An Interesting Week!

I have lost 5 out of the last 6 salmon hooked on spinner and fly. Yesterday on the Killavullen Beat, I lost a massive salmon just short of the net. It would have been 20+lbs. I caught it on the fly using a size 14 Curry's Red on point and a size 10 purple shrimp pattern on a dropper as an attracter. The fish took confidently and the head shakes ricocheted through the rod. I knew straight away it was a big fish. It jumped twice and rolled. I knew that it was a big fish by the power of its head shakes when I hooked it. It ran up and down the river breaching and shaking its head. It  ran towards me such that I could barely keep tension on the line. then it held in the current just shaking its powerful head. After about 10 or 15 minutes, I brought it to the net it made one last jump and the fly came free. I was devastated as the adrenalin was pumping through my body due to the excitement. Maybe my inexperience, possibly I had the reel drag too tight, who knows?

But I learnt from the experience. Salmon fishing is a tough teacher with no tolerance of amateurs like me. I should have had less drag on the reel and tried to tire the fish more before thinking it was ready for the net. The 14 foot rod has little shock adsorption capacity when the fish is at your feet. So the fly can be pulled free more easily by an active fish.

Killavullen Beat - Where I lost the big fish!

I bought a pair of Combi Vacuum and magnetic rod holders for the car. So far so good. It is so much better not to have to break the rods down each time.

My VW Golf with the Combi Rod Holders

Last week it rained hard and the Backwater River dirtied up.

Kents Beat - The colour of chocolate after heavy rain last week

This is Kents Beat, one of the lower Blackwater Lodge Beats

Kents Beat - Looking Downstream

Kents Beat - Looking upstream

 The pheasants have finished their mating season, but are still about

Cock Pheasant at Woodstream Beat

Summer is here and the crops are filling out their heads

GM Barley at Killavullen - It has a much larger yield, straw height and head size than non GM varieties

Finally, a 270 degree panorama shot of my cottage on the far right and my view

Last evening I fished Upper Killmurray Beat and lost a salmon of about 10 Ilbs spinning with a yellow size 3 flying C with gold blade. When a salmon takes the lure and rushes to the surface, very often you will lose the fish because the hook has not had a chance to set.

Today, I fished the Bridgetown Prior Beat with no success on the spinner or the fly.The water level was  about 600mm higher at the Killavullen guage and is now about 300mm higher, but the water is highly coloured from the rain percolating through the peat bogs of the upper catchment. But I had great fun learning the snap T spey cast. It has poured all day so I have lit the fire and made a cup of tea.

The rain is welcome as the fish often run when the river is freshened by a new flow. Not too much and not too dirty. There are fish moving. I saw two show today, but they are not taking. Hopefully when the rain stops and the river settles back and clears, we will have good fishing.

The spring salmon run in the Blackwater has been improving in the last few years according to Ian at Blackwater Lodge. In the 1960's the Blackwater was one of the first rivers affected by the Ulcerative Dermal Necrosis (UDN) which leaves lesions on the salmon skin. UDN cause higher rates of mortality due to secondary infections. Since this outbreak of UDN, the spring salmon fishing in the Blackwater deteriorated markedly and only since the banning in 2006 of the salmon drift netting in Youghal Bay has it shown improvement. UDN may survive up to 4 years in a river and spreads worst during the highest density migration runs. In 2012, UDN was found in salmon in the Spey River in Scotland.

We are waiting for the "peels" otherwise known as "grilse" to run and hopefully in good numbers. We need some warm weather as warmer water encourages the run. These fish should be about 3 lbs typically and increase in average size with the larger grilse being about 8-10 lbs as the season progresses. The average size increases because these fish are older and have put on more condition at sea. The grilse are already running strongly in the west coast rivers such as the Moy.

My New Salmon Double Handed Fly Rod!

Hi I am on Kents Beat today getting familiar with my new double handed salmon fly rod. Saw two salmon but did not rise or catch any. But very pleased with my new outfit. Need to practice more and get some lessons, but pleased that I could shoot a line without getting a salmon fly embedded in the back of my head!

Looking forward to my first salmon on this outfit!

Last Cast for the Day ended up in Back of My Head!

I wasn't concentrating as I finished the first day fishing on the Woodstream Beat with my new double handed salmon fly rod, reel and spey line. So Thwack! One of the treble hooks was firmly planted in the back of my head! No amount of tugging would remove it. So off to Mallow Hospital I go. Out of luck as the surgical team had left for the day and the medical team did not do surgical work. So off to the Mercy Hospital Cork I go. Hello.. I have a treble hook in the back of my head.. Can you please remove it? First of all they tried to ease it free - now any fisherman will tell you that chemically sharpened hooks with barbs are designed to go in and stay in! So I wait for the surgeon who gave me a local anesthetic, shaved part of my head and began removing the hook.  Can't find the fourth hook says the surgeon...I explained it was a treble hook and soon it was out with a little nick in my head. Upon my return, Ian Powell of the Blackwater Lodge had a glass of anesthetising wine waiting for me as he explained that he would have had the hook out in 10 seconds, no pain. I hope I do not have to take Ian up on his offer.

