May Salmon on the Finn.

I managed another couple of Finn springers on Saturday 11th May. There was rain forecast for Friday night and luckily I had booked a morning session on the Ivy Bridge beat so I decided to leave Louth on Friday evening and do an all nighter in the jeep so I could hit the river at first light. I awoke at 5 am to the sound of strong wind and heavy rain so I got straight down to the river knowing that it wouldn't be long before it began to rise. I started at the Graveyard Pool and fished it through with a conehead Park Shrimp without a touch despite the fact that there were quite a few fish showing. A change of tactics was in order so I  attatched  a 10' super-fast sink poly leader to my 8/9 AFS and put on a conehead Red Frances tube. I cast a bit squarer and allowed the Frances to sink before jigging the fly quickly through the pool. I was feeling confident and wasn't all that surprised when the line tightened at the sweet spot in the pool. Five minutes later, I landed a good deep springer of about 8/9lb.

As I was releasing the fish, I heard a shout from the top of the pool and saw that another angler was into a fish. By this time, it was obvious that the river was rising fast so I went up to help the chap land his fish. The angler was in a strong fish which was giving him a great scrap in a rapidly rising river. Fortunately the angler, Willie Kearney, had a landing net with him and after ten minutes drama we landed the fish. I took a few photographs of Willie's springer before releasing it safely to go about her business. one of the biggest traits of the Finn is the speed at which it rises during heavy rain. In the time it had taken Willie to land his fish, the river had become unfishable which heralded breakfast time.

John drove up from Dundalk that morning but by the time he had reached Glenfinn, the river was unfishable. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Sim and killed a few hours before making our way back to see if the river had dropped off. We met up with Willie again at the Ivy bridge and he gave us a fascinating insight into the history of the Finn and what the fishing was like in it's glory days. The river seemed to be clearing up a little so after half an hour or so, we reckoned Letterbrick on the Upper Finn could be worth a throw. We fished down the Corner Pool three times without a sniff, it's probably a couple of weeks early for up there but an early fish might just have been resting in the deep, even paced pool.
With an hour left on our beat session, we drove back down to the Graveyard and reasoned that our best chance of a hook up would be at the tail of the Graveyard. The river was still big at 3'8'' but the water was clearing nicely. I teamed my #8 Orvis Access Switch with a 510grain Airflo Skagit Switch coupled with 10' of level T14 leader. A large bottle tube Franc 'n Snaelda went on to the tippet; at least I would dig in to the heavy water. The switch rod was very handy and it meant that I was able to cast despite having to wade so close to the bank and under some overhanging branches. Slowing down the cast is key to good presentation with the skagit and I was able to comfortably cover three quarters of the river. I immediately threw in a large upstream mend and held the running line off the water until the skagit drifted downstream where I tightened up and got a nice angle on the swing. I must say that when the take came, I was surprised and delighted. A wee grilse of about 4lb gave a good account of itself in the heavy water but was soon expertly netted by John. All caught on video by Sim so with his permission, I'll try and get my hands on the footage and post the video tomorrow. I fished down the pool again and made brief contact with another fish on the skagit but it came off after a few seconds. All in all a rewarding days fishing.
 Many anglers have been arguing about the merits of skagit lines and whether they are needed for salmon fishing on the side of the Atlantic. My take on things is that the skagit is a specialised piece of equipment excellent in certain conditions. I do, however, intend to experiment with lightweight skagits and standard polyleaders because I feel there is plenty of potential uses for them. Always keep an open mind when it comes to salmon fishing!
More stories to come in the next few days. We're just back from a very eventful weeekend on the Finn so I'll try and get the blog fully up to date over the next few days.

Success At Last.

