Baron Bandon, Blackie and Sea

Haven't had the chance to update the blog in a while as access to a laptop has been very limited and I've started  an internship. Well for the last month I have put in a good effort to say the least, but rewards at this time of year can be hard to come by when it comes to spring salmon. I have spent a good bit of time on the Bandon and fished a day up at Blackwater Lodge at the end of February. Allocaton of beat to me was Kents which I had never seen or fished before. The beat starts with a lovely riffled section, aided by croys on Kents Island. This section, known as the Island Stream, is then followed by the Hut Pool, Gorman's Pool, Beach Flat, the Boulders and lastly Tommy's Pool, so plenty of water to cover for your days fishing. Below are photos showing the beat from the top down.

I gave it the full lash using fly and spinner. No fresh fish were evident that day but one was caught a couple of days previously and another lost at the net. The one bright not was Glenda Powell catching her biggest ever salmon on her birthday, a 16lb kelt on the fly! Alas no more spring fish were to be caught until March 15th.

After time spent on the river I gave the sea fishing a bash looking for an elusive bass or sea trout on the lure, trying marks around Cork Harbour and West Cork. Visits to the marks were met with less than brilliant conditions however and myself and a buddy were drawing blanks. The weather at the time was mightily cold, definitely contributing to the lack of action. As they say fish bite the least when the wind is from the east! It is still early days for the bass also though and at least getting out on some marks I've never fished before gives me experience of them so I'm more prepared for when the water warms up and the fish are in.

On the Bandon not a whole pile has been happening as it is still early days. I caught a couple more kelts and saw 1 more fresh fish after the rise on the 11th. No sign of fresh sea trout yet and just before the deluge yesterday the brownies were beginning to creep out of the deep holes. Just like the sea fishing I've been looking at new spots on the river and I cannot wait to fish them when the fish are in. Rather than sticking to the usual spots it is nice to get out and look for the new places to try and you get a better picture of the river as a whole. To finish off the update, a photo of Baxter's Bridge.

Some fresh fish about on the Bandon

Great news shortly after the opening day of the season with word of a fresh fish caught at the weir in Bandon on the fly weighing around 6lbs. This gives everyone a boost in confidence knowing that a couple are running. The cold easterly winds all week didn't help fishing at all, they're the worst winds you could have. All  I managed was an old sea trout not far off 3lb on a red and silver flying c and another kelt around 9lb. This fish was in even better condition than the one pictured in the last post and gave me a fright with the initial 30 yard run! The fish even had a little bit of bulk about him, obviously another very late runner. Checked the gills to be sure. Although I didn't contact any fresh fish I saw 2 in the one spot which left me in no doubt that they were of the 2013 variety. Deep, very broad fish along the backs, the biggest was hovering around the 10-12lb mark, which is brilliant to see. The easterlies are supposed to lose power and shift altogether in a different direction from Tuesday/ Wednesday on which will be very welcome.

Above is a Dee Sheep and a Willie Gunn tied on 15mm brass propeller tubes with a clear soft sonicdisc fitted at the head. These are to be used in conjunction with the swing tubes. This is the first time I tried tying a plamered body, really like the look it gives. Testing these in the water today the sonicdisc realy does help the flies movement, even with a brass body. Must tie some up with plastic bodies also which will boost the movement even more. With news of a few fish coming off the Blackwater this week and some mild weather coming in next week, these lads will be the first out of the box.

Bandon Opening Day

The River Bandon opened on Friday the 15th of February with perfect water, hovering around the 0.3m mark on the gauge in Bandon and dropping slowly. I managed to get out for a couple of hours in the afternoon and caught 3 kelts, losing another. The condition of the kelts is exceptional. A possible reason for this is they are late running fish which have recently spawned and so have not spent long in fresh water. This has also been echoed on the Blackwater, aswell as other rivers. Below is a quick photo I took of the first kelt before release.

As you can see its pure silver with no sign of any disease or ragged fins. The gills were also very red in colour, although I didn't check for maggots. The other 2 were also in pristine condition. Many old fish were caught by other fisherman who ventured out, alas no sign of a fresh fish. February is always going to be the toughest month of the year, but no doubt some are running so there is always a chance.

Set up for the day was my Bill Drury Multi Tip Spey line, to which I attached a Guideline DDC Connect Multi Tip S6/S7,  short 4 foot leader and 3 inch Monkey fly tied on a 15mm aluminium bottle tube. This set up allowed me to get my fly as deep as I wanted by throwing in upstream mends and some slack line as soon as it landed on the water. I'm confident that if there had been any fresh fish around my fly would have been sufficiently deep enough to scratch them on the nose!

4 days to go...

Went for a small walk yesterday and the river is looking in fine fettle, just rising and colouring up a tad after some rain. Below is a quick blog of a couple more tyings, the first influenced by looking at the water yesterday, I imagined it to be perfect for a Gold Bodied Willie Gunn. It is tied with yellow and orange tanuki, gold holo tinsel and a black cock feather in front.

After the GBWG there is the Kinermony Killer, a red shrimp fly and the ever popular Monkey fly.

To finish, a few photos of the river from yesterday.