MrKingfisher3

Part two of the Blackwater Valley salmon and trout Fishery beats on the Blackwater River, beat 2 ballyduff Bridge. When looking upriver from ballyduff bridge the left bank is beat 2 which starts from the small hut heads down past the bridge and is on the right bank looking down river. We fished from the small hut to the bridge with spinner as its probably the only method that can be used in high water due to the higher banks and caught a few trout but no salmon. I have fished below the bridge (right bank) before in lower water and there is a nice pool there but we didn't cover that far due to time constraints. Here are the photos of beat 2 ballyduff bridge and remember like and follow for more posts.

We did another salmon fishing session on the Blackwater Thursday morning hitting the 2 beats that Blackwater Valley salmon and trout Fishery have just above ballyduff Bridge left bank looking up river from the bridge. It was a lovely day bright sunshine, warm about 15 degrees but water clarity really didn't improve as it was still about 2ft at best. The guage was saying 0.73m so still high ish preferably 0.40 to 0.50 being optimal as this will slow down travelling fish from tide. Now it was ideal for spinning in some areas but for fly fishing it was fast and coloured on beat 1. I used my 13ft 9in double handed salmon fly rod with a skagit line, float/ hover/ intermediate /sink 3, a 10ft sink 5 tip and a heavy tube covering the far bank all the way to the bend but no pull. I was getting good depth but only when box casting and high sticking mending the line allowing the tube to search the far run. It's a nice gravel bottom there so easy wading when the water is lower but there are a few bank pools that one has to get back on the bank to fish around. From the bend to the start of the beat 2 it's mainly spinning from the high bank as its a huge pool definitely one that will hold up fish travelling from tide. So the start of beat 1 will be spinning but once you pass the bank pool it's all fly water to the bend. We did meet a few trout on both beats but for this post I'm only concentrating on beat 1 as there are too many photos of both beats to put up on this post. After fly fishing we did spin all the water just to cover the parts that we couldn't reach on fly and unfortunately only a couple of trout no salmon seen or caught. Remember like and follow for more posts. Pictures of beat 1 below showing the fishing hut long flat and walk boards etc, beat 2 will follow on the next short post.

Myself and Noel did a short morning salmon fishing session on the Blackwater last Sunday, just a couple of hours having a look at a few beats. I will be putting up pictures and video of all the beats that Blackwater Valley salmon and trout Fishery have on the Blackwater River over the coming weeks. After leaving Noel I wandered down to the Woodstream beat to have a look and a cast knowing that the water was up a bit around 1.68m on the guage and clarity only about 2ft at best. But that beat is just perfect for fly as you can cover both bank's easily with a fly rod especially from the start of the beat with out even entering the water. Even entering the water at the start of the beat at that height, it was just above the knees with a nice gravel bottom perfect for wading. I fished through with my 13ft 9in double handed salmon fly rod with a scandi hover fly line, a 5ins per second 10ft sink tip and a small bullet tube fly covering practically all the water with ease but unfortunately no pull. Saying that it's one of the nicest beats for fly anglers as it fishes the fly perfectly giving good presentation at all times, basically once you get the fly across the river the current straightens everything out and you're fishing. As you move down the beat it opens up and then it was time to exit the river as it deepens there but in summer levels it's probably possible to fish further down to the end of the beat. I went back up and covered it with my spinning rod just in case I missed anything but again not a touch. It's beautiful fly water and with no road noise etc it's just so peaceful. Here are a few photos of the beat and as I said I will be doing more in depth photos and videos of the beats in the coming weeks. If you want to book a fishing beat you can contact Noel on number below.

We did a late morning start to the 2026 trout fishing season and had a drive about to see what the conditions were like in a few rivers. The Lee was at 73cm, the bride had a small flood with 2ft clarity and the shournagh was again in flood but reasonable clarity.
We decided to fish the grotto but it was busy and had plenty of traffic before we even had a cast with streamers. Guys were spinning, worm and bait fishing so a vast array of baits being thrown into the mix. I was using my 10ft fly rod floating line and a beaded streamer to get down under the surface, I had a few hard pulls and landed a couple of trout to the bank plus dropping a couple in the reeds. It was lovely and sunny earlier but then came the heavy showers and cold wind. Due to the fact it was so busy we decided to call it quits around 5 but still landing and missing a few on opening day is still a good result. We saw a few kelt salmon jumping during the day which was great to see as they were only 100 metres from the kingsley weir so almost near tidal water and off to sea to hopefully to return in a couple of years bigger and better. Remember like and follow for more posts. Just a few pictures of the half day showing the water height and trout landed on streamers, plus frog spawn in the reeds swans etc.

Just a short post to thank everyone that followed me as we've shot pass the 1k mark, I will be busy this year with salmon, trout, bass, pike etc so plenty to keep people interested plus I'm now recording in 4k so better quality videos for YouTube. Roll on the better weather and hopefully a few early salmon. Might do a meet up during the early season to see if followers need a bit of help setting up their salmon and trout fly or spinning gear, possible venue the Lee fields or grotto. Let me know if people are interested and we'll move forward on it. .