5 good fish caught today on our beats. 1 on Kilmurray Beat, 1 on Ballyhooly Bridge Beat and 3 on Bridgetown Prior Beat which is just below Woodstream and I did not see a fish all afternoon! A cracker of a  fresh run 12 pound sea liced May fish caught.  And all on the fly!

I will be out again tomorrow surely I will christen my new rod with more than the back of my head!

Liam lands a 5.5lb Salmon at Glenbeg Beat

My cousin in law, Liam, had success at Glenbeg on Sunday evening. A 5.5lb salmon that had been in the river a few days at least as the sea lice had all dropped off. Caught spinning with a black body and copper blade No. 3 flying C.

Liam with his 5.5lb Salmon

Glenbeg Beat looking upstream along a favoured stretch with deep water to the near side

Glenbeg Beat looking downstream

 The previous day, I too had a bit of success landing my first decent grisle of the season. At 3 lbs, it will make a nice feed. Caught spinning again with a No.3 black flying C with silver blade.

My 3 lbs. Grilse

Note the forked tail and more torpedo like shape that defines the early season small grilse.

Glenbeg Beat - mid way - Note electric fence in foreground

 Fly fishing on Glenbeg, I back cast and caught the electric fence and had a little heart starter when I wrongly assumed that the fence was not live! Tip - do not tap the fence then when seems okay - grab it with wet hands!

The rain has started again and should be set in for most of the week. This may not be a bad thing as I hope that a slightly increased flow will encourage a run of grilse plus any tardy May salmon that are hanging around in the bay waiting for a spring tide.

The salmon are not taking the fly at the moment on the Blackwater and apparently not elsewhere. Possibly because they are still rushing through the lower and mid section beats. Prawn and spinning are accounting for most fish. The May run was behind schedule due to the late spring and prolonged cold weather. I am hoping that we have a "catch up" period over the next few weeks.

The West Coast rivers have had a bumper start to the season with the Moy taking a weekly average of 200 salmon over the last couple of weeks. The Upper Caragh River has fished strongly for a spate river and Lough Currane has performed, particularly for large sea trout.

The trout in the Blackwater have been remarkably fussy eaters, possibly due to the large numbers of midge on the water. Caught only a couple to date, one on a salmon cascade shrimp treble hook fly - bit ambitious for a wee trout!. On the banks you see black, green and blue bodied Mayflies along with various duns. As the season warms up, there should be some fine evening fishing. I have joined  the River Bride Anglers Club (for the princely sum of 15 Euros) and have access to stretches of the river between Aghern and Conna Bridges and down past Conna Castle. It is now a catch and release only river.

Spring has arrived on the Blackwater River, Co. Waterford

Sunday 9th June 2013 - Yesterday evening, I fished Kents Beat on the Blackwater and caught a 3lb grilse. The evenings now are magical. It has been 20 degrees Celsius during the day, the water is low and the first of the season's grilse are starting to run now that the water is warming up. Still some May salmon about. 7 salmon caught on the Blackwater Lodge beats yesterday. 3 grilse and 4 May salmon. 3 on spinner and 4 on prawn. Mainly on upper beats. The fly is not taking many fish at the moment. But, it's time will come soon and I am excited to catch my first Blackwater salmon on the fly.

I have bought a 14 ft Enigma Mark III 9/10 wt double handed fly rod with a matching 9/11 wt Enigma fly reel.  I hope to have it set up this week. I bought it from Craig Bottomley, Fleetwood, Lancashire who will come over to fish once the grilse get established. Glenda Powell will help me find the best line to match the rod and the conditions. Glenda is a World Champion caster and co-owner of Blackwater Lodge. To watch her cast is magical.

I will get some Spey casting lessons from a few people. Glenda Powell has already given me some lessons and I had a short lesson from Connie Corcoran, a local legendary gillie and terrific instructor.

The river is low and clear with trout rising freely in the evenings. I am so fortunate to be here. It has been a tough few weeks since I caught the last salmon having lost two including a decent sized one at Bridgetown Priory Beat. The bright conditions were not conducive to fishing with the water still cold. The fish were running through the beats and not interested in being caught.

Tonight I will fish the Glenbeg Beat with my cousin in law, Liam.

I have videoed a number of the beats and will upload this week. Unfortunately I have had to work a bit and travel, which has seriously interfered with my fishing!

I bought about 9 books on the internet on Irish salmon and trout fishing and they have arrived. They are classic books typically written in 1950's with some in 1990's. Great source material and great reading. I will give reviews once I get into them a bit more.

Also bought some Combi VacPac vacuum/magnetic rod holders for the bonnet and roof of the car. I now don't have to break the rods down between trips and have the resultant tangled mess and flies caught everywhere. They seem to work okay. If they fail, there will be tears in heaven!

The view of the Blackwater from my cottage at 5:30am 9th June 2013 

with the morning mist on the river