Magic

Well I finally found myself  in the right place a the right time today.

I arrived at Bridgetown Beat of the Munster Blackwater, fishing the upper section. This Beat consists of classic flywater pretty much from top to bottom.

I went straight to the top of the beat to fish a pool which has a lovely run into a sweeping bend and a tail out to die for.

Weather conditions where perfect, a mix of sunshine and cloud and the odd shower, but more importantly it was mild. Olives hatching off and the Trout making splashy rises after the swiftly moving Duns. The Weekends flood had fined of beautifully giving  a nice whiskey tinge to the water.

Fishing a LXi 13'9 9/10 coupled with a 3D F/H/I , tapered flouro leader and an Improved Tummel Tube.

A couple of casts at the top of the run produced a good strong take followed by a spirited fight resulting in my first Blackwater Salmon if the season.

After returning the fish I rested the pool for 20 minutes and started back in at the top. Half way down I noticed a fish show in the tail tight into the far bank. This fish was moving fast so I moved down a bit in an attempt to meet him half way. A good cast putting the fly tight to the far bank and  a good down stream mend to accelerate the fly across the current resulted in a very aggressive take. This fish wanted to go back to sea and did his best to get out of the pool and into the fast run below which is where the fight played out. A couple of powerful runs later and a beautiful bar of silver flanked in the shallow water. 

We spend so much time ensuring we have the right gear, lines , flies, time spent practicing , blank days, floods and yet much of our success still comes down to making the right choice of where and when to fish and being there and then when fish are present and all the little environmental factors come together to give us that window of opportunity. For me thats the magic of Salmon Fishing.