UK Fisherman

The Second Biggest Flood of the Season!

58mm rain fell in the 36 hours to yesterday morning.
Yesterday was pretty much dry throughout the catchment.
There is some more rain forecast for Monday & Thursday this week.


This is the graph of the height of the river at Killavullen.
It was falling Friday night but started to rise again at 06.00am yesterday before falling again a few hours later. It rose 24cm, peaking once more @ 13.30 in the afternoon.



The river at Ballyduff showed similar behaviour.
The level was down to 2.14m at 14.00 yesterday, but also rose again to
2.25m by 18.00 yesterday evening. This morning it is down to 1.65m @ 07.00, though the clarity is very good considering the height.

The river is too high to fish today (Sunday 17th.) & there is more rain forecast for Monday & Thursday this week.
One angler fishing a lower beat on the 13th. reported a run of "VERY" large fish running through during the day.

We have caught 29 so far for June for just 48 rod days which is remarkable.
The upper river (Ballyhooly to Mallow) is fishing much better than the lower river.
25 of the 29 caught have come from above. The daily totals are:

June 2: 6 to 9.1lb.
June 5: 2 to 7lb.
June 6: 11 to 10.3lb.
June 10: 1 of 5.7lb.
June 11: 4 to 11lb.
June 12: 3 to 6lb.
June 13: 1 of 5lb.
June 14: 1 of 9.5lb.
For all the latest info see the new Lodge Blog: ireland-salmon-fishing.blogspot.ie/

The Amazing June Water levels & Fishing...


These are the remarkable statistics for the June River Height. I have kept accurate records since 2004.
The average height for the period 2004-2011 for June is 0.37 metres with the highest month being 2009 when it was 0.46m. It is 1.16 metres for June this year. There are only 3 individual (spring) months in this entire period (2004-2011) where the water levels have been higher.
Needless to say, the upper beats have been producing far better than the lower river. There have been some excellent quality fish - all fresh & many sea-liced as fish are running hard in the high water.
The total Catch for the Lodge beats for June is 77 fish to 13lb. Of these, 60 were caught from Ballyhooly up with just 17 fish taken on the lower river for the month.
This is the best since 2003 & the average size of the fish is well up at 7.0lb compared to 5.4lb. for 2003 which was the previous best year with a very similar catch number.

The day before yesterday (Tuesday, July 3) 3 rods had 4 fish on Ballyhooly & yesterday 2 rods had 5 fish to 12lb. on the same beat.
With the water table very high, the river has only been falling very slowly between floods so the prospects for sport on the river for the coming weeks are superb.


This is the river at 09.30 this morning. 1.10m on the Ballyduff gauge & clarity 2.5 - 3 feet.





The upper river was dropping but has risen a couple of cm early this morning at Killavullen.
Clarity on the upper river yesterday afternoon was 3-4 feet.


Blackwater Lodge Salmon Fishing Blog on : http://ireland-salmon-fishing.blogspot.ie/

On Monday 9th., 6 fish were caught (including the 13lb. First Salmon in last blog entry) making it the Fifth Best Day of the season. This included a couple of sea-liced fish from the lower river from Kilmurry & Kents.

On Tuesday 10th., 9 fish were caught which made this the Third Best Day of 2012.

Mike Whelan caught these three fish all between 9-10lb. on Kilmurry on the lower river.


Stefan Kadlubowski released this 9½ pounder on fly on the Wood Flat on Woodstream.



Joe Tynan caught his first fish on the fly yesterday too.

It weighed 4lb. & was caught on the Castle Flat on Ballyhooly.


Both the upper & lower river are dropping today but slowly due to the localised showers.
Yesterday both rose - the upper by a foot to 1.81m & the lower by 15cm.
They are down to 1.61m & 0.88m respectively this morning.
Clarity is fair here @ ~2-2½ feet. It is similar upriver. Some quite heavy localised showers are still keeping the river topped up.
The heavy rain forecast for today fell south of the catchment.

Superb prospects for the coming weekend.

The river had dropped off & started to fine down on Friday 24th., which was the joint third Best Day of the Season with 10 fish to 13.4lb. caught.
Heavy localised showers caused the upper river to river yet again on Saturday. It was completely out of order for Saturday 25th.
This was the picture for the upper river up to this morning.


