A seven day pike fishing adventure 2 twentys 10 doubles and 16 or so jacks

Since October I have been fishing whenever the weather has been ok, which this year has seen very obliging, hardly any big lows and no real rain to talk about, so lots of fishing days in a row,    The last seven days from the 7th of Dec to the 13th has been great weather wise, with a change promised at the end of the week. So the 7th I head to a small lake I know, not far from home, most of the lakes I fish are within 10 miles of my house in and around the Fenagh Ballinamore area, there are about 28 lakes within a 5 mile radius so we are very blessed by the fishing Gods to live here. So I head off at 7/30 on a Saturday,the light is only starting to brighten at 8 these days, so there’s  not    much point fumbling around in the dark, as things only get trod on or lost,even with  a  good torch. I did fish this venue from the bank a few days earlier testing the new batteries on my bait boat but going in my lake boat, Just in case the batteries went flat mid lake so I  could  retrieve the boat if all goes wrong, I took a friend along with me this day and told him about all the great pike I have seen in my boat over  the   years in this swim, yawn yawn,  I had one  bite all day a good 150/200ft from the shore as I wanted to test the batteries to the max, she felt like a bag of coal with the odd knock knock, I wasn’t sure if it was a big fish as it was so far out, but  as it came to the bank it made its first turn and run and I had my clutch a little too tight and the hooks popped out . So this time I am on my own and set up my rods  float style, set the stop knots at the right depth and wait. About 1 hour in,my first tentative bite  the  float twitches,  I twitch the float stands up,    I stand up, wondering if it could be the fish I had on two days earlier, she’s heavy 20lb 4oz to b exact not a great fight but I’m delighted then 2 dropped runs before 2,  9lb fish and a 13 to finish the day.I rang my friend to rub it in as he said that he didn’t rate the swim very much,    Most lakes hold good fish but you need the luck to be there on the right day, this was the right day,2004 0062004 0072004 0082004 010

The next day we   headed to a small landlocked lake with my bait boat all tested and ship shape,the weather was blowing a bit and drizzling but ok as we had shelter, a little walk down a couple of fields just to warm us up, we put up 2 rods in close and were going to use the bait boat to drop the other 2 rods in deeper water out a good distance,4 or 5 minutes had passed when the first float popped up and I said to  lenny that’s yours hopping it wasn’t going to be a monster,  a 4 lb fish but with an old bite mark,quite a long fish, with a big head so we assumed it must have survived a savage attack and must have weighed maybe 6/7lb,  Sometimes when you get a fish so quick its not a good omen as that can be it for the day, but not this day, Lenny had to find a lover for his goat and had to leave me on my own, and that was the first bit of luck as 8 fish came to the baits over the next 4 hours with at least 7/10 float attacks with one swimming off with a pencil float for 5 minutes,when we popped up a bait and caught a small jack that was the end of the float nonsense,  some 3/4 fish in and around the  6/7lb mark had bite marks on them telling us that the big girls had been active in the lake, The 2 bigger fish came in at 10lb and 12lb with most averaging 6/7lb.adoon 006adoon 009adoon 010adoon 012adoon 001

Now onto Monday, a local reporter wanted to write a report on static dead baiting and asked if I would take him out, how could I refuse.  but after the weekends fishing I was not hoping for that much action as good runs always run out, so picked him up in morning and headed off, conditions weren’t great with a fair amount of wind on the lake in question but off we went anyway, firstly I located the deep section of the lake and pointed the boat into the wind and dropped the front anchor and waited for it to bite before dropping the second one, and then started to explain how I static dead bait, first looking for bait fish in the deeper water then anchoring on the drop off, I set up the first of two rods using a stop knot type sliding float tactic, leaving the bait on the bottom of the lake some 20ft down, cast the first rod in then the second, after about 5 minutes I started to describe the action of the float in the waves and that the bobbing action was not a bite but if the float went rigid, and like magic it did, and then said the waves and wind could possibly do that but if it disappeared under, and it duly did, it was time to take notice, I said look at the line tighten and watch the bait runner which started to take line were in , grab that rod and lift, 10 minutes later and a 20lb 06oz fish was in the boat took pictures placed her back in the water, with that the second float disappeared , and another 10 minutes the second fish a 13lb fish was in the boat, I turned around and said and that’s how you static dead bait.    As we all know it doesn’t happen like that too often, but normally hours and sometimes days before even a bite,  By now the wind was having a real party with us and the anchors started slipping so we had to move but with no let up and the wind getting stronger we decided not to make the news for the wrong reasons and headed for shore,  I have a sneaky feeling it could have been a great day if we could have stayed but you can always go back,

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Next up Tuesday I head to a local well known trout lake Laura/Rowan, this lake holds some nice pike but this lake is my nemesis where I struggle to get even a bite, as others seem to have no trouble but that’s fishing and yes I blanked, no pictures, no story,

Then Wednesday  a friend took me too a small lake where he had lots of pike interest during the summer, when fishing for silver fish, I always like a new venue as I get that feeling of anticipation or stomach cramps, this time it was stomach cramps and I had too head to the bushes, with that done we put the baits out into the deep water using the bait boat and waited and waited and more waiting, finally a bite the alarm started to sing , I lifted the rod wound in and nothing, I felt my heart sink, it was late afternoon and I just knew it was a one bite day and it was, should I have left it ?? Phil said get over it !! and I did.

Thursday I took Phil to a lake I fished Sunday, and met Lee there at 8 in the morning we all rigged up, putting baits out, some casting most using the bait boat, and it started left right, left right, all day, I had picked the middle swim I kept making excuse’s the fish are going anticlockwise the fish are going clockwise, 9 fish in total 5 one side 4 the other and dropped runs all day and not a bite in the middle, I was very busy though netting and un hooking for them bsards, it was like having a Cheshire cat either side, big cheesy grins all day. most of the fish were in the 10lb range and lots of bite marks again so going to head back soon as the average size of fish was bigger than earlier I the week.

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Finally Friday and onto a river swim with Phil, the wind conditions were horrible but we had good shelter and was glad not to be on a boat, we just used floats with a stop knot tactic as we only had to cast 20ft, it started off quite quick with a small jack for  Phil ,picking up where he had left of the previous day, so I was glad to hit a 10lb fish soon after,  we were having quite a few dropped runs, and the fish never touched a big bait and only took small roach and even then didn’t devour then, so not really on, we ended the week with 5 fish on Friday the best was a 12 and a 10 with 3 small jacks. as I speak, I am not sure of next week as new tyres for the van needed, and other things  going to slow me down, there’s a big low today and Sunday, A nice time to recharge my batteries, as I am knackered, hope you enjoyed my article, I turned off comments as I had a spam attach last week and had to delete 2330 comments 20 at a time, Tight Lines and have  good Christmas and new year Dave.

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Pike Feeding Frenzy After three days without a bite

Last week I decided to target a trout Lake in Leitrim, changing tactics from trolling lures and dead baits to fishing static or wind assisted floats, I fished either side off the big rain day on Saturday, as I really do not like to sit in the rain and wind all day, call me fair weather but that’s the way I like it.

So first day I got there at first light and baited up the swim,  very small piece’s of old fish almost into a paste, a lovely job as I squish the guts and bits through my hands, a word of warning I always wash my hands properly after, so when it comes to soup and sandwich time I can eat in comfort without worrying  about a trip to the bushes at the edge of the lake and all that brings. The first day not a single bite but that’s fishing, The next day I arrive at the lake to see someone’s there before me and I hope that my baited area is clear and it is, so I sit on the same area all day with the same result, I then skip a day as the heavens open and go back for my third day, where I bait another swim with the same result not even a bite ,I now start to question my tactics but on leaving I hear an alarm going off and lots of laughter, wrong place for me but I am glad for them just!!

So the next day I decide to change venue, I arrive good and early full of anticipation as a change is as good a rest  I pick my spot where I have fished in the past and know holds good pike, I bait up again but this time I decide to do some roach fishing for bait and to keep my spirits up and not be idle, Perch Perch Perch  personally I don’t use perch for bait so I put the bait rod away.

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I set my floats up using a stop knot style, so when the fish grabs the bait they should not feel too much resistance as the lead and beads all flow smoothly most of the time, and you get an instant indication of interest if you set the top stop knot up at the right depth,

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The business end, with a Fox pop up, I tend to use pop up baits on dirty bottoms as to avoid leaves and weed but keeping it as close to the bottom as possible.

I try to let my floats lie flat but if they just sit up I’m ok with that, this is my typical boat set up.

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After six hours (and three days ) I get my first bite I take up the slack and gently lift into the fish, immediately I know its small, I bring it to the edge of the boat and give it some slack and it obliges and spits the bait, well at least I have broke that three day run, so I recast placing the bait in the same place the float settled for about one minute and stands up and away again, after three days and two bites in 5 minutes this time a 3/4 pound fish , now I’m a happy man,  I land the fish, a quick photo and pop him back,

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I rebait,  recast, back too the same spot, maybe three minutes and the float stands again, now I’m buzzing but this time she feels like a decent fish and after a few seconds she screams off on a thirty or so foot run, after four or five big runs I can feel her slowing up and as I get her to the boat and in the net now I’m really buzzing, I unhook her take her photo and as I am placing her back into the water my other float stands up now this is getting unreal another nice feeling fish and another good fight, The still warm water must be giving them extra energy.

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A 20lb and a 13lb , now I have no baits in the water so a few minutes rebaiting and casting  and another 2 minutes my left float pops up and away, I lift into the fish and my other float stands up and goes on a massive run I’m desperately trying too unhook the first fish as quick as possible to get to my other rod, I drop him back, lift the next rod just as the fish spits the hook but gets a free meal, and then like a light being turned off its over, not another bite all day this all took place over 30/35 minutes I don’t remember any day quite so frantic in such a short time, and I have had plenty of days with fish feeding all day but this one will stand out in my memory for a long time especially after the three days leading up to the half hour, All the best tight lines Dave.

 

 

 

 

 

A Few hours up at Lough Nabellbeg

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This is a quick post as it was a quick trip, we were limited to last Thursday to head up the mountain and the weather forecast was not good, with a low blowing through by mid day but we decided to go for it,    The sun started breaking through the clouds as we were leaving so we thought it would be all good, its only a fifteen minute drive, and then an hours walk, all uphill.   The wind was dropping on our way up and for a short time when we got to the lake,  Nick made a few castes and hit a fish almost straight away, I was still tying my leader and fly on at the time, but the wind started to strengthen as soon as I found a little spot to fish, soon the wind was forming water devils, on the lake and blowing from one direction to another within seconds, I made one cast and the fly was almost touching water when the wind picked it up and put it back at my feet, and with some gusts we had to bend our knees and brace until it had passed , another caste landed behind me and caught in the heather, after an hour of this we decided to admit defeat. this is really wild spot but beautiful, but the next time I will wait for the right weather, settled high pressure only. All the best Davelough nabellbeg 003

Kiltybarden Pike fishing

Hi all, I ended up fishing Kiltybarden and St Johns lakes in Leitrim today, I heard a few reports of pike hitting course anglers roach on the retrieve this week so decided to fish this venue, on getting there seven course anglers were setting up, so I had to fish away from where I had planned, I went the whole day without a single bite and travelled down to St Johns and further with no success, but guessing the course boys would finish at about four thirty I decided to head back up to Kiltybarden. When I got there the boys were packing up, with no rods in the water, so I took my first run into their swim and wallop, I had my first hit which nearly cut my dead roach in half, my next hit was even bigger a ten foot tree stump, which took me a good ten minutes to lift and get my dead bait and trace back, luckily I use braid because this was a real dead weight, so back fishing again another thirty feet and bang,  a big hit and then a tail walk, I really did not want to miss this one after no hits all day, and  luck was with me, after ten minutes she was in the net, the lads on the bank shouted for me to hold her up and so I did, and they gave me a thumbs up, she probably annoyed them on and off all day, and they helped  by narrowing down my search thanks lads Dave. tight lines, she was 15lbskiltybarden 004

Follow Up to 2 Day pike session

After the big low blew through on Sunday I headed back to the same lake in Carrigallen , the weather was a bit blustery as each shower blew through but as Callouse is a small enough lake this was not  a problem, but can help with trolling using the wind to drift the boat down the lake.  The method I  was using was a large float and a roach dead bait fished about seven feet down slowly drifting, again I did not have to wait long for my first bite, a fish that came in at five pounds, about one hour later I hit a six pound fish, at least they were getting bigger, after three more drifts down the lake I hit something much bigger really stripping line off my reel, she turned out to weigh in at sixteen pounds my first big  double this season, next up came a ten pound fish, by now it was three in the afternoon and the wind was really moving and nearly lifted my spare rod out of the boat, so I decided to call it a day, and headed home quite happy with my start to the season, next up this week Kiltybarden on Wednesday pike fishing, then  hopefully trout fishing up the mountain for wild trout on lough Nabellbeg with two friends and then  a stocked trout lake on Friday near Fenagh . I will let you no how I get on later next week some time but for now tight lines Dave.16 lb carrigallen 00116 lb carrigallen 00216 lb carrigallen 00616 lb carrigallen 008

