Salmon Fishing Ireland 2014

Went down to fish the Laune but with the water being so high i decided to have a look around and head up towards the meeting of the waters to see if there was anything there. As you can see from these photo's it was hard to distinguish between river and field no mind finding the river bank.

                                          Looking up towards beat 1 from the bridge

                                           

                                          Looking down to beat 2 from the bridge

                                          Trapped weed just lets you know how high it was

                                          A path to nowhere ?
On my way up to the meeting of the waters i saw a few red deer so i stopped to take a photo of some stags. Even they looked a bit fed up with all the water and heavy rain about.

                                         

                                          Photo's of the meeting of the waters .

I fished here for a short while but no luck not even a pull from a spent salmon. The weather for the weekend is bad so i reckon my opening days fishing at the Blackwater lodge fishery on saturday the first of February is looking bleak to say the least. I can handle heavy rain and flooded rivers, i have the gear to handle almost any conditions but flying objects and falling trees due to storm force winds are just beyond the capabilities of even my best fishing clothing. I will make a call on friday night whether i go or not on saturday but at least the winds will be easing for sunday and maybe i will be able to cast a line then.

Opening Day Salmon Season 2014," The Laune River ".

      Pictures of Beat 1 & 2  of the Laune River on Opening Day of the 2014 Salmon Season

BEAT 1

 

Looking up to Beat 1

Beat 1 main bank

Beat 1 opposite

The water height had obviously dropped due to the fact that there was rubbish and branches left scattered further up the bank, the temperature was about 5 or 6 degrees celsius with little or no wind and good bright sunshine a nice day to start the 2014 salmon season. There were about thirty optimistic anglers fishing Beat 1& 2 some like myself having been there from first light, very few spent ( kelts ) salmon were seen throwing, i myself only saw less than a handful for the whole day and no fresh salmon showed. I did see one angler catch and release a spent fish and that was all that i saw being caught for the whole day. The water was cold and running fast but the depth up at beat one near the lake has obviously shallowed up considerably and there was alot of weed which made it awkward for spinning as one was taking weed with every cast. There were many phone calls made and recieved during the day and then came the news that a fresh fish had been caught up high in the system on the Killarney Flesk river , a fish weighing over 11lbs and caught by Ger O' Shea. At least one angler had broken in his rod for the start of the new season and hopefully the rest of us will do the same in the not so distant future. Unfortunately many anglers agreed that they wouldn't be fishing Beat 1 next year for the start of the season because over the last few years very few fish have been caught there and also having talked to a few anglers they all said that last year was the worst they had on the Laune especially as having put in many fishing days. There is obviously an issue here with Beat 1 shallowing up and not holding fish as everthing  just seems to be passing through.

As you can see from the above photos the water levels were fairly high and even those brave enough to walk up to Beat 1 left bank decided to take the long scenic route on their way back as some had a few hairy moments walking near the river in the high water.

Salmo The Leaper. ( HD Video )

          
Just a few minutes of explosive action and high jumps from my video archives to get anglers ready and excited for the 2014 salmon season, seeing as the rain and floods will be with us for another while this  is probably the best action that most salmon anglers will see for the near future.


           

For the 2014 season i am going to give  my subscribers on youtube and on this channel extended video footage with tips on tackle etc., ( private links ) compared to the shorter videos that i will be posting for the general public on youtube, so if you want to see extended videos and plenty of tips on lines, flies, spinners, catching techniques and locations subscribe to me on youtube or here on my blog. Regards Paul, and tight lines for 2014.

Salmon Fishing Ireland 2014.

Having looked back at my 2013 salmon season i must admit that it wasn't a bad year overall, i caught some good big salmon at the start of the season and had a good run of double figured fish with my 6wt switch fly rod. I tried out some of the old salmon spinners but they were too frail to take the punishment of heavy flood water and rather than damage them too much i have varnished them and put them away for display only. The annual salmon licence fees for 2014 seem to have stayed the same and i am just wondering do all Kelts,( Spent salmon ) have to be recorded again for the 2014 season because if so we're going to need bigger log books. Next year i will hopefully get up to the Drowes in early January to do some salmon fishing and filming but i have my doubts about fishing the Laune next year,  we'll have to wait and see if  the catch rate improves. I have started getting my tackle ready and have tied up some nice salmon flies for the coming season. After having some issues during the year with old waders i decided to look around for a new pair and after some research i purchased a pair of Sonik SK4 waders from Ned at Ardaire Springs fishery, i got a good deal on the waders and even a pair of wading boots thrown in, thats a bargain especially as the waders are  4ply with a 5ply reinforced section on the knees and shins. There are two things you don't want to happen to you in waders, one is to be cold and the other is wet and normally when you have a leak you get both but having bought my new waders that problem is taken care of. Remember that when you are comfortable and warm you actually fish better so make sure you look up my clothing section on this blog for those small tips on gloves etc., that will keep you warmer at the start of the season.

Sea Trout at Night on the Fly " VIDEO ".

                
If anyone is interested in fly fishing for sea trout at night i just put together some video clips  taken in September showing some of the sea trout that i caught when fishing at night. I also caught a few nice grilse earlier in July while fishing for the sea trout at night and will definitely target them at night next season.






                                

" END OF SEASON "

          
                

The water was extremely low with very little flow so i had to do a slow figure of eight retrieve to keep the fly moving, the salmon took very gently and on realising that it had been hooked shot past me heading upstream. I had been using an 8lb flurocarbon tippet due to the low water so i had to be very carefull when playing the salmon as it made some very explosive lunges and could have easily  broken the line. Playing the fish out for a few minutes i beached it on a gravel bar and quickly unhooked my size 15 Ahilles shrimp fly and then released the salmon back into the river. This will probably be my last salmon session of the 2013 season but you never know i might get a shot at the Blackwater for the season extension where it will be single barbless fly only catch and release until October 12th. The season itself wasn't bad but we could have done with a bit more rain, there are many salmon in the estuary waiting to run and i bet that we will get that rain as soon as the season is closed.

Salmon Fishing Ireland 2013 August ( On the Fly ).

                                
                           

Having fished down beat 4 with a Hot Orange Ahilles shrimp fly i decided to give it another run, this time with a new fly pattern that i had just tied up the previous night. Moving down the beat a salmon just barely broke the surface film with a fast turn and suddenly my line was going down stream at high speed, lifting into the salmon it showed straight away and i could see that it was a coloured fish. Putting plenty of side strain on the fish i brought it in close to me and then i allowed the fish to fight for a few seconds so that it would easier to deal with as the fly wasn't visible in the mouth. Landing the salmon i saw that it had taken the fly deeply but seeing as i was only using a size 15 double it was easy to remove from the salmon with very little harm done to the fish. Holding the fish for a few seconds it was ready and rearing to go so i released it back into the river. The new fly has now been moved to my smaller fly box which is for my blooded flies, these are flies that have successfully taken salmon and depending on their success rate will be tied in all sizes for future sessions. I hear anglers complain about their favourite fly that was lost either in a huge fish or a rock but they couldn't remember the exact colour etc to get a new one tied up, well that is why i keep a good stock of my blooded flies to save that happening to me. If you have a great fly that catches fish either take a photograph of it on your mobile phone or take it to a flytier so that you always have a copy of it just in case you lose it, also keep two boxes and everytime a new fly catches a salmon put it in the blooded box so that it will boost your confidence next time you use it as you know it has worked before. As for my new fly it doesn't get aired on this blog until it has a better success rate because it could have been a fluke and that might be the only salmon that it takes..