Good place to see salmon run

a148pro

I have it in my head to tick off as many viewable irish wildlife events as I can. Kind of like a personal Living the wildlife.

Can anyone recommend somewhere accessible to see a salmon run and or where they spawn and did?

I know there's a camera at the weir in galway which i'll check out in season. There's also an old video here of Salmon run at leixlip bridge. Anyone know if that's still viable?

I go to connemara a lot so would love to go up the upper stages of a river and see them in pools, or even when they die. I have a feeling that will all be on private land and heavily protected? Anyone any ideas?

kildare lad

The liffey doesnt get a huge amount of salmon any more. 2 or 3 hundred if your lucky and they wouldnt all run at the same time, The river moy gets the largest run of salmon in the country i think, well into the thousands, so id look in that direction. People tend to keep quiet if they see them running as unfortunately poaching is a serious problem in this country and if they get wind of the salmon run, the nets start going across the river

a148pro

kildare lad wrote: »

if they get wind of the salmon run, the nets start going across the river

Ffs

Is there not a time, presumably a few weeks, when they can be seen in the upper reaches of the river, in pools and stuff? And or jumping to get into those pools?

a148pro

Might try the moy as head up there a bit

kildare lad

a148pro wrote: »

Ffs

Is there not a time, presumably a few weeks, when they can be seen in the upper reaches of the river, in pools and stuff? And or jumping to get into those pools?

Im no expert on salmon as i mainly coarse fish but heres a little i know. The reason the moy gets so many salmon is theres no obstructions like weirs blocking their path. On rivers with weirs they need rain to raise the height of the river to help them get over them, so they can reach their spawning grounds, I used to fish the liffey and only seen salmon once and that was years ago, they are there though and they do get caught. Look up the Tiernan Bros Foxford on facebook, they run a tackle shop near the moy. Ring them would be your best bet

Eddie B

Salmon have already spawned, so you would have to wait until the end of the year to see such an event. As far as the moy is concerned you won't get to see much activity because the river is usually fairly deep, so apart from a few fish pitching, or splashing you won't see much. Maybe in Ballina around July, you may see some action around the bridge (box's), with runs of grilse, but nothing is guaranteed on any given day. It may take weeks to be there on the right time and right day. Also the Salmon species we have here don't all die after spawning like other species like tgey have in the U.S. A lot do die, but often from weakness, predation, and disease as they try to make the journey back to sea.

Rows Grower

If you're ever down around west Cork the new salmon pass on the Bandon river in the town looks very impressive and should be spectacular to see when the fish are running.

rivermisty

a148pro wrote: »

I have it in my head to tick off as many viewable irish wildlife events as I can. Kind of like a personal Living the wildlife.

Can anyone recommend somewhere accessible to see a salmon run and or where they spawn and did?

I know there's a camera at the weir in galway which i'll check out in season. There's also an old video here of Salmon run at leixlip bridge. Anyone know if that's still viable?

I go to connemara a lot so would love to go up the upper stages of a river and see them in pools, or even when they die. I have a feeling that will all be on private land and heavily protected? Anyone any ideas?

The Galway Weir is one of the best, and easiest, places to see Salmon leap. The main run of Grilse (salmon that have only spent 1 winter at sea) is in June and July. The first few hours after high tide is a good time. You'll also get to see seagulls predating on Elvers going up the eel ramp. Why they don't put a net over it I'll never know.