Myself and Lenny decided to head north for a bit of river fishing. We were joined on the trip by one of Ireland’s top young anglers, Lloyd Lynch. What a pleasure this turned out to be. A great angler and a really nice bloke.
It was very tough going this week, the water levels were extremely high, bringing with it fast flowing rivers.
-3 showed on the thermostat in the van as we arrived, with the frost covering the grass like a white blanket. Undeterred, we set off on a tough hike carrying all the gear down to the river bank.
The fishing wasn’t easy but we managed to winkle out a few good hybrids, up towards 3lb using corn.
A hybrid caught on corn
Then my alarm, fished hard on the bottom with the ever reliable joey mackerel, beeped, our three heads turned at once, waiting for it to take off and we weren’t disappointed.
This pike fought exceptionally well
It took off up the river with the fast flow, like a bat out of hell. I ran to the rod and struck, she held deep, using the current to her advantage. After a few powerful runs I gained control and my ever dependable co-pilot, Lenny, stepped in with the landing gear. A nice double but smaller than I thought after a good scrap. Still, happy days, we were off the mark.
It went very quiet for a few hours after that. Young Lloyd started to get the roach in his swim, on the feed with his feeder rod. He landed himself a cracking brace of 1lb 7oz and 1lb 3oz.
Lloyd with a nice brace of roach
Then it was Lenny’s turn. His pike rod took off, which was baited with a big pollan fished 2ft off the bottom. Another nice double in the bag.
A nice fish for Lenny
The fishing got tougher as the day wore on. Lloyd, eager not to blank on his pike rod, reset to wobble a small roach in and around the jettys of the boat yard just below where we were fishing. He never gave up and just before packing up, he pulled a lovely jack out of the bag.
The sun began to set as we watched the rods in anticipation, but that was the last action of the day.
The unexpected bonus was the most amazing sunset any of us have ever witnessed. A fitting end to a tough but satisfying day’s fishing.
Definitely more trips in the pipeline for myself, Lenny and Lloyd. Hopefully we can get some more big girls before spring arrives…
A perfect end to the day
Ireland Fishing Diaries 