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Fishing Reports
2005 Salmon Season on Ireland's Cork Blackwater
December 26, 2005
Posted by Ian Powell
Upper Ballyduff, Co. Waterford, Ireland
Email: info@ireland-salmon-fishing.net
Current Report
The run of spring salmon was
probably not as good on the
middle & lower reaches of
the river as it was in the
last 3 years. However, I did
hear that it was good on the
upper part of the river,
which gives us some hope of
continuing improvement of
the spring run.
Water levels were quite high
in April, which resulted in
a reasonable catch total for
the month. However, the
level was already down to
summer level for the whole
of the month of May, which
meant that we didnt see a
repeat of the spectacular
run which we had in May
2003. Very low water levels
throughout the summer meant
that there were not many
fish in the upper part of
the river & those that were
there had been so for a good
while. Most of these fish
were very coloured & we
would have expected any self-
respecting angler who caught
them to return them alive.
In order to conserve these
fish, for the first time in
the 20 years that I am at
the Lodge, we took the bold
step to close the beats on
the upper part of the
fishery completely in August
& September.
With the agreement of our
conservation-minded
clientele, we then
concentrated the fishing
effort on the lower river,
where anglers had a better
chance of catching fresh
fish.
This certainly reduced our
catch totals for August &
September, but was of
obvious benefit to the stale
fish in the upper reaches,
which would have been more
prone to being caught
particularly on shrimp in
these last 2 months.
Even with this policy, the
total catch in August was
108 of which 41 were
returned alive. In
September, 309 were caught
of which 146 (47%) were
released safely.
Interestingly, 2005 was
joint best year in terms of
the percentage of the total
catch taken on fly. This was
21% of the total seasons
catch equalled on once
previously in 1999.
The percentage caught on fly
was the highest ever for the
month of July at 43%, & also
for August with 29%. June
was the second best ever
with 40% - only ever beaten
once by 43% , again in 1999.
http://www.ireland-salmon-
fishing.net/Galleries/2005/Ga
llery/September/05-09-
24allisonfirsts.jpg
The 4 rod Allison party from
the UK all caught their very
first salmon on the same day
on Beat 4 Ballinaroone on
September 24, 2005
From Left: Stuart Allison -
2 fish (3.4 & 4.1lb), Elaine
Allison (~9lb. returned),
Victoria Brown 6.5lb. &
David Brown (4.4lb.)
Once again, we saw a very
large number of anglers
catch their first ever wild
Atlantic salmon with us. No
less than 42 anglers caught
their first ever, of which
19 were taken in the last 2
weeks of September.
Now we are waiting in eager
anticipation for the start
of the new season on
February 1st., 2006.
Best Regards & Tight Lines
Ian Powell
Proprietor
Blackwater Lodge Hotel &
Salmon Fishery
Upper Ballyduff
Co. Waterford
Ireland
Email: info@ireland-salmon-
fishing.net
Web: http://www.ireland-
salmon-fishing.net
Tel: 00 353 58 60235
Fax: 00 353 58 60162
Mobile: 00 353 87 235 21 20
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