Spring Magic on the Mourne - salmon fishing in Ireland

Some people may wonder why spring salmon are often considered the most prized fish of the year, for those in any doubt here's why!
This was filmed two years ago to the day (13 May 2018) when I was fishing on the mightly River Mourne, Northern Ireland. It was hard going with a cold wind blowing most of the day making for difficult conditions. I was on my way home and decided to have a 'quick last cast' as this pool was on my way back. If Carlsberg did last casts?
Hope you enjoy, subscribe if you want to say more and most importantly stay safe :)

[@ivankerr3570]

Man they love the shrimp or prawn there.

[@AndrewMcGall]

I’ll take your word for it Ivan 😄, tight lines!

[@thedoggedangler]

Andrew fabulous fish, video and yes truly magical!

[@AndrewMcGall]

Cheers and hopefully we’ll all be able to get out again soon! 🤞🎣😊👍👍

[@simonartley1645]

Ah ..inspiring to see action with the springers.. the music playing helped ..can you tell me who it is? Here's to hope safe wading and April springers coming to the fly in 2024 Simon Artley Manchester

[@AndrewMcGall]

Thanks Simon, glad you enjoyed it 😊🎣👍, and can’t remember the music unfortunately! Tight lines for the season ahead 🎣👍

[@jack-zz9hb]

Lovely spring fish, well done!

[@AndrewMcGall]

Cheers 🎣🎣😊👍👍

[@colgibbs]

Loving the content on your channel,keep up the good work,tight lines

[@AndrewMcGall]

Cheers Colin, much appreciated and watch this space 😊👍

[@MarcinKantor]

Very nice lad, got my first one this year and I'm hooked for good now😍

[@AndrewMcGall]

Thanks Marcin, you always remember your first and can enjoy the rest now 🎣😄👍👍

[@MarcinKantor]

@@AndrewMcGall that's right! Was fishing good on the Mourne this year?

[@AndrewMcGall]

@@MarcinKantor yes was pretty good, they weren’t always easy to catch but good enough numbers 🎣🎣👍👍

[@MarcinKantor]

@@AndrewMcGall sounds lad, just popped you there a friend request on FB. Would be nice to find out what's the situation with permits and clubs up there. I'll be putting my first salmon video soon enough up on my channel

[@edwardmclaughlin6698]

class

[@AndrewMcGall]

Thanks 🙏 Edward and tight lines for the new season 🎣😊👍

[@WeeManSham]

Magic alright! When are you doing the Dollaghan flies?? 🎣👍

[@AndrewMcGall]

Cheers Sham and good things come to those who wait 😄👍

[@Lukasz_Fishing_Ireland]

Lovely :)

[@AndrewMcGall]

Thanks 😊🎣👍👍

[@markkelly940]

Quite a small springer? However well done that man................

[@AndrewMcGall]

About average Mark, think it was 10.5lbs when I weighed it, but put up a real scrap!

[@probono3284]

Although the angler released the fish quite carefully (though it should really be held facing upstream in water with a current) I'd be concerned that after such an exhausting battle the fish might subsequently die. I hope that isn't the case, and obviously C&R is much better than keeping the fish, but has any research been done to establish what proportion of released fish do die after being released?

[@AndrewMcGall]

Thanks and good questions. If you look carefully you will see the fish was indeed pointed upstream and as you can see it swam off without a problem. There have been studies done and the survival rates for released Atlantic salmon are typically between 90-95%. This does depend on a number of factors such as how the fish was handled and things like water temperature in particular. As this was spring the water was still quite cold and this would have given it a high probability of surviving successfully to spawning.

[@probono3284]

@@AndrewMcGall Thanks Andrew, that's good to know. Tight lines!

[@ivankerr3570]

Should be knocked on the head and sold.