Salmon fishing on the Suir
Salmon fishing on the Suir

Owen Jackman is no stranger to big fish having fished the Suir for many years as well as chased salmon overseas. This weekend he had his fish of a lifetime – his biggest Suir salmon yet, a super fish estimated at 30lb plus. This huge salmon is the biggest reported fish from the Suir this year.

Owen played his fish into the shallows after nearly 45 minutes.
Owen played his fish into the shallows after nearly 45 minutes.

Owen caught the salmon on a home tied fly, Golden Flamethrower, fished on a sinktip thrown by a 15′ Loop rod and Hardy Perfect reel. Having hooked into the fish he initially thought it was foul hooked in the tail as he couldn’t get any control over it. Once the fish showed himself though, Owen knew he had a job on his hands and a very serious salmon to land. The fight took almost 45 minutes to play out. As a very experienced River Suir salmon angler and conservationist Owen put a huge effort into ensuring the fish was carefully handled and fully revived before being released

Owen Jackman with his PB Suir salmon - a 30lb plus cock fish
Owen Jackman with his PB Suir salmon – a 30lb plus cock fish wins ‘Catch of the Week’

This salmon was about a week in off the tide and one of about 20 multi sea winter autumn fish caught since the last flood on the Suir cleared. Most of the fish being encountered at this time are coloured and anglers are reminded that at this time of year extra times needs to be given to ensuring any salmon caught is fully revived to ensure the fish survives his ordeal.

salmon
After ensuring the salmon was fully revived Owen released the fish to continue his journey up the river.