Salmon Fishing in Ireland
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Most of my salmon fishing in Ireland has been at the Kilcoleman Fishery in the County Cork. The Bandon is a lovely river flowing through scenic farmland and has produced good catches for me and my guests for many years. But this year I headed to the County Mayo in the west of Ireland to fish some new water.
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Oct, 2009:
The season for salmon closed a few days ago. Last month I traveled to the west to fish two rivers I had not fished before. Years past I had seen the rivers and made a mental note to someday fish them. The two fisheries; The River Erriff and the River Owenduff, though both located in the County Mayo and each a spate river, could not have more dissimilar surroundings.
The river Erriff has its origins in the dramatic mountains of westernmost Connemara while the Owenduff flows through a bog in the shadow of the Neffin Beg mountains. It is the largest blanket bog that is left in Europe.
Scenic farms dot the valley of the Erriff. Sheep and cattle graze in pastures that climb high into the hills. One of the beats on the Erriff runs through an ancient oak forest and it is here that you are likely to see a leprechaun, if you ever will. An old Irishman once told me, concerning the little people; "you can believe in them or you can not believe in them, but they're there..."
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But September had been a dry month. Although it was too wet for much of the summer for farmers get in to their fields, now it was dry?very dry. A spate river is one that needs a rain, a spate, to raise the water to a fishable level. With a rise in water level salmon can then much better navigate the river and begin to enter and run up to hold in lies where they seem to await the urge to spawn. These fish, fresh from the sea are more likely to take a fly and the faster flowing water gives action to the fly as it swings across the current.
Most salmon fishers agree that in low water conditions the fish seem to hunker down and the longer they are in the river the less likely they are to strike. And without a good flow of water through the pools it is hard to achieve the proper presentation of a fly.
I was greeted at Aasleagh Lodge on the River Erriff by James Strafford the fishery manager. I was assigned to fish beat #9 the following day. Beat #9 is the lowest beat on the river and includes Aasleagh Falls and the fast runs below it that empty into the sea pool which is tidal. It was good news for with the falls and the fast runs to the sea pool it was the beat most likely to produce. Fishing on the Erriff begins at 9:00 am; after breakfast, but those assigned beat #9 (the closest to the lodge) are often allowed to fish an hour or so before breakfast.
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| Trevor Stafford Aasleagh Falls |
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| Aasleagh Lodge The River Erriff |
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I started at 7:00 the next morning and by 7:30 I hooked and landed a grilse, bright and fresh from the sea I had seen the fish roll at the tail-out of a pool and induced the fish to take a green butt hitch-tube. That was the last fish I saw in two days of fishing. The following day another grilse was taken below the falls by a guest from Germany. But I saw enough of the river and its lovely surroundings to make me want to fish it again when the water is right?maybe next year.
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There were four other anglers staying at the lodge while I was there. One couple was from Germany and the other Austria. They had all fished the river many times before and they each had a philosophical attitude towards the poor conditions. I asked them, at dinner, what was the reason they came to Ireland and why did they choose to fish the river Erriff. They all agreed that when the river was right it was a joy to fish and had been productive for them. They were charmed by the Irish culture and slower pace of life. The pubs and the traditional music played in some of them was also an attraction. A French angler summing it up when asked why he chose to fish the Erriff answered; “It is not a matter of choice when you are in love…and I am in love with this river.”
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| Killary Harbour |
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| A nice thing about Ireland is that if the fishing is off there are many sights to see. And that is what I did for the next four days?I became a tourist. The weather was perfect for sightseeing, sunny and clear, the type of bright day that salmon fishermen dread.
The Owenduff was too low to fish and the fishery manager, John Campbell advised against even trying. John manages the water controlled by The Rock House on the upper reaches of the Owenduff.
The Rock House is a lovely manor house built in 1820 and recently redecorated. I spent a couple of nights at the Rock House, a few years back, the accommodation and the food was excellent.
Unfortunately the river was fully booked (4 rods) at the time and so I wasn't able to fish the Owenduff.
But John Campbell did take me on an extended tour of the river and the great bog that surrounds it. The bog although flat and not exactly spectacular at first sight proved to be alive with the most interesting flora and fauna. John showed me carnivorous plants, bog wood thousands of years old and pointed out raised potato beds that had been abandoned during the famine years (1840's).
The "bog wood, limbs branches and trunks buried in the bog and washed free from the banks of the river, are from trees that stood when Moses was leading the children of Israel out of Egypt.
The river flowing through this most interesting and intriguing place has the reputation of being one of the best salmon rivers in the country. I had been hoping to get back to fish it for years since... Maybe next year?
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