Ever since man first inhabited the fertile valley of the
Suir,the waters yielded rich harvests of trout,salmon pale and
eel. For the past five hundred years in particular the men of the
Glens have plied the deep waters in search of these elusive
creatures. From 1st of February till 14th August the fishermen in
their traditional cots, nets and "smachteen" an
instrument for taking the salmon out of its misery, constantly
try to outwit the silvery king of the river.
The fisherman's boat is a "COT" and is made from either
oak or larch because of the durability of the timber.The boat is
coated with tar and the joints are caulked with oakum.The boats
are approximately 5 metres long and a little over one metre wide.
The fisherman uses a net known as a snap-net which is over 20 metres in length and 30 meshes deep. There are cork buoys on the upper part of the net and heavy weights on the lower part.
Different parts of the river are known as "SCRAPES", one such being the "Sca".
Fishing is done mainly when the tide is coming in and while
the tide is turning fishermen take a rest at Mount Congreve on
the Waterford side of the river, which is also near the old
railway to Dungarvan. Two cots must go together to manage the
nets. The net is lowered and the cots row a "scrape"
which is perhaps 50 metres in length. If there is a pull on the
net, it is hauled in. Not every scrape is successful. Sometimes a
fisherman may be out for hours without success.A man is satisfied
when he gets a catch, which must be shared with his partner. The
net is hauled in and cleaned. When a salmon is caught he uses the
"Smachteen" to kill it.
The largest recorded salmon was 56lb in weight or 28kg.
The fishermen have names for areas of the river -
Peter Walsh fishing on the Suir but with an empty net.