The lower river was also completely unfishable yesterday (Sat. 25th.)
Today the clarity has improved somewhat to 1 - 1.5 feet on the lower river & about 2 feet on the upper river.
I already have a report of a very fresh 5 pounder caught on an upper beat just below Mallow today after only 3 casts.

Friday 25th. was our Third Best Day of 2012. A total of 10 fish to 13.4lb. were caught.
One rod had four fish from our top beat just below Mallow. Another landed 3 at Bridgetown, keeping only a 13.4lb. & releasing 2 grilse.
The total for August so far is 89 to 13.9lb. for just 129 rod days - a superb result considering the flood conditions & low rod effort!
The season total to day is 375.

There looks to be yet more rain from tonight to Wednesday!!!!!!!

The Extension to October 12th.

There are very few places in the Republic where you can fish for salmon up to October 12. We are fortunate enough to
have been granted this on a trial basis for this year, as our runs of fish seem to be coming later and later each year.
The extension is Fly Only, Single Barbless & Catch & release.

Special Late Offer €60/day.
To ensure that we have plenty of rods fishing to help collect data, we are now offering
fishing from now until October 12th. for just €60/rod day.

Promising Prospects.
We have experienced the same phenomenon as most rivers in September with fish being very reluctant to take.
We have however a very large head of fish in the system, with lots of fish being seen on most beats each day.

Fly Works Best!

For September, the fly caught more fish that all the other methods put together which bodes well for the Fly Only extension.
The September total was 138 of which 74 fell to fly. 93 of the fish were released.

The last 12 days of September saw 75 fish caught - of which 41 fell to fly.

Whilst fish were elusive, some anglers managed to do very well.
Gerard Bonnet's 3 rod party from Britanny, France caught 27 fish to 13lb. for their week including 8 on the fly.


Terry McDermott's party from N. Ireland also had 7 to 10lb. - all on fly. This fish was taken by Terry himself
on the 29th. on the lower river. It weighed 9.9lb, & was covered in sea-lice.

Gauge height at Killavullen on the upper river.

Moderate amounts of rain have given us a small (11cm) fresh on the upper river on October 1st.
Hopefully this will encourage more fresh fish to run.

Gauge Height & Rainfall at Ballyduff

This translated into a 6cm fresh on the lower river. The water clarity is superb.


This was the river yesterday at midday.
Height 0.39m
Perfect medium high summer level.
Clarity ~ 5 feet.
Absolutely ideal fly conditions.

Just 9 Days of the season remaining!
We have availability of rods and accommodation to October 12th - which is of course fly only - C&R.

Affordable Salmon Fishing for 2013

We’ve now made the cost of salmon fishing so low, you hardly need waders!

With the worldwide recession, fishery owners, lodges and guides across the globe are reducing their charges
so that salmon anglers can keep fishing and new anglers can be attracted to the sport.

In Ireland, the Blackwater Lodge - in conjunction with its beat owners - is leading the way
by now making salmon fishing more affordable for everyone.

Cast your eye on this...............

For the 2013 season, fishing rates on the Lodge beats will range from €15 per day to €80 per day in the prime time. Some of these rates reflect a reduction on 2012 prices of over 50%.
Click here for our 2013 Price List http://www.ireland-salmon-fishing.net/Prices/pricelist.htm

We have exclusive use of 11 prime beats on the famous Cork Blackwater, all insured and each one subject
to an on-going, rigorous maintenance programme to guarantee your safety, comfort and enjoyment.

Stay Where You Like
Just because you’re fishing Lodge waters doesn’t mean you have to stay with us.
If you do, you can choose to stay in the Lodge, bed and breakfast, for only €35 per night (single supplement €10).
Or choose from a variety of self-catering bungalows on the grounds for only €80 per day up to a four-bedroom version for €500 a week.
Packed lunches and evening meals are available.
There is also a wide selection of hotels, guesthouses, and B&Bs in the area, if that’s your preference.


Next Step or First Step?
Whether you’ve been looking for affordable, quality salmon fishing; or feel it’s something you’d like to try, this is probably the best opportunity you’ll ever have. It’s fun, it’s interesting, it’s absorbing
and salmon anglers are a great community to belong to. Male and female.


So get in touch today and book casting tuition or a few days fishing –
without getting out of your depth on cost.