Baronscourt Estate

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“Through hills at the foot of Bessy Bell… we come to Baronscourt, Lord Abercorn’s magnificent seat….the great number of fine oaks and three long narrow lakes which ornament this place give it an air of great grandeur.”
Daniel Beaufort (1739-1821)

Situated in a sheltered valley in the foothills of the Sperrin mountains in Ireland’s County Tyrone, you come across an oasis of peace and tranquillity. Baronscourt, the home of the Duke of Abercorn’s family since 1612, is among that handful of old family estates in the British Isles which combine great historical and architectural interest with a landscape of outstanding natural beauty.

This vibrant working farm, rural business, and estate spreads over the valley floor at Baronscourt and throughout its history each generation of the family has continued to ensure a programme of constant planting and landscaping of the park and gardens.

The management of the estate’s wild herd of Japanese Sika deer has been recognised with the Laurent Perrier Award for wild game conservation while the forestry enterprise, an integral part of the Estate, won the Royal Forestry Society's ‘Duke of Cornwall’s Award', 2003.

Enjoy the beautiful rolling countryside and spectacular walks around the Estate enhanced in spring and early summer by the magnificent displays of bluebells, rhododendrons and azaleas. The carefully tended woods frame wonderful vistas that together with the lakes create a truly enchanted location in which to relax away from the pressures of modern living.

The Foyle River System

The Foyle System comprises of approximately 900 miles of salmon, sea trout and brown trout water. It covers the North West region of the north of Ireland. It is also one of Ireland's most prolific grilse and summer salmon fisheries. The peak period is usually during June and July. If there is a mild and wet August good fishing can be had. September and October can also perform very well. Scientific estimations put the annual Foyle system salmon run at approximately 80,000 fish in 2007. The recent legislation banning drift net fishing around Ireland's coast is expected to lead to a significant increase in the numbers of fish returning to the rivers, especially in the North West.

The River Mourne

The River Mourne, flowing from the Derg Junction to Strabane, is part of the Foyle Fishery System. It is rated as one of the best salmon rivers in Europe. 2009 was an exceptional year with excellent sport right up to the end of season (October 20th). John Horsey, World Team Champion and silver medallist in the European fly fishing competition, enjoyed great sport with 4 salmon landed and released out of eight hooked in just 11 hours fishing. The biggest weight 15.5 pounds.

Monster Fish caught by local angler:-  A 33.5lb salmon was caught in the Foyle area, near Lifford Bridge a few weeks ago. This fully challenges the perception that the region has small fish!  This record breaking salmon was caught using the bubble and fly method with a green highlander fly and took the happy angler around 45 minutes to land.  The Loughs Agency are not allowing the licensed nets to come onto the Foyle this season.  The River Finn and River Foyle will now become catch and release only.     Local anglers and I have lobbied for many years to have a total ban on licensed nets, this we feel is a first positive step.  Our fishing on the River Mourne is still operating normally although we do prefer to see fish carefully returned.  We have had very little rain this season with the result that there has been no salmon fishing or catches to date.  As soon as rain comes there are large volumes of fish waiting to enter the system – I now need your clients to book and come and catch them.  With the low water conditions local anglers have enjoyed very good quality wild brown trout fishing with specimen fish of 1.5 – 2.5lb being caught.

I have good availability in June and July for fishing. 

 

SALMON  Fishing.. by John Horsey, England Fly Fishing Team Gold Medalist, European Individual Silver Medalist.

I had heard of the Mourne river system and hoped it would live up to it’s reputation.  I was not disappointed.  Not only were the salmon prolific, but the scenery and hospitality was superb.  As someone who is fortunate to travel extensively fishing for Country or on guided trips, I get to visit some stunning venues.  However, this part of Ireland is just a few hours by ferry away from home and offers peace and tranquillity, as well as thoroughly exciting fishing.

Tackle for the rivers is pretty straightforward.  A 14 foot double handed salmon rod rated for a 9 weight line is what I would recommend for the Rivers Mourne and Strule.  I used the Greys GRXi+ 14’ #9 and it easily handled casting across the rivers, plus handled salmon of up to 16lbs with ease.

It is possible to use shorter length rods for narrower parts of the river system or when the river is low. 

I would also recommend taking a 10’ trout rod such as the Greys Streamflex 10’ #5 for the superb brown trout, possible sea trout and even smaller grilse.

