Kylemore Abbey Fishery.Overall Season Report 2006.

Low water levels for the month of February were unfavourable towards any attempt to secure the first Salmon of the season, however after a prolonged dry period of six weeks, the first Spring fish were spotted entering the Dawros river and the first fish of the year was duly landed on the 28 th March. Weighing in at only 5 ½ lb, this was somewhat disappointing as, our spring salmon would normally be in the 8-10lb category. A deficit of water for four more weeks curtailed any further angling activity, after which, a good flood towards the end of April saw another Salmon landed and a good head of fish were seen to enter the river. The first week of May the main Spring run peaked and four fish, all around 8lb+ were landed mainly by fishery staff. I'm sure that had we had more anglers, then many more fish during this week could have been accounted for.

There was the usual slow period after the spring run until the beginning of June when the first grilse started to appear. Not in great numbers, but they trickled in whenever conditions suited and thereafter the season was well underway. As has happened over the past few years, the main run continues to appear later and during the first week of August 2006, after the Drift Nets had ceased their season, we experienced a week of angling where everyone who fished, either landed or lost grilse. Unfortunately, for the record book, the latter! No one was complaining and all the anglers seemed to be finishing their morning and afternoon shifts with some form of a smile on their faces! In fact, this season past we had three such weeks. How much easier it would be for a fishery managers life if every week of the season were like this. There would be a downside… we wouldn't be able to find new excuses for the lack of catches!

Our total catch for the season from the Abbey waters closed at 119 Salmon/Grilse for 244 rod days… a credible .48 of a Salmon per day, per rod which places us on the top rung of the ladder once again for this fishery district.

A remarkable 51.28% of our fish this year were returned compared to a pitiful 11.11% five years ago. The heaviest fish of the year which was not weighed and consequently returned would have touched the 10lb mark with smallest grilse this year just tipping the scales at 1 ¼ lb.

A staggering 36.75% of the Salmon/Grilse caught this season, were caught in September against a previous four year average of just 12.75%. The penultimate day of the season produced a very fresh fish of 5lb and the final day of the season, a grilse which was actually sea liced.

The average size of Salmon/Grilse over the past five year period has fallen from 4.78lb to over 1lb lighter at 3.58lb. This is a trend mirrored throughout the country and is not just unique to ourselves.

Sea Trout runs were again reasonable this past season but unfortunately Sea Trout anglers were thin on the water. Had conditions been more suitable for the lake anglers, I'm sure that our total of 273 Trout may well have been doubled.

Maintenance work will continue in advance of this coming season with more accessibility given to some more pools and further clearance on existing pools will be executed. A great deal of far bank clearance will be completed to alleviate fly losses and regular anglers will be pleased to read that the lane we use to access the top of the Lower River and bottom of the Middle River has been resurfaced and almost meets motorway standards!

Prospects for 2007.

Most anglers by now will have heard the good news that Drift Netting has now been stopped. This should have an immediate impact on the returning fish stocks with the potential to double the incoming fish stocks on this particular river. Each year at least 1000 Salmon and Grilse have been caught within the closest legally permitted distance from our estuary and by the very geographical nature of this area, it would be hard not to assume that the majority of these fish were destined to enter the Dawros River and ultimately the Kylemore Fishery as a whole. The above, combined with the fact that many more Kylemore fish would have ultimately been caught on their journey from the Northern coastlines prior to their arrival in Ballanakill bay should augur well for this coming 2007 season. It will come as no surprise to me if we start to see a greater number of larger Sea Trout entering the river as without doubt, many must have inevitably got caught over the past years in Drift Nets given the fact that many Grilse as small as 2lb are regularly taken from the system practically shredded with net markings.

We are fortunate enough to have maintained a stock level that meets the required conservation limits and therefore are amongst the 40 or so rivers throughout Ireland to remain open for Salmon angling this coming 2007 season.

We should expect to see larger fish entering the river as they will no longer be filtered out of the equation and as the larger of the grilse tend to arrive earlier than their smaller counterparts, we should witness a less sporadic, more balanced and consistent run of fish throughout June and July.

Catch reports 2005

Bookings for next season can be made from our bookings page.
Why not try for a spring fish like this 12 lb beauty?