2009 Season Report for Ireland’s Blackwater Lodge Salmon Fishery

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[font "Calibri"]The Biggest Fish Ever since 1986?[/font]
[font "Calibri"]On September 15th. last, Tony Murtagh from Co. Dublin landed & released a fish estimated at approx. 25lb. weight. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]This huge fish was taken on spinner on the Island Stream on Beat 6 - Lower Kilmurry. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]The fish was rather coloured but fin perfect and very well conditioned – being very deep bodied & broad-backed. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]It was quickly released without even a picture being taken as they had no camera & no weigh net! [/font]
[font "Calibri"]It measured 96cm (38\") long with an estimated girth of 50cm (20\"). [/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Some of our recently caught fish were measured for comparison:[/font]
[font "Calibri"]A 13.5 pounder measured 81cm, a 15 pounder was 85cm & a 19.1 pounder measured 89cm. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]The gillie that released this fish said that he could only just get his thumb & forefinger of both hands [/font][font "Calibri"]around the wrist of the tail, which was definitely much thicker than the 19 pounder.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Heaviest Weighed Fish of 2009[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]On September 18 last, Paul Rosier caught the Heaviest Weighed-In fish of the season [/font][font "Calibri"]on prawn at Gorman’s Pool on Kents – Beat No. 4. It weighed 19.1lb & was absolutely tide-fresh.[/font]
[font "Calibri"]The same day, they saw literally hundreds of fish on the beat, including at least a dozen [/font][font "Calibri"]which they reckoned were the same size as the one he caught – it was the only take of the day![/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Heaviest First Ever Salmon of 2009[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]On September 8th., Belgian anglers Guillaume Verlings (l) & Jean-Paul Hendricks ® both caught their First Ever Salmon! [/font]
[font "Calibri"]They were both taken on spinner on the Castle Flat on Beat 3 - Ballinaroone & weighed 16.6 & 9.8lb. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]Both fish were sea-liced! Guillaumes\' was the Heaviest First Salmon of 2009![/font]
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[font "Calibri"]In 2009, there was much talk about drastically reduced numbers of salmon running into many rivers.[/font]
[font "Calibri"]Here on the Blackwater, whilst the spring run wasn’t so good, from May on we saw good numbers of fish running. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]May in fact produced the best number of fish caught (53) since 1996 and was in fact the third best ever total for the month [/font][font "Calibri"]since I started accurate records in 1986. It was only beaten by 1994 (82) & 1996 (72).[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Whilst it was certainly not a year when the number of salmon caught for the whole season was outstanding, [/font]
[font "Calibri"]there were a couple of factors which help explain the lower catch figures for the backend & consequently the total season catch.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]This was in part due to less rods fishing ( a consequence of the recession) [/font][font "Calibri"]which is a major factor which is often not taken into consideration when looking at catch statistics. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]The other startling factor in 2009 was the behaviour of the fish themselves. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]Whilst there were large numbers of salmon in the river, especially in August & more particularly in September, [/font]
[font "Calibri"]they displayed a startling reluctance to take any offering. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]This was a phenomenon which was observed throughout Ireland this last season.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]The table below shows the catches since I took over the Lodge in 1986.[/font]
[font "Calibri"]Blackwater Lodge Fishery - Salmon Catch Statistics.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Catch & Release[/font]
[font "Calibri"]As an aside – 43% of the fish caught in 2009 on the Lodge Fishery were released. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]This is well above the national average of 38% in 2008 as recently published in the [/font][font "Calibri"]Central Fisheries Board Wild Salmon & Seatrout Statistics report [/font][font "Calibri"]for 2008. Our guests released 52% in 2008. [/font]
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[font "Calibri"]This report also states that 12.9% of all fish caught & released in Ireland in 2008 were on the Blackwater[/font]
[font "Calibri"]– the highest in the country for rivers which were not designated as C&R only.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Graph 1: Catch per Rod Day[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]A far better judge of the quality of the fishing is to look at the average catch per rod day [/font][font "Calibri"]rather than mere number of fish caught, which of course depends on fishing effort. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]This table above shows these figures for the last 3 years on the Lodge Fishery, [/font][font "Calibri"]which corresponds to the period since the drift nets were banned. [/font]
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[font "Calibri"]It is interesting to note that in fact August is the best backend month, [/font][font "Calibri"]which wouldn’t be apparent from the catch statistics for the number of fish caught by month alone. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]In August, there are actually far less people fishing on the Lodge beats compared to September.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Graph 2: Dramatic increase in larger fish.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]The Blackwater has always been better known for its prolific runs rather than the size of the fish. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]I must admit to having had the impression myself in the first 2 years without drift nets (2006 & 2007) [/font]
[font "Calibri"]that there was an increase in the size of fish coming into the river, [/font][font "Calibri"]but accurate analysis of the weight of fish caught doesn’t actually bear this out.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]This graph illustrates the percentage (of the total catch each year) of fish caught by weight class. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]Please note that for this purpose - for example - 8lb. represents fish between 8-8.9lb, 9lb represents fish of 9-9.9lb etc.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]For simplicity, I have only included the figures for fish in the 8-14lb class which is where the biggest difference can be seen. [/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Fish in this class accounted for 33% of the 2009 catch compared to only about 18% for the period 2004-2008.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]The graph gives data as follows:[/font]
[font "Calibri"]- The average percentage for the years 2004-2006 i.e. the last 3 years when drift nets operated.[/font]
[font "Calibri"]- The average percentage for the years 2007-2008 i.e. the first 2 years without drift nets.[/font]
[font "Calibri"]- the figures for the 2009 season.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]We can conclude from this that there was actually very little difference in the size of fish caught in the 8-14lb class [/font]
[font "Calibri"]for the 3 years before & the 2 years after the drift net ban.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Graph 3: Percentage Increase by Weight Class in 2009 compared to the 5 Year Average[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]There is however a dramatic difference in 2009. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]The true difference is perhaps not adequately illustrated in the above Graph 2. [/font]
[font "Calibri"]To better show the real increase, Graph 3 above shows the percentage increase [/font][font "Calibri"]in each weight class by pound compared to the average figure for the period 2004-2008.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]From this we can conclude that - relative to the 5 Year Average (2004-8):[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]- The proportion of fish caught in the 8-10lb. class increased by ~50%[/font]
[font "Calibri"]- The proportion of fish caught in the 11-13lb. class increased by ~150-200%[/font]
[font "Calibri"]- The proportion of fish caught in the 14lb. class increased by ~400%[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Looking Forward to 2010[/font]
[font "Calibri"]It will be very interesting to see what will happen next season.[/font]
[font "Calibri"]In the early ‘90s we carried out our own scale-reading study of fish caught on the Lodge fishery.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"] Grilse: We concluded that grilse were almost exclusively 1/1 i.e. spent one year in the river & 1 winter at sea. [/font]
[font "Calibri"] Therefore we can expect to see the return of a lot more grilse in 2010 – the progeny of the 2007 run – the first season without drift nets. [/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Larger multi-sea-winter fish: These were 2/2 to 2/4. We would expect the first of these to return in 2012, but it will be very interesting to see [/font][font "Calibri"]if the increase in 8-14lb. class fish will be sustained next year.[/font]
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[font "Calibri"]Prospects for a great season’s sport for anglers for whom size really does matter![/font]
[font "Calibri"]For info visit: [url "http://www.ireland-salmon-fishing.net/"]http://www.ireland-salmon-fishing.net[/url][/font]
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