The 2010 Season
Report
Just Add Water!
2010 was in many ways a challenging season. Not only did we have to
contend with the economic climate, but also the weather one,
with one of the worst droughts on record on the Blackwater. Then add
a dash of volcanic ash just for good measure!
To view the more detailed
reports by Month click here
The Weather
The height of the Blackwater
throughout the summer was reckoned to be the lowest for between
50-70 years. Every time bands of rain swept in from the Atlantic
towards Ireland they seemed to miraculously divide so that the heavy
rain went either north or south of the catchment.
The graph (below) gives the average height by month at Ballyduff for
the last four years.
It shows that the level for 2010 was the lowest for this period for
every single month except April.

The levels through the summer (June to September) fell to an
unprecedented level as can be seen from the table below:
Table of Average River Height by Month in cms |
Year |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
June |
July |
Aug |
Sept |
2004 |
105 |
93 |
87 |
64 |
41 |
34 |
31 |
68 |
75 |
2005 |
130 |
74 |
56 |
74 |
53 |
40 |
33 |
27 |
37 |
2006 |
127 |
57 |
76 |
60 |
83 |
42 |
25 |
21 |
61 |
2007 |
135 |
121 |
122 |
35 |
29 |
35 |
61 |
56 |
36 |
2008 |
168 |
89 |
84 |
49 |
35 |
39 |
113 |
98 |
91 |
2009 |
131 |
87 |
64 |
75 |
71 |
48 |
60 |
82 |
72 |
2010 |
132 |
78 |
63 |
80 |
28 |
18 |
31 |
10 |
16 |
Height of the Upper Blackwater River
for the Last Five Years.
The pattern was consistent both up and down river. The graph
below shows the height at Kanturk – which is 70km upstream of the
Lodge – in cm. for the last 5 years.

Salmon Catches
The
number of salmon caught primarily depends on the number of people
fishing and the rod effort has fallen in the last couple of seasons
due to the recession.
In spite of this, the number of fish caught in the prime summer &
backend months has been quite consistent in 2010 with the exception
of August,
when the river fell to an extremely low level.

A better perception is gained from looking at salmon caught per rod
day, which gives a more accurate picture of the quality of the
fishing.
The graph below shows that for the second half of the season, June,
July & September were all as good of better than the 3 previous
seasons (
from the inception of the drift net ban). August – which was
by far the best month in the previous 3 years, once again showed a
marked decline.

