Members and friends of the Carlow Coarse Angling Club descended on the River Barrow system at the weekend and despite the cold weather and rising water levels managed to get bags of fish topping the scales at 50 lb plus. The bags of fish that are being produced from the Barrow are not being matched any where in the Country at the moment. Mr Noel Jenkins, long time member of the Carlow CAC, thoroughly enjoyed his day out with club Chairman Gerry McStraw and Paul McLaughlin, a River Barrow veteran. Noel racked up a new personal best for fishing the Barrow with a bag of hand sized roach weighing in at 26 lb. Noel’s favoured method of fishing on the day which worked well for him was the waggler presented with a 13ft Trabucco float rod.

Noel Jenkins and his personal best catch
Noel Jenkins and his personal best catch

Gerry McStraw finished the session with a staggering bag which consisted of mainly roach a few hybrid roach/bream including one that was almost 4 lb, one single dace and one perch which weighed in at 2 lb making Gerry’s overall weight 52 lb. Gerry fished with one of his imported home-made peacock quill floats presented by a 14ft Trabucco match rod. Bait used on the day consisted of two loaves of fresh white bread ground down to crumb and four pints of frozen maggots.

Paul mcLaughlin with 69Lb of Barrow Roach and Hybrids
Paul mcLaughlin with 69Lb of Barrow Roach and Hybrids

Mr Paul McLaughlin had an absolute cracker of a days fishing eventually weighing in a staggering bag of roach and hybrids weighing 69 lb. Paul’s secret bait on the day turned out to be hemp seed that he had prepared himself with the added ingredient chilli which produced some very nice sized hybrid fish. Mr McLaughlin was heard to say that it was probably the best two days fishing he has had in a very long time as the previous day he had managed a bag of well over 50 lb of roach.

Carlow CAC chairman Gerry McStraw with over 50 lb of River Barrow roach
Carlow CAC chairman Gerry McStraw with over 50 lb of River Barrow roach

The Carlow CAC would like to announce that the chairman has been asked to assist on the very popular Irelandscoarsefishing.com stall at the Irish Angling Expo in Dublin in February which promised to be a truly amazing show this year with special guest appearances from authors and television personalities. If you would like more information regards fishing the River Barrow please do not hesitate to contact Gerry McStraw on 085 2844566 or visit www.carlowcoarseanglingguides.com