Right, it's about time I got this blog updated. Truth of the matter is, I've been busy fishing and thinking about fishing. The good news is, however, I have eventually managed to catch a springer. The Finn produced the goods Saturday 4th May. Water conditions were ideal, between 1'6'' and 2'. I arrived at the beat good and early and got stuck in at the graveyard. There were fish moving and the angler in front of me, Johnny, over from England, managed two fish on a 1/2 in Willie Gunn and a fast sinking tip. The water temperature was a mere 6 degrees and the air temp was only 1 degree so I figured that my lack of success was down to me using a small fly fished high in the water. I swiftly changed to a float/inty shooting head  with a super fast sink poly leader and a weighty Red Frances tube. Straight away I got a pull and soon I was into a fish which came off after 30 seconds. I lost another fish five minutes late so I decided to change from the salar tube single I was using to a Kamasan Specimen single. I got another few pulls and was soon into a third fish which seemed to be well hooked. A strong fight ensued but I soon landed  a lovely springer of about 10/11lb. 

 The pool when quiet after this so I headed back to the car for some grub. My waders are leaking pretty bad at the moment so a couple of hours in seriously cold water were taking their toll; fish or no fish. Petsie landed down and we shared a rod for the remaining hours of our session on the beat. Unfortunately things went very quiet and no more fish followed. 

Petsie puts out a nice line with his new Deathstar. Conditions were very tricky on the Graveyard Pool with a nasty downstream wind. He matched the Sage TCX 12'6'' with a 540grain Airflo Rage head and covered the water with ease. 

I met up with Liam in the afternoon and we fished from Mc Ginty's right down to Glenmore bridge without a sign of a fish.

Glenmore Bridge.

We fished for a couple of hours on Sunday but I was pretty worn out after 14 hours of fishing the previous day.
I have a few more updates to follow on from this trip, so I'll post again tomorrow!

All Quiet on the Home Front.

Heavy rain in Donegal last night scuppered my plans to fish the Finn today. River height was at 4ft this morning so I headed back to Louth and hit the Dee. I decided to try above Drumcar and fished from the old Dublin road down to where the Dee meets the White River.
The river was at a nice height for fishing although it was still carrying a fair tinge of colour. It was nice to get a run down this stretch of water and it was a nice opportunity to use the single hander. I used my 300 grain Orvis Switch line which is a fantastic line for single handed speycasting. The 33' head and running line are integrated which means no loops rattling through the rings. The line is superb for speycasting and also overhead casts well. I highly recommend this line for anybody who fishes a single handed rod for salmon. All I need now is to catch a few fish!

A Friday Evening on the Finn

Rain eventually arrived in the Northwest this week. There were a few fish caught on the Ivy  Bridge beat on Thursday so I was keen to get up for a throw this weekend. I took a spin up after work on Friday and was in Ballybofey by teatime. Liam, had been on the river since morning and had no luck. He said the river was rather busy and there was only a fish or two caught so the fish obviously weren't there in any great numbers yet. The Finn's a lovely river to fish when there's between a foot and two foot of water in it. It was sitting at around 1'6'' so I set up a full floating AFS head with a fast sink polyleader and a #7 Alec Jackson Parkie. I started at McGinty's and then gave Keys a throw without success. I headed up to the Chapel Footbridge and fished there into the gloaming. No fish but a beautiful evening to be on the river.
I was back at the Loughs Agency HQ this morning for the boat handling part of the IASC guiding course. I'm really enjoying doing this course. It's great meeting new people and learning about aspects of angling that I would be less familiar with. Boating is one of those areas that I haven't got much experience of so it was great to get some one to one tuition.

 Head of Keys

 Keys

McGinty's

April Arrives.

I always look forward to April. Tyrone's River Mourne opens again and there is always a chance of a Springer from opening day. Of course, myself and Liam 'Switchboy' Woods got ourselves up to give the Sion Mills AC water a throw at the end of opening week. We both had some new toys to try out and the bitterly cold weather which had persisted for most of March was finally abating. Liam is a real fan of switch rods; in fact Guideline switch rods to be precise. During the close season however, he got his hands on a Guideline LeCie 14'8'' #9/10 and a range of Guideline heads to try out. The Mourne is a big river and a proper double hander is not out of place although a switch rod is great fun to use in low water and no wind. 

               The Gravenue

          Liam manages an ultra tight loop at Purgatory.

