Ian Powell on the Munster Blackwater reports:
On May 5th There was another good flood just fining off on the river. As expected the river came into excellent order. The gauge at Ballyduff was on 0.58m in the morning & only fell very slowly during the day to 0.55m at dusk. The clarity was a good three feet on the lower river. The upper river also dropped only very slowly but fined off very well with clarity around 4 feet. There were a number of reports of fish moving on the upper river – albeit somewhat sporadically.
It turned out to be the Best Day of the 2012 Season so far….! Four fish were caught in total for the day by just nine rods fishing and there were 2 fish lost at the net. Three fish fish came from the upper river – 2 on spinner & 2 on the fly – of which 2 were released. Two were extremely fresh (sea-lice just fallen off) & one had been in for 1/2 weeks. There was one very fresh fish caught on spinner on the lower river.
On May 6, the Biggest Fish of the Season so Far was caught by Tim Harty from Co. Limerick – a sea-liced 14.2lb on fly from the lower river just a mile above the Lodge (above). A 10.4lb. on spinner was also caught the same day from our very top beat 45km upriver.
May 7th: A party of 4 Norwegians started fishing on Monday. The first day they were fishing Upper & Lower Kilmurry where they hooked 6 & landed & released just one of 5lb. (see above). On Tuesday 8th. they released another 5lb & lost a double figure fish. All the fish were met on fly. A second fish was also caught on worms on the upper river on Tuesday.
On Wednesday 9th., another 2 fish were caught – an 8lb on fly & a 4lb on spinner – both on the upper river.
Prospects: Another small dirty flood hit the upper river on Thursday & the lower river on Friday (11th.). The forecast is then dry over the weekend & well into next several week.
We can expect some fantastic sport as soon as the conditions settle, and we can expect the upper river to start seriously fishing from now on, especially as the May run gets under way.
Availability: There is no problem at the moment for availability for fishing and accommodation in the coming weeks.
Ian & Glenda Powell
Blackwater Lodge & Salmon Fishery
Upper Ballyduff, Co. Waterford.
Tel: 00 353 58 60235 From UK: 0871 474 0135 (10p/min any time!)
Mobile: 00 353 87 235 21 20
E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ireland-salmon-fishing.net
