The first weeks of the season were heavily impacted by the Covid cross county and local travel restrictions. As a result, fishing was restricted to locally based rods which reduced activity on the river. Notwithstanding that, good fishing was reported for the month of April and those who were able to get out were rewarded with some lovely fresh springers. We estimate that about 50 fish were landed before the restrictions were lifted.
The reopening of travel coincided with lower water and a bit of a lull in the fishing although a number beautifully conditioned fish came in on the high tides in early May. During the last few weeks there have been occasional pods of fishing running through and anglers lucky enough to meet one had the chance of picking up one or two in a session.
At this stage, fish are well spread across the system and indeed anglers downstream of Bunclody are reporting seeing fish running straight through the beats. This was confirmed as the recent flood started to clear and beats upstream reported good fishing while it remained more patchy downstream. As the water clears further over the next few days we will see how things develop but there should be good sport to be had.
A quick look at the photos below will give you an idea of the quality of the fish in the river this year.
