I've never seen so many salmon in the river..............

 This is what many anglers have
been saying to me when they
come back from the river in the
last week or so.

Huge numbers of fish but not inclined to take anything.



This is the river yesterday
with the Ballyduff gauge on 0.40m.

The lower river is now at
its lowest level since June 2.


The clarity was ~4-5 feet but appeared to drop to about 3 feet yesterday.

The upper river is also falling steadily
and is at its lowest level since July 30.

On some beats, anglers are
seeing huge numbers of fish
- both rather coloured residents
but also fresh fish running,

They had however been
remarkably difficult to catch.
Yesterday, things picked up with 4 fish to 11.4lbs. 2 French anglers had 3 fish to 11.4lb - 2 on the fly.

This lovely 10 pounder was taken by John Lambourn
from the UK on fly on the Hut Pool on Upper Kilmurry
on September 13.

The First Autumn Fish
Jean-Francois Le Meur (right) from Britanny
caught the first autumn fish I have seen this month
on the fly at the Hut Pool on Upper Kilmurry.
It was absolutely fresh & weighed 11.4lb.
he released another fish of 5lb.

His brother Andre (left) had a fresh 8 pounder
from the same pool also on fly.

Prospects
It looks as if fish are starting to come on the take finally.
Fly is by far the most successful method so far for September.

It's looking very promising indeed for the extension
to October 12th.

I have already had 3 fish reported so far
by 11.00am - all on the fly.

River now in perfect condition......

This is the Blackwater below the Lodge
this afternoon.

In perfect condition.
Medium high summer level & excellent clarity.

The spell of dry weather has seen the river
drop to an excellent height for the time of year
& it has now fined off to superb clarity.

The height at Killavullen is now 1.34m.
The clarity is ~5 feet.

The lower river is also dropping  slowly & steadily & is now at a super fly height & clarity.

The gauge is on 0.50m this afternoon.
The clarity is ~5 feet.

There are huge numbers of fish running
the upper & lower river, but they are intent
on running & are not taking well at all.

So far we have 53 fish to 17.2lb for 112 rod days for September.

The total for the season is 435.






Prospects
There was a small amount of rain this orning, but the forecast is now dry for the rest of the week.
The river should continue to fine off & hopefully the huge numbers of fish running & already present will come on the take.

River continues to drop.........................

The river continues to drop slowly but steadily.
1.39m @ Killavullen & 0.52m @ Ballyduff this morning.
Clarity ~5 feet throughout.
We had 8 fish caught yesterday including 3 on fly for one rod in an hour in the morning around 9.00am.
Still very large numbers of fish being seen, but still reluctant to take.

The river continues to fine off.....

This was the river below the Lodge at 15.00 today.

A glorious day with the sun splitting the stones.

Not something we've been used to this summer at all.

The Ballyduff gauge was at 0.56m at 15.00.

This means that many of the fly runs are now becoming accessible.

This is the lowest level since August 3.

Clarity is now 4-5 feet.

The Killavullen gauge is at 1.39m @ 15.00

The clarity is ~ 5 feet.

There are very large numbers of fish being seen, especially on our upper beats between Ballyhooly and Mallow.

Some of the lower beats also have a very big head of fish in them, with a number of larger (double figure) resident fish.

The fish are very hard to temp since Monday, though some are falling to very small shrimp flies on intermediate tips.


The total for August to the 6th (so far) is 39 fish to 17.2lb for 54 rod days.
The total for the season to date is 421.


Prospects
The dry weather is due to continue up to the weekend.
The river is fining off well & the clarity is approaching 5 feet throughout.
Prospects of sport once the fish settle is excellent.

Best Day & Second Best Fish of Season.........

September has started rather well.
On the 1st., six fish were caught including 5 on fly.

Best Day of 2012 - September 2
The water was falling & clearing from the most recent flood, we recorded the Best Day so far this year with 19 fish to 12lb. caught for 16 rod days.
Two anglers had 4 each on fly, including a 12 pounder & another had 3 to 11.4lb which was his Personal Best. 10 in total fell to fly.
In the last 2 days, large numbers of fish have been seen running on both the upper & lower river, but they are surprisingly reluctant to take.

On the 3rd., seven fish were caught 
including this fine 10.7 pounder
which was taken on fly on our lowest beat
~3 miles downstream of the Lodge
by Peter Duggan from Co. Tipperary.

The Second Biggest of the 2012 Season

Yesterday (4th.) 80 years young Ken Tucker from Carlow
landed this fine 17.2lb fish on Kents all on his own
- some achievement.

It is the biggest fish he has caught for many years!

Now the rains have finally stopped,
the river is fining off into superb condition.

The gauge at Killavullen is now at 1.42m
and the clarity of the water is 4-5 feet.

Big numbers of fish are being reported running through the upper beats again this morning.

The Ballyduff gauge continues to drop steadily but slowly.  This morning it was on 0.60m - the lowest it has been since August 3rd. 


The clarity is ~4 feet, but it is still rather peaty.

This is the river below the Lodge this morning.

Prospects.
The prospects for the next week are excellent.
As the river drops, fish should settle & come on the take.
There is a huge head of fish in the upper river, & there have been a number of double figure fish caught on the lower river which were obviously residents & not just running through.

Availability
For rods & B&B accommodation is OK in the coming weeks. There is some self-catering accommodation still available also.

Fish are starting to take the fly...........

This was the Blackwater on this beautiful sunny day at 08.00 this morning.

What a complete change in the weather.

The forecast is for dry weather right thru' to the end of next week.

The river is continuing to fall & fine off.

The Ballyduff gauge was on 0.77m this morning.

The Killavullen gauge webpage has not been updated since 22.45 last night at which time it was on 1.57m.
Hopefully it will be back online soon.

The clarity is 2-2½ feet on the lower river, &
2½-3 feet on the upper river, & improving steadily all the time.


Catches & Prospects
By 10.00, I had already heard of a couple of fish on fly on one of our upper beats.
Size 14 Cascade on intermediate tip was working.
I also heard of at least 3 other fish on fly from other private beats by then. 

With the good forecast & the river settling, prospects for sport in the coming week are awesome!