Ballisodare Fishery Season ends with Hosting of Delegates from Uisce Eireann Conference
Season Roundup
Another salmon season over and Ballisodare Fishing Club had a reasonable run of salmon with 5,000+ through the counter. Expectations weren’t high at the outset as four years ago in 2022, only 4,200 were recorded, so an increase of 20% was acceptable. Our gravel replenishment plan started in 2024 so it will be 2028 before we see the real benefits of that. We managed to deposit 220 tons of salmon gravel into the catchment in 2026 before we had to stop due to setback in our plans. 2026 also saw much larger grilse returning this June and July with a significant number over 10 lbs. Since embarking on our gravel replenishment programme in 2024, we have noticed higher numbers of Kelts surviving after spawning and returning to sea which may be resulting in these larger grilse returning having spent another winter at sea. Less physical effort in spawning with fresh gravel, appears to have contributed to higher survival rates.
Members Catches
It was a particularly difficult season for anglers, with high temperatures and extended periods of drought resulting in prolonged periods where the fishery was closed our conditions unsuitable. However, our members caught 183 fish this season, with 69 killed (38%) and 114 released (62%). To maintain our spring fish stocks, for the past three seasons, catch and release has been implemented until 31st May. Members’ attitudes are changing, with a higher percentage release increasing in the last three years, demonstrating a responsible attitude towards our future salmon stocks.
Ballisodare Fishery participates in Uisce Eireann’s Regional Annual Conference
Since our major fish kill in 2024 and a lesser amount in 2025, with the assistance of Dr. Lisa Cronin in ATU Sligo, water quality has become a major focus, resulting in the installation of water quality sondes which provide a huge amount of water quality data throughout our catchment. With seven major Waste Water Treatment Plants (WWTP) located in our catchment, we have developed a very strong collaborative relationship with Uisce Eireann. Due to this, the WWTP in Ballisodare was upgraded prior to the 2026 salmon migration run, with water quality increased substantially in the Ballisodare Estuary.
As our season closed, we were delighted to be part of Uisce Eireann’s Waste Water North-West Annual Conference held in Sligo on 1st October. With 150 delegates present, they were bussed out to Ballisodare Fishery in groups of 25 from Sligo Park Hotel to visit the Fishery where they experienced first-hand operations at the Fishery, in the wonderful setting at the Falls.
Ballisodare Fishing Club were also invited and delighted to make a presentation entitled “Safeguarding our Salmon” to the Conference, with particular emphasis on the need for top quality habitat, i.e. Quality Spawning Gravel and Quality Water to ensure the future of our salmon.
Having sat through Uisce Eireann’s conference and presentations, one had the opportunity to experience the energy in the room, and in particular the determination of all staff from senior management, middle management and plant operators to continue their work in upgrade of plants and operational attention to detail, to substantially improve water quality output from their wastewater plants into the future.
As an angler, one could only be enormously encouraged that real work is happening on the ground. The North-West region encompasses Monaghan, Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Galway and Roscommon, which are also the counties covering the country’s main trout lakes and salmon fisheries. The ongoing programme for updating Waste Water Treatment Plants in this critical region bodes well for the future and as anglers, we should look forward to real progress.
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