Ireland is awash with thousands of lakes, great canals and mile-upon-mile of river, and alive with huge stocks of bream, roach, hybrids, tench, perch and pike that are unmatchable. Ireland is inexpensive compared with options such as travelling to Holland, Sweden, France and Denmark, along with the added bonus of year-round free coarse fishing, no fishing licences and you don’t need a passport to get there. And Ireland is the only angling holiday destination that has a countrywide bait delivery service covering maggots, casters, worms and groundbait.
It’s a good bet that 99 per cent of anglers travelling from Britain to Ireland take their own car and sail across on the fleet of modern ferries. There are 15 different ferries operating on the Irish Sea – most of them twice a day – and the quickest are Stena Line’s HSS and the Swift from Irish Ferries, taking 99 minutes from Holyhead.
The rule about passports still applies (you don’t need one) and fishing in Ireland is generally free of charge with no licence requirements. Fishing rod licences are needed on all waters in Northern Ireland. The Irish drive on the same side of the road, their petrol is among the cheapest in Europe and the currency in the Republic of Ireland is the Euro.
Big bream, tench, roach, rudd, hybrids, perch and pike, are in abundance in magical waters that vary from tiny ponds with lily pads and reeds full of bubbling tench, to massive lakes where the far bank can disappear on a misty morning. Small rivers such as the Inny twist and turn through farmland while the brilliant Shannon-Erne Waterway runs slowly from one end of the county to the other, offering fabulous fishing prospects from the bank on specially built fishing platforms.
All of the hotels, guesthouses and pubs, have ensuite bedrooms, most with TV and a tea tray. Many provide a choice to stay with evening meal, bed and breakfast, though there is a trend to BB only as the number of restaurants and pubs serving food increases. Self-catering holiday homes are plentiful in all angling locations – some located at the water’s edge – offering the flexibility to come and go as you wish, so enjoyed by anglers who want to fish early morning and into the evening.
The other is to walk along the bank with a leger rod and a three-quarter ounce Arlesley bomb to test the depth before spreading all of your kit on the bank or starting to groundbait. And to make the most of the opportunities it is essential to go with bream in mind, armed with a powerful leger rod capable of chucking a medium groundbait feeder at least 40 yards. Bait-wise think about relying mainly on worms, bunches of red maggot and corn – and any combination you like – and it’s not a bad idea to do a reasonable amount of pre-baiting. There is often disagreement about putting up signs warning others about pre-baited swims. If you do groundbait the evening before, the accepted rule is to put up a small notice with the date baited and then get to the swim at least before 9am the next morning (preferably earlier). Think about hook sizes ranging from 16 to 10 to carry worms, corn, casters and bunches of maggots, and be sure to carry plenty of swimfeeders and leger weights …. Plus a big keepnet. Leisure AnglingTelephone: 0845 458 5200 (local call cost) Check out the website at www.irishbaitandtackle.com |
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