Angling with Rod & Line; “Salmon Fishing Methods” Croghan National School

"Soon after I embraced the sport of angling I became convinced that I should never be able to enjoy it if I had to rely on the cooperation of the fish." Sparse Grey Hackle

From participating in the “Something Fishy” project we got to engage in range of lessons that taught us about the life cycle of the Salmon, where it spends some of its adult life and what conditions it likes to live in. We then had to decide how we would tie what we had learned to the Something Fishy theme for 2014, “Angling with Rod and Line”. We decided that we would produce a slide show for anyone who would be interested in trying to catch a salmon, what they would need in order to catch this mighty fish and most important of all, where they would go to meet “Salmo the Leaper” We hope you enjoy this presentation. Pupils of 5 th & 6 th Class Croghan National School.

Salmon fishing opens on January 1 on a handful of rivers and after that the remainder of rivers open on various dates in February, March, April and May. The majority of rivers close on September 30th but some rivers remain open for sea trout fishing to October 12 th. The nearest rivers to our school for salmon fishing are the Moy, in Co. Mayo and the Drowes in Co. Leitrim. In the next two slides we will learn a little bit about these two rivers

The Drowes Fishery is one of Ireland’s premier spring salmon and grilse fisheries. The Drowes is among the earliest opening salmon fisheries in the country and regularly claims the honour of producing Ireland’s first salmon of the season on opening day, January 1st. The river is some 5 miles in length, with over 70 named pools, flowing from Lough Melvin at Lareen Bay and entering the sea at Tullaghan, just outside Bundoran. The Drowes has a wide variety of water suitable for all fishing methods, including several miles of good fly water and deeper slower moving pools suitable for spinning and bait fishing.

The River Moy rises in the Ox Mountains and flows approximately 110Km (68 Miles) to where it enters the Atlantic ocean at Killala Bay. The River Moy is rated as one of the best Salmon rivers in Europe, with catches of between 8,000 and 10,000 Wild Atlantic Salmon annually to the Rod and Line. The salmon season opens on the first day of February and continues until the last day of September. The Spring fishing is at its best from mid March until Mid May. From this time the Grilse start entering the Moy system and this run of fish peaks around mid to late June. Depending on water conditions fresh sea liced Grillse continue to enter the Moy until early August.

Spending time fishing is wonderful sport, but in order for it to be enjoyable it should be safe and comfortable. Fishing isn’t a dangerous sport, but as with any activity, especially activities held in the ever-changing outdoors, conditions do change. Unexpected bad weather, too much time in the sun and cold conditions can all cause problems. Safety comes first. So the best advice is think safety at all times. Look for trouble before it finds you. If it finds you anyway, know how to deal with it. We recommend you start out to assemble a safety bag. The following slide will outline these safety items.

First Aid Kit Suntan Lotion Insect Repellent Packable Rain Gear or Ponchos Sunglasses ( Polaroid work best for fishing) Most importantly a life jacket!

Anglers are legally required to be in possession of a licence when fishing for salmon or sea trout. Licences can be purchased from a number of sources, including fishing tackle shops, IFI offices. On purchasing a licence anglers receive a copy of the Salmon Angling Regulations which provides information on bag limits, mandatory catch and release fisheries, open and closed fisheries, gill tags and how to return your completed logbook and tags. Licences can be purchased for periods from 1 day to 1 year. Salmon Licence Fees (2014) All Districts (i.e. all Regions) Annual: €100 Juvenile (under the age of 18 years) All Districts Annual: €10 One District, Annual: €56 All districts, 21 Days: €40 All districts, 1 Day: €20 Above is a 2014 licence and Some salmon gill tags.

For the angler in Ireland the main methods employed for game fish will be: Fly fishing Spinning Bait fishing (Bait fishing is usually broken into two area; worm & prawn) In the next few slides we will look at the tackle needed for each type of fishing

The classic way to fish for salmon is with the fly. Double handed rods are not always essential and generally the Irish angler favours single handed rods. Ireland is the birthplace of many famous salmon flies such as the Thunder and Lightening, Black Doctor and Connemara Black. However, when one thinks of fly patterns, the shrimp fly must be seen as the best Irish style. We had a try with a single handed fly rod on our football pitch and we also took a look at some salmon flies in our class

Spinning for salmon can be a very effective method when conditions suit. In heavy water or flood it may be the only realistic option to take a fish. An 8 to 10 ft spinning rod will be able to cope with most conditions. Fixed spool reels should hold at least 100 – 150m of 10 to 15lb monofilament / braid. In the early season one might use 3in Devon Minnow or large Toby’s, these being fished slow and deep to get to where the fish are lying. At present the favoured spinner in Ireland would be the Flying ‘C’, red and black being two of the most popular colours. In our picture you can see some colourful flying c’s

The main bait fishing techniques are shrimp/prawn and worming. Prawns and shrimps are effective baits and are usually fished on a float rig. When used properly, the trotted worm with or without a float is a skilful form of fishing as well as being very effective. The normal way to fish a worm is to use a bunch of three on a single hook; however a single worm can also produce results. In the first picture we took a look at worming tackle. Then we took a look at prawning tackle. In the last picture we have some dyed prawns that would be used for salmon fishing.

In the pictures above you can see the suitable rods needed for salmon fishing. The first picture shows Joshua with a single handed fly rod. The second picture shows Caitlin with a bait rod with fixed spool or reel. This would be suitable for all bait fishing (prawn/worm) and also for spinning. The third picture shows Sean with a salmon landing net which is much bigger than normal landing nets. The last picture shows Alexi with suitable clothing for poor weather conditions. Also he has the landing net on his back and bait rod in his hand.

We hope you have enjoyed our presentation of how you can begin to plan your salmon fishing trip. We hope it will be a big help and that people can use it as a guide to this wonderful pastime. With summer holidays looming and the salmon queuing up in the estuaries to run the beautiful Irish rivers of Ireland, we hope you take the opportunity to give this sport a try. Remember to prepare well and keep safe when fishing and always tell someone where are going and when you will be home! Tight Lines!