At noon on Sunday last, 6th January, the persistence of Lurgan angler, Colin Gardiner finally paid off when he landed Ireland's first salmon of 2008 and , in so doing, brought invaluable publicity for the Drowes River, the only salmon river in Ireland that opens for angling on New Year's Day.

And, for the unassuming part-time ghillie on the River Drowes, it meant that it was the second time in three years he has landed Ireland's first salmon of the year.

In 2005, again on the Drowes, he landed his first and, this time around, matched that, and more, with a 13lb whopper which he plans to give to charity.

He was among some 200 anglers who lined the banks of the Drowes on New Year's Day to lift the 500 euro prize that went with catching the first salmon, but all left empty-handed. Then, as the weather worsened, Colin braved the rain and the storms and trudged through five inches of snow to get to the river bank. His patients paid off.

"I just chucked the thing across the water (Colin used a black Flying C bait) in the Money Pool, the fish took it and I played him', was how he recalled the magic moment.

Ironically, had the weather behaved itself better, Colin would have been ghilling a group of Americans and, when they failed to show, it meant he could fish on his own.

Colin was presented with his cheque and with the Drowes Perpetual Cup by fishery owner, Shane Gallagher.