You will need reels with a good disc drag to handle the hard fighting salmon – my preferred reel is the Hardy Cascapedia.  Load this with a Hardy #9 Mach II Floating fly line and you are ready to go. 

Due to the rocks and boulders, a wading staff is a pre-requisite.  The wading is not dangerous, but the rocks are small and move, so it is a good idea to lean on the wading staff when wading the pools downstream.

Flies can differ throughout the season and depend largely on the height and flow of the river.  Take a selection of small tubes in case the river is pushing through.  As it drops, change to lighter flies tied on small trebles or doubles.  The Currys Red Shrimp is a favourite, as is the Willie Gunn and the Cascade.

For Non angling companions there are beautiful walks on the Estate, places of cultural and scenic interest, horse riding can be arranged and an excellent 18 hole golf course adjoins the Estate. This whole region is a place of great natural beauty and extremely welcoming.

Accommodation...

*4 star accommodation in the grounds of the Baronscourt Estate, near Newtownstewart in County Tyrone.

Friday to Friday 7 nights from.. £184 pp (car and 4) and from £322 pp ( car and 2).. Based on mid season, Stena Ferry travel self drive holidays. Salmon fishing ranges from £100 to £300 per beat per day - 2 rods with Estate Ghillie. Choice of short break holidays available Firday to Monday and Monday to Friday. 

Abercorn Estates Salmon Report for the 2009 season

April – no fishing effort

May – The first salmon caught on the Abercorn Estate fishery was by Ronnie Hill, 19^th May,  a nice fresh fish around 4 lbs which was returned. 21^st May Joe Hutton caught a really fine 15.5 lb salmon in the Snaa pool, a good start to his season.  The weekend of the 23/24 May, David Smart from London, caught two fresh fish and lost a third.  A number of salmon where seen.  Total for May was 5 fish.

June – with us was characterised by some challenging weather conditions mainly in the later part of the month with a lack of water.  At the beginning of June, the famous TV personality, Chris Tarrant, “Who wants to be a Millionaire” fished for several days with some of his friends.  A new comer to salmon fishing, John Masters, caught his first salmon on 3^rd June.   Little fishing pressure yielded little in the way of results for June, a total of 9 fish were caught.  Many of those that did fish were rewarded with good opportunities of sport and landed fish such as John McClarty’s 7lb salmon from the Snaa pool, local angler Ian Gordon, a 9lber from Carniquin, and Stuart Wilson’s party caught 2 grilse with a “few that got away”.

July - the water levels during the month were tricky whereas in June we were praying for a little rain, July was wet.  The weather together with a perceived lack of fish yielded only 25 fish for us (2008 the catch was 37). 9^th July, Joe Hutton landed a fabulous 16lb from the Snaa pool. Six grilse were caught on the 18^th July on various pools. In a good year July should produce a plentiful supply of fish for us – so this is not a month to be written off.  The Sion Mills fish counter indicated that there was a good number of fish travelling upstream in both June (3,832) and July (1,782). 

August - excellent fishing on the Abercorn Estates beat when the conditions were good. We suffered downpours and heavy rain – like the rest of Ireland and UK.  The water height in the river was the highest in living memory for the month.  When conditions allowed there was some very good fishing to be had, a total of 23 fish were caught for the month, the best fishing weighing over 15lb went to Ian Caldwell.

September – the salmon arrived in large numbers! In the first week of September Brian Lovering and his party of 4 other anglers from GB caught over 20 fish in 5 days and had action with several others.  During the month all the salmon pools had good number of fish in them. Fish were seen on a daily basis. The ghillie’s Ian Caldwell and Robert Freeborn report that it had been 30 years since they have seen the river so full of fish. Colin Gillespie caught a silver 14lb salmon in the Broads, Ronnie Hill had three one day the largest being 10 lb.  A total of 53 fish were caught in the month of September. 

October - saw a staggering amount of fish in every pool in the Abercorn fishery.  Ian Gordon and Anthony Palmer struck gold landing 10 fish in two and half days of gentle fishing, the largest was a fresh 14 pounder from Blackstone.  John Horsey, England fly fishing team member, caught 4 salmon in an afternoon the largest being 15 lb from Doaks pool this was caught on film and camera.  A total of 23 fish were caught for the month of October.

Worldwide Game Fishing Locations Within Baronscourt Estate