Angling with Rod & Line;
“Salmon Fishing Methods”
Croghan National School
"Soon after I embraced the
sport of angling I became
convinced that I should never
be able to enjoy it if I had to rely
on the cooperation of the
fish." Sparse Grey Hackle
 From participating in the “Something Fishy” project we got
to engage in range of lessons that taught us about the life
cycle of the Salmon, where it spends some of its adult life
and what conditions it likes to live in. We then had to
decide how we would tie what we had learned to the
Something Fishy theme for 2014, “Angling with Rod and
Line”. We decided that we would produce a slide show for
anyone who would be interested in trying to catch a
salmon, what they would need in order to catch this
mighty fish and most important of all, where they would go
to meet “Salmo the Leaper” We hope you enjoy this
presentation.
 Pupils of 5th & 6th Class Croghan National School.
Salmon fishing opens on January 1
on a handful of rivers and after that
the remainder of rivers open on
various dates in February, March,
April and May. The majority of
rivers close on September 30th but
some rivers remain open for sea
trout fishing to October 12th. The
nearest rivers to our school for
salmon fishing are the Moy, in Co.
Mayo and the Drowes in Co.
Leitrim. In the next two slides we
will learn a little bit about these
two rivers
The
Drowes
The Drowes Fishery is one of Ireland’s premier spring salmon and grilse fisheries. The
Drowes is among the earliest opening salmon fisheries in the country and regularly claims
the honour of producing Ireland’s first salmon of the season on opening day, January 1st.
The river is some 5 miles in length, with over 70 named pools, flowing from Lough Melvin at
Lareen Bay and entering the sea at Tullaghan, just outside Bundoran.
The Drowes has a wide variety of water suitable for all fishing methods, including several
miles of good fly water and deeper slower moving pools suitable for spinning and bait
fishing.
The Moy
The River Moy rises in the Ox Mountains and flows approximately 110Km (68
Miles) to where it enters the Atlantic ocean at Killala Bay. The River Moy is rated
as one of the best Salmon rivers in Europe, with catches of between 8,000 and
10,000 Wild Atlantic Salmon annually to the Rod and Line. The salmon season
opens on the first day of February and continues until the last day of September.
The Spring fishing is at its best from mid March until Mid May. From this time
the Grilse start entering the Moy system and this run of fish peaks around mid to
late June. Depending on water conditions fresh sea liced Grillse continue to enter
the Moy until early August.
Water Safety
Spending time fishing is wonderful sport, but in order for it to be enjoyable it should be
safe and comfortable. Fishing isn’t a dangerous sport, but as with any activity, especially
activities held in the ever-changing outdoors, conditions do change. Unexpected bad
weather, too much time in the sun and cold conditions can all cause problems. Safety
comes first. So the best advice is think safety at all times. Look for trouble before it finds
you. If it finds you anyway, know how to deal with it.
We recommend you start out to assemble a safety bag. The following slide will outline these
safety items.
 First Aid Kit
 Suntan Lotion
 Insect Repellent
 Packable Rain Gear or
Ponchos
 Sunglasses ( Polaroid
work best for fishing)
 Most importantly a
life jacket!
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Above is a 2014 licence and
Some salmon gill tags.
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Anglers are legally required to be in
possession of a licence when fishing for
salmon or sea trout. Licences can be
purchased from a number of sources,
including fishing tackle shops, IFI offices.
On purchasing a licence anglers receive a
copy of the Salmon Angling Regulations
which provides information on bag limits,
mandatory catch and release fisheries, open
and closed fisheries, gill tags and how to
return your completed logbook and tags.
Licences can be purchased for periods from 1
day to 1 year.
Salmon Licence Fees (2014)
All Districts (i.e. all Regions) Annual: €100
Juvenile (under the age of 18 years) All
Districts Annual: €10
One District, Annual: €56
All districts, 21 Days: €40
All districts, 1 Day: €20
For the angler in Ireland the main methods employed for game
fish will be:
Fly fishing
Spinning
Bait fishing (Bait fishing is usually broken into two area;
worm & prawn)
In the next few slides we will look at the tackle needed for
each type of fishing
The classic way to fish for salmon is
with the fly. Double handed rods are
not always essential and generally
the Irish angler favours single
handed rods.
Ireland is the birthplace of many
famous salmon flies such as the
Thunder and Lightening, Black
Doctor and Connemara Black.
However, when one thinks of fly
patterns, the shrimp fly must be seen
as the best Irish style. We had a try
with a single handed fly rod on our
football pitch and we also took a
look at some salmon flies in our
class
Spinning for salmon can be a very effective method when conditions suit. In heavy water or
flood it may be the only realistic option to take a fish. An 8 to 10 ft spinning rod will be able to
cope with most conditions. Fixed spool reels should hold at least 100 – 150m of 10 to 15lb
monofilament / braid.
In the early season one might use 3in Devon Minnow or large Toby’s, these being fished slow
and deep to get to where the fish are lying. At present the favoured spinner in Ireland would be
the Flying ‘C’, red and black being two of the most popular colours. In our picture you can see
some colourful flying c’s
The main bait fishing techniques are
shrimp/prawn and worming. Prawns
and shrimps are effective baits and are
usually fished on a float rig. When used
properly, the trotted worm with or
without a float is a skilful form of
fishing as well as being very effective.
The normal way to fish a worm is to use
a bunch of three on a single hook;
however a single worm can also produce
results. In the first picture we took a
look at worming tackle. Then we took a
look at prawning tackle. In the last
picture we have some dyed prawns that
would be used for salmon fishing.
In the pictures above you can see the suitable rods needed for salmon
fishing. The first picture shows Joshua with a single handed fly rod. The
second picture shows Caitlin with a bait rod with fixed spool or reel. This
would be suitable for all bait fishing (prawn/worm) and also for spinning.
The third picture shows Sean with a salmon landing net which is much
bigger than normal landing nets. The last picture shows Alexi with suitable
clothing for poor weather conditions. Also he has the landing net on his
back and bait rod in his hand.
http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/
http://www.somethingfishy.ie/
www.robertgillespie.net
www.fishinginireland.info/salmon
www.drowessalmonfishery.ie
www.themoy.com
www.salmonfishingforum.com/forums
www.salmon-ireland.com/salmon-rivers/north-western/river-easkey
We hope you have enjoyed our presentation of how you can begin to plan
your salmon fishing trip. We hope it will be a big help and that people can
use it as a guide to this wonderful pastime. With summer holidays looming
and the salmon queuing up in the estuaries to run the beautiful Irish rivers
of Ireland, we hope you take the opportunity to give this sport a try.
Remember to prepare well and keep safe when fishing and always tell
someone where are going and when you will be home! Tight Lines!