Ummera Report

The commercial catch of wild salmon in 2000 was 228,200, which weighed 621 tonnes.

The commercial catch of wild salmon in 1999 was 515 tonnes - down on the 1998 catch of 624t.

Carcass tagging of all wild salmon caught during 2001 was introduced at the start of the season. Stock in freezers from 2000 season were tail tagged in January. Rod caught salmon were tagged from January on with blue gill tags. Draft net (green tag) exploitation started on the 12/05/2001 - some local variations existed: draft nets on the Munster Blackwater and Laune rivers were not in operation again this year as part of catchment management plans. There were also no terminal traps in operation in Ireland. Drift net fishing commenced on the 4^th June with all drift net caught fish sporting a red tag.

The affect of stringent regulations introduced in 1997 to reduce the catch of spring salmon was increased escapement - through the removal of Irish interceptory fisheries. Angling is now the only source of exploitation of this valuable stock component. Spring salmon runs were reasonable in 2001 on the rivers Drowes, Fergus, Blackwater, Corrib and Delphi but were considered exceptional on the river Moy. The impact of Foot & Mouth restrictions in March and April allowed the fish travel through the Moy system with the result that salmon were caught throughout the river when the fishery reopened. Spring salmon taken by local and Northern Ireland anglers were sold in Ballina for £5 or £6/lb.

Before the start of the season NASF officials invited commercial fishermen to have preliminary discussions on the compensation necessary for suspension of the interceptory fishery. Against this background and with rivers low following a dry period a significant salmon catch was observed from the start of the drift net season.

The weather conditions for drift and draft netting was favourable from the start of the season. Grilse arrived in rivers just before drift net exploitation commenced – especially to the Corrib, Moy and Ballisodare. Spring salmon and grilse caught angling on the Moy and Corrib systems in April and May contained no net marked fish until the weekend before the interceptory fishery commenced - some fish farm escapees were also observed. Rain in the third and fourth week of June was sufficient to attract grilse into many spate rivers in the west of Ireland (Ballynahinch, Erriff, Burrishoole and Delphi). The angling in the rivers Moy, Corrib and Delphi are regarded as excellent. Further south rivers remain low though some salmon are getting through especially to the lower reaches of the Lee. The Illen in Skibereen was closed to non-members until this week due to F&M.

The drift net catches were good on the Donegal, Northwest Mayo and South West Coast but quieter in the Shannon Estuary and on the South coast. The Clarecastle catch only improved starting the week of the 18^th June when up to 30 fish/boat was observed. Commercial fishermen in the Southwest are actively collecting funds for salmon restoration. Large sea trout (>2kg) were observed in Southern areas and fish farm escapees (of recent origin and in excellent condition) off the South West Coast.

Water, water – and just in time! Ranched fish have returned to the West Coast in large numbers and as large grilse. Escapees in Southwest catch from recent escapement – in very good condition! Escapees were also observed in the Ballinakill District – these were large good condition fish ready for harvest! Some processors/Co-op’s asking fishermen not to bring in escapees. Good sea trout fishing on south coast. Poor demand has lowered prices. Killer whales (chasing Lee salmon) and buy-outs in the news.

Fishing effort has increased as the possibility of compensation-not-to-fish gain credence. The carcass tagging was perceived by some smokers to have placed an unnecessary burden on the industry though the potential for trace-ability was recognised. A move to provide such companies with automated recording and computerisation of tags - using bar or numeric codes should be investigated. At the retail level the public is beginning to look for carcass tags as a guarantee of getting wild salmon. It is difficult to gauge where public sentiment will go as pressure mounts to curtail the Irish interceptory fishery. Many fishermen are agreeable to be paid not to fish but balk at the idea of being ‘bought out’.

All interceptory fish observed to date were carcass tagged as fishermen embraced the scheme. The appearance of a leaflet on the best handling procedures for wild salmon, including bleeding the catch was well received by fishermen and has led to an improved awareness of fish quality. Some smokers chose to freeze salmon whole (carcass tags handy for hanging up fish) while others gutted and beheaded theirs before freezing. Demand for wild salmon to rise in July…..

