Bring on the Southerlies!!

Well at last it looks like the winds may be a changing and its about time! For what seems like ages now the wind has been continuously dominated from an easterly direction. The snow was bad up the country and even down here we woke up to a light covering of snow 3 mornings in a row. The water is still freezing and last Good Friday while trying out some New Zealand style nymphing, well, I may aswell have been piddling against the wind! I would usually have a few spring sea trout picked up by now but they have yet to start running the river. Still there are signs of some fresh salmon running, more so the last couple of days. The rise in temperatures over the weekend will see more lads out and hopefully some fish being caught, as long as we don't get too much rain. I'd be out this evening now with the winds easing a tad, only I have a head cold kicking in!
Tied some flies a few evenings ago, Ally's and Parks. Having tied a few with just finn raccoon I found that too much of the time I was getting the dreaded tail wrap. No use in throwing a fly out and it not swimming properly, only wasting time which is of the essence at this time of the year and every cast has to count. Now I have started to tie in a light bunch of bucktail prior to tying in the finn raccoon and the results have been great with the tail wrap now eliminated, yet I have still kept the great movement of the finn raccoon. Below is an Ally's Shrimp tied on a size 6 single Daiichi 2421 multi use salmon hook and the Park is tied on a size 10 Ken Sawada SD1 low water hook. The tails may look bulky and fluffy but in the water they thin out and really come to life.

This is a great time of year to see otters in the day time. In the last 2 weeks I have seen no less than 8 individual otters, the last 6 as pairs and all at different parts of the river. Managed to get a couple of shots.

Quick Update

Photo of fish caught during the week on the Bandon (not mine!) 12lbs and caught on a Flying C.

River 0.62 in Bandon now and dropping quickly. Was 0.75 at 12 this afternoon. Should be around 0.4 tomorrow. Very good clarity. Water will be very good for the coming week so hopefully we see some more. Gave it a few hours this afternoon above Baxter's Bridge. Bit high for spinning, just had to cast well upstream, leave it sink and retrieve it slowly.

Below is a video I came across on youtube of some very good spring fishing on the North Esk in Scotland. Other rivers are also covered, including the Tay and Dee. Mighty scrap of a 17lb fish on the Tay caught using a Megabass Vision 110 lure.

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.