I had been on the lookout for a mid-sized double hander for a while and I decided to plump for a Sage Z-Axis 12'9'' #8. American anglers raved about this rod and I got plenty of advice for the members of the Speypages forum. I picked it up in the Bridge Guns and Tackle shop in Strabane before heading to the office in Sion Mills to get the permits sorted. Weather conditions for the day were very bright but it made a welcome change from the cold. I teamed the new stick with a Rio AFS Float/S1 head and a polyleader. A well balanced outfit is great to cast and the Sage didn't disappoint. The sinking tip of the AFS did seem to stick a bit initially, but I soon got the hang of it. Water conditions were low so we decided to start at Purgatory and work our way downriver. 

                             Purgatory

                             New toy!

                    Banana Bottle Tube

We fished hard all morning and worked our way down from Purgatory, through the Long Streams, the Back of the Mill and down to the Woodhole until the flow got a bit too sluggish. No fish on this occasion, however. This stretch of river is one of my all time favourite spots to fish, lovely streams which fish the fly really well and which can be very productive. 

                           Back of the Mill.

After dinner, we went down to the bottom of the Sion Mills fishery and fished Lords and the Blackstone. We took a walk down to Haggins' but the was another angler fishing the run so we left him at it. We headed up to give the Grevenue a throw before finishing off. Part of the Sion experience is sitting at the Grevenue and having the craic with the local characters and this evening was no exception.

All in all, a great day. No fish, perhaps, but one will turn up soon. 

                                Lords

                        Blackstone

The following day myself and Liam collected fishing buddy James Casey and headed, yet again, for the enigmatic Lackagh. Water levels were dead low and we were in no rush to start early. We aimed to fish at the top of the tide and perhaps intercept a fish fresh in, but it didn't happen.

The previous Tuesday, I fished the Slaney in Co.Wexford for the first time. Rumours had it that it was fishing well, so when I found myself with an afternoon to spare while in Dublin for a few days, I decided to take myself down to Wexford to check it out for myself. I fished at the Farmleigh beat between Bunclody and Enniscorthy. The Slaney is a far cry from the Foyle rivers of the North West. It flows from Carlow, southbound through Wexford and empties into the Irish Sea at Wexford town. I was advised that water levels were a bit high for Farmleigh but I got stuck in regardless with the 14' LPXe. Fishing at Farmleigh was tricky. The river was too high for wading in many place and stiff upstream breeze made for tricky casting. I didn't see any fish or get any touches, but it was nice to try out a new river.

Gin clear on the Slaney.

On a side note, it looks like the fishing will have to take back seat for the next few weeks. I spent the weekend on the IASC guiding course in the Loughs Agency HQ in Derry. The course means no fishing for a few weekends but it will be well worthwhile. I've met some great people, mostly from the North west area, but some from further afield also. I'm looking forward to the next few weekends of craic, learning and banter.

 Farmleigh, River Slaney.

 Hut Pool, R.Slaney.

Dee, Finn, Lackagh and Finn Again!

I've been very busy over the past few days and haven't had the chance to report on fishing.
Let me begin by confirming that the search for my first 2013 Springer continues.
I fished the Dee twice last week along with a couple of sessions on the Finn and a day on the Lackagh.
The Dee dropped to a nice height last week although the colour lingered about for the whole spate. I fished down through a couple of runs quickly using a sinking shooting head and a large RS Super Snaelda.
No fish succumbed to the fly, not even a kelt.


          Good water on the River Dee

           The Dee

        Swinging 'er through a nice tail.

           Rod cam. on a clearing Dee.

The Finn rose to 2ft on Friday so I decided it was time to get back up to Gleann Fhinne and resume the hunt for chrome up there.

      Ivy Bridge


There was a hard frost on Friday night and with air temperatures dropping to a low of -5 in Donegal, the water dropped out of the Finn very quickly and by Saturday morning the river was under 1' on the gauge at Glenmore. According to the O.P.W. meter reading at Ballybofey, the water temperature was around 3.5c on Saturday. Seriously cold water conditions for salmon fishing. I called on Sim at Glenmore and met Joe Early, a Zpey, Echo and Airflo tackle dealer from Co.Derry as well as a couple of other familiar season rods. It was good to catch up and swap stories from last season and nobody was in much of a hurry to get to the river. I must confess that even when the fishing conditions are good, I prefer not to be in too much of a rush to get fishing. I find days out far more enjoyable when things are relaxed and chilled out.
Eventually, however, I managed to get myself sufficiently motivated to get down to the Ivy Bridge. I started off at the 'V', the pool just below the Ivy Bridge which is a great lie for salmon at any time of the year. Springers sit at the back of the pool after negotiating some heavy water. This is probably one of the most reliable throws on the whole river.