Lough Corrib: With the mayfly hatches practically over trout fishing has been very quiet in the past week with just a few boats fishing mainly in the evening time. Some anglers have taken to trolling for salmon in the Oughterard and Cong areas in particular and there are reports of quite a few grilse caught in these areas. In the Cong area alone several hundred salmon have been caught over the past few weeks, mostly by anglers trolling and using other methods. On the first day of June one angler is reported to have 14 salmon to his own rod. Trout anglers in other areas of the Lough have landed salmon to fly. Well-known Galway angler Ernie Deacy was delighted with his 5 lb salmon to wet fly.

Galway Salmon Weir Fishery: Salmon runs have been exceptionally good in the past two weeks and during that time salmon angling is producing more than an average of 1 salmon per angler per day – in all 141 were caught for the week. Jim Stafford, Dave Lenihan and Wolfram Hoppe (Germany) had 4 each for a day. John McCarty from Galway Werner Meckle each landed the heaviest of the week @ 11.5lb. Gus Murphy had two, 10lb and 4lb, and Tommy Murphy also had two, 8.5lb and 8 lb.

The fishery has produced around 400 salmon so far this season, this despite the fishery being closed for most of the period up to March 30^th due to foot and mouth precautions. Runs of grilse were excellent so far and they continue to run well even at this point in time. 73 salmon and grilse were caught last week, the heaviest of 18 lb taken by Raymond Drennan on the New Beat located below the Cathedral Bridge. Jim Stafford had 2 on the same beat and others who fished there encountered good numbers of fish, many of them running through to the higher beats. While many fish were in the 5 to 6 lb range there were exceptions: Barry Brown had one of 9; Michael Brown one of 12 and 6 lb; Tom Tynan one of 11.5 and two of 8.5 lb; John McCarty one of 10 lb. Seamus Hartigan and Dave Lenihan landed 3 each for 14 lb.

Bunowen and Carrowniskey Rivers: Water levels were good over several days when heavy rain fell within the catchment, allowing for more salmon to enter the rivers and thus help anglers land a few extra fish. Mrs Blake had 3 for a day, returning one again to the water. Mr. Ball and Mr. Cox had one each, both small fish of around 5 lb. Prospects look good for the coming week.

River Erriff: With the heavy rain last week came a good run of grilse to the fishery. Consequently, salmon angling was considered quite good for the guests staying at Aashleigh Lodge. Recently the Western Regional Fisheries Board carried out extensive renovations to the Lodge giving it a complete overhaul thus upgrading the level of comfort to the highest standard.

Owenwee River: This small river near Westport is fishing very well for salmon, and sea trout. Tom Bourke, the owner of the fishery, says 25 salmon have been caught lately with several sea trout to 3 lb taken on fly. Philip Dyson from the UK landed a few fish there last weekend and Stephen Brewley caught some sea trout and a 6 lb salmon.

Ballynahinch/Lough Inagh: The run of grilse accumulating at the mouth of the river finally received the rain they need to move upstream. This had an immediate impact on angling at Ballynahinch as the catch rose to 23 with 2 large springers among them. At Inagh, Nicolas Leroy and Colin Folan took two grilse at the fishery in recent days. Both fish were caught on a size 12 Silver Jungle fly. It is expected that with the heavy rain within the catchment in recent days that a lot more fish will run the rivers. Colin Folan (the fishery manager) reports 13 sea trout caught on Lough Inagh, 10 of them averaging 1lb to Mark Brefka from Canada who found the Claret Dabbler the best wet fly. Tony Bond from the UK had the rest to a Peter Ross and a sunken line. Colin also says that sea trout are just starting to enter the fishery and hopefully the runs will improve with time.

Argideen River: The river has had some excellent sea trout fishing this year, and now that the foot and mouth restrictions have been lifted, fishing is available on the river. If visiting the region and you want an up to date situation report, do contact us. For Angling Reports visit http://www.anglingnews.net