Salmon A Plenty

As the Bandon waves goodbye to August and says hello to September, we reflect on what has been a fairly productive month for salmon fishing. Since my last update, the river has been cleansed by the highest flood of the summer on the 22nd. This shifted a lot of the algae which had built up on the lower river and ensured anglers were fishing a pristine river on the 23rd. Many salmon were forthcoming, however many of these were stale fish.

James Barry throwing a line across the Bandon after a small rise in water levels.

Nevertheless, fishermen enjoyed very good sport and a few fresh autumn salmon to twelve pounds were also among the catches. On the 23rd, I had the pleasure of guiding Mr. Dominic Moseley on his first day out fly fishing for salmon and after a couple hours tuition he was delighted to catch his first ever salmon of four pounds. What great sport on a light single handed rod!

Mr. Dominic Moseley with his first ever salmon, a 4lb grilse on the fly.

It must be be one of the most satisfying feelings watching everything click into place for a fisherman and Mr. Moseley went home a very happy man. Venturing out myself during the week whenever the time came my way, salmon showed interest in the fly and lure but just weren't sticking. One fresh grilse of five to six pounds hammered my DUO Realis Rozante 63 SP lure in the Komochi colour. I knew the fish wasn't hooked very well when it kept on shaking vigorously and after five minutes we unfortunately parted company.

On its first outing the DUO Realis Rozante 63 SP grabbed the attention of a fresh salmon. Hopefully the next one sticks!

As shrimp and worm fishing is prohibited on Bandon Angling Association club waters in September, I took the opportunity and fished worms last Sunday. Fishing a light line and keeping direct contact between myself and the bait, a hasty strike resulted in a coloured grilse of four pounds or so. A couple of silver bars were in evidence however these remained very quite and seemed to be uneasy as they were preoccupied with migrating further upriver.

A bronze beauty ready for release.

More rain is forecast this weekend in the south west and if it falls over the Shehy Mountains in Dunmanway then we could be in for some more great sport with salmon. Hopefully a more consistent run of fresh autumn salmon is around the corner and the next flood may be just what is needed to kick start fishing for the final month before the curtains draw on yet another season.

An autumn chill is now in the air. Will we see one more good run of fresh salmon before the season's end?