Reel mystery: Angler nets wedding ring

It’s the most valuable catch this experienced fisherman has ever landed — but it’s one he’s very anxious to give back.

Pat O’Flaherty, 75, from Glasheen in Cork City, who has fished some of the finest salmon fisheries in Ireland, Europe, and Canada, landed this jewel of a specimen while fishing the Lee last weekend.

The question is — how did the wedding ring get there?

Was it a love affair that turned sour — or an audition for the latest Specsavers ad campaign?

A long-time member of the Lee Salmon Club, and an executive of the Federation of Irish Salmon and Sea Trout Anglers, Mr O’Flaherty was fishing a stretch of the river near the landmark Angler’s Rest pub last Saturday when he spotted something unusual bobbing at the water’s edge.

He used his net to retrieve what turned out to be a jewellery box, and found a beautiful gold wedding band inside.

He took the ring to a jewellery shop in Wilton yesterday where it was identified as a man’s wedding band, and valued at over €400.

“I wondered first was it the ring your one in the Specsavers ad that’s on the telly at the moment throws into the lake,” he said.

“But seriously, I’d like to give it back to whoever lost it… or threw it away. Maybe they’re having second thoughts.”

The ring and box are in good condition and Pat reckons they weren’t in the water for very long.

The Inniscarra Dam, about six miles upstream from where he was fishing, was open and the river was in flood in the hours before Pat’s discovery.

However, who owns the ring, and how it came to be in the river, remains a mystery.

“It could have come down the Lee, or the Shournagh, or the Bride… God knows,” said Pat.

“But wouldn’t it be great if we could get it back to its owner?”

The ring has a distinctive inscription and anyone with information can email [e-mail].

You can also send us your own theory of how the ring finished up in a watery grave.