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An Irish Salmon Excursion
Fishing
the River Blackwater northeast of Cork,
Ireland
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The
incessant, methodical, dripping, drip, drip,
drip. These aren't the usual
"caught in the mid-day"
thunderstorm kind of raindrops, but instead the result of
hours of rain. Not the kind that come
from one corner of your brim, but those
that manage to navigate the full arch of
your brim, dripping from both ends,
methodically in unison.
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On
this day, I have the good fortune to fish
Ireland's River Blackwater, guided by local
guide Len Tomlinson. Len, a mild-mannered soul, spent much of his
pre-retirement years running a 30-acre,
family flower farm. Now, if you can call it
retirement, Len splits his time between hammer-toss
coaching, stable-hand duties and
guiding. Today, he's brought me to
Ballygally, a 2/3 mile beat of the Blackwater,
known for having good fly water and positioned well with the wind to aid
my
left-hand "American-style" casting.
Len's traditional
Irish fly selection includes the Green Highlander,
Purple Wooly shrimp, Bann Special and Ally's
shrimps in original and in red. All
flies are
on size 12 doubles or size 14 treble hooks
and well suited for the
end of June. Rivers tend to be low and
can contain few numbers of fish this time of
year. We
fish seven hours in the constant rain,
trying to dodge as many raindrops as
possible, an impossible task. This is
punctuated midway by a coffee and sandwich
break, well deserved and enjoyed, shared in
the comfort of a corrugated tin shelter. These shelters are sprinkled
on several beats owned by the place I'm
calling home for three nights, the
Blackwater Lodge in County Waterford.....for more details, read
Continued below.
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A
section on the Ballygally Beat |
Fishermen's
shelter |
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The
Fishery:
If
you do your research, you'll find Ireland's
salmon population is on the decline, and has been for a number of years. More
worrisome, is the unexplained trend of later
and later salmon runs. To complicate
matters, illegal poaching continues as wild-caught salmon prices remain at premium
levels. These concerns, combined with
constant pressure from non-governmental
organizations, led the Irish government
to ban sea drift nets as of January 2007.
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With
the above stated, anglers seeking salmon
should come with realistic goals in
mind. I guessed my odds for the trip
at being slightly better than a 10% chance
of catching fish any one day. To
further support this, my guide stated that
an angler is 20 times more likely to catch
salmon fishing by other means than fly
fishing. This includes worming,
shrimping or spinner fishing.
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Salmon
are caught from January to September, with
most catches occurring in September.
Historically, most fisheries in Ireland
close September 30th. Spring salmon
run from January to mid-June, grilses (first
year adult salmon) from mid-May to late
September, sea trout from mid-April to late
September and river brown trout from early
March to early October.
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Downstream
at Upper Kilmurry |
Upstream
at Upper Kilmurry |
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Things
to do to increase your odds:
• Salmon
fish later in the year, try September
• If fishing earl, follow the migration,
try
northwestern or western Ireland
• Stay longer and fish, eventually the
weather and fish will cooperate
• Use two or more flies
• Use
double or treble hook flies
• Fish fast water, areas of current and
current breaks
• Use fluorocarbon tippets
• Wear
dull colored clothing
• Get
a Ghillie/Guide
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Casting:
Interestingly
enough, in Ireland, employing the usual
forward and backcast technique with a
single-handed rod is known as casting
"American style". Most, if
not all casting for salmon in Ireland is
spey casting. This is practiced out of necessity.
Most riverbanks in Ireland are steep,
complicating most backcasts.
Additionally, spey casting helps reduce fatigue
through the use of long, sometimes 15-foot
rods. These long, double-handed rods
can be quickly and powerfully cast with
little effort. The rod length acts as a large lever to cast the line and
fly.
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Single-handed
rods casting "American style" is
fine if you're a moderate to experienced caster.
If the river is shallow, wading to
the center of the river can provide
additional backcast room. Angled
backcasts can also be achieved in low bank
areas.
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Whether
spey or American-style casting, casts are
placed perpendicular to the stream bank or
slightly downstream. Flies are allowed
to swing through the full drift either as a
dead-drift or with taught line.
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Fishing
Lower Kilmurry |
Lower
Kilmurry Beat |
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Flies:
By
American standards, Irish salmon flies are
classic patterns. The use of
synthetics is near non-existent and most
flies are complex in nature. The
liberal use of long fibers or feathers
appears in most patterns and provides
movement in the water. Colors range as
does size. While the majority of flies
don't imitate anything
particular, a few patterns imitate the common prawn (Palaemon
serratus). If you're into matching
the hatch, try prawn or shrimp patterns in
clear to white with banded dark brown to
black markings. Some prawn have
yellow, orange and blue markings as well.
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Selection
of Irish Salmon Flies
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Buy materials now
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Important Equipment:
•
Appropriate fishing license (2007 prices)
All
Districts Annual: €128
Juvenile
(under the age of 17 years) All Districts
Annual: €20
One
District, Annual: €60
All
districts, 21 Days: €48
All
districts, 1 Day: €34
Special
Local (for Annual License holders) €24
Special
Local (for non- Annual License holders)
€96
Foyle
Area Extension €80 (incl. €40
conservation stamp) • 5 weight single-handed rods for trout.
• 7 weight single-handed rods for sea
run browns.
• 8-10
weight single or double-handed rods for
salmon.
• Multi-tip lines preferred, also full
floating to sinking based on flows.
• 12' of fluorocarbon with
dropper. Floating to sinking leaders
also.
• Polarized sunglasses
• Layered clothing
• Sunscreen and water
• Waders and Raingear.
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Invasive
Himalayan balsam |
River
ladders |
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Continued.....My
13 day Ireland tour canvassed the four
cardinal points, north (Donegal
regional, Boyle, Sligo), south (Blarney and
Cork), east (Dublin) and west (Cliffs of
Moher, Kylemore, Galway, Waterville).
I saw brown trout in nearly every stream and
in good numbers. The trout to the
north appeared larger than those to the
south, but all trout appeared to be between
6 and 16 inches. I also saw fresh
water eels to two feet. Many of the
streams were 2-4 feet deep with gravel
bottoms and filled with aquatic
vegetation. Some areas contained
vegetative mats so thick it would make
fishing virtually impossible. A
majority of my fishing centered around the
River Blackwater.
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I
saw approximately a dozen salmon while
fishing the River Blackwater. Most of
these fish were seen porpoising as they
traveled upstream. The largest salmon
probably would have weighed 10 pounds.
Fish were skitterish and at least one fish
turned and swam downstream. Terminal
equipment included an unweighted fly tied to
12 feet of 10 pound tippet. Flies were
fished on a floating line 2-4 inches below
the surface. Weather was
unpredictable, going from complete over cast
with rain to sun and bluebird skies in 30
minutes. Most days included some mist
or fine rain. Temperatures ranged
between high 50's to high 80's.
Layering clothing worked best. If you
go to Ireland, be prepared to dress in Gore-Tex
head to toe.
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Blackwater
Lodge |
Blackwater
cottages |
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More
information:
Central
Fisheries Board
Western
Fisheries Board
Southern
Fisheries Board
Northern
Fisheries Board
Shannon
Fisheries Board
Waterville
Fisheries Report
Great
Fishing Houses of Ireland
Irish
Meteorological Service
Irish
Flood Warning
Black
Water Lodge
Guide Len
Tomlinson, Ballyduff, Co. Waterford,
Ireland, Phone: 058-60897
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