Tag Archives: Lough Neagh

Eel fishing on Lough Neagh is dying out. Husband and wife team helping to keep tradition alive

As Anne Marie McStocker pulls in the draft net she pauses every now and again to remove tiny fish that have become entangled in it, and throws them back into the lough.The boat is rocking over a place known as the Foot of the Hole, the deepest part of Lough Neagh, and one of the best places for fishing. As the stones weighing down the net start clinking on to the deck, her husband, Gary McErlain, moves from his station at the other pulley and lifts the draft net into the boat. Inside, a dozen eels are wriggling. Not a great catch. He empties them into a barrel and McStocker goes back to the rether – the local word for the tiller – and moves on to another location, to start the process all over again. Photos,  >click to read<  20:50