A LOOK around at the present angling reports will not set every salmon angler’s heart racing just now.
Things are awfully quiet due to a number of reasons, including high water temperatures and, in many cases, relatively low water.
However, a glance at the weather forecast for the next couple of weeks shows that things might change quite quickly with the current oppressive warm humid air to give way to fresher winds and hopefully some rainfall.
Rain in the summer is quickly absorbed by trees and growing grass, whereas rain as autumn approaches is more likely to raise water levels quickly as the foliage requires less moisture.
A spate will almost certainly lower water temperatures and, as these seem to be around 17-18C at the moment, a bit of a drop would be welcome for several reasons.
Oxygen levels in water are largely a function of temperature with both too hot or too cold reducing the oxygen available to fish.
Anything above 20C is likely to cause distress and, anything below around 5-6C, the fish are likely to be dour.
Indeed, the older salmon angler will tell you that below 42F (approx. 5.5C), salmon would not ascend difficult obstacles.
Perhaps the optimum water temperatures for salmon angling would be in the 10-16C range.
We also now live in an age of either mandatory catch and release or at least we are rightly encouraged to return a high proportion of the salmon we take.
Like many anglers I see no harm in taking the occasional fresh salmon for the table and, arguably, it is part of the fabric of game angling.
However, there is no excuse for taking coloured or gravid salmon and they should be released as soon and safely as possible.
Fortunately, we can now fish with leader material that is very fine, but also very strong so fish can be played quickly without fear of a break and thus returned before all their energy is exhausted.
If the odd fish throws the hook before it is landed because it was played a bit too hard it is a much better option than playing a fish too long and it not having the energy to recover.
Thankfully, many rivers have had a decent run of salmon and grilse this year, but some such as the Mourne, Moy, Bann, Derg, Owenkillew and Nore, to name but a few, will be expecting a run of fresh autumn salmon.
Some of these may be late large grilse and some may be true autumn salmon and in amongst them will be the odd very big fish.
So while things have been quiet for a few weeks the best of 2016 may be yet to come and even as I write this (Tuesday afternoon) I am hearing reports of good water in the Mourne and its tributaries.
NCFFI Juniors and Interpros
THIS year's Junior All-Ireland Championships took place at Killykeen Forest Park, Co Cavan on Saturday.
The event provides the opportunity for young anglers to come together to compete in a National Championship of their own before progressing to senior level.
The Challenging county Cavan venue, chosen for its accessibility to all, brought out the skills in the young anglers who fished a variety of methods.
Eoin Rodgers took first in the U14 category, Cillian Flynn first place in the U28s, Caolan Donnelly first in the novices and Jamie Edwards was top in the U23s.
All 37 young anglers took part.
This event was followed on Sunday by the Junior Interprovincial Championships fishing the same venue.
Three provinces fielded teams of five with Ulster winning the day and retaining their title.
