23, 22, 21, 20, 19 .............. Countdown to Opening Day

This was the Blackwater at 10.30 this morning.
Down to 1.04m on the Ballyduff gauge & clearing beautifully.
The upstream gauge readings have still not been updated since the 4th.

Our Opening Day celebration is now fully subscribed only a couple of days after it was announced in our December 30th. newsletter. We offered free fishing & casting clinic throughout the day with Glenda, ending with a bowl of hot stew for everybody at the fishing hut on Upper Kilmurry at 4.00pm.
Hopefully, we’ll have a springer or two to report.

See Blackwater Lodge Fishing Report page: http://www.ireland-salmon-fishing.net/FishingReport/fishingreport.htm
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The First Spring Salmon of 2012 is Caught!

The First Springer was taken on the Lodge beats today by ............................ me!

There were no rods booked to fish today & the weather had turned mild after only 2 days of a cold snap. Glenda was going to teach on Upper Kilmurry for 2 hours, so I decided to accompany her & go for a cast for an hour or so. I caught this 6.2lb fish on spinner at the Jole on Lower Kilmurry. It would have been released, but was deeply hooked and bleeding.
Interestingly, the fish didn’t have sea-lice, so had obviously been in the river for a few days. This could mean that there is already a reasonable number of spring fish in the river, as we have had prolonged spells of high water & mild temperatures throughout January to encourage them to run.
It was only the first 2 days of February where temperatures fell to zero at night.

The river is already in excellent spinning order with clarity of approx. 3-4 feet.
At 0.78m on the gauge this evening, it would still be high for fly-fishing, but it is dropping steadily
& should be coming into fly order in the next couple of days.

February:  5 fish caught in total, all between February 3-14 for only 30 rod days.
Joint Best February total since 2004 & joint [B]Second Best total[/B] since 1994.

March 3: First on fly & Biggest of Season.  Caught by Shane Kinsella (Wicklow) - ~12lb.
        on a 1 1/2” aluminium Garry Dog tube on sink tip line.
March 4:  First off the upper river. A 7 pounder on spinner for Tom Donovan at Castletownroche.
[B]
Season total to date:  7 fish.[/B]

Prospects
Looking very good for the coming week with a small (12cm) fresh on the river but very good clarity.
Dry forecast for the week so conditions should stabilise.

The Blackwater today @ 17.00. Gauge 0.54. Clarity excellent.

This fish was taken at 3pm yesterday by PJ Burns from Dublin.  Weight 8.2lb.
He took it on spinner on the Lodge’s lowest beat - Ballygally - about 2 miles below Ballyduff.
This is the third springer for March & the eighth for the season so far.

This is the Blackwater in absolutely fine fettle this morning.

The recent rain only brought the river up 12 cm by Saturday morning to 0.46m on the gauge.
It’s down to 0.36m @ 18.45 this evening.

No fish taken today, but a couple seen again on Ballygally.
Conditions are absolutely perfect. Clarity about 4 feet, water temp. 47F.
Beautiful fly height with summer level.

April gets off to a Great Start!
Despite extremely low water in the first week of April, four springers were landed in 3 days for only 7 rod days in total.

We have had just one day so far this season when two springers were landed - by two different anglers
- which was February 5th. Yesterday (April 3) was the first day this year where one angler has landed
two fish in one day - and they were both on fly on two consecutive casts!
Kieran Conlon (Cork) managed to get away for only his second day fishing so far this season,
& I sent him to Lower Kilmurry on a cold blustery day with a NW wind & air temps from 7-10ºC.
Just before lunchtime he caught and released a lovely sea-liced fish on a Silver Grey tube fly
right up at the head of the Island Stream in the fast water - no surprise as water temp is now just above 52ºF.
This was his first springer of the 2012 season.
More surprising was the fact that he went back into the water & the very next cast caught
a second sea-liced fish from the very same spot. Both fish were like peas in a pod.
The second fish (above) was weighed in later at the Lodge at 8.3lb.
Kieran saw a number of other fish throughout the day.

John Lalor (Cahir) caught this 6lb sea-liced fish on fly on April 4th. This was his first fish for 2012.

Joe Tynan (Kildare) caught this 8.4lb. very fresh fish on spinner on April 5th. It was his First Ever Salmon!
It didn’t have sea-lice but they had only just fallen off it.
It is one of the earliest ever recorded First Fish on the fishery!

The First Grilse of the 2012 Season is Caught!

APGAI_Ireland casting instructor Ken Stewart came down to visit the Lodge today (9th.)
& went out to the river about lunchtime for a cast on the Kilmurry beats.
About 4.00pm Glenda went down to meet him & she arrived at the Hut Pool to see Ken playing a fish.
She hopped out of the jeep, rolled up her trousers (no time to don the waders) & hopped into the water
to net a beautiful sea-liced 4 pound grilse that had taken Ken’s tube fly.
This is probably the earliest grilse that has ever been taken on the fishery.

Biggest Fish of the Season so far!!!!!!!

Jim Shanahan from Castletownroche was fishing an upper beat & phoned me to ask if he could switch to another upstream beat.
I suggested he come down as I heard it was quiet above. He arrived on Ballinaroone with his 11 yr old son James & within 15 minutes
James hooked & lost a fish on a Toby. Jim caught the Biggest Fish of the Season a few moments later - 12.4lb on Flying C at the Road Pool.

This is the river below Blackwater Lodge at 16.00 on the 16th.
Gauge height 0.27m.  Clarity ~4 feet

Prospects
The river is once again fining off into super fly order, though there looks to be more rain coming from Monday to Wednesday.
Just had a report of good numbers of fresh fish moving on the upper river yesterday, so our upper beats should start fishing in earnest in the coming days!

There’s no problem for availability of fishing at present.

This lovely sea-liced 7.3lb. fish was caught by Terry O’Keeffe (Midleton, Co. Cork) on Lower Kilmurry yesterday.

The river continues to fine off today & was at 0.25m at 16.00.
Another very fresh fish was caught today on spinner – only our second from the upper river.
There is quite a lot of rain forecast for tonight.
The total for the Lodge fishery is now 8 fish for April to date for only 37 rod days.

Best Day of the 2012 Season so far…………………….!

As expected the river came into excellent order today. The gauge at Ballyduff was on 0.58m this morning & only fell very slowly during the day to 0.55m at dusk. The clarity was a good three feet on the lower river.
The upper river also dropped only very slowly but has fined off very well & clarity is around 4 feet.
There were a number of reports of fish moving on the upper river - albeit somewhat sporadically.

Four fish were caught in total for the day by just nine rods fishing and there were 2 fish lost at the net. Three fish fish came from the upper river - 2 on spinner & 2 on the fly - of which 2 were released.
Two were extremely fresh (sea-lice just fallen off) & one had been in for 1/2 weeks.
There was one very fresh fish caught on spinner on the lower river, but none seen.

Superb prospects for tomorrow. We’ll have to see how much rain falls Monday to ascertain the prospects for the week.

Please be sure to Bookmark this! Blackwater Lodge Salmon Fishery Blog
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New website feature - Salmon Fishing Blog. Immediate & historical news.
This should contain all the info put into postings on river conditions & catches & more…................