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