IN fishing lore, the appearance of dolphins heralds two things for the year ahead. One is good weather, and the other is for good fishing.
On Saturday, Sligo Bay was blessed with just that omen as both common and bottle-nosed dolphins made their appearance along the Wild Atlantic Way.
The dolphins were spotted by Daryl Ewing of Ewing’s Sea Angling and Boat Charters, his crew and passengers who were out for a day’s fishing.
Daryl and his crew saw them around the stretch from Raughley to Streedagh Beach on Saturday.
Last season was a good year for fishing and dolphins were spotted early so Daryl is hoping for more of the same this year.
“Well hopefully (it bodes well for the season). Last year we seen them as early as March. Hopefully it will be good for the season. It shows that there is food around because they don’t arrive for nothing. As well as the dolphins there is a lot of other life around at the moment with cormorants and herrings. On Saturday we caught plenty of fish so it is a sign that the season may be starting early,” he said.
For those lucky enough to be on Daryl’s boat last Saturday, they got to see plenty and get up close to the dolphins.
“There were about 20 of them and it was mixture between bottle-nose and common dolphins. You have to kind of coax them to the boat. I can’t give away all my secrets, but I coax them in to playing with the boat and they started to come alongside us. We had spotted them feeding a bit away from us first before they come up to the boat.”
For more information on the dolphins seen by Daryl and his crew and trips with Ewing’s Sea Angling see the Facebook page www.facebook.com/SligoBoatCharters
