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Beat 8 - Ballyhooly Bridge

Section 1

Beat Map: (click here to view)

Description:
                Park your car in the farm yard, either against the wall on the right as you enter the yard, or against the wall facing you as you enter the yard, to the right of the rotary clothes line.  Enter the fields by the small metal gate by the large tree stump on the right as you drive into the farm yard, and walk down the field to the river.  The Beat begins at the head of the field above the bridge & under the Castle.  This field only fishes well in high water, especially in the Spring.  It is also an excellent spot for trout fishing.  This is accessed by going through the arches under the road.
                The best fishing begins below the Bridge.  In high water, the Bridge Pool fishes very well with a spinner in the spring, or with an upstream Flying Condom cast up into the sill under the Bridge & retrieved very quickly downstream when the grilse are running.  In lower water, the floated shrimp and the worm can be fished in the streams coming from under the Bridge.  It is possible to wade out under the arches of the bridge on the sill itself when the water is low.  It is quite a wide pool, with varying depths up to 8-9 feet, but the bottom is full of snags, especially close to the bridge & under our bank down to the fir trees. The bank is good to fish off when the water is high, & in very low water, you can wade out directly from the head of the fir trees (with the water to the top of your chest waders !!!) out onto a shallow gravel bar nearly halfway out into the river, from where you can cover the further side of the river much better. The tail of the Bridge Pool is very good for spinning in high water - the greater depth being from the middle to the far side.  In medium/low water, the fly & spun or floated shrimp can also be very good here.  Wading is easy over an even gravel bottom.
                After the Bridge Pool, the river shallows up, flows over a sill, and swings to the left.  It narrows, & undercuts our bank as it swings back to the right in a fast ripply glide with a strong flow against our bank -  this is known as the Glen Stream.  The very head of this, just below the fir trees, has a narrow deep gully close under our bank, masked by the broken water, & through which worm or spinner can be fished very well.
                It is a good stretch for the worm and upstream Flying Condom.  The fly can be fished all the way down through here to the last stand above the wall at the top of the Farm Glide, Be careful - this requires skill & agile wading which is only possible in low water tight underneath the trees & bushes on our bank.  Wading is on a narrow, rough, rocky shelf with fast deeper water just outside.  Roll/Spey casting is necessary due to the high bank behind. 
                The Glen Stream has rushing water under our bank, & slack water from the middle to the opposite side.  It is a superb pool for worming & spun or floated shrimp, either side of the single tree.  Fish lie here mainly on the line between the stream & the slack water.  The flow is concentrated from the middle to our side, & running fish can also be taken in the fast water. 
                At the tail of the Glen Stream, the water shallows on the far side, where gravel has been deposited by the Glen as it enters the main river.  This keeps the stream pushed under our bank, but below this it evens out under the Wires.  Here, fish lie behind the many large rocks covering the bottom which provide both lies & snags.  The bank is high, but easy to fish off where there are gaps in the trees & bushes, & there are a number of places for access, either to get in to wade, or to net a fish.  This fishes superbly with spinner or worm in medium/high water, & fly or spun or floated shrimp in medium/low water.
                The Glen Stream & the Wires should always be fished down with the fly first (if the water is in suitable order), followed by the worm, particularly from the stand above the tree (& below the fir trees) down to opposite where the Glen enters the main river.  Follow up then with the shrimp, which can be both spun (particularly from the top stand & also just below the Glen) or float fished.
                Down towards the overhead electric wires, floating is the preferred method for shrimping, as the current slows up here, and flows underneath some small trees on our side, with the main flow still under our bank.  It gets deeper here, around 4-6 feet, and fish lie all across the river in this stretch.  In low water they tend to be towards our side, & at higher levels lie progressively further towards the far side.  A worm or floated or lightly spun shrimp are the most effective methods here in low water with spinner best in higher water.  The whole run can be fished either from in the water (wading along under the trees), or from the 3 or 4 gaps in the trees.
                In the next pool, known as the Farm Glide, the water slows up more and goes down to around 8 feet in depth.  The bank is quite low and allows easy fishing as well as easy access to the water.  This pool is deepest at the head, and shallows as it tails out at the Island.  This pool directly below the house can be spun or wormed in higher water, wormed & shrimped in low water, & fly fished at the tail in medium/low clear water.  The bottom holds it's fair share of snags for worming.
                At the Island, the current constricts & flows faster & deeper over a stony bottom deepest under our bank.  Just above here is an excellent place for worming in medium water, with the fish lying from the middle to the far side of the stream.  There is a deep little pocket in the fast water under the trees, which can often produce a fish to the upstream Condom in low water. 
                The river then widens and swings towards the far bank.  It shallows (around 2-3 feet), with the exception of a deeper hole just below the bottom of the Island.  This run is lovely fly & light spinning water at medium/low levels.  The run into the Wood Pool is wadable all the way down to & through the Wood Pool.
                After this long stretch of rough water, the river swings into the Wood Pool, with a high bank on the far side offering shelter for the fish, and a gravel to grass beach on our side.  It is excellent wading, which you need to  do in order to fish this pool properly.  In low water, fish lie towards the far side down through the pool.  Just towards the second half of the pool, where there is a large protruding tree on the opposite bank, the stream is pushed towards the middle by a shallow rocky shelf.  Do not cast to with more than 8-10 m of the far bank here with worm, spinner or sunk fly, as you will get snagged.  The fly fishes well right across the tail of the pool in low water, as fish tend to run into the pool from the deeper gully on our side, & then across the tail of the pool to the far side.  In higher water the fish lie more towards the centre of the river opposite the large tree.  The tail of the Wood Pool is a very well known Spring lie.
                At the tail of the pool, the river goes over a shallow sill, and into a very rocky stretch about 2-4 feet deep, called Gurteen Stream.  This is lovely fly water, especially when the water is at medium height, and fish are running.  Just on the sill, a couple of rocks create a thin line of slack water, which is an excellent taking spot.  About 30 m directly below there is another rock, with a calmer spot just outside it, which is another hotspot.  Another 30 m or so below is a similar rock.  After that, the stream veers towards the far bank & shallows to a grassy promontory on our side.  Towards the bottom boundary can be excellent in high water for spring & early summer fish, fishing between the trees.