Kells Blackwater

mattcullen

Folks, I'm a relative novice to river fly fishing so I'm hoping to get some advice here. I fished the Kells Blackwater yesterday around Maudlin bridge and caught a load of trout. Thing is, bar one half pounder, they were all tiny (under 6 inches). I'm wondering was there something in the way I fished, set up etc. that was attracting the smaller fish...I fished a 5 weight rod, 9 ft leader tapered down to 4lb fluro tippet and fished two flies, a small wet (spider pattern with orange in it don't know name I'm afraid) on the dropper and either a nymph or greenwells glory on point depending on depth. Most fish took the spider pattern on the dropper. Later when I started to see the odd rise I rose one fish fishing upstream with a small dry sedge pattern but missed him. Any tips? thanks

ardinn

mattcullen wrote: »

Folks, I'm a relative novice to river fly fishing so I'm hoping to get some advice here. I fished the Kells Blackwater yesterday around Maudlin bridge and caught a load of trout. Thing is, bar one half pounder, they were all tiny (under 6 inches). I'm wondering was there something in the way I fished, set up etc. that was attracting the smaller fish...I fished a 5 weight rod, 9 ft leader tapered down to 4lb fluro tippet and fished two flies, a small wet (spider pattern with orange in it don't know name I'm afraid) on the dropper and either a nymph or greenwells glory on point depending on depth. Most fish took the spider pattern on the dropper. Later when I started to see the odd rise I rose one fish fishing upstream with a small dry sedge pattern but missed him. Any tips? thanks

You dont seem like a novice at all to be fair.

The difference between catching small fish and big fish is in the lies - as in where the trout sit. The best lies hold the bigger fish as they run out the smaller ones. Learn to find the lies and you will find the fish. I'll pm you a link you should have a look at.

In saying all that I have never fished that river and it may be like my local river, full of dwarf trout! we have nothing over a lb but still good fighting fish on light gear, but I still feel the 100% best method of fishing is learning to read the water fully - it takes a while but it comes before anything else.

mattcullen

Thanks for that Ardinn, Will defo have a look at those articles. I was wondering whether maybe the weflies fished down and across tended to attract the less wily younger fish and if maybe fishing dries or nymphs upstream might be the way to the wily old fish. I spoke to another angler fishing the same stretch later in the day and her best fish for the day was 12inches. She was going between dries and spiders . Not sure what she got that fish on but it got me wondering...

blackpearl

The closer you fish to lough ramor the better the fish had them up to5lb with plenty in the 3 to 4lb range all caught on buzzer fished dry from the 9 eyed bridge down ,over the next week or too is the best time but the next few days is not good from friday on is to get better .

mattcullen

blackpearl wrote: »

The closer you fish to lough ramor the better the fish had them up to5lb with plenty in the 3 to 4lb range all caught on buzzer fished dry from the 9 eyed bridge down ,over the next week or too is the best time but the next few days is not good from friday on is to get better .

You have me itching to go back now! thanks for the advice

blackpearl

mattcullen wrote: »

You have me itching to go back now! thanks for the advice

Sorry forgot to say this happens just before dark.

kildare lad

i know its not flyfishing, but a few pikers i now got trout up to 9lb in ramor on deadbaits.. beautiful lookin trout at that size

mattcullen

blackpearl wrote: »

Sorry forgot to say this happens just before dark.

Cool, thanks. I'll get an evening permit

idnkph

blackpearl wrote:

The closer you fish to lough ramor the better the fish had them up to5lb with plenty in the 3 to 4lb range all caught on buzzer fished dry from the 9 eyed bridge down ,over the next week or too is the best time but the next few days is not good from friday on is to get better .

