Argideen River: What lies beneath

Newly-arrived visitors to Ireland, passing Inchy Bridge on the Argideen River at midnight, could be forgiven for drawing the wrong conclusions upon seeing a huddle of men in polaroid glasses standing about, hands deep in pockets or leaning on the parapet looking into the water below.

Might it be a Timoleague family of the Sopranos sending an associate to “sleep with the fishes”?

In reality, the shadowy figures are not menacing at all but a companionable society of dedicated sea trout anglers, decidedly non-threatening unless you happen to be a fish. Nightly, during the season, they leave the comfort of their firesides and set off into the dark, there to try, by subtle wrist-flicking and lure-dangling, to seduce clever fish to take their bait and join them on the bank.