Salmon Fishing Ireland 2016.

         
                    The water levels have been very up and down over the last few weeks with the dam only releasing water over the sills, this can be unproductive for salmon fishing as the fish have a tendency to move straight through very fast rather than hold up in the normal lies due to the confused water. Having only fished a few evening sessions over the past couple of months i decided to head up to beat 1 and fly fish it down with my switch rod but seeing the speed and height of the water i decided to change over to my spinning gear instead.

I fished down beat 1 and normally in this height of water i would use a size 3 flying " C " but with the extra speed and turbulence created by the water coming over the sills i had to use a size 4 instead just to hold bottom, thus giving the salmon time to see and take the spinner. The fish took hard and came upriver very fast moving in under my feet and trying to wrap itself up in the weed. I had to play the fish hard by putting loads of side strain on it  keeping its head up so it couldn't get down into the weed, running the salmon in short circles i was able to bring it in close and this allowed me to tail the fish. Holding the salmon in the water i realized that the fish was barely hooked and that was ideal for a good release with little or no damage to it's mouth. The salmon was a wild fish of about 12 lbs and had been in the system for over a week due to the fact that it wasn't as chrome bright as a fresh tide fish. Hopefully i can give it a full day over the coming week and with a bit of luck catch another but this time on the fly.