It was high water on the Lee today so I decided to give it a hard spinning session. It was 73cm on the guage so running fast but reasonably clear. I started with a size 4 black/silver flying C and was surprised it was hitting bottom half way back so I knew I was definitely going to move fish that's if there was one there at all. I fished beat 1 dam side and meticulously covered every bit of water because at this time of year there's no real holding areas or lies. Later on in the year fish will settle into known lies but in spring and high water it's cover everything. In years gone bye I have caught spring salmon and afterwards said I didn't expect the fish to be there.
I moved on down through the beats covering the croys, flat water and close bank but only a couple of trout hit the spinner at least there was some life. I changed over to a size 5 flying C and instantly took bottom so I just held the rod high and spun it slightly faster to keep it off bottom and straight away I hit and lost another trout, technique was good but no salmon. I fished all the way to beat 4 and gave it a couple of hours before fishing back up to beat 1. It was a pity the water was just too high to fly fish, normally I'd give it a go but with all the croys on beat one you're going to spend most of your time stuck in them as the strong flow pushes the fly under the rocks. I finally finished up around 4 and headed home no fish seen or caught. Normally it's March that we get a trickle of fish coming through but being there on the right day... that's the trick. Like and follow for more posts. Pictures of lee today at 73cm. At least the trout season is opening on Sunday so that should be fun.

Headed off down to the river laune in killarney yesterday for a day's fishing session on the laune anglers salmon fishery. We stopped at beaufort bridge for a look to see what the water clarity was like. It was over 3ft visibility and running high at 1.81m on the laune Bridge guage so a bit high but worth a look. We got our tickets at the beaufort bridge petrol station but I was surprised that they were now charging 40 euros for February fishing a bit of steep and to be honest most fisheries are reasonable early season and the laune anglers used to be the same rising their prices in August and September.
We started our session in johnsons beat, I had set up my 13ft 9wt fly rod with a float /hover/intermediate /sink 3 line with a 5 inches per second 10ft versileader and bullet tube considering the water was that high and a 10ft spinning rod to cover areas we couldn't access with fly. We fished all the beat down to the bottom and back with both fly and spinner, met and saw nothing. Surprising as one would normally hit the odd kelt or trout but not even a pull. The only saving grace to yesterday's fishing was the weather and scenery, it was so warm we had to take off our jackets. Even while sitting at the benches at johnsons I'm sure I got a nice colour due to the direct sunshine definitely raising my vitamin D levels. We fished upstream covering all the water but again not even a pull. Around 5 we decided to pack up and head for home, the only saving grace being that lovely sunshine and scenery plus the gear was dry going back into the car. We both found small pin holes in our waders so I'll be hitting them with aquasure today ready for the next fishing session. Luckily I had a great evenings pike fishing session on Saturday catching some cracking fat pike to 10lb and big perch with a surprise on 4k video which I'll be putting up soon on youtube. Remember like and follow for more posts. Here are some photos of the fishery and sunshine.

As the Blackwater River was in a big flood we were going to call off the opening day fishing session but Glenda and Noel from Blackwater salmon fishery were having an open day so we decided to head down. Knowing the water was high it had been over 2.7m at the guage in ballyduff only a few days prior but had dropped to 1.68m at time of arrival. We were greeted by Glenda and Noel offered hot coffee, then the opening began with a glass of whiskey being toasted to the river for the opening of the 2026 salmon season and hope for a good year of fishing.
We decided to set up our fly rods with heavy skagit lines and brass tubes but as the water was so high we put up the spinning gear to cover most of the fishing. It became apparent very quickly that the speed of the water was the main problem, no sooner had the fly hit the water it was in under the bank in seconds. Clarity was at best almost 2ft but the speed was the main issue, getting a fly down fast was practically impossible. Saying that, I was using my float, hover, intermediate sink 3 line with a 6inches per second 10ft poly leader with a bullet tube and touching bottom in a few places but covering most areas with the fly was impossible so I used the spinning rod to cover the awkward areas. Fishing down to the island lower kilmurray we didn't see or meet any fish but as soon as I got below the island I hooked and lost a nice kelt just at the bank. Casting upstream I hooked a fish mid stream that gave a few heavy head shakes before it came off, it was in very fast heavy water just where you'd expect a springer but maybe it was a big kelt I don't know. I caught a few nice trout on the black/silver size 4 flying C so viability wasn't an issue there just the speed of the water, maybe in hind sight a size 5 would have been better but I didn't have one with me at the time. I changed over to a yellow flying C size 4 and met numerous trout in the joele above the island so I decided to let them alone and move upriver spinning the bend but nothing met there.
Heading upstream we fished all the water back to the cottage, Glenda arrived out with bowls of piping hot soup and I mean piping hot soup, it was absolutely beautiful after a hard morning's fishing. We were treated dessert etc and on finishing that we headed upstream to the upper beats. The day itself was beautiful in the sun especially lower kilmurray where there was a nice sun trap with no wind and I had to open my jacket to let the heat out. After fishing the top beats with fly and spinner we didn't see or catch any fish. Heading back to the cottage we thanked Glenda and Noel for an absolutely lovely day and great set up on the opening of the 2026 salmon season. I heard that a 7lb salmon was the first salmon of the 2026 season caught on Melvin so congratulations to the angler that caught it. Here are some photo's of the day and thanks again to Glenda and Noel.

My loop to loop set up for poly leaders and versileaders sink tips. Remember like and follow for more posts.

Loop to Loop system set up for fishing sink tips / tippets. This is the correct way to set up your sink tip to tippet loop to loop connection so that there is very little wear and tear on the line and it is also easie...