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Photos above show John Boyle and Charles Kennedy working on the spawning beds on the Craugheyboyle Stream
Development Plan: What Is Being Done
Photos above show work commencing on the Rosses System. The gravel has arrived and is loaded onto the track machine which gives accessability to all remote areas of the river bank.
At certain parts of the river temporary bridges had to be erected and areas piped to get the gravel into the most desired areas of the spawning beds. Some real ingenuity by the lads here as the structure had to support several tonne weight.
Allen and David from Ballinderry Fish Hatchery doing an excellent job constructing groins to help stop the gravel being washed away into the lakes
Gravel left in this spot on the river will be washed down naturally into the spawning beds and deposited in the most advantageous place by nature
Development Plan Summary

Rosses Anglers received a report in 2002 on a survey carried out by Dr F Kelly and Dr P Gargan Of the Central Fisheries Board. The general findings were that the number of juvenile brown trout, sea trout and salmon were very poor. This picture concurred with what many in the Association had already known as the decline in the number of rod caught sea trout and salmon was clearly evident over the last two decades

In 2004 the Association commissioned Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd.

  • To assess the recommendations of Kelly and Gargan.
  • Assess the need for a fish hatchery, identify a site.
  • List any other work to be done.
  • Review how spawning fish used rivers in 2003.
  • Cost all proposed work and recommend how best these should be phased

The committee of the Rosses Anglers wanted the members to have an input into what is their development plan to express their thoughts and vision for the future, and very importantly to identify where to draw down funding for each phase of work.

To complete the task Frank Doolaghan of Mentor Economic Developments Ltd and
a member of the club offered his services and on the 8th of April our development plan for 2005—2009 was launched in Ostan na Rossan.

It is no use having a development plan gathering dust on the shelf, so immediately we set about implementing the plan under the stewardship of John Boyle. Access
to sites identified for gravel on the Crahyboyle and Croveigh streams was difficult and pipes had to be laid to allow machinery in. however by the end of the season
all new spawning sites and those already in existence have been constructed or upgraded on both streams. On the Croveigh stream four new groins have been
put in place.

We have identified a site for our hatchery and our application is with the Department of the Marine. We feel a hatchery is vital to our development plan in order to rejuvenate our fish stocks.

A little done a lot more to do - Charles Kennedy

Update on Development Progress

Several hundred tons of gravel has now been deposited in the Rosses System
and in season 2007 the results of all the hard endeavour have already started to bear fruit. Sea-trout and Salmon have both been seen back on the spawning beds and there has been a very evident increase in the number of sea-trout caught in
the season past although these have generally been small in size. The removal of the stocked trout and the spawning work has resulted also in a quite remarkable return in quantity and size of the indigenous brown trout. In pre stocking days it was very common to catch 20 to 30 browns in a session. In the season past such days were again encountered by many anglers and its very definite proof the
fishery is beginning to return to its former glory. Allied to this the positive
feedback from anglers in the competitions throughout the season that there is rarely a dull moment anymore. In the past one could go many hours without
seeing a fish but not now the return of these free rising fish of all weather conditions has meant  concentration levels have returned.The club is not resting
on its laurels though and there is still a long way to go. It is vital we continue this drive as any back off would see a very fast reversal of the improvements to date.
To this effect, we continue to pursue the development plan part of which is establishment of a fish hatchery to help give nature a helping hand and bring the fishery back to its former glory. The hatchery is instrumental to the complete regeneration of the system and it is still a mystery to us all why the club is finding
it so hard to get the green light to proceed.
The comment heard many times last season after another successful fishing
outing has been "isn't a pity this development strategy wasn't pursued 20 years ago" and its very hard to argue with that synopsis.
Daniel Sweeney

The real manual work starts here with the shovelling of the gravel into place and one needs to be educated on the correct deposition process
Carefully creating the spawning bed
               A "Work of Art"