolla Rua). This is due to the fishes distinctive colouring. It has a bright buttery golden colour in its flanks with bight crimson and vermilion spots. The gillaroo is characterised by deep red spots and a "gizzard" which is used to aid the digestion of hard food items such as water snails. Experiments carried out by Queens University Belfast established that the L. Melvin gillaroo cannot be found anywhere else in the world. They feed almost exclusively on bottom-living animals (snails, sedge fly larva and freshwater shrimp) with the exception of late summer.

It is at this time that they come to surface to feed and may be caught on the dry fly. Other lakes reputed to contain the gillaroo are L. Neagh, L. Conn, L. Mask and L. Corrib. However the unique gene found in the L. Melvin trout has not been found in some 200 trout populations in Ireland and Britain.

The sonaghen trout (Salmo nigripinnis) is another species unique to Lough Melvin. It can have a light brown or silvery hue with large, distinctive black spots. There are sometimes small, inconspicuous red spots located along its posterior region. Its fins are dark brown or black with elongated pectorals. Sonaghen are found in deep water, where they feed on mid-water plankton-like organisms.

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Another story tells of an old monk who was fishing late one night at the boat quay in the Rusheen - this is apparently the origins of the Gillaroo myth. The old monk had fasted for a long period and had nestled on Lough Melvin's rocky shores to seek solice and find himself. Upon completing his period of abstenence he combed the surrounding landscape to quench his appetite. Having acquired a bounty of wild mushrooms from the grassy slopes of the Rusheen he proceeded to seek an adequate compliment to his fungal feast. Lough Melvin provided the perfect source for having spent many days gazing upon its vast expanse he had watched in awe at the abundance of wild salmon and various trout like fish that frollicked in pursuit of unsuspecting insect life. After an evenings fishing the only luck he had was an eel which was hardly was worth roasting and a duck egg that he had managed to retreive from a nest in a nearby reedbed. Becoming ever increasinly desperate and starving the Monk decided to make a cross in the sand and layed his catch within - this is why an eel will not leave a cross of sand if caught in the Lough! It was now that the Monk turned to his spiritual advisor asking him to reward him for his faithful fast - upon opening his eyes he saw that his eel and egg had turned into two of the most beautiful golden bellied trout, a fish so splendid that he simply could not eat, so he turned them free to multiply in the Lough!