Daniel's Irish Salmon and Trout Fishing 2013 -2015: 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.