Fishing
tips
Do not try too many venues. Most Irish waters, produce their
best after 2 or 3 days feeding. If the quarry is bream,
3 venues in one week would generally be plenty. The best
recipe for success is pre-baiting. The night before you
intend to fish put in about 10lbs of ground bait well laced
with caster, chopped up worms
etc., Maggots are
of little use as they tend to bury themselves in the mud. Before pre-baiting,
check the water depth. Many Irish lakes have a ledge or
drop off. Once located the feed should be placed at the
bottom of the ledge where the bream normally patrol in
search of food. Remember when ordering bait to allow for
pre-baiting as well as your daily requirements. As shoals
of fish are often much larger than overseas, you will need
extra feed to keep them interested. Steady feeding throughout
the day is the most effective way to put a large catch
together. Spasmodic feeding will not allow the fish to
settle. Respect the fish. Do not overcrowd your keep nets.
Small and big fish do not mix and small roach in a net
full of bream will almost certainly be killed. Carry a large polythene sheet for photographing fish on. When the
photographs are completed
the sheet can be picked up and all the fish returned to
the water simply and easily. Please respect the goodwill
of the farmers. Close all gates. Do not damage crops, take
all litter away with you each time.
COARSE BAIT:
If bringing your own bait, anglers must take care that it
is not packed in soil or vegetable material, the importation
of which is prohibited by Law. Maggots are best packed
in sawdust and worms in damp shredded newspaper. There
is however, no need to bring your own bait as maggots,
worms and groundbait are available from a network of stockists
at all the popular angling centres throughout the country.
It is always very advisable to order in advance. Please
contact us with your orders.( Skippers Choice Baits) is
our own brand of quality baits available all over Ireland.
A summer cyprinid that offers great sport to those fishing
light tackle in streamy water. Maggots, bread flake and
worms are all effective baits, as are the fly and tiny
spinning artificials. In Ireland the fish is present in
the Munster (or Cork) Blackwater river and in Doon Lake
in the East Clare Lakelands. Dace live in shoals and move
around in or near the surface in well-oxygenated water,
generally where there is a sandy or gravel bottom. They'll
be in channels near the weedbeds and in quieter water off
the main current during floods, but mostly you'll find
the larger ones in deep holes near weits. In autumn's colder
water they tend to move into deeper quieter places. They
spawn from April into May.
PERCH: Perch are plentiful in
Irish waters but really big ones are a rarity. They are
found almost everywhere, including game fisheries, and
will respond to a legion of angling baits. They spawn from
mid-April into mid-May. Artificial spinning baits account
formost perch, especially during warm water conditions.
Dead baiting with minnows scores consistently throughout
the season.
PIKE ANGLING:The Pike (Esox lucius) is our largest predatory freshwater
fish and is widely distributed in lakes, rivers, canals
and ponds all over Ireland. There are countless stories
and legends about mammoth Irish Pike and in many authoritative
texts on Pike and Pike angling, Ireland is given pride
of place. Large
Pike are present in the majority of our branded coarse
fisheries, particularly the large River Shannon lakes and
on many of our major rivers. Pike over 20lbs (9 kilos)
are regularly taken and fish of 30lbs + (13 kilos) are
recorded every year from lakes as small as 20 acres (8
hectares). The abundance of excellent stocks of fodder
fish (bream, roach and hybrids) ensures that Irish pike
generally grow faster and mature earlier than in other
EU countries. This guarantees better all round sport for
the pike angler throughout the year. A copy of the Irish
Specimen Fish Committee`s Annual Report provides the angler
with valuable information on the locations of all big Pike
captures in the previous season and the successful baits. Pike spawn from February to April in shallow flood
margins on lakes and rivers and many of our biggest Pike
are captured just prior to the spawning period. Young Pike
feed mainly on aquatic insects but turn to an almost exclusive
fish diet after the first year. A mature Pike will eat
about five times its own weight of fodder fish in a year. Various angling methods are successful
for Irish Pike. On rivers like the Shannon, Suck and Barrow,
many big Pike live in quieter areas usually on the fringe
of a shoal of Bream or Roach. Often coarse anglers fishing
on a shoal of such fish can provide a vital clue to the
location and capture of bigger fish. Pike anglers are well
advised to walk softly along the margins and drop dead
baits beside the near bank or cast the bait or spinner
over to the other side of the river. Big Pike do not like
to lie in open water, so over hanging trees and back eddies
are often key locations. Many Irish anglers like to spin
or wobble dead baits, walking miles of river bank in a
day covering acres of water. In the winter months, however,
if shoals of fodder fish are located, an angler using a
float or ledgered dead bait in a static fashion can find
success for bigger pike. Small lakes can usually be fished
profitably from the shore but on many of the bigger lakes,
a boat is often required and these can be hired at most
of the major angling centres. Trolling large spoons, spinners,
plugs and dead baits are favourite methods. In recent years
on the very large lakes, e.g., Derravaragh, Ree, Derg, Allen, etc., some anglers have employed
the aid of modern echo sounding equipment to locate the
vast shoals of Bream or Roach. Baits are then fished at
the edge of these shoals to catch big Pike. The majority
of tackle shops around the country stock a wide range of
dead baits, e.g., Herring, Mackerel, Smelt, etc., and information
on nearby waters and boat hire is available from this site
or any toursist office. There is a network of Pike angling
clubs all around the country. They can provide helpful
information and also regularly run competitions on many
waters.
PIKE NOTES:All Pike should be returned alive to the water and should
be handled carefully. It is important to use strong trace
wire in excess of 25 lbs. (11.3 kgs) and reel line over
12 lbs. (5.4 kgs) and that the use of small strong hooks
be employed in tackle. If freelining or ledgering dead
baits, it is important that tackle is not left unattended
and at the first sign of a fish taking a bait, the angler
must strike instantly to ensure that the pike does not
swallow the bait into the stomach.
LEGISLATION TO BE NOTED:In the interest of conserving pike stocks and maintaining
product quality,
the following laws have been introduced:
The use of live fish as bait is prohibited.
It is illegal to fish with more than two rods.
It is illegal to transfer live roach from one water to another.
An additional bye-law introduced in 1990 prohibits:The taking and killing by any person of more than one pike
on any day.
The taking and killing by any person of any pike exceeding 6.6 lbs. (3.0 kgs.) in weight.
Any person having in his possession more than one dead whole
pike, or
alternatively, more than 3.3 lbs (1.5 kgs) weight of pike
flesh or parts.
The above mentioned prohibitions do not apply to
specimen pike (as defined in the bye-law) provided only
one such pike is taken and killed by any person on any
one day and that only one such pike, in whole and ungutted
form, is in the possession of any person. |