What club runs that part of the river? I never seen any signs...

blackpearl

idnkph wrote: »

What club runs that part of the river? I never seen any signs...

kells anglers ,but some of the farmers will give you permission if you are not in the club.

idnkph

Is it officially under kells anglers? Iv had a couple of different lads say that it's not under anyone's control. Have they the official rights to it?

blackpearl

idnkph wrote: »

Is it officially under kells anglers? Iv had a couple of different lads say that it's not under anyone's control. Have they the official rights to it?

dont no if they have the fishing rights or trespass rights ,trespass rights i think so famers premision will do.

bluezulu49

blackpearl wrote: »

dont no if they have the fishing rights or trespass rights ,trespass rights i think so famers premision will do.

From the Kells Anglers website:
"Kells Anglers

The Kells Anglers Association was established in 1893 and own the fishing rights of circa 14 miles of the Blackwater River from its source at Lough Ramor to Kells, Co. Meath."

See http://kellsanglers.com

blackpearl

bluezulu49 wrote: »

From the Kells Anglers website:
"Kells Anglers

The Kells Anglers Association was established in 1893 and own the fishing rights of circa 14 miles of the Blackwater River from its source at Lough Ramor to Kells, Co. Meath."

See http://kellsanglers.com

So their you have it .

blackpearl

Took a look at the websight its say the kells anglers preserve the fishing from lough ramor to kells ,it does not state that they own the fishing rights it is trespass rights correct me if i am wrong.

blackpearl

Sorry was on the wrong page they do state they own the fishing rights .

smokiebeverage

Hi All,

Just to clear up any ambiguity, the rights to the Blackwater from Lough Ramor (Nine Eyed Bridge) downstream to Headfort bridge both owned and controlled by Kells Anglers. It is with the kind permission of the riparian land owners that you can gain access to most of the river, but to be clear no land owner has the right to allow you to fish the Blackwater in these areas. Day permits and membership are available from the clubs website (http://kellsanglers.com). The club charges for day tickets and membership so it can continue to maintain the river, spawning streams and maintain the youth section of the club. If you require further information the club can be contacted via the website.

Thanks

Evac101

Jebus - I'm used to seeing the 'New membership' premium on clubs, anything up to €100 more than a renewal, I understand that it happens for some reasons which people believe to be true (whether or not I agree is immaterial), but €300 new member versus €50 renewal seems excessive.

smokiebeverage

Evac101 wrote: »

Jebus - I'm used to seeing the 'New membership' premium on clubs, anything up to €100 more than a renewal, I understand that it happens for some reasons which people believe to be true (whether or not I agree is immaterial), but €300 new member versus €50 renewal seems excessive.

Well I can give you the answer to the €250 joining fee. All the new members joining fee goes directly to support the junior members (under 18 or still in education) fund. Junior members pay a €5 fee each year with no joining fee to cover their insurance. The club run 2 junior competitions each year, a BBQ and classes at no cost. The club also have two junior members competing in the Irish junior team with representation internationally in Colorado, USA in 2015, Spain in 2016 and Slovenia this year. It is a very active club that try to encourage juniors as without them there will be no club in the future. With the senior membership being €50 and over 70s being free the money has to be raised somehow. As the club sells day tickets, if you were only going to fish the river a few times during the year, you could have 5 evenings fishing for €50 instead.

Evac101

Which is fine, I just, and I may have been unclear, have not seen such a large disparity between a renewal and new membership fee before. It's a 500% increase. There are plenty of clubs which charge €100 for an annual fee and €250-€300 for new members, there are others where the difference between annual and renewal is less than 60%. It's just the most extreme example I've seen. The destination of that money (however worthy it might be) is immaterial to my observation I would suggest? Anyhow, I'm sorry if I was offensive in the observation, please enjoy your club and river as you see fit

smokiebeverage

Absolutely no offence taken at all, it is an issue that comes up on an off, so it is good to air it in public. I've often thought about it myself and even to me it seems like a big jump, but I think at this stage it has been around so long that it would be difficult to change and unfair to any members who have joined in the past number of years. If anybody is interested in joining the club does recognize that it is quite an amount so they do offer an installment payment option for the first year.