By Michael Martin, Six Mile Water Trust
THE GREAT ATLANTIC SALMON CONUNDRUM Autumn and the big cock salmon take on a tartan veil.
T
he harvest moon rises above the wide plains of Mayo as we traverse the rushy fields from the river. The glorious autumn day has been kind – there has been good company, lots of banter and craic, good food and wine but more importantly there have been salmon. Our residence for a few days in September is the glorious Mount Falcon Hotel, the grandeur of the decoration matches the beauty of the location and every year we take a few days to finish the season. This year has been special, the river was high but not in flood, Stuart had told us about the great runs of salmon in July but there were still plenty in the pools in September. The walk back gives us time to reflect on our days sport. Parking by the little angling hut on the Boat Pool amidst the huge beech trees now turning gold, red and copper,
we marched upstream along to a straight, known to us as the Walk Through. Although the sun shone bright through a clear blue sky, a cool Autumn breeze stirred through the avenue of trees, the leaves dropping like glowing embers from the fire. Occasionally a salmon would turn as we greased our lines and got just the right amount of lead to cock the float perfectly, excitement and fumbling fingers trying not to break the fragile prawn while mounting it on the hook. Finally the first few casts to find the correct depth and we are fishing. The little orange top of the float glows brightly against the autumn colours reflected on the water, mesmerising as it drifts on the slow River Moy currents, anticipation builds as it covers a known taking lie, an upstream mend, a perfect free lined drift until dib, dib and it’s away. It could be a
snag, the bottom, weed but it’s gone too suddenly and the heart skips a beat, the rod springs up to strike and a salmon launches itself into the air crashing into the peaty water and the fight is on. The prawn is the ideal bait for autumn as salmon never swallow and are always lip hooked which makes for a quick release. Although there’s the occasional fresh silver fish most resident salmon have acquired the lovely autumn colours, copper and red with some of the big cock fish taking on a magnificent tartan appearance. It’s one of the most satisfying aspects of angling to hold the fish in the current until it regains strength and shoots off into the stream, soon hopefully to finish its job on the spawning redds and ensure future generations can thrive. Moving on from the River Moy and the fabulous Mount Falcon Estate, a quick glimpse at the angling reports in
Irish Country Sports and Country Life Winter 2020
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