Fishing Report 17th July - 23rd July

July 17th- Our anglers enjoyed some fabulous weather today at Balliosodare with temperatures reaching 25 degrees. Salmon were slower to land but nonetheless twenty were reported caught. Four of those were released. Michael Kitchen was the first of the day to land two lovely salmon weighing 8 and 6lb both caught on the worm. Again, our regular visitor Alex Chenaux came back for more enjoyment catching and releasing a 3lb grilse on the fly.
July 18th- With the holiday season in full swing Ballisodare has no shortage of visiting anglers. Regular Swiss visitors Willie Marti His son Patrick and his partner Tanja all landed two fish each. Willie got the largest catch of the day when he netted a lovely 11lb salmon and shortly after landed a nice 7lb salmon both caught on the worm. Others caught today weighed approximately 5lb. Some local anglers released fish weighing between 4 and 5lb caught on the fly and the prawn.
July 19th- Numbers of salmon reported today was twenty-four with plenty more hooked and lost. The average weight of those caught was between 4 and 5lb. Club member Sean Gallagher released a 4lb salmon on the fly. Both the fly and the worm are working well.
July 20th – Today saw some of our club members and visiting anglers from France succeed in their endeavours. Twenty-one fish reported caught with 3 of those released. Gerry Merrick, Andrew Pearson and James McGuire were among the club’s members who were successful today. The average weight of those caught was between 4-5 lb. The fly and the worm working well.
July 21st – Water levels still relatively low, still seventeen fish reported today with 4 of those released. Our Northern Ireland visitors went home happy with most of them landing two fish for their day’s work. Steward Morgan visiting angler released a 4lb grilse off the shrimp. The average weight of those caught today was 4lb.
July 22nd – Good day again with 21 fish reported caught. A few anglers managed to land two salmon while the rest were happy to land one. The average weight was 4lb. Again, the fly and the worm seemed to be the most successful methods used.
July 23rd- Six salmon caught at the falls today with eighteen more caught up river. Five or those were released off the fly. The average weight was 4lb. Club chairman Pat Forkan was the first of the day to land two nice salmon weighing 5lb and 3lb both caught on the fly.
With plenty of fish throughout the system fishing has been very good despite the low water levels. Very few anglers if any leave empty handed. The most popular flies seem to be the Cascade (all variations) the Stoat’s tail and the Willie Gunn Tube.