Salmon Fishing Ireland 2015.. Opening Day 2015 Laune River.

Opening Day January 17th on the Laune River in Kerry.
After driving over the county bounds from Cork to Killarney in quite bad road conditions we finally arrived at the Laune river to be greeted by very high water levels and extremely cold conditions. Having a look at the bridge over the Laune river  it was evident that Beat 1 was our only hope as the water was too high to really fish any where else. There were about twelve anglers brave enough to turn up and give it a go with some kelts and fine trout being caught and released but there was no sign of a fresh salmon until after nine o clock when there were many phone calls sent and received that the First salmon of the 2015 season, a fish of about 10lbs was caught on the Long Range which is an area of water between the Lower and Upper Lakes. Talking to one of the Fisheries Officers he confirmed that a report of a fresh salmon had been caught so it looks like the season has finally started with a bang in Kerry. Having fished all of Beat 1 to no avail i decided to head downstream to the Bridge and Beat 2 for a change of scenery and maybe a change of luck. Darren and myself fished hard for a few more hours and were rewarded with some fine trout and a very healthy kelt which were all released.

Here are some pictures of Beats 1 & 2 showing the water levels on the opening day.

Meeting some of the long standing anglers that brave the elements and fish the Laune every opening day like myself i was informed that sadly five of our older anglers had passed away since the last opening day , this made me reflect on how lucky we as anglers are to be able to get out and  enjoy nature even in the harshest of weather conditions for the love of our passion..... FISHING.