Fishery Report » Ballynahinch Castle & River Fishery
[ September 2009 ]
Simon Ashe reports that September was a month of two halves, the first half had very high water and the second half had very little. Not many fresh salmon entered the system during the month and most of the fish landed were fish that had come in during July and August. The season finished with 60 salmon at Ballynahinch with only 15 taken during September. The largest fish of the month fell to regular angler, Miles McDowell who took a 9lbs salmon from Beat 2 on a small Silver Stoat. Most of the September catches were on size 12 salmon flies or size 12 trout flies such as Connemara Blacks or Claret Bumbles.
There were some sizeable sea trout still around and a few, up to 2lbs, were landed. These fish should provide some good spawning this winter. Given that the salmon catch was down 50% on 2008, the run through the counter was only down by 20%. This poor catch is mostly attributable to the torrential rain which beset the country throughout the months of July and August (the most productive months for Ballynahinch).
Despite the experienced anglers on the river for the day, only one salmon was caught by Colin McDowell, on a Silver Stoat Variant. Greg Forde nearly pipped him to the post in the dying minutes but lost his fish at Sna beg. Colin was presented the Mikey Conneely Perpetual Trophy by his team captain on the day, Tom McManus.
For bookings and further information, please visit:
» Ballynahinch Castle & River Fishery member page.
