Caoimhghin Phelan fished the mighty Lough Derg last Saturday 11th of January. Some superb sport was had and he finished the day with 3 doubles including 2 over 20lb. Here is his report…
Conditions were tough from the start. Air temp was 4-5°c, water temp probably close to that and there was a hard frost the previous night. Also the lake was flat calm, high, slightly coloured and the sun was beaming down. I was out in my 12′ tinny. I had a joey mackrel on the deadbait rod in 15′ of water while i was working the fly in 10′. Nothing happening for an hour or so, so changed the joey to a popped up roach. It wasn’t in the water 10 minutes when BANG! The float was gone. I landed a beautiful weighed 23lb Esox.
I moved location after that but kept fishing similar depths. Another hour passed and I had a lovely 16lb pike, again, on a popped up roach. She managed to spit the bait before being landed and it was my last roach so I was back onto joeys.
Half an hour later in the same spot my float took off again. I couldn’t believe my luck, I was into another pig of a fish! After 5-6 huge runs from her she started to give up. The result; a beautiful pike weighed at 26lb!
Never underestimate Lough Derg lads and lassies!! I was using ‘Behr’ pop-up sticks which can be bought from www.fishingtackleireland.ie who stock a vast amount of tackle for very keen rates.
Caoimhghin Phelan
This is Caoimhghin’s second report from Lough Derg in the last couple of months. His brother and he enjoyed stellar sport on the lake last month. check out the report here – Six doubles in a day to 26.5lb wows pike anglers on Derg
Venues on Lough Derg
- Portumna, Northern Shores, Lough Derg
- Scariff, Lough Derg
- Mountshannon, Lough Derg
- Killaloe and Lower Lough Derg
Tips for the travelling boat angler
A working, reliable trailer board is an often overlooked, though essential bit of kit for the boat angler who moves his boat between fisheries. Caoimghin has the following advice. “If there are any anglers out there using PVC light boards- there is a better option. I bought a set of lights from Rockfit for my boat trailer and these things are bomb-proof! They’re 100% waterproof and come with a 10 year guarantee! Plus the NCT is coming in for trailers next year. These lights are the business! The whole system is pre-wired and easy to install and even the plug is a really tough moulded solid plastic that can’t break like all the other ones I’ve had. See for yourself on YouTube the kind of abuse they can take – its well worth a watch: Rock Fit Lighting System
Easily bought on their website: www.rockfitirl.com/buy-online/
Boat angling and invasive species
Cleaning and disinfection of boats and angling equipment should be carried out before and after each fishing trip when moving between waters to prevent the spread of invasive species and fish pathogens. For more information see here:
