Come to Ireland - The Fishing is Brilliant

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What can I say .

The fishing over here is still the same as it has always been or nearly .We have had a few hic cups over the years namely lack of funding,Zebra Mussels ,fertilisers etc, poaching and would you believe lack of Anglers .

The lack of Anglers would be the biggest ans easiest to explain.

30 years ago when the UK had a full close season then every man and his dog came over here for the fishing.Big bags were always on the cards as well .All you had to do was land at a decent lake and chuck a feeder out 30 or 40 yds and fill your boots .Over the years the amount of anglers have diminished due to really 4 things .

Close season only applying to rivers
Commercial fisheries where you can get those big bags of fish in your doorstep.
The financial climate
And the killer so to speak.
Lack of big catches .This last point needs clarifying a little more .
The main reason why people are not "bagging up "is because lack of extra food going in .By this I mean anglers that were used to fishing over here would throw out there groundbait and literally feed the fish .This in turn created fish population explosions .The fish were always in the vicinity of the easy meal so therefore didnt really need any expertise to catch them (basically a wild commercial but on a larger scale )
Today is a lot different .There are still huge shoals of fish in the lakes but trying to keep them feeding in the one place for any length of time is the crux of the matter .A shoal of 1000 bream are going to hoover up a few kilo's of groundbait in seconds and just carry on swimming without pausing .The shoals are not as large as they used to be but tend to be in what I call super shoals .I have personally seen a take from a fishfinder showing a shoal of fish 6ft deep and 20 yds across and 50 yds long .

The other thing is watercraft such a simple word but so important . This day and age watercraft apart from the old campaigners and few others just means that you either fish a shelf or close to an island .
So its the old chicken and egg situation Anglers not visiting because catches are down and catches are down because lack of Anglers .
Now the good points .

The fish are still here and there to be caught
Any body with a bit of "Savvy"and willing to put time in can and will catch fish .
The Zebra mussel has changed the way we fish somewhat .Due to filtering the water and smothering some of the weed the fishes feeding habits have changed .By this I mean You do not go out on the lash the night before stroll up to your chosen swim at gone 10 in the morning and expect to catch all day .Dawn and dusk will be the best times to catch that bumper haul.

I know there are some of you who think rivers are the be all and end all but that is only because most if not all your stillwaters are commercials.
Far from it over here .There are lakes that haven't been fished properly for 20 yrs and the fish have not only not been caught before but you make your own swims as well .As they say hard work does bring rewards .
Rudd to 3 pounds in quite a few lakes Tench to 5lb in nearly all the lakes Bream to 5 or 6lb and of course Hybrids up to 4 or 5 lb in a lot of lakes And of course Pike
The rivers well .Where can you honestly say that you can fish and have a chance of a 2 lb roach without doing your homework first and going to the few well known rivers that are scattered across the country .
The other week a match was won with a bag of well over "a Ton "of roach.I felt sorry for the other guys in the match, the guy that came third had about 80lb of them !!!!!
With the exchange rate the way it is come over and give it a try .I think you will be surprised Its a lot cheaper now than it was .A self catering cottage will set you back about 250 euros and will sleep 6 .
And of course you can do some" proper fishing"

brings back lots of memories...when I was young and passed my driving test the first thing i did was go over on the ferry to ireland, after a few years i thought sod it and moved over there. stayed for about 5 years on and off living in jamestown, rooskey, drumlish and right on the shore of gulladoo.

My all time favorite place to fish was loch nablahy, can't really remember where it was now. even back then in the busy times very rarely fished, big rudd and hybrids...proper fishing.

must go back one day