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Forum Home >> Fly Fishing >> The First Spring Salmon of 2009 is Caught!
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20 Feb 2009 21:46
bwlodge Noobie Location: bwlodge Number Of Posts: 97		Report from Ireland’s Cork Blackwater (Blackwater Lodge Salmon Fishery) At 17.30pm on the 19th. February, local angler Bill McNamara caught this superb fresh-run salmon - the first springer of the season on the Blackwater Lodge Salmon Fishery. The fish fell to spinner and weighed 6.7lb.We believe that there may have been four other springers already caught on the private beat below the first weir on the river, which is immediately above our Beat 7, but this is rumour rather than fact. The map above shows the Lodge’s 16 beats on the river. They are spread out from only 3 miles above the tidal limit to over 30 miles further upstream. It is interesting to see the distribution of fish hooked/caught in relation to the geography of the river. The first springer hooked was on Beat 8 - Ballyhooly Bridge (17 miles upstream of the Lodge) on the 1st. February – on fly when there was a 7 foot flood on the river. The second springer hooked was on the top beat which is Beat 16 -: Ballygarrett, which is over 28 miles upstream of the Lodge. That fish was hooked on spinner. The first fish caught (above photo) was on Beat 5 – Inchinleama. The graph above shows the rainfall and river height at Upper Ballyduff for January/February. This explains why fish were being hooked so far up the river so early, as they were able to run very far upstream on the high water. The rainfall has abated in the last 10 days, and the river is now coming down to a perfect fly height & clarity. The water temperature is 7°C - 45°F. Prospects Absolutely superb for spring fishing in the coming weeks, with springers present and the river in fantastic order. The only reason that more springers have not been caught already is the low fishing effort. There have only been 44 rod days on the fishery in the first 20 days of the season. An average of only 2 rods/day over 14 miles of fishing! Spawning Run The spawning run has been truly exceptional and is judged to be one of the best since the 1960s. T here are a huge number of very well-mended kelts in the river. Remarkably, disease is almost totally absent, which is a very pleasant surprise with the very high concentration of fish in the river. All this bodes well for the stocks of salmon for the future. Availability of Rods There is no problem for rod availability on most of the fisheries on the Blackwater at the moment. Ian is proprietor of Irelands premier salmon fishing lodge with his wife Glenda (APGAI-IRL Salmon & Trout) – one of the world’s highest qualified female fly-casting instructor & Emerald World Masters Ladies Salmon Distance champion.
13 Mar 2026 11:09
rokkcsp Noobie Location: Golywod Number Of Posts: 13		This report from Blackwater Lodge Salmon Fishery highlights an exciting start to the 2026 spring salmon season, with Bill McNamara's 6.7 lb fresh-run springer caught on a spinner from Beat 5 (Inchinleama) on Feb 19 at 17:30—the first confirmed on the lodge beats amid rumors of four more below the first weir—following earlier hookups on Beat 8 (Ballyhooly Bridge, fly during a 7-foot flood on Feb 1) and Beat 16 (Ballygarrett, spinner), enabled by high January/February rainfall and river heights at Upper Ballyduff that allowed exceptional upstream runs, rivaling the best spawning migrations since the 1960s with healthy, disease-free kelts signaling strong future stocks. With water now at ideal 7°C fly-fishing clarity/height, low effort (just 44 rod-days over 20 days across 14 miles), plentiful rod availability, and springers distributed across the 16 beats from tidal limits to 30+ miles upstream, prospects look superb for coming weeks, promising bountiful action for anglers targeting these early migrants on fly or spinner. ______________________ https://www.medipakiet.pl/blog/anoreksja-jak-rozpoznac-i-wyleczyc/
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