       Carlins
 I worked down through Carlins, Leonards, the Glebe and, of course, the Graveyard. The water was a bit on the low side for the Graveyard and I always find it a bit boring at this height. I also fished the Island Pools at the end of the beat but not a sign of a fish anywhere.

        Making my way down to the prime Spring lie on the Graveyard.
        It's important to hit the far bank here!

On my way back to the car, I bumped into Co.Antrim men Andy McGall and Andy Jaffrey. I bump into Andrew 'Easkey' McGall, from time to time in these parts, and it's always great to glean a few pearls of wisdom from fellow switch rod enthusiasts.


        Conehead Parkie and a Gamakatsu Octopus Single.

       Island Pool
An enjoyable, cold, first day out on the Finn. At least I have the season ticket sorted now and I can fish the open water as I please.
I hit the Lackagh for high tide on Sunday morning. I was delighted to see the river sitting just below 7 on the  guage and confidence was high.

        Covering the Eel Weir.

 Gin clear water meant that a stealthy approach was in order in case any fish were sitting at my feet. A stiff, biting wind swept up the river from the estuary down at the Ards, making life uncomfortable. Thank  goodness for Simms!

A bitterly cold upstream breeze on the Lackagh.

          Eel Weir

      Note the water clarity.

        Nice water height!
 I fished the Eel Weir using the Rio Scandi/Short Versitip for half an hour in the hope that a fish might have moved in off the tide, but nothing. I then headed up to the Grilse Pool and worked down through the Garden Pool and back to the Eel Weir.

     Tail of Grise Pool.
 I then set up my new Airflo Skagit Switch line with 10' T14 leader and a tungsten conehead Black and Yellow Snaelda. The Skagit line weighs 510 grains so overhead casting with this line on my 8wt. Orvis Access Switch will likely result in a broken rod. Using waterborne anchor casts such as the snap T and Perry Poke, the skagit flew out and turned over the level sink-tip effortlessly. This line has serious potential for dredging. It's sure not subtle but it has a worthy place in any salmon anglers armoury. I might try and get my hands on some of the Skagit Master DVDs and try to adapt some of the techniques used by North American Steelhead Rats for use on Irish Atlantics. It will probably be more difficult using the skagit on my local rivers where overhead casting is often needed but I'll try it out next week anyway. I finished up early afternoon on the Lackagh without a touch of a fish.

           Skagit Time!
It was back to the Finn on Monday morning. The bank holiday meant that an extra days fishing was possible. The Finn was relatively quiet Monday morning; sore heads were probably had by manys a man after the St. Patrick's day festivities. I fished down through Key's and then tried Martin's before heading up to McGinty's.
A few hours fishing sated my angling appetite for a few days and I headed back down to the Wee County. Easter holidays on Friday means that I'll get a chance to do some more fishing in the coming days and I'll endeavour to keep the updates regular while I'm out and about.


           Head of Keys

           Keys






      Tail of the Grilse Stream

         Gleann Fhinne; ag amharc i dtreo na Cruacha Gorma.

          McGinty's

      Top of McGinty's

I plan to fish local for the first week of the holidays. It's raining heavily at the minute so we'll probably have very high rivers around here for a good few days. Once they clear however, I'll be up on the Dee and Glyde searching for that ridiculously elusive springer.
I've a few new purchases to look forward to: A new jungle cock cape will inspire me to get to the vice; I've a load of half finished flies lying about the place. I've a 5wt Orvis Switch line on the way for my 5wt Access although this rod will not be brought out of hibernation until the grilse start running the Finn in earnest. I'm also selling my 13' #9 Grey's Greyflex Mk2 so if any of you want a nice spate river rod, get in touch!