Joint Best Day of the Season - Saturday, May 24.............

For the second time this season, we have had four fish caught in one day - yesterday May 24.
Even more remarkable was that this was achieved for just 7 rod days total for the day.

Conor Arnold had a great day on one of our upper beats near Mallow - he met six fish (4 on fly & 2 on spinner), played four, landed & released a fish of 10¼lb. & lost a fish at the net. All the fish were into double figures.
Dave Walsh who was fishing with him also hooked three & landed one of 8lb.


A bit further down around Castletownroche, young James O'Keeffe caught a 9 pounder on one of his own flies (again).

Joe Morrissey caught this 7 pounder on spinner on another beat in the area.

Current Situation & Prospects: Saturday, May 24

Weather: 

An overcast rainy day at 08.00. Overnight I had just 1.5mm rain on my gauge. A band of showers swept through the catchment from the east yesterday. There is some heavier rain coming into the upper catchment a bit later today.

   River Height:    

  The graph below shows the height of the river at Millstreet today at 07.00 today.
 
 Millstreet:  The upper river rose a centimeter or so @ 18.00 at Millstreet
                    – falling then by 4cm overnight. Down to 0.66m @ 07.00 & falling slowly.

Killavullen:   Down to 1.1.39m at 07.00.

  Ballyduff:   Down to 0.51m @ 07.00 & holding. The level held on the lower river
                    at Ballyduff late yesterday morning & then fell 3cm overnight.

Colour/Clarity:  

It was about 2½ feet on the upper river at Killavullen late - improving steadily throughout the day.
It improved during the day from 1 to 1½ feet on the lower river.
 
Temperatures:  

Water @    Ballyduff:    10.8ºC    51.4ºF.
 Water @ Killavullen:    11.9 -  11.0ºC.
     Air @    Ballyduff:     9ºC  @ 08.00  today.

Run of Fish: 

Very few fish seen yesterday.
                        
Catches:  

Best March since 2006 with nine fish to 12lb. caught.
April 14:  Best Day of Season so far.
4 fish to 14lb. caught - 3 on fly.
Two released on fly on the 14^th. May on the upper river & several lost.
One good fish lost after 10 minutes Thursday 15^th.
A 9 pounder released on prawn on the top beat on the 18^th.

Methods:   

Should be just OK for fly on the upper beats today.
Spin/bait fishable on the lower river.

Prospects: 
Looks like more rain for this afternoon in the upper catchment. We will probably have slightly higher water tomorrow

Current Situation & Prospects: Friday, May 23

Weather: 

A blustery overcast day at 13.00.
Overnight I had just 0.5mm rain on my gauge. The radar sequence showed showers going through the catchment in the early hours of this morning. Later today, a band of rain will sweep into the catchment from the east.

   River Height:    

 
 Millstreet:  Down to 0.62m @ 13.00 & holding or just rising.

Killavullen:  Down to 1.40m at 12.30.

  Ballyduff:   Down to 0.54m @ 13.00 & holding.


Colour/Clarity:  

About 2 feet on the upper river at Killavullen @ 07.00.
Very poor at Ballyduff at less than a foot @ 07.00.

 
Temperatures:  

Water @    Ballyduff:    10.8ºC    51.4ºF.
 Water @ Killavullen:    12.3 -  11.5ºC.
     Air @    Ballyduff:     9ºC  @ 07.00  today.

Run of Fish: 

Very few fish seen yesterday.
                        
Catches:  

Best March since 2006 with nine fish to 12lb. caught.
April 14:  Best Day of Season so far.
4 fish to 14lb. caught - 3 on fly.
Two released on fly on the 14^th. May on the upper river & several lost.
One good fish lost after 10 minutes Thursday 15^th.
A 9 pounder released on prawn on the top beat on the 18^th.

Methods:   

Just OK for fly on the upper beats this morning.
Barely spin/bait fishable on the lower river.

Prospects: 
Looks like some rain for tonight. We will probably have slightly higher water for the weekend.

Current Situation & Prospects: Wednesday, May 21

Weather: 

A beautiful calm sunny morning at 06.00.
Overnight I had another 1mm rain on my gauge. The radar sequence shows heavy rain in the very top of the catchment in the early hours of this morning. Earlier yesterday, heavy rain swept from the east going up the catchment.
Quite dry for today & tomorrow & then broken from Friday to Sunday.

   River Height:    

  The graph below shows the height of the river at Millstreet today at 04.15.
 
 Millstreet:  Was down to 0.62m @ 22.30 last night. Up to 1.07m @ 04.15.

Killavullen:  Was down to 1.34m at midnight & is just starting to rise.

