February Silver on the Drowes

The River Drowes is located in County Leitrim and flows into Donegal Bay. Flowing out of Lough Melvin, it is a short river of only 5 miles in length. Opening on January 1st, it traditionally produces Ireland's first spring salmon of the year. This year the river got off to a slow start but last week saw catches improving. Keeping an eye on updates, water levels and the weather forecast, my buddy Mike made a late call last week to go up there and fish the weekend as conditions looked very good. Time to pack the gear and start the long journey north for our maiden voyage!

Tackling up at 8.30 Saturday morning with the gauge hovering around the 0.65m mark, we began fishing in front of our cottage in Lareen Estate at the Boat House and worked our way down to the Blackwater using fly and spinner. The Drowes in this upper section is quite a shallow running river in most parts, punctuated by several weirs. These weirs produce a diversity of flows, creating several streams to swing a fly in.

Later on we drove downstream to the Four Masters bridge and fished from the Alder Pool down to the infamous Mill Pool. Employing my 13 footer with a RIO AFS Hover shooting head, I attached a RIO Spey Versileader with a sinking rate of 4 ips and a conehead gold Willie Gunn. Mike opted for his shorter switch rod, matching sink tip line and used a variety of flies. Between us we covered the river for a few hours without a pull in all manners of weather, from glorious sunshine to battering hail. Confidence lifted for a short while as I saw a fish head and tail in one of the many pools, alas it looked like it was running hard.

For the evening shift, we ventured back up to the top of the fishery and worked our way through the pools once again. Fly, spinner, shrimp and worm, the lot was drowned at one stage or another. But as the light faded we had to admit defeat and so we retired to the cottage and made plans for the following day.

For the last roll of the dice, we settled on having a look at the fishing around Lennox's Bridge. Wandering upstream equipped with spinning rods, we came to a lovely piece of water called Briney's. The pool consisted of a fast, shallow head, an even flow in the main body through to the tail which held a bit of depth. 

With only a couple of hours to go before we had to hit the road for Cork, I persevered here hoping that at some stage a springer would come by. On my third run down through the pool my black and copper flying c was halted mid way as I struck into a fish. Initially I was startled after hundreds of casts without a sniff, but soon enough I copped on and 5 minutes later Mike slipped the net under a 7lb beauty. 

I was ecstatic with my prize, this being my earliest spring salmon to date. What a feeling to have the fish in the net as our long journey and persistence had paid off. My new Shimano Spheros 6000 reel stood up to the challenge and I'm looking forward to seeing how it copes with spinning in high water conditions for the rest of the year.

The Drowes Salmon Fishery certainly is a beauty, and is managed with the utmost of professionalism and care by Shane Gallagher and Bill Likely. Their hospitality was second to none, from the kettle boiling as soon as we stepped in the door on Saturday morning, to providing a big bag of blocks for the evening fire! Every pool is tended to and wooden walkways along the river make fishing a joy. It sets an example to other fisheries around the country and the long expedition to the other end of the Wild Atlantic Way will certainly be made again.

Narrow Windows of Opportunity

When you think of bass lure fishing conditions there are a number of factors to consider. Ideally, you want a light/moderate southerly wind, a decent but comfortable swell and clean water with a bit of that magical fizz. Match these elements with a favourable set of tides and usually your chances of a fish increase dramatically. All of these ingredients combined early one morning last week when I enjoyed catching 4 west Cork bass before breakfast.

Again, fish were focusing in on hard plastic lures. Interestingly, a couple of the bass had been gorging on a jellyfish- like organism called Velella. These are surface dwelling cnidarians whose travels around the ocean are dictated by the wind. They are also known as "blue by-the-wind sailors" due to their colour and the fact they possess a sail. Opportunistic these fish certainly are!
Last weekend the sea was stirred up by strong onshore winds rendering lure fishing a useless exercise. However over the last 2 days the winds direction reversed and the sea has calmed down. Venturing out for a cast today, before the weather is due to change for the worse, I lost 2 fish. One of these nailed a surface lure after missing it at the first strike, alas it shook the hook. From now on conducive conditions will be fewer and farther between so we just have to make the most of them when they come along!

