Saturday 19 April 2014

Salmon Fishing Ireland 2014

        


          

Having fished for a few minutes with my switch fly rod the water level rose quite rapidly by over six feet in just 15 minutes so i had to change over to my spinning rod to deal with the very fast water, that  is the problem associated with fishing below a Hydro Electric Dam. It can also have a very favourable side in that it can bring fresh fish in very fast from tide some distance downstream and when other rivers are in full spate with a chocolate brown colour the dam controls this river and most  high water levels are almost clear or there abouts. There were a few anglers fishing earlier and they had no luck with both spinner or fly but as the water levels had increased i expexcted to see some fresh fish moving up from downstream, the lower river has seen some fish caught recently but not as many as in past seasons. I covered a few of the known salmon lies and there seems to be a change in the areas that the salmon are now lying, maybe due to the extra volume and speed of the water as i am now meeting fish in different areas than i have met them in past years. The salmon hit the spinner with a thump and there was a lot of rolling and rubbing on the line in the earlier part of the fight and when i got the fish in close i could see that there was only one hook in its mouth ideal for a fast release. The fish gave a good account of itself with a number of jumps and cartwheels before i was able to bring it under control but still a great fight for a small fish of about 7lbs with fresh sea lice. The area that i was fishing has very little safe bank so i had to put the camera down while i landed the salmon as there was nowhere to beach it,  with plenty of rocks and underwater stumps just waiting to snag my line i quickly tailed and released the fish. I'm still waiting for a chance to fish the fly properly through all the beats but i cannot complain when being interupted by the rising water as i am catching fish  even though its only on spinner.

2 comments:

  1. Good man Paul. Any fish on the fly yet? I lost my first fish i made contact with on my switch rod on friday evening on beat one as the water was dropping off from high water. It was still nice to make contact though, as it was my first experience of a salmon on a fly rod . Regards Kieran.

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  2. Hi Kieran, got an hour between beat 2 and 3 today but with most people throwing rocks, stones and even the odd dog into the water there was never going to be a realistic chance of a take till everyone had gone home. I got two short takes in the fading light from what i would call nervous fish and that was all. I will never go out there on a BANK HOLIDAY again the attitude of some people towards the river is a disgrace between dropping litter and throwing stones etc., its a salmon fishery and we pay to fish there and they should respect that.

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