  Ballyduff:   Peaked at 0.73m @ 04.30 & just starting to drop.


Colour/Clarity:  

About 4 feet on the upper river at Killavullen @ 07.00.
Very poor at Ballyduff at less than a foot @ 07.00.

 
Temperatures:  

Water @    Ballyduff:    11.0ºC    51.8ºF.
 Water @ Killavullen:    12.6 -  12.0ºC.
     Air @    Ballyduff:     9ºC  @ 07.00  today.

Run of Fish: 

Very few fish seen yesterday.
                        
Catches:  

Best March since 2006 with nine fish to 12lb. caught.
April 14:  Best Day of Season so far.
4 fish to 14lb. caught - 3 on fly.
Two released on fly on the 14^th. May on the upper river & several lost.
One good fish lost after 10 minutes Thursday 16^th.
A 9 pounder released on prawn on the top beat yesterday.

Methods:   

OK even for fly on the upper beats this morning. Will get worse.
Barely spin/bait fishable on the lower river.

Prospects: 

Fishable today around Ballyhooly. Next couple of days depends on the amount of dirty water coming down from the top!

Current Situation & Prospects: Tuesday, May 20 @ 14.00

Weather: 

A beautiful calm sunny morning at 08.00.
Overnight I had another 7mm rain on my gauge. The radar sequence shows heavy showers going across the upper catchment in the early hours of the morning. The forecast looks to be for more rain this afternoon & showery for the rest of the week.

   River Height:    

  The graph below shows the height of the river at Millstreet today at 12.30
 

 Millstreet:  Down to 0.62m @ 13.15.

Killavullen:  Peaked @ 1.42m @ 05.00 yesterday morning. 1.34m @ 13.00 today.

  Ballyduff:   0.50m @ 13.15 & rising very slowly.

                          Below the Lodge @ 09.15 this morning.

Colour/Clarity:  

About 3 feet on both the lower & upper river.

 
Temperatures:  

Water @    Ballyduff:    10.6ºC    51.1ºF.
 Water @ Killavullen:    11.7 -  12.6ºC.
     Air @    Ballyduff:    13ºC  @ 09.00  today.

Run of Fish: 

Very few fish seen yesterday.
                        
Catches:  

Best March since 2006 with nine fish to 12lb. caught.
April 14:  Best Day of Season so far.
4 fish to 14lb. caught - 3 on fly.
Two released on fly on the 14^th. May on the upper river & several lost.
One good fish lost after 10 minutes Thursday 16^th.
A 9 pounder released on prawn on the top beat yesterday.

Methods:   

In absolutely superb fly order.  Good for all methods with medium-high summer level.

Prospects: 

Looks like plenty of rain for tonight.
We will probably have higher water in the latter part of the week.

Current Situation & Prospects: Monday, May 19

Weather: 

A calm overcast morning at 07.00.
Overnight I had 5mm rain on my gauge. The radar sequence shows a band of rain coming up from the South which only passed over the lower catchment – missing the upper catchment altogether, so it should have little effect on the river.
The forecast looks to be for heavy rain for Tuesday/Wednesday followed by high pressure building again later in the week.

   River Height:    

  The graph below shows the height of the river at Millstreet today:
 

  Millstreet:  Peaked @ 0.75m @ 19.00 yesterday. Down to 0.70m @01.00 which was the last reading.

Killavullen:  1.40m @ 01.00 this morning (last reading) – up 8cm since 07.00 yesterday morning.

Ballyduff:   0.46m @ 01.15. Rising slowly & steadily.

 The river below the Lodge this morning at 08.00am.  Ballyduff gauge 0.48m


Colour/Clarity:  

About 4 feet on both the lower & upper river.

 
Temperatures:  

Water @    Ballyduff:    10.6ºC    51.1ºF.
 Water @ Killavullen:    13.3 -  12.3ºC.
     Air @    Ballyduff:    12ºC  @ 07.00  today.

Run of Fish: 

Very few fish seen yesterday.
                        
Catches:  

Best March since 2006 with nine fish to 12lb. caught.
April 14:  Best Day of Season so far.
4 fish to 14lb. caught - 3 on fly.
Two released on fly on the 14^th. May on the upper river & several lost.
One good fish lost after 10 minutes Thursday 16^th.
A 9 pounder released on prawn on the top beat yesterday.
Very few rods out in the last couple of days.


Methods:   

In absolutely superb fly order.  Good for all methods with medium-high summer level.

Prospects: 

Looks good for today & probably tomorrow. From Wednesday on will depend very much on the rain which is forecast. It looks as if we may have higher water in the latter part of the week.