Silent Valley is a different animal from the little put-and-take lakes — an upland reservoir up in the Mournes, lying over acidic granite, holding both rainbows and wild-spirited brown trout. Acidic water tends to run clear and a little sparse, and the fishing has a wilder, more exposed feel for it. This is wind-and-light fishing: the trout come on when a ripple breaks up the surface and cloud takes the glare off, and go quiet when the reservoir lies flat and bright under a high sun. Buzzers and bloodworm work the cool water early; come summer there's enough damsel and sedge to fish nearer the top. The brown trout especially want a careful, unhurried approach. Open upland water that asks you to read the day — the breeze, the cloud, the temperature — rather than just turning up and casting.
- Reservoir
- Acidic