Gerry Merrick provides this report from Ballisodare Fishery – 25th June 2026:
Ballisodare Fishery has had a good run of spring salmon, albeit arriving somewhat later than usual. This is the third season when Catch and Release was mandatory until end of May so hopefully these large springers will make their way successfully to the spawning areas later. A number of lovely springers over 10lbs were caught and released.
The grilse run has got off to a great start with numbers through the fish pass increasing steadily, currently a few hundred per day. Good numbers of fish are being caught with the vast majority being released. Anglers are allowed kill a maximum of three fish this season although catch and release is being encouraged and indeed practised by many.
Bookings for day tickets are strong on our website www.ballisodarefishingclub.ie but there are some slots still available.
Our water quality sondes are deployed again, and we are delighted that water quality in the Ballisodare estuary is showing much improvement when compared with last year so hopefully this will continue. We have no sightings of any unhealthy fish thus far this this season.
Water temperatures have increased steadily in the past few days, reaching 18 degrees in the fish pass and slightly higher at our sonde in the estuary. We will close the fishery should water temperatures reach 20 degrees.
