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.