My First Two Day Pike Session This Year

Well my van was off the road for nearly two weeks with fuel injector and pump problems, so my fishing was on hold, I was aiming to fish Lough Allen for large trout, and the weather was perfect for the big lakes, So all I could do was tie some  flies for next year, but I was going crazy stuck at home, I normally tie flies when the weather is bad and fish in high pressure when the weather tends to be good. but it doesn’t always work that way.

So vans back check the weather, the forecast is great for two days, Friday and Saturday, with a big low coming in on Sunday. So time to get everything checked and ready , my favourite type of pike fishing is static dead baiting, using long pencil type floats leaving the bait fish on the bottom, but its far too early in the season for that tactic ,so I will be trolling baits and lures, I will be using big floats with diving plugs, bulldogs,  spinning baits, weed less baits for the Lilly pads and dead roach trolled slowly, all depending on what works best. all with fingers crossed as you always need a little luck that the fish are ready to play ball.

So  Friday an early start, the  alarm goes off at 6 probably an hour too late, but I’m not used too the early starts just yet.   As normally the summer trout fishing means late starts,  but with pike fishing as the winter really gets going you really can not afford too miss any of the daylight,     When I arrive at the lake in Leitrim, the mist is still rising off the water, and now I wish I had got up earlier to see the sun rise, but I will get my chance tomorrow.    So I decide that my first method will be slow trolling with two rods, with a dead roach on one and a small bulldog on the other rod, fished about seven to ten feet deep , using two big wooden floats to control the depth of the baits, using stop knots .  The speed I will be going, will be, no one on my electric motor, so just enough to give a little  movement to the baits.  It was not long before I had my first fish on the bulldog,  a little jack of about four pounds, its always good to hit a fish early, as it relaxes you,  and you will always fish better in the right frame of mind, ie  I have not blanked. Another hour later I hooked into a heavier fish on the dead bait, which came in at ten and a half pounds and I am thinking I am on for a really good day     callouse 006  callouse 005

After my first two fish I start getting hit and not connecting with the fish, probably five or six times, a quick hit lift rod and nothing , I start to think how the fish can miss the hooks when in the boat they catch everything, coats, bags, boxes, and boy do they love the net, and the odd finger. Unknown to me, as I was looking forward and at the depth finder trying to skim the Lilly pads and keep  the  baits from grounding and picking up weeds , the pike were hitting my floats.   Later on in the day I started too move off the edges of the lake  and into slightly deeper water, so then I started looking at the floats more,  to get an early heads up on the bites, when I saw a pike breach the water completely, missing my float by inches , the penny dropped, but the day was coming to an end and I was wondering if I would regret my missed chances, but I will be back.

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The next morning I am up an hour earlier and do get to see the sun rise, with the mist rolling around the lake. I see I am not the only one to be up early, as I see a Great Crested Grebe swimming along with a small fish in its beak, it then found its chick and fed it in the reeds. So anyway back to the fishing I again started the same way as I did the day before, but with no luck but,  then the float was attacked again and this time I changed tactic straight away, by now the sun was up and it was a beauty, hard to believe tomorrow was promised so bad, a real calm before the storm.callouse 011

The Fishing took off, ten fish came to the baits, mostly evenly spread through the day with the odd forty feet between two. The baits I used were smallish type floating baits that, trolled slowly would keep breaking the surface just like my floats the previous day , great fun but all Jacks, Not one broke the four pound weight . There are big fish in this small lake, which is stocked with trout every year for the last thirty years, and there has been four twenty pound fish in my boat in the last few years, with some four or five big doubles in a single day, when conditions are right but not today. So for the last two to three hours off the day, I went deep with deep diving plugs, fishing fifteen feet deep, to cover the last section of water that I had not fished, in the hope of hitting something big, but alas I caught another Jack, but still fun. This two day pike fishing has really wet my appetite for the season ahead, and I will be coming back to this lake near Carrigallen many times this year, looking for the big girl day. Tight linescallouse 013callouse 014callouse 015