First of the Season

WoodStream on the Munster Blackwater (Blackwater Lodge)

Fishing woodstream beat on the Blackwater today accounted for my first Salmon of the season. A little later than ususal but it was great to feel the solid pull of a Spring Salmon and to hear the reel sing once again.
Despite the water being a little high for the fly (70 on the Ballyduff gauge), the clarity was excellent so I tackle up the new Guideline LXi 13'9" 9/10  and a compact sink 1/2 and a copper Banana tube on a short tapered flouro leader.
The Salmon took towards the end of the bottom run just were the heavier water starts to tail out, about were I'd expect for the water level in question.
I saw two other fish down the flat though they seemed to be moving through very quickly.

Approx 7lbs and safely returned

Hopefully water levels will continue to drop steadily as this can only improve the fishing. With numbers of fish being caught and seen increasing this can only bode well for the coming weeks and into May which given the right water can be the best Spring month on this river.

Hopefully time permitting I'll get back out again later in the weekend or early next week.

On another note this was the first chance I had to fish with the new LXi rod and I must say it was a joy to use with very little effort required on my behalf. I had it paired with a 9/10 compact head and compline shooting line.
This rod has loads of power in reserve and will have no problems with faster sinking heads and larger flies. Indeed I can't see myself with much requirement for my 10/11 rods for much of my fishing.

Guideline Open Day, April 20th

Clonanav Flyfishing will be hosting a Guideline open/demo day this coming Saturday the 20th.
The new LXi rods and Scandi lines will be available to try along with the ever popular Exceed rods.

The LXi rods are getting great reviews from anyone who has tried them, and really are a rod to be experienced.

There will be Demos by Andrew Ryan and I throughout the day and plenty of opportunities to try the new gear.

Guideline LXi 13'9 9/10

I had the pleasure of trying one of the new Guideline LXi rods on Friday. It was the 13'9" 9/10 coupled with a 9/10 F/H/I 3D line.

I must say it was one of the nicest rods I have tried in along time. 

With a 10/12 Quadra the rod felt incredibly light in the hand and gave great feedback when casting.

This is a rod that would cover most of our fishing in this country and its one I'll certainly be getting for myself.

The LeCies that these rods replace were great rods but the LXi are in a different class and indeed  will put many of the top end rods out there  in their place.

A rare combination of Power, Delicacy and Poise.

February 16th Munster Blackwater

February 16th

Munster Blackwater

Ballyhooly Beat

Height 1.19 meters

Temp 7.9 celcius

A damp & misty but mild morning greeted us on the Woodpool and depite levels being a little high for this pool clarity was excellent.

I fished through the bottom half of the pool (the best bit at this height of water) using a Guideline 3D S1/S3/S5, short leader and a Silver Grey in TD style. This pool has a classic “V” tailout and sure enough just where you'd expect the line tightened a pulled away, unfortunately it turning out to be a kelt though at least it confirmed that I was getting the fly deep enough.

Tools of Choice for the day; 15' LPXE, SI/S3/S5 and a selection of medium sized tube flies.

A few more runs through the pool and down the Gurteen Stream produced a couple of dropped takes which I am pretty sure were spent fish. The morning was soon over and after a quick coffee it was of up to the Castle Flat for the afternoon.

As we passed the Bridge Pool Paul tried a Spinner across the tail and promptly hooked something very large which he played for a few moments before parting ways. Presumable a very very large kelt but your never quite sure when you don't get a glimpse, was it a Springer ??

The Castle Flat produced a couple more kelts over the afternoon but no sign of the one we were looking for.
There's always next time.

A Parting Glance at the top of the Castle Flat

Opening Day 2013

 Searching for that ever elusive early Springer

Opening day saw very high water levels on the Blackwater. However clarity was good so we decided to head of upsstream and try the Ballyhooly Beat.

Levels were just a little too high for the wood pool so we tried the Castle Flat above the bridge. This is a great flat for high water.

We landed several Salmon and Seatrout kelts but that an opening day springer eluded us.

Hopefully waterlevels will continue to drop over the coming week. With all the high water over the previous month I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t a few Springers about, though levels will need to drop in order to have a chance of locating them.

It’s worth noting that depsite the high water levels the I was still able to catch on the fly using one of Guideline's Skagit heads and 15 feet of  T14 with a Banana Fly.

The River Lee accounted for an opening day Springer of 8.5lbs caught below the Ballincollig Weir spinning.

Blackwater Lodge Salmon Fishery

Where will you be fishing in 2013 ?

The Blackwater Lodge Salmon Fishery is with out doubt the preeminent salmon fishery in the country. Comprising 11 fantastic beats from a few  kilometres above the tidal limit to 45 kilometres upstream.

The Blackwater Lodge is now leading the way as a fishery in this country offering not some but the best value fishing. They have slashed prices for 2013 starting at €15 per rod per day in February. There is no  where else that you can search for a springer at that price.

The possibility to be able to search for fish depending on water height and temperature in the Spring months is a big bonus with Springers holding back in the lower beats in cold lower water conditions or running through to the middle/upper beats if we have a milder Springer with higher water levels.

A full days fishing during peak periods will not cost more than €80 for 2013.

To fish such hallowed beats as Upper & Lower Killmurry, Kents and many more at that time of year at these prices is not just a bargain but an opportunity not to be missed.

Looking upstream towards the Wood Pool on Ballyhooly

I am not someone to blatantly push anything onto others, however I can say with all honesty that The Munster Blackwater is one of the great rivers of Ireland and the Blackwater Lodge one of the Great Fisheries. I know where I'll be fishing in 2013,  where will you be ?

New Guideline LXI Rods

New Guideline LXI Rod

I had a chance today to try one of Guideline’s new LXI rods  at the Clonanav Flyfishing Centre.

These rods are replacing the LeCie range so had a lot to live up to, I can happily say that they do this and much much more.

Being a big fan of the LeCie rods I was really looking forward to trying this rod. The LeCie 13’7”  10/11 F is one of my all time favourite fishing rods especially when fishing fast sinking heads and large flies early in the season. This rod always gave me the performance of a 15’ rod in a compact easy to use package. A 10/11 3D line cut back to 41 grams always flew as afar as I ever needed and is my go to combo in high water and nasty conditions.

It was for this reason that I was delighted that the demo LXI rod was the 13’ 9” 10/11.

Straight away the quality of the cork handle was apparent,  one of the best I have seen a long time with little or no filler and some practical & tasteful composite in the right places. This made for a very comfortable feel in the hand.

The black down locking reel seat was solid, not fussy and practical.

The guides were all correctly aligned and the varnish was perfect with no blemishes or excess around the guides/rings. And while the noise from the rings on the LeCies with a dry line never bothered me many people will be happy to know that the LXI rings are completely silent.

The rod is rated for a 40 – 43 gram shooting head and a 660 grain skagit head. So this is indeed a powerful rod and it’s slightly deeper flex will allow this power to be easlily tapped into.

The Blank has a very solid & smooth feel to it when flexed/loaded.

I used a 10/11 3D F/H/I cut back to 41 grams (this is the line I use on the LeCie) for the test and while for my taste I would prefer 43 grams, the rod performed impeccably. The slightly deeper flex and lighening quick recovery made for some very nice casts with staggering line speed requiring very little effort on behalf of the caster. This rod has certainly got a power boost over it predecessor, but its power that’s easy to use.

I can’t  wait to try this rod with a heavier head, a 43 gram I/2/4  would be my choice for the spring. A 660 skagit will will definitly be  agood combo and you’ll be able to cast half a rabbit with it.

I was mightly impressed with this rod and look forward to trying some of the lighter line models also.