Given the record low water levels, some of the catch statistics make
remarkable reading!
The Total Catch for the season was 652
with an average of 0.5 fish/rod day, which was the second best ever
next to our all-time record season of 1992 when 1,511 fish were
caught with 0.84 fish/rod day.
Of the fish caught, no less than 381 (58%) were released alive.
2010
Salmon Catch by Lure
|
The Top Ten Best Days of 2010
|
Date |
Number
Caught |
Rods
Fishing |
Biggest
Fish |
Number caught with: |
Fly |
Spin |
Worm |
Prawn |
1. |
Sept. 21 |
26 |
17 |
~16* |
3 |
2 |
6 |
15 |
2. |
Sept. 16 |
25 |
16 |
~16* |
- |
17 |
1 |
7 |
3. |
Sept. 8 |
24 |
28 |
9.3 |
13 |
8 |
3 |
- |
4. |
Sept. 9 |
23 |
18 |
~12½* |
15 |
4 |
4 |
- |
July 18 |
12 |
9.6 |
- |
18 |
5 |
- |
5. |
July 13 |
20 |
11 |
11.0 |
12 |
7 |
1 |
- |
Sept. 26 |
24 |
11 |
6 |
3 |
7 |
4 |
6. |
Sept. 19 |
19 |
16 |
10.5 |
6 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
7. |
July 24 |
16 |
11 |
~12* |
5 |
11 |
- |
- |
Sept. 17 |
19 |
8.1 |
7 |
- |
2 |
7 |
Sept. 24 |
40 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
12 |
- |
8. |
Sept. 10 |
15 |
16 |
10.3 |
8 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
Sept. 28 |
20 |
~9* |
6 |
- |
4 |
5 |
9. |
July 21 |
14 |
8 |
6.1 |
1 |
12 |
1 |
- |
10. |
Sept. 20 |
13 |
17 |
8 |
6 |
6 |
- |
1 |
Sept. 7 |
12 |
6.1 |
1 |
12 |
- |
- |
|
The July total of 169 was the best recorded since we took 264 in
2000, the sixth highest ever & also the
Best Ever Catch/rod day for
the month.
The two Best Days in July saw 23 & 20 fish caught - with 7 days recording ten
or more.
September’s catch of 336 (the third
Highest Ever Catch/rod day
for
the month at over 0.5) was remarkable considering that the low water
kept the prolific autumn run in the tidal reaches. These fish didn’t
move into the main river at all until well into the close season at
the end of October.
Regarding the percentage of fish taken on the fly, 2010 season had
the
Second Highest Ever Total for the season.
We also recorded the
Highest Ever
for the months of May & June,
the Second Highest for the month of September,
the fifth Highest for August and the Eighth Highest for July.
For the whole season, there were 26 days when 10 or more fish were
caught, & 5 where there were 20 or more taken.
The Best Day of the Season
was on September 21st. when 26
salmon to ~16lb. were caught.
The Best Catch on Fly
from one beat in a day was on September 8th., when 13 were caught on
Lower Kilmurry by a
3 rod party from N. Ireland comprising Terry McDermott (5), John
Grey (4) & Ian Hastings (4).
Best fish was 9¼lb. and all 13 were released alive. The party caught
19 - all on fly - in total for their week.
Two fish vied for the Best of the Season
at ~16lb. Both were
released as they were rather coloured.
The first was caught on September 16th. on spinner at
Ballincurrig on the upper river by Denis O’Donnell (Tipperary)
and the second on prawn by Ernie Bustard (N. Ireland) on Lower
Kilmurry.
One angler caught the two Best Catches in One Day with eleven on
Blackstone on September 21st.
and seven on the last day of the season on Kilmurry – all on the
prawn.
Also notable were the five salmon caught in one day on June 15th.
on Kents – all on fly - by Portuguese angler Pedro Granadiero,
five more on fly in one day for Terry McDermott (N. Ireland) on
September 8th. on Lower Kilmurry,
& yet another five on fly on September 9th. for Dave McDowell (N.
Ireland) from the Road Pool on Ballinaroone.
First Salmon

The Remold Party - September 7, 2010
As always, we were extremely successful in helping the less
experienced anglers catch their very First Salmon.
Given the river conditions, a remarkable 35 anglers lost their
virginity! Yet more remarkable was the fact that
- of these – no less than twelve caught their Second Ever the same
day, and one even succeeded in catch the Third!
Notable amongst these were the twelve pounder on July 9th.
for Dave Connon from South Africa,
the two caught the same day on August 9th. by father &
son Stephen & Charlie Aulsebrook (UK) gillied by Glenda and the two
caught on successive days (Aug. 18 & 19th.) both on fly
for father & son Harald & Jeremy Okorn-Schmidt (Austria) again
gillied by Glenda.
Then there were the 3 eighteen year old members of the Remold party
(Italy) who all caught two each on their first day ever salmon
fishing on Sep. 7th. !
Not to mention another father & son team - Herman & Gijs Willemsen
(Holland) who both caught two the same day (Sept. 15th.)
with Gijs’ fish weighing in at 10 & 12½lb!
In fact - since 1990, no less than 852 anglers have managed to catch
their First Ever here.
Our success rate was quite good up to 2006, but has improved
dramatically since - with the number of anglers catching their first
expressed as a percentage of total rod days jumping from 1.5% to
between 2.3-3.3% in the last 4 years.
|
Average
1990-2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
Number of First
Salmon |
40 |
40 |
62 |
38 |
35 |
% of Guest Rod
Days |
1.5 |
2.3 |
3.3 |
2.5 |
3.0 |
|