Paul Waghorn is back at Laneborough for his 2012 angling escapades and he will be providing regular daily reports at his website www.lanesboroughangling.ie. Here is an extract from his first 2 days angling this season.
27/03 Arrived earlier today but started fishing at 5pm. Water is very low and weedy. The nice weather had brought a few casual anglers out and some smallish Roach were their reward. I had 20 minutes on the gusher with 4 sprat sized Roach before a move to the bridge as the sun created some shade into the swim. I caught 7 fish with the best about 6oz.
Normally the navigation channel would unfishable in March, but with levels close to what I’d expect in May, float presentation was easy. 1 Perch of 2oz was caught before having the final 20 minutes of daylight above the bridge on the Longford side. It was here that I netted my first bigger fish of my spring campaign with a Roach of around 14oz. Three more 2-3oz fish followed and then it was time to quit. I’ve had far worse first days, but the amount of weed showing is going to make fishing very difficult at Lanesborough this year. Before you go to sleep tonight, please pray for rain, and ask that Brighton and Hove Albion continue their run of form to make the play-offs!
28/03 The temperature dropped close to freezing overnight and the river was steaming when I made my early walk at 8.15. Gerard and his father from Dublin were fishing above the bridge and were very cold. As the sun came up, it was evident a number of larger fish had amassed in the stretch, and although unwilling to feed, were clearly visible from the bridge with my polaroids. The pair continued for the duration of the day to catch probably 10lb of bits with a couple of Rudd of 8-10oz. Tim Collier arrived for an evening session and raked some of the weed from the disabled swims. He had 3 Rudd of similar size to Gerard’s. My session produced just two small Perch on the feeder. There were other anglers present but no fish of note were reported. Tomorrow we are looking for volunteers to help clear the abnormal amount of weed that is making fishing impossible in many areas. If you are able to help, please meet at the river around 2pm. This will benefit all planning to visit Lanesborough in the coming weeks. Bring a rake if possible.
Paul Waghorne
www.lanesboroughangling.ie