Salmon Fishing Report from the Cork Blackwater

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Rain at Last!



A narrow band of heavy rain swept across the whole catchment yesterday (Sunday 4th.). 12mm fell in Ballyduff.
The upper river rose 35cm to 0.55m @ Millstreet this morning peaking at 10.00. It has fallen back to 0.47m by 15.00.
At Kanturk it has risen 27cm to 0.24m by 16.00, & is still rising. The level is holding at Ballyduff.

The fresh has stirred the fish up on the upper river with 4 caught & 2 lost
(including a double figure fish) by 2 rods on one beat by 4pm today (5th.)!
With more rain forecast, the prospects for the coming days look superb.

Availability
Rods are available for the remaining weeks, & also accommodation apart from self-catering in the third week which is full.

Staff Wanted
We could still require a couple of people to work in the Lodge from now until the end of September.
Duties include preparation of breakfast/packed lunches & housekeeping. Opportunity to fish as well of course.

See Blackwater Lodge Fishing Report page: Blackwater Lodge and Salmon Fishery, Upper Ballyduff, Co. Waterford, Ireland - Daily Updated Salmon Fishing Report page
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Best Day & Best Fish of the 2011 Season - September 20th.


This superb 13 pounder was taken by Graham Reynolds
from Wicklow on spinner on Lower Kilmurry on the 20th.



This superbly fresh 5 pounder was one of five taken by Ken Tucker (Carlow)
on fly on Killavullen - 26 miles upriver from the Lodge on the 21st.

Availability
Rods are available for the last week of the season as are
ensuite B&B rooms & some self-catering accommodation.

Best Day & Best Fish this year!
On September 20th., twenty-two fish to 16.3lb were landed.
Seven were double figure fish & five were 13lb. or more.
Two upper beats recorded 6 fish each, including a couple of 10 pounders.
All but one were released.
Local rod Mick Kennedy landed six fish to over 16lb.
On the lower river where clarity was better at ~4 feet, seven fish to 8lb. were caught.
One rod had 3 on fly, and another one had one on spinner & landed another & lost 2 all on fly as well.

Current Conditions



A couple of small floods have really got things moving!
The river is now fining off into perfect order, & some excellent catches
have been recorded in the last one & a half weeks.


After yet more rain, the upper river rose 20cm @ Millstreet & 10cm @ Kanturk
on Wednesday night but it is now falling again.
The lower river rose 3cm last night but is falling away again slowly.
The clarity is very good @ ~ 4-5 feet throughout.

The Last Two Weeks
Since my last newsletter on the 8th., we have had an excellent fortnight.
For the 2 weeks, we have taken 161 fish to 16.3lb.

Sept. 12: Fourteen fish to 10lb. taken. 8 from the lower river & 6 from the upper beats.
Seven fell to fly, including a 10 pounder & six from one lower beat to 3 rods.
Sept. 13: Eighteen fish to 14lb. taken.
Fourteen fell to fly, including a 14 pounder & 5 to one rod on the upper river.
Sept. 14: Eighteen fish including sixteen on fly.
Sept. 15: Six fish to 9.3lb., including 2 on fly.
Sept. 16: Six fish to 12lb., including 2 on fly.
Sept. 17: Thirteen fish to 101b. including nine on fly for two rods on the lower river.
Sept. 18: Six fish to 8lb.
Sept. 19: No fish as river in flood, but hearing reports of fish caught upriver
where one rod took 6 in the afternoon.
Sept. 20: Best Day & Best Fish of Season! Twenty-two fish to 16.3lb.
Sept. 21: Fourteen fish to 14lb.
Sept. 22: Fifteen fish to 9.5lb.
Sept. 23: Nine fish to 8lb.

Prospects
There is some more rain forecast for Sat/Sunday which could liven things up even more.
It could be a dinger of a last week!

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Season Extension Confirmed

IFI confirmed today that the Minister has signed off on the proposed extension to the salmon season on Ireland's Cork Blackwater river.
The official announcement on all the 2012 regulations will be posted on the IFI website at midnight tonight (December 23rd.).
The season is extended on the Blackwater to October 12th., on a fly-only catch & release basis.
Great News just before Christmas!

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25, 24, 23, 22, 21 .............. Countdown to Opening Day

As usual, in the run-up to the Opening Day, I am graphing the rainfall and river height
& posting it daily on my Fishing Report page on: Blackwater Lodge and Salmon Fishery, Upper Ballyduff, Co. Waterford, Ireland - Daily Updated Salmon Fishing Report page

Unfortunately, the upstream gauges have not been functioning since 09.15 on the 4th. January



The river has been very high for the last month & a half. It is just settling after the latest flood
& was at 1.30m this morning - down over a metre since yesterday.
It has had such a good flushout that as soon as it drops it clears very quickly.
The clarity this morning was beautiful at ~ 3 feet.
The next week looks comparatively dry but the following week from Jan. 14 looks wetter again.
Hopefully it will be in good order for February 1st.

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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: Blackwater Lodge and Salmon Fishery, Upper Ballyduff, Co. Waterford, Ireland - Daily Updated Salmon Fishing Report page
See Ian Powell Facebook page: Ian Powell | Facebook
See Blackwater Lodge & Salmon Fishery Facebook page: Blackwater Lodge and Salmon Fishery | Facebook
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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 on Friday & 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.

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

Season total to date: 7 fish.

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.

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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.

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The First on Floating Line!


Conor Arnold contacted me yesterday afternoon to ask if he could go trout fishing to Ballyhooly.
I suggested he go instead to Kilmurry with the salmon rod as it was free.
He caught this fish at dusk (7.15pm) on a #10 shrimp fly on a floating line. It weighed 7lb. exactly.
This is more akin to summer fishing than spring with temperature in the afternoon up to 16°C.


This is the fourth springer for March which doesn’t sound a lot, but is remarkable when you consider
that there have been only 41 rod days so far for the whole month.
Total for the season so far is now nine.


This is the Blackwater in fantastic fly order at 9.00am this morning with clarity #5-6 feet.


Having held at 0.30 for about 4 days, the river is now dropping very slowly once more & was at 0.27m this morning at 9.00am.
Water temp. 48°F. Beautiful fly height with summer level.

Prospects
The forecast is for continuing dry weather for most of the week. The longer-range forecast is for a very wet start to April.
With few fresh fish running due to the summer level, a flood would be welcome.


Ireland Salmon Fishing
Blackwater Lodge
Daily Salmon Fishing Report

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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!