Finally, for anyone interested in taking up lure fishing for bass, Absolute Fishing are starting to run courses again, free of charge. The course will cover everything from the gear you will need, tides and safety to learning how to read the water and work your lures effectively for optimum results. Courses commence on Saturday mornings from 10am till 1pm. For more information, you can contact the shop through Facebook or ring them on 051393559.

Bass by Night

Before the recent windy weather, day time lure fishing for bass drew nothing but blanks. Surveying various marks and chucking a multitude of lures in different tides all resulted in the same end product. Time to ring the changes and a plan for a night time foray was hatched. Myself and a friend hit the rocks just before nightfall to help us gain our bearings. Already the temperature was down to single figures and dropping with a northerly wind flattening the sea ahead. With the first area provoking little response we scuttled over to another platform of rocks which were now submerged by water with the incoming tide. Clipping on our shallow diving lures the action started from the off. Rod buckling over, I was into the first fish of the evening which turned out to be a new personal best fish brushing 8lbs in weight.

The shear power of this fish was breath taking. Every time I thought she was tiring she sprinted off on another surging run. In prime condition, we admired her before slipping her back into the water. Such a good start to the evening, was this to be it or were there more Dicentrarchus labrax to come? Rob hasn't been fishing for long but has really taken to the sport this year. He caught some great trout in Ballinlough during the spring and ever since has been doing his best to latch onto a bass. All his efforts were about to pay off as the pair of us enjoyed some hectic sport over the next hour and a half.

Putting a very slow, steady retrieve into practise whilst keeping the rod tip up from the water, we hooked 12 fish in all. Sport was frantic as we brought 3 fish each to hand. 2 fish totally did me in by going around rocks and breaking my braid, taking with them my lures. We all hate losing lures but the presence of so many obliging fish more than made up for it. The rest of the fish landed were schoolies in the 2-4lb bracket.

The tides are beginning to build up again and the winds will hopefully die down a bit so hopefully day time sport will improve soon. The weather is still mild and the water temperature is around 15 degrees Celsius so we should see bass attacking our lures for another while yet.

Keeping an eye on the river, fish continued to ascend the weir in Bandon in big numbers. Its such a magnificent sight and many people took the chance to embrace one of nature's greatest events.

Salmon Leap for Joy

The rain has come at last and not a moment too soon for salmo salar. Gone is the sight of low, almost stagnant water to be replaced by a high, oxygen filled flow. In a nutshell, the season will be remembered for the lack of water rather than the lack of fish. The levels preceding the recent rain had a lot of people saying it was the lowest they had ever seen the river. Below is a photo illustrating just how low it was at one stage; a medium sized river reduced to nothing more than a mere trickle.

By night I fished the river Bandon for sea trout on the fly, returning fish up to a pound and half in weight. Algae made fishing almost impossible at times. The seasons end drawing closer was enough motivation for me to make the most of the final few nights.

As I mentioned in my previous post I had all but stopped fishing for salmon. But luckily a small, dirty flood during the 3rd week of September saw a few fish moving and I unfortunately lost 3 fish whilst spinning. I put this down to the water being so full of algae as the fish, although forthcoming, just couldn't see the lure properly. Next day the fresh water had run off and so had the suspended debris. At least one fish of about 6lbs still had a desire to attack my spinner. Playing her quick and taking a photo of her in the water ensured she swam off like a rocket.

Rising water on October 6th saw an increase of 6 feet in levels, releasing the resident salmon from their shackles. What a comfort it must be for them to at last be able to migrate as they please. Some fish were held up for so long in the same pools that gravel could be seen dug up out of frustration as if they were spawning. Alas, they are now free to hone in on their natal spawning gravels.

If you try to photograph salmon leaping over a weir/waterfall, a technique I find useful is to find the area where most fish are jumping. Next, use the automatic focus function on your lens to adjust it to this area. Then, revert to manual focus so that the lens does not readjust. Too often the lens looses focus whilst waiting for the next fish to jump. Turn the shutter speed up as far as the light allows. Adjusting ISO and exposure accordingly helps to mitigate against very dark photos. After you're happy that you have the appropriate settings in place, be patient and hopefully a few good photos will come your way!